Since our last Team Q&A post, Jmac has welcomed three new team members, each with their own unique background, passions, and special talents. We held Q&A sessions getting to know each of them a little bit better–we hope you find them informative and inspiring!
Sebastian Moradi, account supervisor
Tell me a bit about yourself and your background
I was born and raised in Florence, Italy, and I moved to the U.S. in August 2006. We came here for a chance for a better life. I was originally studying pre-med, majoring in bio and chemistry, but I realized that life wasn’t for me. So right before I was supposed to graduate, I ended up taking some career-oriented classes to figure out what I wanted to do. And I realized that I didn’t just like one thing. I liked multiple things. And so I looked into business, marketing, advertising and PR. I ended up going to Cal State Fullerton for PR. I participated in clubs, attended events, and did some internships. Then I started working in smaller agencies, both in Orange County and Las Vegas, before I decided that I wanted to venture out somewhere else. Now, I call myself a PR specialist.
What’s your role on the Jmac team?
I am an Account Supervisor. I work under John coordinating and leading the team. I don’t like to tell people what to do and then sit back and do nothing. I like to get my hands dirty, so I really appreciate being able to work as a supervisor and interact with all the clients.
Do you have a favorite project you’ve worked on?
It’s been really interesting working with Playing Pickleball and Ascend. They are both pioneers: Playing Pickleball being an ultra realistic VR game, and Ascend wanting to bring a positive change to social media. It’s fun to see how these companies embrace everyone regardless of who they are, especially in light of the challenges around mental health and social media.
What excites you most about PR & Marketing?
The ability to work with clients on so many levels, as well as clients of any industry. Being able to work with a client in VR, and then with a client in social media, a client that works with AI, or one using technology for marketing or measurements to simplify work. I also like being creative. Storytelling is very fascinating to me; it keeps things interesting rather than the same over and over again. There are different angles you can tackle.
Given you diverse background, what is the special perspective you bring to your work?
Coming from a different background and seeing the evolution of technology allowed me to broaden my views and vision. It helped me to learn a lot of skills in a lot of different aspects of an industry. Being open-minded helps me learn more. Like the saying goes: The stupid man is actually the one that thinks he knows everything. But if you think that you don’t know anything, then you’re always curious, and you’re always learning. I’m always willing to learn something new, and I’m able to change my views if I end up finding out they were wrong.
Monica Iriarte, HR
tell me a bit about yourself and your background
I have been in human resources for 25 years now. I started off as a manager and found that I had to spend a lot of time with HR. As a new manager, I wanted to learn what they had to teach me, and I really found that I have an affinity for it. One of the things I’ve learned over the years is I’m not afraid to have difficult conversations with people. I may be nervous beforehand, but when push comes to shove, I really do like being able to be there for people, look them straight in the eye and hear what they’re saying. I don’t listen to respond, I listen to understand.
So while I have a generalist approach to human resources, my sweet spot has been doing employee relations—working with staff, working with management, and really understanding what the business objectives are. That helps me craft a human resources approach that eliminates obstacles and smooths the way so people can focus on their jobs and not have to worry about whether they’re being paid correctly, or whether their performance reviews are being written well. So I have moved through my career to a consulting approach, where I’m working with different companies in different industries trying to help them establish good HR practices that will build positive and realistic work environments for all employees.
What’s your role on the Jmac team?
I knew the previous HR consultant, who recommended me for the role, and I’ve been focused on building out those things that she and John had started on. One of the things I really like about working with John is that he wants to do things correctly, upfront. So creating documentation, making sure that there’s an updated employee handbook.
When I first met John, one of the things I really appreciated was that all of the benefits he offered his employees were well thought out. So I’m working diligently to make sure that everything that we do is not just good for the company, but also compliant with human resources. I’m also a sounding board for employees; I do recruiting. Right now we’re looking for a couple of summer interns. So I’m leading the charge on the advertising and the initial interviews with everybody, which is always fun and interesting.
Do you have a favorite aspect of your work in HR?
