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Jessica Witenberg
Jessica Witenberg is the Managing Director and President of Global Beauty at female-owned and-led product development agency twelveNYC, where she manages the EMEA team headquartered in London.
twelveNYC tells stories through custom private label products, curated gifts-with-purchase, innovative packaging vehicles, and thoughtful sustainable merchandise. Their clientele include some of the world's most recognized brands, including companies in the beauty, luxury, corporate, tech, and lifestyle spaces. The EMEA office opened its doors in 2017, however twelveNYC has been creating custom, innovative product narratives for brands since 2005, with offices also in Brooklyn and Hong Kong.
Jessica's passion for storytelling through product started early. An Australian native, she had studied her Bachelors of Arts at the University of Melbourne where she majored in business and geography. Having worked in retail from a young age, she developed a love for accessories. “I just loved product,” she exclaims. “I always loved being in the shop, not necessarily buying, but just noticing the product. I always wondered where the product came from. That was one of the things I loved about my geography degree. My major was about how goods moved around the world. I always had that synergy towards how product was made and worked.”
After university, she began working for an Australian fashion brand that at the time, was still finding its feet. In the beginning, there was no brick and mortar store, nor was it sold in any of the major retailers, however within the 3-4 years that Jessica worked for the retailer, she saw it blossom and evolve into an affordable luxury brand, which could be compared to RTW fashion brand, Michael Kors. “It was a really inspirational time to be part of that business.” In Jessica’s eyes, she worked for the best brand in the world, but she wanted more and that more came in the shape of relocating to London with her flatmate at the time in 2000. “Oh my gosh, that’s really scary,” she chuckles as if suddenly realising it was 21 years ago. She landed a role working for a design agency, where she specialised in jewellery and accessories and worked her way up in the company for 15 years. Jessica also launched and ran her very own design agency where she would design and develop products with clientele like ASOS. The agency sadly came to an end after Jessica gave birth to her two sons. “My whole team was in Hong Kong and it was me and just the design assistant in London. I decided I'd go with the needs of childcare and my own needs as well, so I went back to work.” She then worked for a heritage beauty brand as its UK sales manager, working alongside retailers like Boots and Superdrug. It was a different world to the fashion industry Jessica had become accustomed to, although it was during this time that she had the opportunity to learn about the beauty industry, which ultimately led her path to twelveNYC.
Jessica's advice to women who wish to start their own business to first understand what they love doing and to then identify where their strengths lie. “You don't want to be overly self-deprecating, but I think you need to understand what you're really good at. There's no point in starting a new business and spending your time doing accounting, if that's what you hate doing. Your business is about the love of what you enjoy doing. Sometimes I feel like I neglect my kids a little bit because I'm so immersed in my business,” she admits laughing. You don't ever want it to feel like a chore.”