Jennifer Quigley-Jones is the founder and CEO of Digital Voices, an influencer marketing agency based in the US and UK. Before founding Digital Voices with a $700 personal investment, Jenny worked at Google and YouTube, helping content creators grow their channels. Jenny believes that any successful entrepreneur must put aside perfectionist tendencies in order to grow and thrive. Outside of work, Jenny is prioritizing wellness and quality time with family and friends. Jenny has been a C200 Member since May 2024.
Eva Glassman: What is Digital Voices, and what do you do within the company?
Jennifer Quigley-Jones: I’m the founder and CEO of Digital Voices, which as of 2024 is the fastest-growing influencer marketing agency in the world, according to Adweek.
I started Digital Voices eight years ago with a $700 personal investment, and now we have a team of about 80 people across the US and UK. We run influencer marketing campaigns for brands in about 30 different markets. We have built our own tech, and guarantee results for every campaign so that we are aligning our interests with our clients’, which is a bit different in the industry.
EG: What do you love about Digital Voices and influencer marketing? What is challenging about what you do?
JQJ: The Creator Economy is changing every day, and even though it’s been around for a decade, the industry still feels like it’s in its infancy. As a CEO in this space, especially in a larger agency, you get to innovate and set the standard for what influencer marketing should be like. You get to choose how brands are going to use influencer marketing and shape culture with them. You have quite a lot of power because of how young the industry is, so your impact is so significant.
On the flip side of that, having visibility into planning is challenging. Because influencer marketing is still so young, we sometimes get a client who might not know how the industry works, how they should be measuring success, and how they should be running campaigns. A lot of senior marketers think all influencer marketing agencies at the same, so it’s hard to plan and scale a team when you’re being brought into campaigns at the last minute with no long-term visibility of how a client is going to use influencer marketing.
Running campaigns and educating your clients at the same time is like building the plane as you’re flying it. While that is probably the most frustrating part, it’s hard to hate it. The newness of the industry brings together what I love about my job and what I find challenging with it.
With a new marketing channel, there’s often a race to the bottom in terms of who can charge the lowest agency fee. However, setting the standards of service, making the content better, and guaranteeing results—the things that we do at Digital Voices—takes so much human time. If we engage in this competition for the lowest rates, we would cut all the parts that make our campaigns exceptional. As the CEO, there’s a real challenge in working out how to operate profitably while still being competitive. It’s a good challenge every day, but it does test your approach and results.
EG: You mentioned that you started Digital Voices with just $700. Where were you in your career journey when you started the company?
JQJ: At no point in my life did I think I would be an entrepreneur or work in marketing; my dad’s an accountant, and my mom is a lawyer. Two years into Digital Voices, my mom was like, “Jenny. It’s not too late to re-train to be a lawyer.” My parents really love that notion of stability and qualification.
When I was in college, I specialized in Middle Eastern studies, specifically the economic integration of Syrian refugees. After college, I worked for Oxfam and for NGOs, but I felt like those industries were very slow to adapt; I wasn’t learning very much.
I wanted to maximize learning and impact, so then I applied to be a Strategic Partner Manager at YouTube, and my job was to help creators grow their channels, something I’d never done before. About a year and a half into the role, I again felt like I wasn’t learning. Google is a great place to start your career, but it’s still a huge company. At 26, I left YouTube to start Digital Voices by myself with $700; we’re coming up to eight years ago now.
If you’re driven by a desire to learn and have a curious mind, you can apply that to so many different industries and roles, jump into careers where you can be a bit uncomfortable. If you set yourself a goal, you should run at it and find the best approach to get there. You have to completely get rid of any aspect of hubris or arrogance because you have to be willing to fail—in front of everyone and yourself.
That’s where I’ve experienced most joy from careers: when I’ve thrown myself into a challenge with no idea how things will work out. If you’re willing to throw yourself into another challenge, you’ll be okay.
EG: You have to be a risk-taker if you truly have an entrepreneurial spirit.
JQJ: It’s funny—I used to be a hyper perfectionist. I got to go to Harvard on a full scholarship. I did Middle Eastern studies. I got a job at Google. I thought that I had to be perfect in everything I did.
I learned an important lesson in perfectionism when I got married very young—at 23—because, by the time I started my role at Google, we were getting divorced. During this time, I bumped into a girl from my high school on the subway in London. I had always wondered what people from my high school were thinking about me—probably that I was doing so well. I put so much energy into being perfect. When this girl saw me, she went, “Jenny, how are you? The only thing I know about you is that you got a divorce.”