I love how I am integrated into the team, and not just off to the side until there’s a problem, or until somebody needs a policy written. John has been excellent at explaining PR to me, and I appreciate that I’m included. I like really being able to learn the business and understand what everybody’s priorities are, so I can help keep their desk clean of things that they don’t need to worry about that I can handle for them. A lot of people look at HR as the “police” of the company, and I do not feel that way at Jmac. I don’t feel like anybody’s cop, I’m just another member of the team who has an area of specialty.
What excites you most about human resources?
The way I do human resources, I allow people to feel seen and heard. I know those moments when I’ve had a great boss, a great teammate, even a subordinate who really challenged me and got me to that next level, and I love being able to play that role for somebody else, too. And I think I have a fairly good balance between friendliness and approachability, and also maintaining professionalism. I never refer to companies as families—that makes my skin crawl. I’m not into toxic positivity, either. So, when I say I am a nice person, I am an upbeat person and I’m always going to look for something positive, but that’s not the only thing I see.
I really enjoy being able to let people know: I see you, and hear you. I may not agree with you, and I will tell you that I don’t agree with you. But helping people feel like, even if they don’t always like work, at least they know they’re being treated with some dignity.
What’s your biggest takeaway for job seekers?
Try to keep it real with yourself: What do you want? What do you need? And what are you not going to put up with? And ask questions and pay attention to the answers. Because I’m a little bit different than some recruiters. Some recruiters may place only the positive forward. But I try to keep it real, too and say the challenges of working here: ‘Here’s what some people struggle with.’ And I try to ask questions that tell me if that person is going to be okay with those challenges. But in the end, you’ve got to address the issues that are key for you. What are your boundaries? And if they don’t answer the questions, drill down. And if they still don’t answer them, that’s a red flag. Don’t keep asking. Just be like, okay, they can’t answer that question. Maybe I need to keep them moving.
Audree Hernandez, account executive
Tell me a bit about yourself and your background
I’m from Riverside, California. I spent four years getting my bachelor’s in public relations at Chico State, and I had a minor in Spanish. I am Hispanic, so it kind of went into the cultural learning that I wanted to pursue. In the meantime, I did a bunch of internships. I have always been really passionate about community service. In college I was doing work study, I was doing a couple of internships, a mock agency, and I also worked for the newspaper. I was trying to do it all—I think at one point I had three jobs, two internships and a full schedule of 12 units. And it was crazy. But I did it, and the load got easier.
Eventually I relocated to the Bay Area, which is where I am now located. I applied to Jmac—and the funny thing is that I tried to be an intern once because my friend used to work there before it was even Jmac PR. So I reached out to them one more time and asked if they had any open positions. And they said yeah, and then they hired me.
What’s your role on the Jmac team?
My role now is an Account Executive, which is great. I get to do a lot of account management and really get to explore my own strategizing along with building on those professional development aspects, too.
Do you have a favorite project you’ve worked on?
When I got hired, I had gotten one of my previous clients on a podcast, and since then John was like, ‘You’re the podcast girl.’ So we just kept getting podcast after podcast for a couple clients, and they’re starting to add up now, which is great. I’ve also had a really good time with the VR clients, more so than I thought I would because I’m not personally into games. But it was really fun getting to talk to people and get them to review the games.
What excites you most about PR & Marketing?
Probably the fact that you get to meet so many people, and you get to learn about so many different products and so many different industries. And then meeting some of the writers and the journalists—they’re so friendly! It seems so intimidating to talk to so many people, to send an email even. But then you get to meet these people and they’re awesome.
What are your words of encouragement for others just starting out in their careers?
Take any and every piece of advice that you get. When you’re researching things, or maybe having small talk with someone else, and they give you some tiny little piece of advice and you think, ‘Oh yeah, I already know that,’ just apply it more, because you never really know. There have been so many instances where I thought in my head, ‘Yeah, I already know that, but I’m gonna do it again anyway’, and it works out. I think that’s a huge piece that people overlook: It’s not just who you know, it’s what those people teach you and how you harness that knowledge.
