jess moloney and scotch the boston terrier
Don't let the tattoos fool you... this talent manager has more to her than just ink. A lot more!
Words and pictures: Simon Glazin
Jessica is striking. There's no doubt about it. The perfect shade of brunette, makeup expertly painted, piercing eyes, slender physique, excellent dress sense. And yes, one or two tattoos. If you see her walking down the street, with lovely Scotch at the end of a lead, you'll want to glance at Jess. Her inked body is quite amazing, lots of little joined up pieces of art. You might even stare a while. But it was when she told me that some men have actually gone to, and succeeded in grabbing her - as if it's their god given right to, that I was lost for words.
'I couldn’t care LESS what people think about my tattoos.' It's precisely this attitude that keeps Jess from not cracking from people's perceptions and reactions to her body art. I have to admit, it's the first thing you want to talk to her about. You want to ask question after question without sounding like you're interviewing her for a job. It's because it's not the norm. You don't see many women fully tatted up. But once you actually see through them and start talking to her about, well, anything else, you're no longer mesmerised by the snaking and curling floral greens and blues running up both her arms, but by her job, her fanatical approach to fitness, her obsession with pooch Scotch, oh and the fact that she comes from a dog dynasty... her father owns pet food company Barking Heads.
You see, Jess has MUCH more about her than just tattoos. Read on to hear about her talent management company, the other careers she has also considered, and Scotch's sassy side - the exact reason she chose him out of his litter...
On life with Scotch: Scotch is one of the best things in my life! It means I am now an adult (as if I could ever forget!) it for sure marked a changing in my life. For anyone thinking of getting a dog, it really is like getting a baby, if anything it reaffirmed the fact I NEVER want kids, I’ll forever be the cool Aunt Jess who has the cutest dog!
I had always wanted a dog since being a small child, my father owns a dog and cat food company, so it seemed fitting – however my father worked long hours and my brother and I were always in and out the house so it just wasn’t fair. I finally got a dog two years ago, when I was settled into my career and knew I could take the pooch to work. I live on my own and its so nice to have someone else in the house – he’s a male that doesn’t answer back and doesn’t leave the toilet seat open – the dream right?!
On work: I very recently left my old job and started my own company, Jess Moloney MGMT. For anyone that has ever gone freelance / started their own company they will know that initial fear and anxiety, but for sure it was the best decision (bar Scotch) that I have made. We live in a generation that we should be multi facetted – it can at times be restrictive working in an office environment focusing on one thing / role only – I think I was in the end of the last generation (pre the digital generation) so we had to learn fast how the world was changing, especially in our industry it meant understanding so many more aspects of companies and roles – digital mainly.
I have clients that are directly signed to me which means I work on a whole 360 with them from profiling, brand positioning, branding, brand partnerships, commercial management and image. The key markets I focus on are UK and Europe but most of my clients are U.S based so naturally I have that understanding too. I then work with clients who are purely brand deals and I also consult for brands too.
I LOVE my job, doing something like this means you life is your job, its all consuming, but I couldn’t see myself doing anything else anymore. The good things are that I get to travel a lot, I meet so many incredible people and experience places and events that most people outside of this industry will never ever do. The bad is that I don’t sleep much, because I’m often on LA time (and I still like to get up early to train). My average nights sleep is never longer than five hours (if I get more than five hours sleep in a night it’s a miracle).
I started my career in fashion PR and did that for over five years, It was from there I started working with celebrities and I sort of fell into management….the best fall I have ever had!
On career plan B: There was actually a plan C too– I actually didn’t always want to work in the industry I am in. From being a small child I had always wanted to be a dance teacher, I danced from being small right up until I was 18. My high school textiles teacher suggested I went to study fashion, I looked into it and decided (it was a long decision) that I could make a far more steady career from doing that. I applied for University’s, and got into London College of Fashion (to this day I don’t know how that happened!) and it started from there......
The Police force was always something I was interested in, I love crime investigation programs and I read heavily into criminal activity and the darker side of people, communities and countries. I actually applied to become a PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) when I was 22, I didn’t get in because I didn’t have enough life experience (!) I was pretty sad at the time, but things happen for a reason – I still day dream from time to time about becoming a police officer…..i think I would make a pretty good Chief Inspector!