In this moment, I realized that I worked so hard to portray this idea of perfection, but actually, I had already publicly “failed” at something that a lot of people do in their life—stay married. I don’t think divorce is a failure; it was one of the best things I could have done for myself. It shows that people are willing to walk away from something that doesn’t make them happy and to believe in the potential for something better.
It shifted my approach to life. I reassessed to approach my life with a lens of, “If I’ve already ‘failed,’ what would I do if I wasn’t scared of failing? What else would I do?” That’s where starting the business came from; I wasn’t afraid of the risk.
EG: It’s like breaking the ice. The illusion is broken, so you may as well go all in and live your truth.
JQJ: It’s so easy to get caught up in other people’s perceptions of you. It’s very easy to say you’re open to failing, when in reality, it’s really hard to deal with. It changed my perception of everything; who am I living this life for? Who am I trying to impress? I would not have been so comfortable with failure to start a business if I hadn’t felt like I’d already publicly failed.
EG: I’m curious about how you found out about C200 and why you decided to join. You are our youngest Member!
JQJ: I actually learned that fact when I got off stage after my speaker session at the 2024 Annual Conference! When you work in social media, you see people get successful so young that I often feel old at 34. What I love about C200 is that there is such a mix of age ranges.
I found out about C200 through Jessica Michaels Kane, founder and CEO of Bread & Butter, which is a marketing agency. We were having a conversation about how the marketing industry is so woman-dominated, but actually less than 1% of the founders of marketing agencies are women.
We also talked about how there are a lot of women networks that focus on mid- to senior-level career growth and mentorship. While this is great for many women, I often find that people in those groups are dealing with problems that aren’t relevant to me. Jessica recommended I look into C200 for that reason. I randomly filled out the Member Interest Form on C200’s website; I had never attended any C200 events and didn’t know much about their offerings.
One of the things that’s so special about C200 is its really high barrier to entry. If C200 lowered its Membership Criteria to make itself more accessible or to make more money (which I think some of these groups do), it would lose the high-level conversations happening in its spaces and the benefit of Members’ experience. The exclusivity of C200 and the competitive Membership Criteria is really special, and it shouldn’t be diluted.
Meeting so many C200 Members at the 2024 Annual Conference, I was blown away by the challenges some of these women have faced and the scale of the companies that they run. I’ve only been to a couple C200 events, but every time, there’s this amazing blend of professionalism and sophistication, with a willingness to have fun and be vulnerable with each other. I haven’t experienced that in any other networking group.
EG: When you were going through your career journey, and even now, did you have any women mentors who you went to for advice? What is your experience with mentoring and networking?
JQJ: I’m quite bad at asking for help. I’m trying to work on it now, which is one of the reasons I joined C200. I had some really good mentors in my career, but I never structured it as a mentor-mentee relationship.
A few years into running my business, there was a woman called Melanie Varley who came on as an angel investor. She used to be CEO of a big advertising agency, and she also introduced me to Jessica Michaels Kane, who led me to C200. She has been really helpful and a consistent supporter and advocate.
Someone else who has been really helpful is Jamie Gutfreund, who used to be CMO of another influencer agency. There are a few people within Google, like Sophie Neary, who’s Managing Director for Retail in the UK. She’s so keen on building the next generation of women.
All these mentorship opportunities exist all the time, but often you’re so caught up in your own life, you don’t look for them. If I were going to do this again, I’d recommend people spend time looking above the pulpit. Don’t expect one person to solve your problems, but you should still go and talk to them and learn from them.
There’s a real appetite for playbooks or a silver bullet to get to where “you’re meant to be,” and I think COVID helped accelerate that. People felt really isolated and stuck at home, and they often feel like they couldn’t do something without a formal structure. Again, one person or thing is never going to solve your problems. Success happens in all these different ways, and it’s truly never linear or replicable for other people. People can put so much on their mentor to give them a solution, when in reality, you always have to give yourself a solution.
EG: What does being a woman in business mean to you?
JQJ: It means higher expectations, lower access, and lower rewards. I honestly think you have to work twice as hard to prove your worth. Men are assumed to be competent from the first moment they meet someone, and women are assumed to be nice and have to work to prove their competence, which is really exhausting.
You also have to balance empathy and competence, which is hard to do, because there are so many extra hurdles you trip over. For example, while I appreciate this very much, my team expects a level of empathy and understanding for me that they would not expect from a male founder—which completely makes sense. At the same time, you have to work twice as hard and compete twice as hard.
