Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Baker.
Hi Jessica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
From small-town Seneca, Missouri I’ve always let my curiosity and spirit for adventure propel my way forward. It’s how I found my way to the great state of Texas in 2012. If we haven’t met, the first thing you’ll learn is that I have a colorful background in cheerleading, sports, and events. In fact, it’s shaped my career, my creativity, and my passion for hard work. And if you know me, you already know I’m a lifelong cheerleader. Soon after I learned how to run, I learned to cheer; on the sidelines, competition floor, and professionally. I cheered for teams, for friends, and for myself. I loved it. I loved the challenge, teamwork, leadership, and impact of spirit. After cheer — I coached. And learned the importance of mentorship and consistency. Coaching became my passion, so I switched my major from Biology to Marketing & Business with the dream of someday opening my own competitive cheer and gymnastics gym… but little did I know I’d be led down a different path after graduation.
Through college, every summer, I’d travel the world leading cheer camps for the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA). I found myself in places like Japan and London, doing what I loved on stage in front of hundreds of eager young athletes. But when MSSU graduation day came, it wasn’t coaching that led me down my next path. it was a job in the NCA corporate marketing department in Dallas, Texas. I moved to Dallas and quickly fell in love with marketing, brand and social media. I developed content, copywriting, and created social media channels where the brand was brought to life and befriended by hundreds of thousands across the world. Video content became my next love, as I worked on developing promos for the brand and started writing for the television broadcasts. My passion for cheer quickly turned into an amplified obsession with brand, social and content.
After four years of leading content and marketing for NCA, parent company Varsity Spirit partnered with a digital live streaming platform FloSports in Austin, Texas. I took on the role of Senior Editor and leader for the two cheer channels, where I led the development of content including their first cheer documentaries, short-form docs, their first-ever docuseries, and online fitness program called Varsity Fit. In my first year with FloSports, we live-streamed the Cheer & Dance World Championships and topped the company leader board in channel performance. I also took on the role of Senior Partner Success Manager, managing and onboarding one of the larger company partnerships at the time – Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Fast-forward three years at FloSports, and I was ready to get back to my passion of propelling others forward, but this time focusing on women and entrepreneurs looking to make a breakthrough with their brands and businesses. From my professional experience, I’d learned that working with women was a passion of mine, and helping people find their voice and power was my purpose. In October of 2018, I left the corporate world and founded Glass Staircase, a brand, content and social media agency in Austin, Texas.
I focus my time on building brands and content for clients ready to break through glass ceilings and make big things happen. I love it, and it’s not too far off from my first passion of cheering people on.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Growing up in a women-led industry where most of my bosses, mentors, and even company leadership was female, it wasn’t until I entered the broader sports industry outside of cheer and dance did I learn that that wasn’t the norm, in fact, women weren’t prominent in leadership positions much at all. I encountered a lot of resistance, questions, and a whole different culture when I moved over from the cheer and dance world, and when the hard work and know-how I was hired and recruited for seemed like it wasn’t valued or trusted I started looking for other outlets where my skills and talents could shine — and cheering on women in their businesses and mentoring them on brand, content and marketing was a natural fit. It was like I had found passion again – but instead of in the sport of cheer, it was cheering for female business owners.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Glass Staircase?
We’re a brand, content, and social media agency built by creatives to empower and inspire women, entrepreneurs and companies with a vision. A lot of companies and founders struggle with content, social media and strategy, but we love it and we live for it. We always say, “you bring your brand, we bring the party!”
Many of our clients are female founders, but we have a diverse portfolio of brands across many different verticals, including; sports, professional services, PR agencies, professional event companies, non-profits, food and beverage industry and beyond. Our specialty is social media. We create video, photo, and branded campaigns for brands, and offer full-service social media management. We have proud moments weekly when we see our clients hit milestones and launch businesses they’ve been thinking about for years. It’s truly rewarding helping them find their footing.
How do you define success?
In my business specifically, success is measured in the impact we can have for and on our clients. This can be different for each brand, but when they succeed, we succeed. We’re truly dedicated and believe in the brands we work with.
We also have an internship program where we mentor college students with real work, with real clients. If our interns learned professionals’ skills and about a good work culture built on the framework of teamwork, I’d feel pretty successful. In my three years offering the program, we’ve had more than 2o interns complete the program and become GS Alumni.
Contact Info:
- Email: jessica@glassstaircase.org
- Website: www.glassstaircase.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glassstaircase/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGlassStaircase
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