WCP Employee Spotlight: Jessica Philley – Marketing
18 Years with WCP, from Buyer to Marketing Manager
As the Marketing Communications Manager for WCP, Jessica Philley is the go-to person for printed collateral and the lead on some of our favorite projects including the yearly industrial product catalog, the wall and desk calendar, mini-brochures, and a lot more.
Jessica started with WCP back in 2003. She was hired as a Foodservice Merchandiser and Buyer in our Kent, Washington division. She did that for a number of years while adding responsibilities along the way, learning how to do inside sales, and began purchasing some of the packaging lines. In 2015, a job came up for a position with the company that she had never heard of before at WCP: Marketing Communications. She was ready for something different and applied.
With her new job in marketing, she began working with Segment Product Specialists, Directors, and the company’s VP of Sales on creative projects that help serve all WCP locations. Nearly seven years into her marketing career, reporting to our Director of Marketing and Ecommerce, she still gets excited with the collateral she gets to create with the marketing team each and every day.
Jessica’s Story
Jessica grew up in Selah, a small town in Central Washington, and went to college at Washington State University in Pullman. After college, Jessica moved home for a bit but wanted to make a move, so she got in touch with a childhood friend, Amy Gibson, and learned there was an opening for a buyer at West Coast Paper. After getting the job, Jessica made the big move to the west side of the state and has now been with WCP since July of 2003 – almost 18 years!
Q+A with Jessica
What’s your typical day at WCP look like?
This one is a little different since the projects that we work on are changing all the time. We are most often working on multiple projects simultaneously so there is a lot of toggling back and forth between projects and the different timelines that we are committed to.
Typically, we begin projects months before anyone sees them. For instance, soon I will begin drafting the letter for Employee Calendar entries and we will start working on the design and layout in the Summer for printed calendars to arrive in November. While every day looks the same as far as me sitting at my desk with various Adobe programs open on my computer, it’s never boring because we are constantly creating new ways for people to see us and creating new tools to help everyone sell more products!
What’s your favorite part of working at WCP?
Getting involved with projects early and helping shape the way we bring products and services to our employees and customers. As well, it goes without saying that I enjoy working with all of the different divisions, whether it be on company-wide projects or division-specific collateral. I am proud that they call us when they need something to look professional in order to help them sell and they trust us to make it happen for them.
What’s one lesson that your current position has taught you?
That everyone has a different idea for what something should look like. Everyone thinks marketing is the fun part – but a lot of it is back and forth, proofreading 3, 4, 5 times before a project is complete. It really can be pretty exhausting by the time it is all done. It’s rewarding but boy, we can certainly be tired of a project by the time it is done – Industrial Catalog, I’m looking at you.
What is one of your favorite products that WCP carries?
All of our logo merch! We have cultivated a strong core group of logo items that are pretty popular and stylish.
I’m also pretty proud of the calendars that we put out each year. They are our most highly requested item and I look forward to creating both of them (wall and desk) every year. It is awesome to see all the pictures from the employees and the feedback that we get from employees, as well as customers, is always positive, which is great.
Do you have any tips to offer customers when they order from WCP?
Make sure you check out our Industrial Catalog – I bet there is something in there that you didn’t know we carried!
Do you have any tips for new employees just starting out their careers?
Use your co-workers as resources, they are a pretty smart group of people. Also, check out the Industrial Catalog to see how many products are in stock. Pay special attention to the design and layout, I think it’s pretty good! 🙂
Outside of WCP, what are some of your favorite hobbies and activities?
I have a 6-year-old daughter and a yellow lab puppy, so my hobbies currently are yelling at my family to be quiet and to ‘put that down’. Just kidding, I love them and do enjoy spending time with them. I’m very excited to get out camping this Summer too! Who knows, we may even take a trip out of the state this year….that is still TBD.
Can you share 1 or 2 favorite memories or stories while working at WCP?
I have so many memories from my years at WCP, but most involve the people and the friendships that I have made along the way. I am very happy to call some of my co-workers really close friends and that is the best. I’m looking forward to creating more memories in the future!
Compliments from Colleagues
“I’ve been extremely fortunate to work alongside Jessica, and I consider myself lucky to have her as a member of my team. She’s wonderful to work with and contributes enormously to our objectives and deliverables. The catalog wouldn’t be anywhere without her! — Nick Nieto, Dir of Marketing and Ecommerce
“When I joined WCP in 2008, Jessica immediately made me feel welcome to the team. Jessica has a fantastic ability to understand information and translate it visually to drive great results. We’ve worked hard over the years and had a lot of fun doing it too!” — Tamara Ferguson, Director of Janitorial/Facility and Foodservice Supplies
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Learn more about WCP and our history by visiting our About page. Want to work alongside awesome people like Jessica Philley? Visit the WCP Career Center page to see current openings and career opportunities.
