five in five* with jen christmas, media planner/buyer
Jen Christmas has a name we can’t forget and the quirks to match (re: avid Stephen King reader/can’t tolerate horror movies). In addition to avoiding any repeat viewings of Poltergeist since 1982, the newest member of our team tackles media buying and planning for our clients, a task she has relished across a number of industries during her successful decades-long career.
We’re thankful for her experience, but we wanted to get to know her outside the day-to-day expertise. So we set up a Teams call (she’s based in Cincinnati) and sat her down for five questions in five minutes*. It’s the premise of our aptly titled Five in Five series, where we get to know our team members a little better (and hope you do, too).
what are you most looking forward to in your new role at Interrupt?
Getting back to B2B planning. Most people assume the consumer side is sexier. But B2B provides more strategic challenges—you have to dig deeper to find a more specific set of people. I find that hunt more satisfying.
what perks has the last name Christmas brought you?
I wasn’t born with this name. It became mine when I chose my husband more than 25 years ago. Sometimes it can bring a little bit of joy to a poor cashier who has been yelled at by her customers, when they see it on my credit card around the holidays. I wish it got me free stuff, but no.
you have a passionate side gig as a volunteer with your son’s adaptive baseball team. Tell us more about it.
My son is autistic, and having a child with a disability has opened up different paths and led me to getting really involved. He plays baseball with the adaptive team you mentioned. I’ve joined the board and spend a lot of time volunteering with them. Right now our big goal for our city of Mason, Ohio, where I live, is to build adaptive baseball diamonds for kids with disabilities. That capital campaign is a passion project for me.
did you grow up in Ohio?
Actually I’m from Michigan. I grew up in Sterling Heights, which is north of Detroit.
interesting. where do your loyalties lie in the OSU vs UM rivalry?
Everybody in the nation knows about that rivalry. But there is also an interstate rivalry between MSU and UM that nobody understands. So me and my husband can wear MSU gear—we're Spartans—and my daughter wears her OSU stuff and it works out fine. The thinking around our house is the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
*Five in Five is where we catch up with an Interrupter to ask five questions in five minutes. It may have taken us (way) longer than five minutes to have this conversation. Sometimes we even ask more than five questions because we’re self-indulgent. But it shouldn’t take you longer than five minutes to read them, so we think it still counts.