It’s a really difficult balancing act, where you have to marry trying to be humble and trying to be successful. You have to be direct in your asks to people, but every way you approach it, someone will always see you as getting it wrong. You have to balance quite an impossible tightrope. It is possible to be successful, but managing people’s expectations is the hardest part.
EG: Perception truly is reality. You know your own capabilities and skills, but it doesn’t matter if others don’t perceive you as having those capabilities and skills. You have to work to make people see what you see.
JQJ: A lot of people go into business, especially women and other underrepresented groups, thinking they will find the right formula, work really hard, and that should lead to success. What I’ve realized over the last few years is that a lot of success in business isn’t about having the right answer. It’s about being the loudest in the room, finding the right people, empowering people around you, being in the right place at the right time, or showing up in a way that requires a lot of self-belief.
Trying to get the right answer or to be perfect before you launch is not the secret. Success relies on grit and saying the same thing over and over again, and hopefully one time we say it in the right room at the right time.
EG: I know that as an entrepreneur, you’re really always working. But if and when you do get some free time, how do you like to spend it?
JQJ: I’m a big fan of walking. I like go on a “fake commute walk” most mornings. I’ll walk with a coffee in New York, but if I’m in Europe, I’ll go and sit at a coffee place (they’re not big on takeaway coffees over there). That and training at the gym has helped me manage a work-life balance.
Seeing friends and family is super important. I had a friend recently who’s dad died, and he told me, “If I’d known I could count the family vacations I had left on one hand, I would not have missed them for work.” There’s a real importance in showing up and truly being present when you do.
My generation and younger (Millennials and Gen-Z) are so constantly contactable; it’s easy to literally not be present in any event of your life. When I go travel with a friend or family, I keep off of my phone as much as I can. I’m a big advocate of making that quality time when you’re not working.
EG: What is your advice to aspiring women business leaders to advance their careers?
JQJ: Spend time with people who make abnormally large goals feel normal. For example, I was with a woman CEO for dinner in New York, and I asked her what she wanted to do next in her career. She said, “This idea may sound insane, but…” and it turns out she wanted to move into politics and diplomacy. I was just so inspired by her energy and mindset. Surround yourself with people who hear monumental goals and respond, “Cool. How are you going to do that?”
Everyone can ask, “How did you get that?” But there’s a difference between people who ask, “How did you get that?” and those who ask, “How did you get that?” I find those who fall into that second camp are energy drainers, not energy radiators.
Finally, don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from. Everyone’s quick to express opinions on how you could be better, but if they’re not in the arena, they’re not taking those risks themselves – so why would you listen to them? People are entitled to their opinion, but it doesn’t mean you have to listen. We need to have strong filters for whose criticism is worth our time.
EG: There’s always going to be noise, but it’s about how you cut through it and listen to the voices that matter most.
JQJ: With social media in particular, people are much more emboldened to type things online that they would never say to your face. For example, someone once commented on my LinkedIn videos, something like: “Speaks a lot, doesn’t say anything. Moves her hands too much.” He didn’t even address me directly, referring to me as “her” on my own post, as if my reaction to his reply didn’t matter—yet he still felt compelled to randomly express those feelings on my post.
There’s a lot of negativity online, and none of it is funny, but I try to take amusement from it. People are going to play the cards they have to play and express whatever they have the power to express. People leaving comments like that are probably not very happy, anyway. Imagine spending your life tearing someone down online rather than living your own life. It’s really sad for them—but again, you don’t have to listen to them. Are they going to ever play a role in your life? No. Are they ever going to meet you in real life? No. That’s one of the reasons why I think younger generations are growing up to be resilient, because they’re used to being defensive online.
EG: Why C200? What does it mean to you?
JQJ: C200 has been an amazing experience, and I love being part of a network that shows people can achieve phenomenal success, be celebrated, empower the next generation of people, and also be human in all of that. To watch Members come to Conferences, a place where we feel like we can be a whole person, is very rare and a testament to the quality and resiliency of the C200 community.
C200 is a space for people—women—who have been underrepresented in the business landscape. These women are people who have seized opportunities to create wealth and transform their lives, their families’ lives, and their communities’ lives. C200 women have achieved all of that, continue to empower whole new cohorts of customers, and want to keep pushing boundaries forward.
The core aim of groups like C200 are about empowering access to economic mechanisms and acting as vehicles for change. And I still fundamentally believe those should exist. If you’re a leader in any field, it’s now more important than ever to think about who you are opening opportunities for next and why.
C200 has been really important to me because of that. I believe that people who are underrepresented economically should have the power to change their lives and their communities’ lives.