We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jesi Hook a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jesi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

There are a few notable differences in what Vallure Agency offers. First, instead of viewing our work for client partners in shorter campaign sprints, we align to our client’s long-term business goals and develop intentional growth marketing strategies. We view ourselves as an integrated business partner, evolving with our clients for years to come.

Second, we take pride in our high quality creative and digital works as a top performing full service firm. Being able to offer beautiful digital design, backed by an integrated strategic framework, and proven to convert — that’s what we’re all about. That’s the value in Vallure.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Vallure Agency was born from an observation of consistent pain points I heard and experienced in the creative marketing space. With over a decade in creative leadership, I started my career as a graphic designer — working in-house, at agencies, and also as an independent contractor. I’ve heard comments like “not feeling taken care of, not pleased with the level of service or quality of work, feeling like just a number” — the list goes on! As I started my entrepreneur journey, I was focused on changing this experience.

In 2017, Jesi Hook Creative Studio launched to provide exceptional creative work: brand development, marketing materials, website design, digital designs, and more. I had a small team of designers as it quickly became too much work for a one-woman show. During this time, I saw that my vision for a better agency experience was not only attractive to businesses, but for creatives who desired a different work culture.

In 2019, I rebranded the firm as Vallure Agency. At this point, I had clarity and proof of concept that my vision was bigger than me — therefore, I did not want my name associated with the brand identity. Instead, I was inspired by the value we were offering and the allure or captivation we were creating in our work. Vallure exists to provide undeniable results through an exceptional experience, felt both internally and externally with our client partners.

It’s now 2023, and we have grown notably stronger each year! It’s been inspiring to witness from the forefront. I am so proud of our incredible team and how dedicated we all are to providing a better agency experience.

Any advice for managing a team?

As the leader of your organization, I think connecting with everyone personally is paramount. One-on-one communications, checking in, and showing you care about them professionally, but also personally, forms a core relationship. Next, is encouraging the team to connect and form those relationships. Instilling mentorship programs, encouraging team calls, collaboration on projects, all leads to a closer team culture. Once this is established, team communications or events are that much more lively and engaged — because everyone understands each other.

We all have different styles of communication, humor, interests, strengths, and more — when we understand each other, we can celebrate each other.

Being a completely remote team (even before the pandemic), we have to get creative with cultivating more personal relationships. We have monthly virtual happy hours, where we play a game that always leads into side conversations, learning about each other, laughs, and memories.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think every year in entrepreneurship, you’re learning a lesson. Every organization is different, therefore, every solution and strategy will be different — no matter how many courses, books, or degrees you may have under your belt. I’ve made countless decisions that I’ve learned from and had the opportunity to develop myself and the organization even further. It’s part of the journey, and why having a strong network of trusted advisors is very helpful!

Contact Info:

• Website: vallureagency.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/vallureagency
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vallureagency/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vallureagency/
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/vallureagency/

Image Credits
Charlene Irani https://www.chartakesshots.com/