Jill Gwaltney, Rauxa’s founder. on working harder, being nicer, and the challenges of businesswomen
WRITTEN BY: Samantha Washer
Photos by: Mary Hurlbut
When Jill Gwaltney, founder of Rauxa, graduated from Stanford, she interviewed with companies like Merrill Lynch and Xerox for a sales position. Her father, who owned a printing company, suggested that if a career in sales was what she wanted, then she should come sell for him.
Gwaltney accepted, but was mindful of her position. “When you’re the boss’s daughter you have to work harder and be nicer,” she says. That mindset, working harder and being nicer, is one she has carried with her throughout her career, long after leaving her father’s employ. And this attitude has paid off. Rauxa, the full service marketing agency founded by Gwaltney, was just ranked as the third largest agency in Orange County by the Orange County Business Journal.
A life built in Laguna, but with offices all over the country
Jill and her husband, the well-known artist Chris Gwaltney, moved to Laguna in 1979. Her parents had recently moved to Laguna Niguel and Gwaltney says she and Chris just “liked the area.” They’ve been here ever since. Now, however, less of their time is spent here than in years past. Rauxa has offices all over the country which means Gwaltney is frequently on a plane somewhere. However, since turning the day-to-day reins of Rauxa over to president and CEO Gina Alshuler, Gwaltney says she is spending time “taking care of myself. When the kids were at home it was work-family. That was it. Now there is more time for friends, more vacations.”
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Jill Gwaltney, founder of Rauxa, one of OC’s largest marketing agencies
Learning business from a reliable source: Dad
The road to this more relaxed stage of Gwaltney’s life is paved with hard work. She worked her way up the ladder of her father’s company: from sales to sales manager to VP of sales to president. “Everything I know about business I learned from my dad,” she says. One piece of sage advice he imparted to her was that in the then very male-dominated world of the printing business, if certain customers were to ask her for more than printing services, she needed to be mindful of the potential fragility of their egos.
“He suggested I say something like, ‘I’m so flattered, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea to mix business with pleasure.’ I was 22 then. Now, I’m 61 and still no one has made a pass at me!” she says laughing. “The likelihood of me getting to use this line is not increasing. I should have worked for Bill O’Reilly,” she adds wryly.
Choosing to make the glass half full
While she laughs at the lack of opportunity to rebuff male customers’ unwanted advances, Gwaltney’s early success in a male-dominated field has impacted how she runs Rauxa. “I tweeted the other day, ‘Come to Rauxa where there is no glass ceiling to shatter,’” she says good-naturedly. Gwaltney knows what it’s like to be the only woman, something she says she saw as an advantage back in the early days. And this might be her secret: what others see as a hindrance she sees as an advantage.
The side project doesn’t stay part-time for long
She and her father sold the printing company in 1996. She was asked to stay on as president for three years. However, Gwaltney says she didn’t really have any authority so she left after 18 months. “I thought I was going to retire,” she says, amused at the thought. “I coached (son) Cooper’s soccer team. I did Ladies Golf Day…then I started this little agency. I thought of it as maybe a part-time thing.” The “little agency” was Rauxa, of course, and Gwaltney should have known better. She can’t do “part-time.” “Well…I’m super competitive,” she admits with a laugh, “Plus I really like to take care of people. I really enjoy fulfilling the needs of others.” The combination of those two personality traits meant Rauxa was not going to be a side project for very long.
Seeing the advantages of being a woman in business
“We kept adding things based on what people needed,” she says of Rauxa’s growth. “Marketing is so data driven. The question becomes how do we personalize that data?” Asking questions and, even more challenging, being willing to listen to the answers is something Gwaltney practices personally and professionally. “Now, there are a lot more women in business. Back in the old days it was all men. I always felt being a woman was an advantage because the client wants help. It’s easier for me to be open, vulnerable, and help them do better in their jobs.”
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Jill Gwaltney in her Laguna Beach home office. Rauxa is located in Costa Mesa.
The importance of women at the top
While there may be more women in business today, Gwaltney still bemoans the lack of women in leadership positions. “There’s still not enough women at the top,” she says. “So much is based on relationships. A man in a key position brings people along because he trusts them. If you’re a woman it makes it harder to break in because of that.” In typical Gwaltney-fashion she adds, “When I was younger I never gave it any thought. I just thought I’ll work harder and stay after it until it’s done.” And she did.
Finding a true partner
Gwaltney’s commitment to her career is only matched by her dedication to her family. She credits her husband with helping her create that ever-elusive work/life balance. “It all starts with the husband, a true partner,” she says. Gwaltney remembers seeing Chris, a former tennis professional, on the court at the Laguna Niguel Racquet Club. “He was teaching these four and five year old kids. I thought he was adorable,” she says with a laugh. “I was always an outlier, always very outspoken. He enjoyed that...He never tried to shush me.”
Committed to work, dedicated to family
The couple, married for 34 years, has two grown children, Dylan and Cooper. Dylan is completing her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital LA. “I happen to think she’s the smartest, cutest and most empathetic doctor the world has ever seen,” says her proud mom. Her son Cooper is listed on Rauxa’s’s website as the “Lead Account Guy” for Cats on the Roof, a division of Rauxa that focuses solely on video content. Showing that her pride is equally shared between her children, Gwaltney recounts a recent pitch Cooper and his team made for Linzess, a treatment for opioid-induced constipation. “They came in with 16 ideas! The client was amazed. They were like, ‘Who can come up with 16 ideas about this?!’”
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The view from the Gwaltney’s Emerald Bay home
The next chapter is coming, but not just yet
With her kids excelling in adulthood and the daily management of her company in very capable hands, what’s next? Gwaltney says she is pondering that question. “My next step is figuring out what I can do in the community to give back, maybe start a foundation…but I’m not quite there yet.” And the reason she’s not quite there yet is because she’s at a place with Rauxa where she gets to do what she likes best: work with clients and work with Alshuler on Rauxa’s vision and business development.
So while she may be spending some more time on the golf course, and taking family vacations and visiting friends, she’s still very committed to her very full-time project. Those philanthropic endeavors will have to wait. “Whatever I do, I do 100 percent,” she says, stating the obvious. And that is clearly another secret to her success.