In this Alumni Spotlight Q&A, Jacqueline Wilson reflects on her journey from UCSB student to Partner at a leading integrated communications agency. She shares how an early shift from math to Communication, combined with hands-on internships helped launch her into the world of PR and strategic marketing. Jacqueline highlights how her involvement in Alpha Delta Pi Sorority not only shaped her social and leadership experiences but also introduced her to causes she remains passionate about today. Her story shows the importance of building strong networks and leveraging the full UCSB experience to create a meaningful and dynamic career.
What drew you to UCSB for your undergraduate years?
I was born and raised in California, and knew that I wanted to go to a school where I could still drive and be with family for important events. So that kind of narrowed my playing field, and Santa Barbara was top of my list. I think it’s a school that brings a lot of great things together, from the education that you get, but also the atmosphere and the social aspect of everything at Santa Barbara. It was always top of my list. I got in and I was very excited that I got to go be a Gaucho. It was a wonderful four years!
How has your major, Communications, helped to develop your professional passions?
It contributed in every aspect. When I came to Santa Barbara, I was a math major but I ended up changing my major. I loved math in high school, that was my favorite subject, and I thought I was going to do something on that path. Once I got to Santa Barbara and took a couple Comms classes in my first year, and really started to think about what I wanted to do, I switched majors to Comms by spring quarter of my Freshman year. So Comms was not always my clear path when I first came to college, but after taking a couple courses and talking to some upperclassmen that were in the Comms major, I decided to switch and that was a great move for me, paving the path for my future. Throughout college, I did a few internships in Santa Barbara, Fresno and Washington, D.C. that supplemented my courses and the hands-on experience I got through interning further solidified the path that I wanted to be on. I think that happens for a lot of people in college. You’re not necessarily clear when you first sign up for a major in what exactly you’re setting out to do with it. You get exposed to new things through the classes that you take and navigate from there. Being a Communications major at Santa Barbara was definitely the North Star that kind of brought me to where I’m at today.
You were a part of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority—what led you to join, and what was your experience like in the sorority?
I knew I wanted to join a sorority before I even came to college. It was what my mom did, it was what my older sister did, and it was a path that I knew I also wanted to take. Especially seeing my mom’s network and friendships from her sorority experience—I grew up with her sorority sisters being “aunties” to me who I am still close with to this day. I saw that lifelong bond that she held with friends from her sorority and knew I wanted that in my life. So I went through rush my freshman year when I got to campus and was really excited to join ADPi. I went through rush with another person in my dorm, and we ended up both pledging ADPi, and I am still dear friends to this day with a lot of the friends that I made through my experience in a sorority at UCSB. It was a really fun adventure, not only to just meet people and have a baked in social element that was always there. But it also became my housing for a couple years, and I have very fond memories of being in a sorority house and living with that many friends under one roof. It is a unique experience, which I loved. Being an ADPi also exposed me to certain things that I’m still passionate about today. On the philanthropy side, there's an organization called Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times, a camp that's in Southern California. The sorority was tied to that organization and that's how I first got exposed. There was one summer during college I volunteered to be a camp counselor at the camp. It's a camp for kids who have survived cancer, currently have cancer, and/or their siblings. It’s intended to be a space where they come and forget about the world outside for a moment, while also being immersed with other kids who have gone through similar things. Someday I'd love to go back and be a camp counselor again. That is just one example of how sororities really expose you to a lot of different things, and it shaped my college experience and definitely opens doors professionally, too. When you come across people in your professional life that were in the same sorority at a different campus, you still find an instant bond and broaden that network even further. Greek life is something that’s not only good for building your network of knowing all these people as you exit college, but throughout your career too, you continue to bump into people and find common ground.
What memory do you look back on most fondly during your time at UCSB?
That's a hard one, there's so many. My senior year, I lived on DP in a house that was Oceanside (6599 for those keeping tabs at home!). Being able to live right on the ocean and wake up to that view was surreal. My window faced the ocean every morning, and it was just a reminder of the beauty of our campus, which was definitely a highlight for me. Other core memories are comprised of all the places in Isla Vista that probably don't even exist anymore. I'm sure there’s all new places. But getting the best breakfast burritos of my life from all the various spots, I think Rosaritos was my fav place. That was gone last time I was there. Then there is Sam’s To Go where we would get sandwiches and pitchers of beers while we took over the playlist and made an afternoon of it. Other things I loved about UCSB was being able to bike everywhere, bike to your friend's house, bike to campus, it was the main mode of transportation and a fun aspect of our college. And just the beauty of Santa Barbara in general. Being able to live in Santa Barbara while getting an amazing education and forging the friendships that I did in this beautiful place was top of the list for me. It's a special place!
