Jennifer Ekeleme’s (Creative Brand Management, 2011) journey through the industry hasn’t followed a straight line—and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
At Friday Forum, the Brandcenter alum and current Vice President of Multicultural Content and Audience Development at the National Hockey League returned to share lessons from her nonlinear career path. She offered students wisdom on storytelling, strategy, and showing up fully—both professionally and personally.
She opened with a reflection on her post-Brandcenter years: “When I left Brandcenter, I honestly assumed my path to success would be linear.” But graduating during a recession quickly proved otherwise. What followed was a journey shaped by curiosity, audacity, and an unwavering belief in the power of ideas. She encouraged students, “if you focus on what you’re learning, you can make leaps to places you never thought.”
From her first job as a strategist at DDB Chicago to CURLBOX to Cake/HAVAS, Jennifer emphasized the importance of embracing “side quests.” Outside of any work related projects, Ekeleme saw a lack of products for people of color in a beauty subscription box, an idea which would eventually become an entrepreneurial leap. While she had the self-proclaimed “audacity” to reach out to the company’s founder with strategic insights, well, the pitch didn’t land at the time.
“Write down your ideas. I like to think of ideas as sentient beings. Sometimes you need to nurture the idea. You may have a good idea and write it down on paper and think it’s ready to pitch, but then something will happen in the marketplace.”
She held onto her idea of inclusive beauty subscriptions, which led her to Myleik Teele and CURLBOX, a partnership that became the longest standing business relationship of her career and led to her next full-time job. “Step outside of what your title is,” she said. “A little bit of audacity goes a long way.”
Jennifer spoke candidly about the twists and pivots that shaped her path—including freelancing full-time for five years and an unexpected chapter living and working remotely from Costa Rica during the pandemic. Through each transition, she carried the foundational tools of Brandcenter with her: creative problem solving, strategy, research, storytelling, and the confidence to leap. “The way that we learn here [at Brandcenter], you can easily jump and do something else. All of the skills that we learn here are very transferable…Even if it wasn’t perfect, I knew that I would land on my feet.”
At the NHL, she now leads multicultural content and audience development, helping shape the league’s efforts to make hockey more inclusive and accessible. “When I first got there, there wasn’t a lot of narrative-driven storytelling,” she shared. But that’s changing. Through initiatives like NHL Unites, Jennifer is working to bring underrepresented voices into the spotlight—because representation isn’t just good ethics; it’s good business. “You have to present the business case,” she explained. “There’s real revenue potential when you invest in communities who haven’t traditionally been engaged.”
She reminded students that the work isn’t always easy—and influencing decision-makers requires discernment, timing, and relationship-building. “Sometimes you have to change tactics or talk to a different person. Sometimes, ultimately, you leave.” But throughout, she urged students to lead from wherever they are.:
“Leadership is not a title. Leadership is a behavior. You can embody that whether you’re at the bottom, in the middle, or the top.”
Ekeleme emphasized the need to fully invest in yourself and vision.:
“Your job title doesn’t define who you are, your creative spirit —Don’t shrink your imagination to fit someone else’s org chart.”