by Rachel Witkowski
Staff Writer
Katie Olecki has only been at On Ideas, a fully-integrated advertising and public relations agency, for about 10 months. But in less than a year, Olecki spearheaded campaigns for the largest account in the agency — Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. — serving as the vice president, account supervisor.
Olecki moved to Jacksonville a year ago from Dallas. She was senior account manager at Neiman Marcus, where she started as a college intern and progressed through the company during her eight years of employment.
“I was an intern in the fashion advertising department,” said Olecki, now 29. “I was just thinking that would be an awesome job to have as a student.”
Neiman Marcus representatives came to her college, Southern Methodist University, to select interns and Olecki was among the chosen aspiring ad majors. But it wasn’t always a passion for Olecki to manage, help create and implement ad campaigns.
Olecki began college as a pre-dental major with the dream of becoming an orthodontist, but one ad course as an elective changed her mind.
“I felt like it was a very current industry. I really enjoyed it,” she said.
With the experience from Neiman Marcus, Olecki was hired at On Ideas nearly two months after she arrived in Jacksonville. She was among the first hires for the company that bought Husk Jennings Galloway + Partners late last year. On Ideas partners — CEO Tom Bolling and executive art director Frank Constantini — interviewed and hired Olecki.
“It was just a matter of good timing. They really like the experience I had to offer,” said Olecki. “They really needed someone with big business retail experience. I just felt like it was a good fit.”
Olecki enjoys the fact that On Ideas is small enough to allow close interaction with the partners. She spends half her work hours at the office in the Dyal-Upchurch building on East Bay Street, and the other half with her client — despite the fact Winn-Dixie has its own ad department. When Winn-Dixie proposes an ad campaign, Olecki supervises the project with the creative group that includes the agency’s partners. The group forms a strategy, determines a budget, creates the message, receives approval from the client, and then proceeds with the final production. One of the latest Winn-Dixie campaigns Olecki helped organize was the “Getting better all the time” TV campaign. Other On Ideas clients include Nemours, Copper Mountain and the University of Florida School of Dentistry.
“I really like the industry I’m in,” she said. “It’s really gratifying to see the things that you work on, on TV or hear it on the radio.”
Olecki said she is still trying to settle into her new city, but she does want to get more involved with her second passion — animal welfare. She hopes to volunteer more of her time at the Jacksonville Humane Society.
Though she has lived in about 10 different states, mostly on the East Coast from Connecticut to New Jersey and Georgia, Olecki’s favorite and final stop is Jacksonville.
“I just want to continue to grow with this agency,” she said. “I feel very settled in Jacksonville and I feel I made a decision that’s right for me.”