From Colby to Creative Entrepreneurship.

At the intersection of data-driven marketing and creative storytelling, Colby alumna Jenna Klein Jonsson ’97 has carved out a unique space in Maine’s business landscape. Drawing on her love for the outdoors and years of corporate marketing experience, she co-founded Blaze Partners, a full-service marketing company focused on strategic brand analysis and rebranding.

Blaze Partners helps organizations tell their stories authentically by diving deep into their values and history. The company takes a holistic approach to rebranding, managing everything from logo design and web development to retail experiences and social media strategy. Blaze’s client roster spans from Maine-based success story Sea Bags to Diversified Communications, where they recently led a rebrand for the company’s 75th anniversary that honored their legacy while positioning them for the future.

Jonsson’s path to entrepreneurship wasn’t always clear. After graduating from Colby, she had a brief stint in the ski industry before finding that the outdoor industry better aligned with her values, and then worked over 15 years at L.L.Bean, where she transitioned from journalism to creative roles while developing crucial business analytics skills. Her time at L.L.Bean proved invaluable, as she learned to combine creative direction with data-driven decision-making – a foundation that would later set Blaze Partners ahead of other advertising agencies.

Jonsson’s Colby education continues to influence her work today. She particularly credits an English course that taught the concept of reader response criticism as fundamental to her understanding of branding. “The concept is that when an author writes a text, they give up ownership over the meaning – the meaning lies with the reader,” she explained. “Brands are really the same way… what that brand means lies with the consumer.” She ensures that all the little interactions clients have with a brand, whether they be the website, the logo, the photography, or even the cleanliness of a store, are thoughtfully managed because they collectively form what the brand ultimately means to the client.

For current Colby students aspiring to start their own ventures, Jonsson emphasizes the importance of building businesses based on strong values. She advises that successful brand differentiation and customer loyalty comes from connecting authentically with your audience’s lifestyle and values. The decision to leave a secure corporate position to start Blaze Partners wasn’t easy. It meant trading stability for uncertainty. However, Jonsson’s desire to flex her entrepreneurial muscles and build something of her own, combined with her love for Maine, drove her to take the leap with two trusted business partners and a wealth of accumulated knowledge and experience.

Jonsson shows that careers don’t always follow a linear path but instead can be shaped by a willingness to take risks, a commitment to personal values, and a drive to create something meaningful.

Interview by Katie Bernard ’25.