In what ways do you continue to stay connected to UCSB as an alum?
Mostly through my sorority network, ADPi. I unfortunately don’t get to make it back to any of the alumni weekends or anything like that since I live on the East Coast. The friends I made through my sorority—spanning people in all different sororities and fraternities—remain a great UC Santa Barbara network that has followed us through life. I moved to New York shortly after college and there was a whole cohort of UCSB grads that naturally congregated together as we navigated the landscape of launching our careers in NYC. During my time at Santa Barbara I also did a quarter at UCDC, the UC center in Washington, D.C. where all UC’s send students for quarterly internships. We go in waves of having internship opportunities at my company, but I hope in the future we can get some UCSB students interning out of our D.C. office.
How did you first get started in the communication industry?
It was definitely through my internship experiences. I had one in Goleta that was for Deckers Outdoor Corporation as a sports marketing intern. My quarter at UCDC was a pivotal moment as well. It was winter quarter my senior year, and I worked for a PR and communications agency. How the UCDC program works, you got credits for the internship, and you also selected a research topic to pursue and draft an overall paper that you are working on while you are there interning. It was a great experience where I could really immerse into the work world Monday-Thursday doing this internship that exposed me to the communications agency world in a real way. So that was really the moment, taking advantage of the opportunity to apply to do the quarter in DC, and having a fully immersive internship where I went full time working and got credits for it and never looked back. Flash forward through many experiences and here I am!
You are currently a Partner at Stratacomm, an integrated communications agency. What does a typical workday look like for you?
Every day is different. It depends on the week; it depends on the day. But if I'm trying to paint a picture of the many hats that I wear as a partner for a marketing communications agency, a lot of it is building up teams to effectively service our clients and helping them set strategy.
So, on a typical day, I’m checking in with different team members that I work closely with and seeing if they need anything from me. I'm participating in some client calls, and typically I’m pulled into our client accounts to help set strategy and planning— directing annual marketing and communications plans.
Then I might hop into a leadership meeting that pulls together leaders from across the company, where we are talking about financial forecasting, resourcing our staff and our team and what we need to do to shuffle any workloads and things like that.
I'm always working on generating new business for our company—whether it's putting together proposals, meeting with people from my network to find new opportunities and helping our business grow. And overall having strategic-level conversations with our partner group on where our business is going, catching up in one-on-ones with team members throughout the agency, with a focus on our company culture and really fostering relationships with everybody in my sphere.
Then, at the end of the day, I might be dealing with an HR issue or something like that. So it really varies with what the day brings. I ultimately value that I get to work closely with our clients when it comes to the big picture of achieving great work together and that I’ve found a company in Stratacomm where people first is the way we lead and make decisions.
What is your favorite aspect of your career?
You know, we get to be really creative in this field when it comes to how we’re going to help our clients pull together their broader messaging and goals—how to help them position themselves and develop their brand that cascades across everything.
Getting to see advertisements that our team has developed and the strategy behind it—from planning, to creative concepting and then seeing those out in the wild is always fun. Being able to see the team's hard work out in the market is the best part. Because so much goes into it.
And really, I think back to what I was saying in the other question that you asked: the planning aspect of this career is my favorite thing to do. I love being able to look at our clients’ challenges and their objectives, and help them take a step back and map out how their marketing and communications strategies can help them overcome challenges that they're trying to solve towards and meet their goals.
What would you tell a prospective student considering attending UCSB?
100% you should go to UC Santa Barbara and be a Gaucho. I truly think it’s a special place where you walk out of there with social skills that others might not get at a campus that doesn't have as much of a social aspect as Santa Barbara, along with a really good education.
Santa Barbara has a way of becoming a piece of you in general. My husband and I even got married in Santa Barbara. It’s a slice of paradise in our country that has a university that offers an excellent education and atmosphere, and I feel really privileged that I got to spend my college experience at UCSB.
I always encourage anyone I can to consider Santa Barbara when they're looking at schools because of the education, network and experiences you are exposed to along the way. It remains my happy place, and I hope to someday get to spend more time in the Santa Barbara area.
Visit our alumni stories page for more alumni spotlights.