Meet Jen Roop: An Investigative Problem Solver

Editor’s Note: This is the sixth in our new We are EM (Monkeys Are People Too) series.

A Childlike Curiosity

As a young child in Southern California, Jen Roop‘s father encouraged her to investigate her own solutions to any questions she had; at 10 she was even put in charge of sourcing paint colors and painters’ bids to redo her bedroom walls. Realizing the power of her skills at a young age, she carried forward the joy of creative-problem solving into her adult life. After Wellesley College and a brief stint in Washington D.C., she headed west for Silicon Valley where she cut her marketing teeth during the first dot-com boom of the 1990s. She quickly learned the importance of understanding and engaging with customers, building bridges between marketing and technical teams, and being scrappy when necessary to get stuff done.

A Combination Consultant and Recruiter

After serving as marketing manager for two different start-ups, Zanza and Kana, and helping the latter grow into a medium sized business, Jen started a family and — on a friend’s suggestion — started consulting; she fell in love with it. It enables her to be present for her family while simultaneously doing what she loves professionally. Within that professional persona she wears two hats — one as a marketing consultant, and one as a recruiter for consultants. Being the former improves her work as the latter since she understands the needs and working styles of consultants while also knowing the needs and expectations of managers. Her ability to solve problems by helping both sides of the equation and build working relationships through placements keeps her hungry and tenacious.

An Inquisitive, Customer-Centric Marketing Philosophy

Jen’s naturally inquisitive, problem solving nature underscores her marketing philosophy. She sees each project as a puzzle and passionately works to determine what the customer wants and needs, devise the optimal solution, and then deliver the product or service to the end user. She loves this practical side of marketing and the ability to provide lasting value to both the customer and the client. To achieve this she is always picturing herself as the customer and enjoys connecting with them directly to fully understand their requirements. She is a firm believer in results; developing the right metrics to assess a campaign’s effectiveness are essential to her work. This philosophy also extends to her work as a recruiter; she enjoys delivering value to both consultants and managers by connecting the right pieces of the puzzle together, and measuring the relationship over time to ensure it truly is the right fit.

A Fast-Moving Mom

When away from the office she is grateful that consulting affords her the opportunity to be extremely involved in her kid’s lives; she has three children and loves sharing in their activities be they school, sports, or field trips. She’s an ardent bibliophile (attending talks at local bookstores is a favorite activity), world traveler, pet lover, and aspiring race car driver; she recently enjoyed a day taking an Audi race car driving course at the nearby Sonoma Raceway.