“The feeling I get from donating time or money or services to an individual or an organization just makes me feel good.”
~ Jennifer Kaplan, owner and founder of
Evolve Public Relations & Marketing
Jennifer Kaplan was born to talk. Just ask her mother, who will tell you that Jennifer came out of the womb speaking right from the start.
“I’ve always been a people person,” Jennifer says. In grade school, she was known for being very social. So it’s not a surprise that she was voted Senior Most Talkative her senior year in high school.
Those exceptional social skills are a perfect match for her chosen profession. As owner and founder of Evolve Public Relations & Marketing in Scottsdale, Jennifer and her team go above and beyond to meet client expectations in all things public relations.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Jennifer’s parents moved to Arizona from New York. Her entire family, from grandparents to aunts, uncles and cousins, followed. She has a unique and creative family; her mother, father and brother are all entrepreneurs as she is herself. She didn’t have the eye of her interior designer mother nor did she think she was funny enough to be a comedian at her father’s comedy club. However, she did have a big personality. “My strong suit was people,” she says.
A childhood of Judaism, sports
Attending the Jewish Community Center was a big part of her youth. Her grandmother was an assistant teacher in the preschool, while her grandfather played racquetball there. She was involved in BBYO and became a bat mitzvah at Beth Israel. She attended Hebrew High and was involved with Hillel when she attended Arizona State University. Passover was always a standout holiday for her and brings up fond memories of family and rituals.
While in high school, Jennifer was very involved with sports and lettered in softball, volleyball, tennis and basketball. In college she was involved in a sorority and, not surprisingly, was social chair. Her degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations didn’t bode well for a job directly after graduation. “I couldn’t find a job in PR,” she says. After attending a job fair, she took a job with UPS and then went to a logistics company. In her personal time, she sat on boards and committees to volunteer her time for PR and events.
“To evaluate what direction I wanted to go in, I decided at 30 to start my own business,” Jennifer says. She had a business partner in public relations for five years before she left to start Evolve on her own. The firm now has six full-time staff, and the company does only public relations work. “I feel we are successful because we have focused on one thing, and we have done that really well.”
Building her brand and loving her job
Not everyone is so lucky in his or her career, but Jennifer says she could not imagine doing anything else. “I get so excited when my feet touch the ground. I have really evolved.”
One of the things Jennifer does to build her brand in the Valley is a weekly segment on a local television station. She was a 2014 Athena Award nominee, which honors women in the community; a 2015 one•n•ten honorary chair; and she participated in the 2013 local Dancing with the Stars benefiting the National Kidney Foundation Arizona Chapter.
It is important for her to give back and support the community. “The feeling I get from donating time or money or services to an individual or an organization just makes me feel good in that I may be making a difference in somebody’s life,” she says.
Personal challenges often help people overcome obstacles, and Jennifer is no different. She gained a lot of insight after going through a divorce. “I learned a lot about myself and what is important to me in finding my partner,” she says. That and going on her own in business taught her about responsibility. “It matured me in a different way and forced me to do things that are outside of my comfort zone,” which led to her opening her business.
Not only is she responsible for staff, she helps clients get their name and brand out into the community. “When we secure coverage and exposure opportunities for our clients, they really can see a change in their business,” Jennifer says. “Whether it’s sales or increased awareness – that is the best reward of what we can do.”
When she’s not pulling out all the stops for her clients, Jennifer spends time with her family and boyfriend, John Collura, who she first met when she was 16. After their lives took separate turns, they reunited and now have been together for a year.
Jennifer’s gift of gab has enabled her to grow a business based on her best social attributes. As her business continues to grow, she has her sights set on giving back to the community, treating people with respect and enjoying an overall passion for life.
