Rising Stars: Meet Jessica Reed

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Reed. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Our founder, Jessica Reed, takes pride in her firm as the best-kept secret behind global brands. She is a known marketing and design expert in the hospitality, aviation, and healthcare industries, with a special focus on airport concessions.

When Jessica entered the aviation industry as a creative professional seven years ago, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. She had just bid on—and won—a project for a global restaurateur that has a presence in more than 120 airports worldwide. With no time to spare after being awarded the contract, Jessica got her first taste of what is now her agency’s specialty: delivering high-stakes projects on unbelievably tight turnarounds. Both Jessica’s career and the success of Diace Designs soared to new heights as she went on to make her clients hundreds of millions of dollars by leveraging the expertise of her hand-selected creative team.

Over the years, Tampa Bay Business Journal (TBBJ) and other leading publications have recognized Jessica’s dedication and success by bestowing more than a dozen award nominations upon her and Diace Designs. These accolades include the Book of Lists: Largest Marketing Firms in Tampa Bay; Best in the Biz; 40 under 40; and BusinessWoman of the Year. Jessica has also been featured in Tampa Bay METRO Magazine Special Edition: Inspiring Women in Business.

Jessica founded Diace Designs in 2011 and has since built an elite team of creatives and a formidable client list. In February 2021, Diace Designs celebrated ten years of success driven by Jessica’s tenacious pursuit of excellence; her drive to consistently exceed client expectations is what continues to make Diace Designs the agency of choice for so many organizations.

Diace Designs obtained its certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) from Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and received the opportunity of a lifetime – Pitching for the Super Bowl!

Diace Designs, along with more than 1,200 other businesses, applied for the 2021 Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Business Connect program. This program connects diverse local businesses to the many business opportunities surrounding one of the nation’s most anticipated sporting events. Out of the 1,200 businesses that applied to pitch, only 200 businesses were selected.

Diace Designs has been designated as an approved vendor of the 2021 Super Bowl LV Business Connect program. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
To say the life of an entrepreneur is easy is a lie. There will always be struggles, no matter how young or how seasoned a business is. Creating a name for yourself takes hard work and dedication, as your name is your reputation.

As a young business starting out, you start off by accepting all projects and clients. As you grow, you realize some clients no longer fit your defined niche markets – learning to say “no” to clients or projects that are not a good fit for the business was a hard concept to grasp as a young business.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Diace Designs is the behind-the-scenes marketing partner for some of the world’s most recognizable brands. Our ability to deliver multimillion-dollar design projects with impossibly tight turnarounds is what continues to make Diace Designs the agency of choice for so many organizations. Rather than focusing on billable hours, we keep our sights locked on your project goals to produce extraordinary results. Our team specializes in the hospitality, aviation, and healthcare industries.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Without risk, there are no rewards. As a business owner, there are tons of risks and being able to adapt and pivot when needed is a must. There are two major risks I took in my business. One was when I decided to leave the corporate world and start my business – I did not have the full support system backing my idea… but as a risk-taker – it’s doesn’t hurt to try! I’m so grateful I did. Ten years later, I look back at that decision and would do it all over again.

The second biggest risk I took was back in 2018, I was working with a new business coach and we decided my business model needed a revamp, and together we shifted my entire business to what it is today. This included completely revamping my company mission which had evolved over the years, core messaging, company services, clients, you name it – we revamped it! Learning to say “no” to clients that no longer fit our niche markets was hard at first, but the reward and company success proved it was worth the risk.