Partners Jamie Lynn O’Grady and Sarah Evans have taken J/PR from a boutique startup to a global leader in luxury hospitality PR. Grounded in a people-first philosophy and fueled by sharp adaptability, they’ve steered the agency through major industry shifts and the pandemic’s upheaval — not just surviving, but thriving. In this interview, they dive into what’s driving their growth, how they innovate, and their bold vision for the future of hospitality communications in 2025 and beyond.
When we last profiled you pre-2020, the world — and the travel industry — looked very different. Since then, what have been the biggest shifts for JPR and how has the agency evolved in response?
Jamie Lynn O'Grady: We founded J/PR in 2005 with five employees. Fast-forward to 2025, and we’re proud that the agency has grown into a more than a $25M business. In the past five years alone, we have evolved into a global agency of scale. We’ve always held such a deep and unwavering belief in our teams throughout the past 20 years (even in the toughest times), that’s been a constant even as the agency has evolved. Now, with 20 years of perspective, we’re able to bring what has become our signature boutique service, combined with a deep expertise in luxury hospitality, and an increasingly macro perspective to the way we approach campaigns. Our roots run deep in hospitality and because of that we’re sought out by a really amazing portfolio of major destinations, properties and brands. From destinations like Stay Healdsburg, Visit Carmel-by-the-Sea and Canouan, to our work telling incredible and important stories for destinations including North Carolina and Asheville, to our growing expertise with iconic hospitality brands including Relais & Chateaux, river cruises and safaris; Dorchester Collection; White Elephant Resorts (we handle their social media and photography content creation) and Foley Entertainment Group (including both hospitality and wine and spirits brands within the portfolio), to complementary luxury real estate ventures, and some of the most coveted boutique properties in the world —we’re applying decades of specialized experience brand-defining storytelling on a larger scale than ever before. We have big access with a very boutique feel.
You spoke previously about the overnight loss of business when travel came to a halt. Looking back, what were the most important lessons you carried forward from that moment?
Sarah Evans: We've come so far from that crazy time and while I don't even like to look back at it. However, in hindsight, we did learn so much. Ultimately, we left that period with a greater appreciation of where we are and what we've built. There are so many lessons we’ve learned, but I think the #1 lesson for me is that when you're going through something so dark and unknown, to truly believe that it will work out. It sounds so simple, but it's true. Even during the craziest and most unbelievable days, we continued to have complete belief in ourselves,our team, in our clients, and in what we'd built. And going through all of that with Jamie, my partner and best friend, only made that relationship stronger, too. It was from that place of deep belief and trust that we not only made it through the pandemic, but in many ways, we thrived. We made up for the lost business by focusing on ourselves — we worked hand-in-hand with our longtime teammate, Lauren Knudsen, to launch an affiliate agency, 20Two Studio; we completely rebranded J/PR with a new look and elevated website, we grew our social team and added new services, and at the end of 2021, we acquired a Sadler, an incredible boutique travel agency in the U.K. We embedded their team into our dynamic J/PR UK team, where we now have over 20 people.
JPR has grown significantly since we last spoke — in headcount, clients, and global reach. What’s fueled that growth, and how have you stayed true to your core values while scaling?
Jamie Lynn O'Grady: Change is a constant in our space. But something that’s also remained constant over the past 20 years is our core values: We truly believe that our team members and our collective team come first. Happy team members produce happy loyal clients. We also believe that the care and love we put into nurturing our team will always come back tenfold. It’s important to recognize that life is short and it can change quickly, so our team is always at the heart of every business decision we’ve made. Ultimately, our people have fueled our growth, and I believe wholeheartedly that giving people the ability to shape their careers by working on business they're passionate about, while also nurturing things that are important to them personally, is the secret to our continued success.
Our market growth has come largely from longtime employees making life changes and launching offices. For example, our Senior Managing Director in the UK, Emma Hartland-Mahon, moved home to London and launched our UK office over 10 years ago. Our regional U.S. market growth has followed suit - and today we have offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, Denver, Phoenix, Atlanta - in addition to our HQs in New York and San Diego. We’re about to launch another major U.S. city soon. On a global scale, we’re committed to continue growing in the UK and internationally. We want to grow strategically and thoughtfully in markets and places we believe have potential - places that make our team and clients excited and where we all see opportunity.
How would you describe JPR’s point of view today when it comes to hospitality communications? What are clients looking for now that they weren’t a few years ago?
Sarah Evans: In some ways, everything has changed, and in other ways, some things have stayed the same. What’s absolutely for sure is that our job is more evolved and casts a wider net than ever, and we’re seeing so many clients hire us to handle their US PR, UK PR and their social media. Clients are looking at the holistic marketing vehicle more than ever and we’re training our team to think that way.
