In this episode, we interview Jefferson Ellison, the Chief Creative of Jawbreaking.

Here’s What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

  • What led to Jefferson’s decision to buy Jawbreaking in 2016 (and his creative way of making an offer)
  • Jawbreaking leaning into the term from the 1960’s “Youth Quake”
  • What Jefferson’s identity means in a city full of White people
  • What led Jefferson to create the “Don’t Ask Your Black Friend” Webinar (…we took this webinar and highly suggest it)
  • How working to create meaningful connections can change your life (or someone else’s)

Enjoyed this interview? We think you might also dig this episode with local photographer & storyteller, Nicole McConville.

Show Notes

About Jefferson Ellison

Born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, Jefferson Ellison has been working in fashion since he was 16. After earning a degree at North Carolina State University’s College of Textiles, Ellison moved to NYC and expanded his body of work to include sales strategy, content creation and public relations. Under Ellison’s creative direction, JAWBREAKING, a digital platform offering interviews and investigative reporting, op-eds, fashion editorials and prose, became known for its irreverent sense of youth and boastful hints of Southern charm. Upon his return to Asheville, Ellison founded Jawbreaking Creative, a creative agency that offers consulting in editorial, advertising, events and influencer outreach as well as data analysis, trend forecasting, brand monitoring and more.

 

 

“I’m not a cog in the machine, I am the machine”

To learn more about Jawbreaking, check out the links below:

Website

Twitter

IG

Facebook

 

People

  • Connie from East Fork and Gillie of Ware – friends that have been on his journey and have given the advice of “stop undervaluing yourself and stop thinking there isn’t money out there”
  • Max Schneider – famous musician that Jawbreaking did project with
  • AVL today– a popular (36,000+ subscribers) newsletter that Jefferson recently did a partnership with
  • Ethan- Jeffersons favorite bartender “who knows his wine taste better than himself”

Places

  • Visit Asheville – Tony & Jefferson all participated in a class there in 2019
  • Bottle Riot is one of his favorite places to drink wine and sit outside, as Jefferson mentions “you can be in a gravel parking lot and have an exclusive bottle of wine”

Media

  • Complex Magazine– media and entertainment company based in New York City for youth culture which led to the magazine created by fashion designer Marc Milecofsky

 

Music by Commonwealth Choir