Jackson Spalding: The Independent Atlanta Agency Quietly Holding Down a Marquee Client List

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Jackson Spalding doesn't look or sound like the holding-company shops it competes with — and that's the point. Founded in Atlanta in 1995, independent, privately held, and built around a stated philosophy of "great work and good works," the firm has spent three decades quietly stacking the kind of client list most agencies five times its size can't hold: Chick-fil-A. The Coca-Cola Company. Delta Air Lines. Toyota. Google. L.L.Bean. Publix. Norfolk Southern. Orkin. Interstate Batteries. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The University of Georgia.

It is one of the largest independent PR and integrated marketing firms in the U.S. Southeast — and one of the most disciplined operators outside New York.

Founders and Founding

Co-founders Glen Jackson and Bo Spalding launched the firm in 1995 with a team of eight, on the thesis that there was a better way to structure a communications firm — one built around clients, community, and culture rather than billable-hour theater. The firm opened as a public relations shop and has since evolved into a fully integrated communications business covering PR, brand strategy, advertising, digital, content, and crisis. Jackson remains co-founder and partner and one of the firm's most public faces; he was awarded the YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta's Bransby Christian Leadership Award, the Y's highest community honor.

Leadership

Jackson Spalding is led by a deep partner bench rather than a single CEO archetype. As of 2025–2026, the leadership group includes:

• Glen Jackson — Co-founder and Partner
• Bo Spalding — Co-founder
• Brian Brodrick — President and Partner
• Trudy Kremer — Managing Partner
• Eric O'Brien — Partner
• Whitney Ott — Partner
• Michael Beskin — Partner
• Caroline Duffy — Partner
• Randall Kirsch — Partner
• Monica Corbett — Partner, leads the agency's public relations discipline (promoted to partner April 2025; joined JS in 2022 from GoFundMe)
• Maurice Nogueira — Executive Vice President, health and science practice (appointed May 2024)

Brodrick was named president in early 2023, alongside the elevation of O'Brien, Ott, and Beskin to partner — a deliberate move to widen the ownership table and lock in a next generation of operators before the firm's 30th anniversary.

Offices

The firm operates from Atlanta (headquarters), Athens, Georgia, Dallas, and Los Angeles, with senior staff also positioned in New York, Washington D.C., and Detroit. The Dallas office is the firm's growth lever into the Southwest; the Los Angeles presence is anchored at Soho Works on Sunset.

Client Roster

Few independent agencies of any size hold a client list this dense with category leaders. Active and notable clients include:

• Quick-service restaurant: Chick-fil-A
• CPG and beverage: The Coca-Cola Company, Mattress Firm, Publix Super Markets
• Travel and transportation: Delta Air Lines, Toyota, Norfolk Southern
• Outdoor and lifestyle: L.L.Bean, Interstate Batteries
• Technology and platform: Google
• Healthcare: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Shepherd Center, Bionorica SE
• Services and home: Orkin, Primrose Schools, Altair Global, SCANA Energy
• Public sector and education: Georgia Public Broadcasting, The University of Georgia

PRovoke Media reports the firm has averaged roughly 15% annual growth across the last four years — the kind of compounding only retainer-heavy, low-attrition shops produce.

Services and Proprietary Tools

Jackson Spalding sells an integrated stack rather than a department menu — PR, brand, advertising, digital, content, and crisis run through a single planning process the firm trademarks as DRIVE™. Capabilities include corporate branding, communication strategy, public relations, advertising and media buying, crisis management, SEO, social media, digital design and development, speaker coaching, event marketing, photography and video, and analytics.

Two proprietary tools anchor the offering:

• JS Radar — a reputation risk assessment product launched in 2025
• JS Tapestry — an analytics platform that centralizes measurement data across PR, paid, owned, and earned channels into a single client dashboard

The firm has been a PROI Worldwide member since 2003, giving its independent footprint reach into 50+ markets through partner agencies.

Recognition

• Forbes — Best PR Agencies in America
• Ad Age — Best Places to Work (2023)
• PRovoke Media — Best Agencies in North America
• PRSA, AMA, ADDY Awards, Telly Awards — campaign and craft recognition across B2C and B2B work

Culture: "Great Work and Good Works"

The firm's stated operating philosophy — great work for clients, good works in the community — is more than a wall poster. JS team members are involved in more than 100 not-for-profit organizations and civic associations in the markets where the firm operates. The firm's learning-and-development program, The Greenhouse, formalized that talent-development posture into a named track.

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