Careers

If you join us, your work day might look something like this.

Jon stirs his tea at our workspace in the Mission in San Francisco.

Jonaki and Miki wander the Great Salt Lake while on a trip for a Utah-based team.

Jackson is armed and not remotely dangerous while on assignment for Eventbrite.

Miki maps the future of the company...in bed.

This is not a stock photo! This really was the scene out the office window last year.

Not every day is glorious. Here, the Bay Area crew meets in a team member’s garage.

Miki talks with a client while onsite at a Bay Area office.

Foundation

The values that bind us

Ask good questions

If you’re listening, and curious, and care about who you’re speaking with, you’ll ask good questions. All at once, good questions require selflessness—this isn’t about you—and confidence—good questions lead the way.

Know yourself. Trust your gut.

We recognize that all learning starts with self-knowledge. And there’s a lot to learn! We’re not afraid to hit pause and look around. To ask how we’re feeling and why. We are powerful only when we know and trust ourselves.

Lead by example.

We must be the change we seek in the world. Cliche, we know, but true. When we lead by example, all at once we demonstrate commitment, that our claims are achievable, and that we can be trusted.

Take the other side.

There’s no better way to clarify our thoughts—and build empathy—than to take another person’s position as our own. Whether the shoe fits, or not, we’ll gain confidence in our step.

Seek the truth.

The truth is hard to find, and often harder to hear. It’s worth defending, and often needs it. It's subject to change, but no bar is higher. We’ve all been on the wrong side, but that’s life. The trick is noticing.

Start from trust.

Life isn’t fair, but a life based in fear is a recipe for regret. We start from trust because trust opens doors. It helps us move quickly. Trust begets trust. Does trust backfire? Sure does. But better to try than to hide.

Meet the team

We're the folks you'll be sharing your Google Docs with.

These people do the client-facing stuff.

Christina Bryza

Senior Editor

"...There’s yoga, prayer, meditation, a green smoothie with lots of protein and fiber, and journaling — but not all of those things happen every day."

Olivia Haas

Creative Lead

"I can nab decent-to-excellent parking almost anywhere, anytime. Something just happens; I have this faith that a spot will materialize, and about 85 percent of the time, it does."

Sandra Barry

Senior Writer & Editor

"You know that old meme, lawyer dog? That’s me. He’s a damn good attorney. He passed the bar! But he’s still a silly little corgi."

Miki Johnson

Cofounder

"...That’s an important part of culture for me — that everyone feels comfortable voicing contrarian or unpopular views, and that disagreeing with someone is never a reason to disrespect them."

Talia Page

Creative Lead

"The meaning of “adventure” is changing for me. I spent a lot of my 20s traveling, and my favorite places were deserts. ...Now, my big adventures involve putting down deeper roots at home."

Jonaki Mehta

Creative Lead

"I remember very clearly the first time I questioned my dad’s judgement, and he responded surprisingly well. It was a small moment, but it taught me the power of respectfully challenging people."

These people keep the business running, behind the scenes.

Jon Young

Jon-of-All-Trades

[Re: puka shell necklaces.] "...I don’t own one myself, but you gotta give zero Fs if you’re still sporting one of those bad boys. I feel very connected to people who aren’t shy about themselves."

Nate Guggia

More Than Just a Sales Guy

"A few years ago, I started a fresh smoothie delivery service and eventually created a shelf product that was accepted into Whole Foods stores in the Salt Lake City region."

Jackson Solway

Cofounder

"I remember being in elementary school when the teacher would ask, “What’s your favorite animal?” We’d go around the room and it was all dogs and cats, and I would yell, “tapeworm!” "

Natasha Sunderland

BizOps & Project Manager

"Three friends and I took a month-long road trip through southern Africa and they told me the tiny Volkswagen Rabbit we were driving would be fine..."

Resources for candidates

Our cards, on the table.

From our founders

Better to try than wonder what could have been.

On the surface we operate Job Portraits, a creative studio specializing in employer branding. We work with recruiting teams at startups. (Mega niche, we know.) But behind the scenes we’re running experiments on ourselves, and building infrastructure to support a new concept of the job.
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If that sounds heady, well, that’s what makes it fun, and it’s what our clients pay us to think about. Job Portraits exists, in part, to make the experience of seeking work, and of work itself, enjoyable. So as we grow our own team, we firmly believe that, while not every candidate will fit our needs or decide they’re interested in what we do, figuring out whether we want to work together shouldn’t suck.
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Below you'll find information that'll help you do just this. We hope you'll give it a read. And if the feeling is right, by all means, please reach out to us. We're listening.

– Miki & Jackson, cofounders

Candidate FAQ

Your actual questions, our direct answers.

Are you a startup?

For each of the last three years we've (roughly) doubled our revenue, but we have not raised capital and don't intend to. By definition we are not a startup. We know this is a deal-breaker for some folks (and a great benefit to others!) so we want to be upfront about it.

Is Job Portraits an agency?

Yes and no. We solve particular problems, and we choose clients because their problems are the ones we can solve. This contrasts with most agencies, who focus instead on applying their skills. The real question here (in our experience), is whether we get bossed around by clients. To this point we'll note that the content we create reflects our clients' cultures; we can't get the work done without close collaboration and a heaping dose of trust.

Are the hours flexible and/or can I work remotely?

Yes and yes! We're a remote-first team. About half of us live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Other team members live in Oregon, Florida, Colorado, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. We all live by our calendars and trust each other to get our work done in a timely manner, but there aren't set hours here. Team members frequently take time off in the middle of the day and nobody bats an eye.