We still have clients whose top KPI is a glossy print placement, and it’s been great to see print is having a bit of a resurgence. We have other clients who are only watching their Google Analytics and are excited about the digital publications with high readership metrics and the potential for direct booking links. And, we have still others laser-focused on well-known influencers, KOLs or brand collaborations. As marketers (both in PR and Social Media), it's so important for us to really understand our clients' unique goals, and most importantly, to understand who their clients are and what’s driving their revenue. We’re always asking ourselves, “Who are our clients’ clients? What regions and even zip codes are driving bookings for them? Who are their dream and aspirational audiences? What micro influencers are driving value for them? We have such a unique lens on so many facets of the hospitality industry, which is always a great resource for our clients.
The media landscape has continued to shift dramatically — from traditional editorial to social and creator-driven content. How has your team adapted, and what does a winning strategy look like in 2025?
Jamie Lynn O'Grady: There’s no question that the media landscape is continually changing, and it's crucial to be nimble. Being adaptable and embracing change has proven to be a winning strategy for us as an agency and for so many of our clients.
There are more mediums than ever, and we go into campaign planning and strategy with the mentality that we should be prepared to have every base covered—traditional legacy media; micro/nano and niche influencers and content creators; substack authors; short form video creators, you name it…you have to consider it all. Ultimately, though, we’ve always approached our work from a KPI-driven perspective. We spend our time executing the strategy that moves the needle most effectively for each individual client.
We create customized campaigns that speak to what our research tells us about the client and their existing and target consumers. Then, we dig deeper into each bucket of opportunity to determine what really helps them meet their goals. We’re also proud that we often push clients out of their comfort zones, to test, try, and adapt their strategies in real-time to create dynamic campaigns that can respond to the ever-evolving media landscape of today, and future-proof their businesses for tomorrow.
With so many agencies expanding their services, how do you approach innovation at JPR — whether it’s new offerings, tech tools, or talent development?
Sarah Evans: Our team and our talent are the core of J/PR, and we’ve never stopped investing to ensure that our team continues growing and learning at every level. Whether by bringing in outside speakers, holding team summits (we had our entire social media team in Nashville for a summit last week!), we’re constantly evaluating and bringing in new platforms, tools and technologies to help us be better publicists, social strategists, photographers, client servicers and creative thinkers - continuing to evolve, change and grow is a key KPI for us at J/PR. For example, we’ve been looking at influencers as part of the media landscape for many years. We’ve made social media a priority for over a decade now, and have a team of 20 dedicated solely to social media, photography and creating content. That side of the business has already grown over 20 percent this year. And in 2018 we launched a podcast, ‘Priority Status, long before podcasts were a “thing.” We’re actually in the process of revamping that now and launching it in a new iteration.
Culture has always been a differentiator for JPR. How do you maintain that as the team grows and works across multiple markets?
Jamie Lynn O'Grady: My dad is a retired US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel. Growing up, he used to constantly say to us, “no man left behind” for small things…like getting me to reluctantly help my little brother carry his beachtoys home from the beach, or pitching in to help friends in need. I’ve recently realized that that small but powerful phrase has had a bigger impact on me than I’ve ever realized. At its core, “no man left behind” is the idea of taking care of people - your friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, community, and even strangers. If someone’s load is too heavy, you help carry the burden.
Don’t get me wrong, at J/PR we’re fiercely competitive in our space, and we’re proud of our work, but human connection and taking care of people is ultimately what matters most, and it’s something that will always be who we are at J/PR.
It’s well-known that Sarah and I are college best friends, and that’s just another example of how human connection was essential to the founding of J/PR. It’s even more apparent in our team retention and longevity. We have 131 team members, 28 percent of whom have been with the agency over five years; 11 percent have been with the agency over 10 years. The same goes for our clients: we have more than 50(!) clients who have been with J/PR for over five years.
We’re all committed to leaving this industry better than we found it through training, mentorship, education, and a commitment to our people, and it’s really important to me that we’re here in the best moments of life, but also some of life’s worst moments for our team members, clients and media. We step up and do what it takes…that’s the bottomline.
My hope is that people look back on their time at J/PR (whether it’s a decade-plus, or even just a few years) as some of their best years -- where they did some of their best and most fulfilling work, and had equally fulfilling life experiences.
Finally, what’s exciting you most at work right now — whether it's a client project, internal initiative, or broader industry trend?
Sarah Evans: There have been so many moments and chapters of our growth that I've been excited about over the years, and I can honestly say I'm as excited now as I've ever been about what we’re doing at J/PR, and also at our affiliate agency, 20Two Studio. We've created something we're immensely proud of—a rock-solid and loyal team (16 team members have been with us for over 10 years, and 43 started as interns); the very best client list (20 of our clients have been with us for over 10 years) and a commitment to constant evolution and global growth. On any given day at J/PR, you’ll find our team hosting events, press trips, taking media appointments, shooting content missions, creating reels, speaking on panels, launching hotels, leading team trainings, and traveling all over the world - literally all over the world. It's wild when I stop and think about it. And, even on the hardest days I’m immensely proud and grateful. My goal this year is to really celebrate the wins, big and small. If you had asked Jamie and me 10 years ago if this was all possible, I’m not sure we would have ever believed you (and college Sarah and Jamie would be floored). But I think we now know that the sky’s the limit.
