1977 – Denver, Colorado — An 8 lb girl (whose parents were told they’d have a boy) comes roaring into the world three weeks early, not breathing because the umbilical cord is wrapped around her neck. Jennifer Ann Smythe is still at least 10 minutes early for every meeting she’s ever booked and never on the same page with her mother. She feels miscast as a Pisces.

Early 1980s – Denver, Colorado – 5-year-old Jennifer Ann Smythe—wearing new glasses straight off eye patch therapy for a lazy eye—swaggers into kindergarten, only to find that she’s one of many Jennifers (it was the most popular female birth name of 1977). She is forced to “nickname” herself. Jennifer, Jenny, Jen were all previously taken via alphabetical order, so her older sister Kelley came up with “Jennie” to avoid being called “Smythe.” The misspelling of her first name and the mispronunciation of her last name plagues her eternally after.

Early 1990s – Tulsa, Oklahoma – Complete disruption of Jennie’s transformative years comes “in 3s.” Her divorced parents decide to reconcile (again) in Oklahoma, her sister leaves the family unit to attend college in Arizona, and Jennie gets her period.

1990s – Phoenix, Arizona – As predicted by everyone on the planet but her mother, the reconciliation does not stick. Jennie and her mom flee Oklahoma for Phoenix, Arizona where both sets of grandparents live, and her older sister is close by in Tucson. Her mother enrolls Jennie in a centrally located public school, where she quickly gets up to speed on gang initiation and the import/export business. Her mom then moves Jennie to a suburban apartment zoned at a school where she can play soccer. Jennie is equal parts prom princess, student government and drinking/drugs experimenting rocker who advocates against bullies. Jennie tears her ACL and has a major knee reconstruction. She gets firmly planted on her grandmother’s couch, where she learns many things, including not to overspend. Her suburban school grows so big that it splits in two toward the end of high school. Due to all the changes, she takes advantage of falling through the cracks. Jennie whimsically applies to Northern Arizona University and is shockingly accepted, despite doing everything half-assed (except for getting a government-issued fake ID and going to many concerts).

Mid-Late 1990s – Flagstaff, Arizona→ Phoenix, Arizona→ Los Angeles, California – After the shock of realizing just how much debt she is accruing and feeling the collegiate system is disconnected from what she wants to do/be, Jennie takes advantage of a longer-than-expected illness and formally drops out of college. She moves back to Phoenix but first makes a brief stop in Mexico with the remaining funds from her “emergency account.” She does a lot of drinking with friends and discovers some things about herself while taking mushrooms. Jennie works odd jobs at a lingerie store, a coffee house and a tanning salon (where she is taught many life lessons on humankind and cleanliness). She is urged by a pseudo boyfriend/body piercer—this was the ‘90s, after all—to attend a music conservatory that offered intern placements in the music business. This works! But only because she meets a stripper who “knows a guy” who works at Elektra Entertainment in Beverly Hills, and she sets Jennie up for an interview. She instructs Jennie to “not fuck this up.” To this day, Jennie feels it’s the best business advice she’s ever received.

Late 1990s-Early 2000s – Los Angeles, California – Despite her questionable entrance to the intern program, Jennie is surrounded by talented and demanding bosses who don’t care about anything other than results. She hides the insecurity of not having a formal education, and she is rewarded for her gut instinct and ability to read the room. She is not coddled but finds a strong kinship with one of her female superiors, who teaches her the ins and outs of the business and steps in as Jennie’s “LA Mom.” Her job is equal parts secretary, gofer, janitor and expense hider. Jennie keeps her mouth shut and listens a lot. She learns to work hungover. She knows she’s lucky to “be in the room” and aims to have a “seat at the table.” She outworks the other interns and the office manager agrees to hire her full-time as the receptionist. The office manager gives her the second-best piece of business advice she’s ever been given: “Smile when you answer the phone, and you’ll sound happy.” Even today, Jennie still struggles with pretending to be happy on conference calls (particularly Zooms).

Jennie hops around to two artist management companies and Disney’s Hollywood Records, where she is truly blessed to be a part of a budding digital revolution. She hustles her best friend to move to LA so she can have a live-in partner in crime. She also learns how to verbally instruct a limo leaving the Playboy Mansion down the canyon in reverse (with a smile). A true skill.

Early-Mid 2000s – Santa Monica, California — The internet crashes, but Jennie’s career booms. An old friend from a management company where Jennie had made a lot of coffee clued her in about a job that he thought was perfect for her. The position was at LAUNCH, a small digital media company that Yahoo! had acquired. Despite being underqualified for the job, Jennie’s friend insists she is the best candidate and lands her an interview. Jennie’s insecurity about moving to strictly digital gets the best of her. It takes six interviews in total—along with a hard nudge from a Disney co-worker—to accept once the job is offered. This move ultimately is Jennie’s big career break. Her tenure at Yahoo! Music also yields the most important mentorship in her life (until his passing in 2019).

Mid-Late 2000s – Nashville, Tennessee – Despite Yahoo! Music becoming the No. 1 music service globally, Jennie is ultimately passed up for a job that leads her to a painful crossroads. It also leads to an interesting conversation about moving to Nashville and working in country music. Newly engaged, she rolls the dice and moves to Music City, working for Warner Bros. Nashville. She falls in love with the city, gets married and then promptly gets a divorce. She moves on from Warner Bros. Nashville to Clear Channel Entertainment, where she helps launch iHeartMedia in the country space. She feels stuck in her life and wants an opportunity to work closer to artists in a less corporate setting. She spends a couple of years ingraining herself within the Nashville music community. Much to the dismay of many close to her, she soon realizes that making great money and having a “secure” job was not enough. Jennie’s dad passes away from pancreatic cancer on her 30th birthday, and she vows not to waste time.

2008 – Girlilla Marketing is established.

Be good…online and in real life.
Jennie