Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Davis.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story is a bit of a full-circle journey—and, like most good stories, it didn’t go exactly as planned.
I was born in Harlingen, Texas, but grew up in Austin, so I’ve always considered Austin home. More than 25 years ago, I started my career here as a graphic designer. But getting there wasn’t exactly a straight line.
I briefly attended Texas A&M to study Biochemistry. Let’s just say… that was a bust. I quickly realized that chemistry and I were not meant to have a long-term relationship, so I changed course and earned a degree in Marketing from Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State University.
While I was at SWT, I also took Desktop Publishing classes at Austin Community College. One of my first projects was laying out a magazine page. I loved the combination of creativity, storytelling, and design. I became just “dangerous enough” with design software to start taking on freelance projects—and those freelance jobs helped put me through business school.
After graduation, I was married and had a baby, and reality set in. I quickly realized that freelance graphic design alone wasn’t going to pay the bills. Through a networking connection, I landed in the technology and equipment industry and ultimately built a 20-year career in equipment and solutions sales.
That career has given me a lot. It allowed me to successfully raise two daughters, build a comfortable life, develop strong relationships, and stay right here in Austin—a city I love. But even while building my career in sales, I never completely left the creative world behind. I always kept a toe in the creative pond.
Then came something that brought everything full circle.
When my daughter, Mariah, graduated from high school, I wanted to create a special keepsake celebrating her life to that point. Some of her senior photos were, in my admittedly biased opinion, magazine-worthy! So I put my graphic design hat back on and came up with an idea: instead of creating a traditional photo album, why not create a magazine all about her?
I asked friends and family to send me messages, funny stories, favorite memories, and words of encouragement through email, text, or even good old-fashioned handwritten notes. I combined those stories with her professional senior portraits and personal family photographs—both digital and printed—and created a personalized “memory magazine” celebrating Mariah.
It was supposed to be a funny, heartfelt graduation gift for my daughter.
Then my best friend asked me to create one for her mother’s 80th birthday.
That project was a huge success, and afterward I remember thinking, “Huh…this could really be a thing.”
And that’s how MemorAZINE was born.
Since then, I’ve created MemorAZINEs for weddings, milestone birthdays, anniversaries, professional promotions, graduations, and other meaningful occasions. What began as one very personal gift has evolved into a business built around celebrating people and preserving the stories that matter.
More recently, I’ve expanded MemorAZINE into the business world with Branding MemorAZINE—a unique way for businesses to tell their story beyond the traditional brochure. It gives a business an opportunity to get personal: to showcase its personality, share its history, introduce the people behind the brand, highlight customer stories, and connect with the right customers in a more meaningful way.
In many ways, it feels like I’ve come full circle. I started with a magazine page in a Desktop Publishing class at ACC, built a career in sales and business, and eventually found my way back to design and storytelling through a passion project inspired by my daughter.
What started as a graduation present has evolved into a true passion project, one that allows me to combine my love of design, storytelling, business, and people.
And honestly, creating something that makes people smile, laugh, tear up, or remember someone they love brings me a tremendous amount of joy.
This is only one chapter of my story, but if there’s anything I hope people take away from it, it’s this: sometimes the things you think you’ve left behind are simply waiting for the right moment to come full circle.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing in life is ever “smooth”. But the struggles along the way build character. I don’t have any long, dramatic struggling to success story — I tragically lost my father at age 24, got married, had two children, divorced in 2012 and raised my daughters as a single mother. Wah wah wah, right?? Through it, I’ve been blessed with successful career. Gained many great relationships through business networking and volunteer opportunities and now am getting to watch this passion project “grow up”
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
MemorAZINE is very much a collaborative effort. Each project brings together personal photos, professional photography, stories, memories, and design to create something that truly celebrates a special person or meaningful occasion.
I collaborate with photographers, designers, professional printers, and copywriters to bring each MemorAZINE to life. Everyone brings a different skill set to the table, and I love being the person who brings all of those pieces together into one cohesive story.
Collaboration has also become an important part of the business side of MemorAZINE. Through the Branding side of the business, I enjoy connecting with and highlighting other professionals and referral partners whose businesses complement what I do.
I also feature many of these collaborators in my quarterly promotional magazine, INSIDE MemorAZINE, which gives me another opportunity to showcase talented people, share their stories, and help introduce them to a new audience.
For me, collaboration is about more than simply getting a project completed. It’s about building relationships, supporting other creative professionals and small businesses, and creating something together that none of us could have created quite the same way on our own.
And at the end of the day, along with the people we are celebrating, we create an unforgettable keepsake that’s guaranteed to make an emotional impact!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://memorazine.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064701635049
