Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan J. Nelson.
Jonathan J., please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story begins many moons ago on a hot summer New England day in Wolfeboro, NH, with Kingswood Summer Theater for Children. I was up for the title role in “Peter Pan,” the competition was fierce, and the stakes were at their highest. Having just got over a terrible flu, I felt the pressure mounting to compensate, but I was steadfast in the mindset that nothing would get in the way of this moment.
So, the story goes, many moons later I look back and realize that it wasn’t about the fact that I got the role of my childhood lifetime, but more importantly it was the journey I took to get there that embodied my hard work, persistence and dedication to succeed.
I know, I know… that seems a bit strange on how I got started with relevance to what I currently do, but as I laughed writing it I also reflected and realized that moments like those are defining moments on who you will become not only as a professional, but also as a human.
Onto my professional journey which spans 3,000 miles and is reflective of many mistakes, but valuable mistakes that made me who I am today. In my junior year at UMass Amherst I made the decision to move out west, a longtime dream of mine. I did an exchange program with CSUN (Cal State University Northridge), a decision that unknowingly at the time would shape my future to date.
It only took one week in California to realize that is where I belonged at that time in my life, which led me to decide to finish my studies there and pursue a dream I’d always had in the entertainment industry.
I spent nine years in Los Angeles after that, a true coming of age experience that had many highs mixed with many lows. As an aspiring actor, I quickly realized that my true calling was behind the scenes (in all honesty, I think Hollywood chose that for me). A dear best friend, John Barba, took a chance on my 21-year-old self, and offered me an internship with Lisa Fields Casting, a TRUE lady boss and idol of mine. I quickly moved to assistant then associate, working with top directors, producers and talent in casting feature films like Friday the 13th remake (where I made lifetime friends) as well as national commercials, moving at lightning speed in the entertainment industry and hardly having time to come up for air. I LOVED IT! I knew I genuinely loved being a part of a project from its inception and watching it bloom. From there I worked in many casting offices casting TV shows like GREEK on ABC Family, How I Met Your Mother, The Cleaner on A&E with Branman/Brander Casting (two of my favorite women in the industry to work for), and so on. I made the move to the dark side shortly thereafter, joining a boutique management agency to help build their talent department as a Talent Manager. Again, I loved nurturing talent from the beginning, working with an artist from their start and helping build their brand and make them the best at what they do.
It was at about 29 when I realized I was at a crossroads and decided to leave Hollywood for New England, as I was and always will be a Boston-boy at heart. Transitioning from Los Angeles faired harder than expected, but yet again it was the journey I was taking that I got most excited about, and boy did that journey take a turn. Just when I was ready to hang up the towel on Hollywood, I got a call from a past colleague to work on a reality TV show for Lifetime in Pennsylvania, you may know it as Dance Moms? What was supposed to be a brief three-week stint turned into two seasons working with the craziest and extraordinary humans, both on and off camera. I left to settle back in the Bean after that and started looking to get back to my roots in Public Relations, which let me to a lifestyle agency in the South End focusing on culinary, fitness and wellness sectors. I immersed myself into the Boston community and was quickly nostalgic of that feeling I had in LA, connecting and growing brands to help shed light on their full potential and purpose. I myself grew tremendously there and sharpened my skills in media relations, writing and editing, mentoring, managing multiple accounts and extremely tight deadlines, networking… you name it, I was living it.
Apologies if you’re still reading, as I clearly don’t like to write at all 😉
Cut to today – I now work at Tank as the Public Relations Manager, overseeing accounts varying in technology, lifestyle, B2B, B2C and so on. What is most important about this long-winded answer is the culture at Tank embodies the type of inclusivity, diversity and creativity that I’ve always longed for, and the work that my team of exceptionally talented web developers, designers, UX, branding, marketing and public relations produces exemplifies the passion and aptitude of our team.
Needless to say, I feel strongly that I wouldn’t be where I am today, had I not embraced the journey and experiences I endured along the way. Also I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have the support and constant encouragement from my family and close friends to be my best self. Unabashedly. Everyday.
Has it been a smooth road?
Sparing the readers another long winded note here! No road travelled should be easy. The obstacles and challenges I’ve faced along the many roads I’ve traveled have at times been discouraging and downright defeating, but I’ve always kept the mindset that the biggest obstacle you’ll face is yourself. If you can learn to love yourself through discovering who you are and what you stand for, you’ll always come out on top, no matter the struggle.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Tank Design Inc. story. Tell us more about the business.
I am the Public Relations Manager at Tank Design, an award-winning branding, design and marketing agency with offices in Cambridge, San Francisco and New York, made up of an integrated team of creators, storytellers, designers, developers and innovators that thrives on empowering established brands, evolving existing brands and creating new brands by fusing established practices with disruptive and ground-breaking tactics deserving of today’s evolving creative landscape.
Tank’s creative approach operates on the belief that good ideas and solutions aren’t simply embellished by design — rather that design is a process and discipline that can be deployed to discover great ideas and solve complex problems.
We don’t just set out to say “here’s how…” we set out to ask “what if?” In our experience, this approach often produces unexpected discoveries and helps reveal the best way forward. Our goal is for clients that embark on the Tank design experience to enjoy the confident discovery of the right path — not feel asked to choose one.
I myself am just lucky to be a part of such an inspiring team.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
From my point of view, “Public Relations” is a one-trick-pony if looked at from a traditional standpoint, one that has evolved and will rapidly continue to do so as the media landscape evolves in the digital age. When working with a brand, we as creative leaders must view the path to success holistically, and work to integrate our approach in order to maximize a brand’s potential impact on the world and their intended audience. Lines will and should bleed through an agency’s vision of how best to approach a project.
I gain inspiration for what I do by learning something new every day. I think that will be the biggest shift. Learning to keep learning (watch out now, I’m getting deep).
Contact Info:
- Address: Tank Design Inc.
158 Sidney Street
Cambridge, MA 02139 - Website: https://tankdesign.com/
- Phone: 6179954027
- Email: jnelson@tankdesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tank_design/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tankdesign/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tank_design
- Other: https://tankdesign.com/thought/stay-in-school/
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