Jackson Ben Designs was created at the beginning of the pandemic
Losing my job acting at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada and then being forced into isolation was slowly eating away at my mental health.
Fortunately, (or not so fortunately for my husband) I'm one of those people who can NOT sit still.
After completely renovating my backyard (we're talking building retaining walls, decks, fire pits & flower beds), rearranging all of my furniture, painting my dining room 3x, and the (unfortunate) day my hubs walked into our kitchen, saw a hole in one of our walls, and me holding a sledgehammer... I decided to put my creativity to work.
I'm Jax and he's Ben.
Together we're Jackson Ben
(see what I did there?)
The moment I decided to pivot I sat down with my cute little journal and drew up a list of what my ideal life would look like if it was completely 100% up to me.
The number one thing on my list was to be able to spend more time with my family, which consists of my husband Eric (who is a freaking broadway star, y'all!) and my pup Ben :)
Number two was to have the ability to work from home or from anywhere in the world. Since my husband and I are both actors I needed something that could be transferrable to anywhere we are needed to perform.
(Like say, Toronto, where we are now!)
Design was always my first true love.
My friends and family have been asking me to design their online/physical spaces for them since before I can remember.
My bedroom growing up in Regina, SK had different colours on its walls every damn month. My favourite magazines have always been design oriented (absolutely hated Seventeen as a kid. HATED).
I took a graphic design course in high school that changed my life. Although, I didn't know it at the time. I am definitely one of those people who has "busy brain" and the second I stepped into that classroom everything went blissfully quiet.
Suddenly all of my passions for organization, design, support, and solving puzzles aligned. It felt kismet.
At that point I had already competed in two international competitions in Brazil, attended the National Ballet School, and been an apprentice with the Banff Performing Arts summer company.
The career of a dancer can be short, and fortunately I had fantastic guidance from my family who supported me in following a career in musical theatre with the hopes of being in a healthier (both physically and emotionally) environment.
It was set. I went to my dream college in Oakville (Sheridan College, go bears!) and straight out of the gate performed at Stratford, the La Jolla Playhouse, Broadway and on two national tours.
Being an actor is a freaking fantastic career, and I'm not done yet! I've just rediscovered an old love in the process.
You may be wondering why I didn't follow this career track right away... You have to understand that in high school I was already on track to be a prima ballerina...
I will always be so thankful for my two loves, and hope to be able to spend the rest of my life building both sides of my career.
+ personable, positive and easy to talk to (would definitely be cast as the best friend in a hallmark movie)
+ no bullshit, just love. (I will be your biggest cheerleader. I love to give solid advice that you ACTUALLY need. aka I don't talk just to hear my own voice)
+ creative and driven (there's no problem I won't solve for you)
My Skills
+ support and inspire women in business (I've always had a pull and the drive to support other women in business, after all we're all in this together!)
+ community love (One day I want to build a online or physical space where we can all dream together)
+ design & act (my two loves together. Building beautiful strategic brands by day, perform on Broadway by night)
My Dreams
I do not believe in following trends. You are unique so your business is unique.
I've made it my mission to take back design. No more copying "because that is what everyone else is doing so it must be what the people want." No, I say! No more!
Instead I build brands that are fresh, inspired, approachable, positive, inclusive, bold and BRAVE.
My philosophy
Okay, now I want to get to know YOU.
DOWNLOAD MY SERVICE GUIDE to
VIEW MY PACKAGES AND PRICING
FOLLOW AND SEND ME A DM ON INSTAGRAM
BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION CALL WITH ME SO WE CAN CHAT IT OUT
JOIN MY MAILING LIST
There is nothing better than building community and supporting other creatives and small business owners. Here are some ways we can work together or just stay in touch :)
"I love the site that Jacqueline built for me. I'm so proud of the work we did together."
"From the get go, her communication and schedule are easy to understand, she is always accessible (bless), and was amenable to changes (double bless). In fact, her attitude towards changes, which she described as play, made me rethink and re engage with the massive task being undertaken. Instead of being stressed by the work, I embraced the creative challenge. Thank you Jacqueline!"
Maryam Siddiqi
BOUTIQUE TRAVEL COMPANY FOUNDER
"Jacqueline brought my vision to life! She built a functional and stunning website and made the process so easy."
"And thank you for the incredible SEO work. I have been getting so many new clients through them finding me on my website. This has never happened to me before, so clearly I needed you!"
Lily McEvenue
Pilates studio owner
All of the awesome cool ways we can work together:
Book a Website Audit
Brand And Web Design Packages
Hire me for a day for any design needs
Not sure what option is best for you and your biz?
Set up a free consultation call with me and we'll figure it out together :)