by Natasha Khairullah
Staff Writer
If Beverly Jelinek had a nickel for every time she’s changed jobs, she’d be a rich, rich woman.
Over the past 40 years, Jelinek has had (and considered taking) more than a dozen different jobs in areas ranging from advertising executive at the Florida Times-Union to making a run at City Council. Her current position as vice president of Public Relations for Goodwill Industries of North Florida is by far her most rewarding endeavor yet, she said.
“Some people wonder what their calling is,” she said. “I feel like this is mine and that I’m meant to be here to help spread the words of Goodwill’s mission.”
Jelinek didn’t find her “calling” overnight, though.
A Jacksonville native whose father worked in an advertising agency, Jelinek is a marketing veteran who said she’s lived and breathed advertising all her life.
Her father, John Jelinek of John Jelinek Advertising, was an ad man since 1951. It was a natural thing, then, for Jelinek to stay within the familial field of work.
She graduated from Jacksonville University in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management but held various jobs within the ad/marketing field since high school at places like law firms and the marketing department of May Cohens.
After graduating from college, she spent the next 26 years as vice president of marketing for Southern Industrial Corp., the franchisee of Jacksonville-area Burger King restaurants. She eventually left the company because they sold their Burger King franchise (that included several stores) back to the Burger King corporation.
After leaving Burger King, Jelinek experienced a big change when she joined then start-up Firehouse Subs as director of marketing and remained with them for eight months.
“I went from a North Florida local concentration to a national-level young upstart (business),” she said. “Burger King was already established and had a long-term track record and Firehouse was young and going through growing pains.”
The turning point for Jelinek, and one that ultimately led her to Goodwill, came after caring for her father through his battle with Alzheimer’s disease when she began toying with the idea of running for City Council.
“I had been my father’s primary caretaker and after seeing what he went through and what the senior citizens that I had come in contact with over the past six years had gone through, I was thinking about getting into public service,” she said.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’m 55 and I’m not getting any younger,’ and so I decided if I’m going to do something, now’s the time I need to look into doing it.”
Jelinek wasn’t sold on politics, but she knew she wanted to find an employer who would support her decision to become politically active.
“I was on the Goodwill board of directors since I was at Burger King,” she said, “and I knew what the organization was like. I’d never been in the nonprofit arena and so I put my political aspirations on hold even though I was seriously toying with putting my name in the hat.”
After talking to Goodwill CEO Bob Thayer, Jelinek joined the nonprofit as its new vice president of public relations.
Jelinek said she’s had people in the past say “you’re never gonna get rich at Goodwill.” However, money is the least of her concerns.
“I want to make a difference and I want to do something that’s going to give back to the community that I’m from,” she said.
Jelinek also said her past work experiences at for-profit companies were good preparation for her role at Goodwill.
“From a Goodwill standpoint, my job is to communicate Goodwill to the corporate community and I’ve been on that side, so it’s a natural transition. I’m where I belong,” she said.
As for her political aspirations, Jelinek says she hasn’t abandoned the idea and still may consider politics in the future.
“(But) right now I’m taking my time and I’m focused on what’s going on here.”
Jelinek lives on the Southside and is on the board of directors of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Sports and Entertainment division. When she’s not spending time with her “Goodwill family,” she hangs out with her two cats, Peanut and Tofu.