What will I personally do/make/create?

From our research with job candidates we know this question is top of mind for you...but we're reluctant to generalize. We'll say this: as a team, we spend about 30% of our time creating content (videos, blog posts, photographs, etc), 20% on consulting activities (conversations, deck creation, strategy documents), and 50% on everything else. Talk to us though—this really depends on the role you'll step into.

Job Portraits is a growing collective of creative professionals and corporate expats on a mission to widen access to meaningful work.

If you join us, your work day might look something like this.

Jon stirs his tea at our workspace in the Mission in San Francisco.

Jonaki and Miki wander the Great Salt Lake while on a trip for a Utah-based team.

Jackson is armed and not remotely dangerous while on assignment for Eventbrite.

Miki maps the future of the company...in bed.

This is not a stock photo! This really was the scene out the office window last year.

Not every day is glorious. Here, the Bay Area crew meets in a team member’s garage.

Miki talks with a client while onsite at a Bay Area office.

The values that bind us

Ask good questions

If you’re listening, and curious, and care about who you’re speaking with, you’ll ask good questions. All at once, good questions require selflessness—this isn’t about you—and confidence—good questions lead the way.

Know yourself. Trust your gut.

We recognize that all learning starts with self-knowledge. And there’s a lot to learn! We’re not afraid to hit pause and look around. To ask how we’re feeling and why. We are powerful only when we know and trust ourselves.

Lead by example.

We must be the change we seek in the world. Cliche, we know, but true. When we lead by example, all at once we demonstrate commitment, that our claims are achievable, and that we can be trusted.

Take the other side.

There’s no better way to clarify our thoughts—and build empathy—than to take another person’s position as our own. Whether the shoe fits, or not, we’ll gain confidence in our step.

Seek the truth.

The truth is hard to find, and often harder to hear. It’s worth defending, and often needs it. It's subject to change, but no bar is higher. We’ve all been on the wrong side, but that’s life. The trick is noticing.

Start from trust.

Life isn’t fair, but a life based in fear is a recipe for regret. We start from trust because trust opens doors. It helps us move quickly. Trust begets trust. Does trust backfire? Sure does. But better to try than to hide.

We're the folks you'll be sharing your Google Docs with.

These people do the client-facing stuff.

Christina Bryza

Senior Editor

"...There’s yoga, prayer, meditation, a green smoothie with lots of protein and fiber, and journaling — but not all of those things happen every day."

Olivia Haas

Creative Lead

"I can nab decent-to-excellent parking almost anywhere, anytime. Something just happens; I have this faith that a spot will materialize, and about 85 percent of the time, it does."

Sandra Barry

Senior Writer & Editor

"You know that old meme, lawyer dog? That’s me. He’s a damn good attorney. He passed the bar! But he’s still a silly little corgi."

Miki Johnson

Cofounder

"...That’s an important part of culture for me — that everyone feels comfortable voicing contrarian or unpopular views, and that disagreeing with someone is never a reason to disrespect them."

Talia Page

Creative Lead

"The meaning of “adventure” is changing for me. I spent a lot of my 20s traveling, and my favorite places were deserts. ...Now, my big adventures involve putting down deeper roots at home."

Jonaki Mehta

Creative Lead

"I remember very clearly the first time I questioned my dad’s judgement, and he responded surprisingly well. It was a small moment, but it taught me the power of respectfully challenging people."

These people keep the business running, behind the scenes.

Jon Young

Jon-of-All-Trades

[Re: puka shell necklaces.] "...I don’t own one myself, but you gotta give zero Fs if you’re still sporting one of those bad boys. I feel very connected to people who aren’t shy about themselves."

Nate Guggia

More Than Just a Sales Guy

"A few years ago, I started a fresh smoothie delivery service and eventually created a shelf product that was accepted into Whole Foods stores in the Salt Lake City region."

Jackson Solway

Cofounder

"I remember being in elementary school when the teacher would ask, “What’s your favorite animal?” We’d go around the room and it was all dogs and cats, and I would yell, “tapeworm!” "

Natasha Sunderland

BizOps & Project Manager

"Three friends and I took a month-long road trip through southern Africa and they told me the tiny Volkswagen Rabbit we were driving would be fine..."

Our cards, on the table.

Links to everything you need to know about Job Portraits

Our process for hiring full-time team members

Our criteria for evaluating job candidates

Interested in joining the Job Portraits team? We interviewed ourselves.

A cheat sheet for understanding our business

Opinion: the ethics of corporate storytelling

Better to try than wonder what could have been.

Your actual questions, our direct answers.

Are you a startup?

For each of the last three years we've (roughly) doubled our revenue, but we have not raised capital and don't intend to. By definition we are not a startup. We know this is a deal-breaker for some folks (and a great benefit to others!) so we want to be upfront about it.

Is Job Portraits an agency?

Are the hours flexible and/or can I work remotely?

What will I personally do/make/create?

You apply, we'll reply.

Hi! We're the real humans who review every application submitted to Job Portraits. Have a question before you apply? Need a gut check? Don't hesitate to contact us.From left: Olivia, Miki, Jackson.

...Not quite ready?

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Dig around

Say hello

You’re invited

Hi! We're the real humans who review every application submitted to Job Portraits. Have a question before you apply? Need a gut check? Don't hesitate to contact us.

From left: Olivia, Miki, Jackson .