Working in a Career You Never Expected? You’re Not Alone.

November 16, 2021

Kristine Mason Broadus didn’t plan to work in marketing. Her first career was in neonatal and pediatric care, a job that she found fulfilling but emotionally taxing.

Angel Mason Broadus never planned to work in marketing, either. After serving in the United States Navy, she worked as a pharmacist, and later, at several medical device companies.

Catherine Van Weele, who graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in political science, didn’t see marketing in her future.

And, as an engineer who went on to write and edit how-to books for well over a decade, Tere Stouffer certainly never planned to work in marketing.

But, today, Catherine is Marketing and Communications Coordinator for Junior Achievement of San Diego, Tere is Chief Marketing Officer at JA Worldwide, and Angel and Kristine are the married powerhouse duo behind Puzzle Pieces Marketing (PPM), a San Diego-based agency that specializes in nonprofit marketing. Despite their universal non-marketing backgrounds, each played a vital role in the launch of Junior Achievement of San Diego’s eye-popping new website.

You have to spend only a few seconds on the PPM website to know this company isn’t like other marketing firms. The homepage explodes with movement as soon as it loads, with displays of bright yellow and deep pink. Block text scrolls across the top of the page next to an image of two smiling Black women holding an illustrated sign that declares Women for Change. PPM Founder and President, Angel, says the website is “a reflection of who we are.”

PPM sets itself apart not only visually, but also through its work, which focuses solely on nonprofit marketing. Kristine, PPM’s Vice President and Head of Development, said, “When we rebranded in 2017, we looked at the market, we looked at the research, we followed the data, and we were like, okay, what is going to set us apart from all the other marketing firms?” Because both Angel and Kristine are active changemakers in their community, pivoting to focus on nonprofit marketing just made sense.

PPM connected with JA of San Diego through word of mouth in 2020, which Kristine said is how they meet most of their clients these days. “I couldn't think of a better partnership,” Angel said. When Tere announced the JA Worldwide brand project to the global network in 2021, Junior Achievement of San Diego had already hired PPM, and the website revamp was already underway.

Did the new branding throw a wrench in the project? No way. In fact, the new branding was hugely beneficial to the project. “When I looked at Junior Achievement of San Diego’s old website the first time, it was just so nineties,” Kristine said.

“I’ll be honest, the old branding, I felt like it was a little . . . well, it looked a little dated. It wasn't super modern,” Catherine said. “So when I heard that we were going to refresh the brand, I was really excited.”

With assistance from Brand Pie and Eizner Design, JA Worldwide launched the brand project, with Tere at the helm. When she invited JA offices around the world to serve as JA Brand Leaders, giving them early access to the latest brand materials to try out, Junior Achievement of San Diego was one of them. Because the refreshed branding was still in draft form, Kristine said, “It was so exciting when Catherine got the write-off to use it for the new site. I said, ‘Oh, thank God,’ because it was so pretty.” PPM’s web and graphic designer Blaine Slingerland agreed, and he ran with those draft guidelines.

While Catherine guided the content and served as JA’s point person for the project, PPM had free rein when it came to design, including navigation, layout, and user experience. “We gave them creative freedom to do whatever they wanted,” Catherine said. “We gave them our complete trust. And their vision ended up being really amazing.”

Old website

New website

Junior Achievement of San Diego’s new website design hits on all the greatest aspects of the revamped, modernized JA brand: bright colors, big fonts, large photographs, and lots of movement. It's safe to say it achieved exactly what Tere and her team at JA Worldwide hoped for when launching the modernized brand: designs that burst with creativity and energy that speaks to the young people we serve around the world and reflects the direction the organization is heading. “We’re serving our seventh generation since JA first started teaching entrepreneurship more than 100 years ago,” Tere said. “And throughout all that time, we’ve been represented by only six logos, each evolving from the last and each building on the strengths of the generation we’re serving.

“We believe our new branding captures the brilliance of both Gen Z and young Gen Alpha, which is coming right behind Z. But the JA of San Diego website, built by Puzzle Pieces Marketing, takes our already youthful, modernized brand and turns it into something truly special.”

Learn more about JA Worldwide, Junior Achievement of San Diego, and Puzzle Pieces Marketing, and the modernized JA brand.