Article originally published in Industry Era for Women magazine
Jennifer Myers Ward, CEO of ebove & beyond, treats every client and partner as a friend and generates a warmth and camaraderie that flows through all their communication, in-person meetings and calls. The personal touches that Jennifer applies to the relationships help to make her clients feel a genuine partnership with ebove, rather than an impersonal, outside agency feel.
She brings her 20 years of business knowledge to every account she partners with. She gladly educates both her team and brand to build the best program for each account. However, her industry savvy combined with her personal touch with each account makes ebove different from other affiliate agencies. The pioneering leader likes to explore new ideas and partnerships to build on the success of ebove & beyond, keeping an agency with decades of accomplishments relevant in today's market.
Building Long-Term Partnerships
Jennifer’s driven and connective nature shows immediately in the way she works with clients and their businesses. From the start, she gets to know them personally, learning their specific needs and goals, quickly getting to the heart of viable solutions for creating growth, a longtime partnership, and a record of success.
But she thanks her team for the constant support they provide during any and every project. Jennifer trusts her team to make decisions and supports new ideas and strategies, encouraging them to grow their skills and experience. She promotes independent and creative thinking in her team and provides constant support and guidance, allowing her team to grow continually.
“I advise everyone to build relationships. Meet people, see what you can learn from them, how you can help them and how they can help you. It’s not just about meeting someone once; it’s about keeping in touch and making a personal connection,” explains Jennifer. “I used to get business cards from every person I met at a conference. I would write notes on the back to remind myself of what we talked about and then on my flight back home, I would write personal handwritten notes to everyone I met and mail them out. I can’t tell you how many people that I know still reference getting that handwritten note from me…especially working in a digital industry.”
Armed with this uniqueness, Jennifer is leading the company to new heights. ebove & beyond was started in January 2003 with the goal of helping companies understand their growth opportunities on the internet and how to utilize specific online tools to expand their business effectively. Since then, ebove & beyond has helped dozens of retail companies in various industries create, optimize, and grow their online business. ebove & beyond has engaged a variety of online marketing tactics for its clients based on their specific businesses, customer demographics, product buying cycles and overall sales goals. “We take it upon ourselves to learn the ins and outs of each client’s business in order to create the best strategy for achieving online success. And then we make it happen!” elucidates Jennifer. “The name ‘ebove & beyond’ represents the extra effort we put forth to take each online business to the next level. The logo represents our approach's upward and forward motion and the hands-on manner with which we work with our clients, as that is my thumbprint in the paint. A little extra fact, the specific color blue was chosen to honor my college, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Go Tarheels!”
The company is the proud winner of the Pinnacle Award for Agency of the Year in 2017 and was a runner-up in 2015. “This is a true testament to how we work with our clients. We aren’t the biggest agency, but I would argue we are the best. This award was based on success and the true impact we had on our clients’ businesses no matter how big or small,” says Jennifer. “I love the fact that we continue to grow and gain momentum in the industry and as a leader I have gained the ability to be powerful and assertive, yet kind and thoughtful at the same time. I love being able to be compassionate and understanding without feeling weak for doing so. I love striving for my goals, even in the face of adversity I might encounter along the way. As a mother of a young woman, I love being able to not only tell her about all the opportunities she has in life, but to be able to show her.”