Jessica Hawthorne-Castro heads the next generation of Hawthorne Direct as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, strategically positioning the leading analytics and technology- based accountable brand advertising agency to lead the next marketing revolution.
She recently initiated and is assisting in launching a new corporate branding to refresh Hawthorne Direct's image in the marketplace, as well as introduce new media service segments. Hawthorne-Castro first joined forces several years ago with her father, Tim Hawthorne, who founded Hawthorne Direct nearly 30 ago.
During the course of the past eight years, she worked her way up the company's corporate ladder from the role of Account Executive in to Director of Client Services in , was then promoted in to Vice President of Operations, was named the agency's Chief Operations Officer in March and then in April Chief Executive Officer.
Hawthorne-Castro's leadership role at Hawthorne Direct involves fostering service-oriented relationships with the company's high profile clients, helping them to envision, create and execute powerful advertising campaigns that build brands and ignite consumers. She is based in Los Angeles, the company's headquarters, along with Hawthorne Direct's creative, media and production teams. Prior to joining Hawthorne Direct, Hawthorne-Castro was a successful TV literary agent with William Morris Endeavor formerly Endeavor , one of Hollywood's top, full-service talent agencies representing writers, directors and producers for television.
As the agent for an impressive list of WME's top TV talent, she identified and negotiated opportunities for shows airing on all major broadcast and cable television networks. In this capacity, Hawthorne-Castro assisted the creators of numerous top-rated programs, including "Entourage," "The Office," "Heroes," "24" and "Law and Order," to name a few.
