The Essential List: Jordan Gravely
A lifelong nomad, Jordan has called Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Ontario, and the UK home at different points in her life. She attended Miami University (no no… the one in Ohio) where she majored in Theatre and Communications with concentrations in directing and writing for the screen and stage. After graduation, she had a brief career in sales and dabbled in the Chicago theatre scene. From there she attended Chicago Portfolio School where she finally put her love of writing and conceptual problem-solving to work as a copywriter. This was also where she won a D&AD New Bloods Pencil for her response to the brief posted by Teen Vogue in partnership with The Case for Her, a philanthropic investment portfolio addressing key women’s health issues through grants, investments, convenings, and advocacy, and opportunity that lead to her and her co-founder creating ‘ilo’, a sex positive and education-oriented community based on their winning concept 'Be Your Own First', which relaunches this November.
Since starting at Havas Chicago in June 2021 Jordan has touched various clients including Citibank, Yellowstone, Bel, Camel, Choose Chicago, and has had the chance to step up on new business pitches. In her short time, she’s been lucky enough to make a big impact but feels most grateful for the incredible people she has encountered along the way – they are unmatched!
In her spare time Jordan lives to create and consume music, write the occasional letterboxd review, and coerce her friends into walking 5ks with her whenever possible.
Lifestyle
o Place of birth: Evanston, IL
o Hometown: Complicated questions for me since I moved 11 times before the age of 21 so I grew up all over everywhere from Toronto to the UK.
o Vacation: Norway
o Pet: my niece aka my roommate’s lab Piper
o Place of work: Havas Chicago
o Place of workout: Barry’s Bootcamp, anywhere I can fit a yoga mat in my apartment, and the entirety of Lincoln Park
o Side project: I started a sex wellness and education community with my creative partner in ad school (S/O Erin Ayalp) and I sing from time to time
o Mode of transport: Train
o Bonus travel essential: Haribo Peaches
Culture
o Musician: The Avett Brothers, Big Wild, Wilderado, Fred again…, Phoebe Bridgers, MUNA, this list is too long
o Commercials / music video director:
o Film director: Greta Gerwig and Denis Villeneuve
o Film: My current letterboxd top four are; The Worst Person in the World, Arrival, When Harry Met Sally, and Another Round
o Series: Severance and Succession
o Commercial: E-trade baby every day, all day
o Video game: Gone Home
o Book: Latest five-star read was Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, but an all time favourite is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott which I read almost once a year
o Graphic novel: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Bone by Jeff Smith
o Podcast: The Paris Review Podcast and Binchtopia
o Magazine: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/
Food and Drink
o Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Sourdough Toast, Breakfast Sausage and a smoothie
o Restaurant: Ema (Chicago)
o Cheap bite: Red Hot Ranch (Chicago)
o Working lunch: leftovers or sweet green
o Favourite dish: Coconut Curry
o Signature dish: Pad See Ew
o Snack: movie theatre butter popcorn
o Guilty pleasure: Mango Sorbet
o Bar: Easy Does It in Palmer Square
o Booze: Classic Margarita and recently Orange Wine
o Not booze: Peach Iced Tea
o Bonus food: Sushi of all kinds
o Bonus beverage: Vanilla Latte
Kit
o Phone: iPhone 12
o Computer: MacBook Air
o Headphones: AirPod Pros
o Camera: a Kodak FUNSAVER that I’ll probably never get around to developing
o Soundsystem: Kanto YU4 Powered Speakers in Walnut
o Pen / pencil: BIC Ultra Round Stic Grip in blue only
o Where you document an idea: iPhone Notes app and a secret Tumblr no one will ever get to see
o Casual clothing: Band T-Shirt
o Footwear: Adidas Forums
o App: BeReal and TikTok
o Website: https://www.itsnicethat.com/ to get inspired and https://www.gofuckingwork.com/ for when I’m slacking
o Favourite social media feed: @denlosangeles @wasselpa @thegoodschicago
o Work program: Scrivener and OneNote
o Morning grooming / makeup essential: Glow Recipe Avocado Melt Retinol Eye Cream
o Bonus kit essential: Spotify
