CW Alumna Jessica Perilla Shares Her, “Beautiful Digital Journey.”

Success in most fields requires a tenacious spirit and a drive to achieve. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Digital Media World. However, the perfect formula for success includes tenacity and talent. Jessica Perilla, the founder and CEO of JPD Studio in New York, possesses both, tenacity and talent as 2017 marks the 10^th anniversary of launching her company. JPD Studio is an all women run creative digital agency. The company specializes in custom branding, website design, and development and print design.

As part of the Hispanic History Month celebrations, CW wants to highlight some of our alumni who have excelled in their respective areas. Jessica Perilla is a successful entrepreneur, a creative digital professional, and a proud Latina.

How did you get where you are today, we know that the story started in South America?
My career and story can’t be told without highlighting my parents who immigrated to the US from Colombia. They did so in order to provide my brother and I with the opportunities that they never had. Having them as my foundation and as my role models gave me the confidence to take chances and always strive for more. Most importantly they believed in me and supported me every step of the way, even when I made the decision to leave my full-time web design job at age 25 to start my own branding and web design business, they trusted my vision, never doubted my choices and believed in the daughter that they raised.

I would say that this support and love created the determined and optimistic woman I am today. I never questioned if it was possible, it was just going to happen. I set out to work for myself and wanted to create a career and lifestyle that would allow me to work with people I loved, companies I admired, and missions I could get behind. I pinpointed a need in the market that fit the skills and talents that I acquired and took a leap. That said I couldn't have done it without the help of my family and friends, the guidance of my professors and mentors and the talent of my amazing team.

What have you learned about leadership and entrepreneurship? Did you find what you were expecting?
I have learned that you must commit to being a lifelong learner AND be willing to adapt. What I mean by that is as an entrepreneur, specifically in tech, the landscape and market are always changing and you have to be willing to adjust and pivot quickly to meet the ever-changing needs. I would also say that being a life learner and having the ability to adapt applies in terms of leadership too. When overseeing people and leading a company, you work with many different personalities and thus work styles. I truly believe that as a leader, it’s important to empower your team and to afford them the ability to work in ways that work for them. This may mean that they prefer to work remotely a few days a week or that they feel they are the most efficient when writing code in the evening. I do my best to adapt to the varying needs because I truly believe that a good life/work balance allows for the best work and results in loyal, valuable employees who genuinely care about the success of the company.

What do you think is the most significant obstacle to being an effective Hispanic leader?
There are many challenges for minority-owned businesses; and as a woman, a Latina, and a member of the LGBTQ community, one would think I faced a triple-whammy. However, I’ve never seen myself as being at a disadvantage. With hard-working parents -- my late father was a taxi driver, and my mother makes a living as a seamstress -- and a supportive family, I knew I could achieve anything I put my mind to. Sure, there have been those whose prejudice may have questioned my abilities, but my work speaks for itself, and I never gave up.

That said, there have been a couple of bumps in the road. After the third year of being in business, I realized that I had to hire full-time employees, because the workload was too much for me. It was nerve wracking because I had to learn to delegate, as well as maintaining the business on a level where my employees could depend on consistent work. Delegating was difficult, I had been a solopreneur up until then so the feeling of no longer being fully in control and hands on with everything in my business was a challenge.

How important was your education in helping you reach your goals starting out?
It was monumental. I actually first learned HTML and Photoshop back in 2000 while studying at The College of Westchester. These tools changed my life and gave me a huge advantage. They inspired me to become a web designer, which led to eventually launching my own firm. I’m very grateful to CW for giving me these key skills and for leading me into this beautiful, digital journey.

You’re celebrating 10 years anniversary at JPD Studio, what’s next?
Through our recent rebranding we have been setting the stage for the next 5-10 years. While our core values and services haven't changed, our offerings have evolved to meet the growing demands of our clients, the team has expanded and our brand needed to represent who we are today. It has been an interesting, fun and important process. It has felt like a rebirth. We’re excited to continue to stay on top of all of the new digital platforms, tools, and strategies to help our clients stay ahead of the digital curve!

We know you love giving back. What’s in the horizon in that area?
Currently, we have a pro-bono initiative called #PoweredByHer that works to inspire/empower young girls of all backgrounds, in tech and STEM/STEAM programs. PBH was started after we saw a need for the graduates of Girls Who Code. After completing the program, the students had nowhere to showcase their incredible work. JPD created an online portal for the students to upload their projects, providing them visibility and allowing them to have a dedicated destination to refer to when applying to internships, schools and any other programs or funding opportunities. We plan to add more organizations to our PBH platform this year and we are exploring partnerships with technology companies to create more hands on experiences (i.e. events, workshops) for the girls to get them inspired about pursuing a career in computer science.

Jessica Perilla obtained her Associate Degree at CW in the year 2000 and has served as an Advisory Board Member for The College of Westchester.

To learn more about Jessica Perilla’s company visit: http://jpdstudio.com/