On career advice: Intern, intern, intern! You don’t have to go to university to do what I do. I went as it gave me a good step into the fashion career and the name of the university helped when applying for internships, but it was the internships that led to my jobs. I interned when I was 20 at Vivienne Westwood and three years later I was working full time for them in the press office.
I would also say with how press is moving forward, make yourself digitally savvy, understand the importance of online/bloggers etc, sadly print is dying and if you’re not clued up to the digital world you are starting at minus 10.
On her daily routine: Now I’m my own boss my days are varied every single day! If I have a meeting first thing then I am up and out the door running by 5.30am – if I’m working from home that day I have my self an extra 1.5 hours in bed and get up at 7am. The first thing I do is run….it clears my mind and sets me up for the day ahead. If I don’t run I feel like I‘m climbing the walls the whole day.
The first person I see is Scotch …. He’s SUPER lazy in the mornings and it's hard to wake him so when I go running he stays asleep - in his ideal world he wouldn’t want to get woken up before 9am. My days, as I mentioned, vary dependent on the time of the year and what’s in my clients schedules, for example right now Machine Gun Kelly is on his European Tour so I have hopped to a few countries to join… (some with less than 7 hours notice!)
I head to LA a lot because the majority of my clients are based there. If I’m in London my office is based in my home, which is the best. I am blessed that I have a separate office room, so I can close the door when I need rest time.
Scotch fits in very well – I didn’t get him until I knew I could take him to work, in my last role he was allowed in the office and now he comes to meetings or rules the house – I am EXTREMELY fortunate that I have amazing friends and an equally amazing dad and brother who look after him when I’m travelling – his Auntie Holly is his fave Auntie. Holly lives close to me and she saves me when I have last minute travels plans added to my diary or have to stay late at a meeting/etc.
On tattoos: I remember telling my dad at 13 I wanted one. My English teacher, Miss Sutton, had the most beautiful tattoo on her foot and I was forever dreaming of having the same. Needless to say I was far to young so I waited and waited and the desire never left me, so off I went on my 18th Birthday and I had my first tattoo – on my foot! The design was an Asian design, vey much Henna-like, that my friend Harmish did, it took us almost a year to perfect it to how I wanted it.
I didn’t start getting my tattoos in visible places until I was about 23 by this time I had already worked for two years within the fashion industry (I worked for Ellesse) and I had just moved to Vivienne Westwood – I had, buy this point, had all down the side of my body already done so it was time to come down the arms, slowly and surely (I have been going every three months since 18-years-old) my arm began filling up (I stopped before I reached my hands) it was then I wanted my chest done. I remember a tattooist telling me that men will act differently once you touch your chest – strange I thought – however he was right. The more and more covered I have become men seem to think they can touch me when I’m out – of course the questions of pain always come into it, but it’s a bizarre mind set – you can see with your eyes so it always baffles me why someone needs to touch people.
I have recently had my neck done which is for sure my favourite – it’s also the one I waited the longest for. I had wanted my hands and neck done for about five years but II didn’t feel it was appropriate until I was fully submerged into my career and knew it was right.
No matter how you look at it, your neck and hands are a game changer – you can never hide them, ever. Also although I work in an industry that anything goes, I knew when I started even my arms and it became visible I was restricting myself from working at certain luxury fashion house for example.
I believe people’s opinions are changing about tattoos as its such a common thing now but heavily tattooed women are rarer than males – and I think people don’t know how to react at times. I have had many a conversation about why would I do this to my body etc, but that’s just it, it’s my body. I couldn’t care LESS what people think about my tattoos, I mean the best thing is at least no one can ever forget me (or actually maybe that’s a bad thing!)
For sure I am 100% addicted to tattoos, I go now for the feeling rather than the design it’s self, I enjoy being tattooed, I have even fallen asleep at certain parts. I would however say the stomach was the most painful thing I have experienced – I have never had children, but I imagine it’s up there with that pain!
I certainly can’t take credit for the design, bar my neck I have literally let my tattooist freestyle – she is the most incredible artist I have ever had the pleasure to meet – she is also the most humble, amazing woman, – the design and ideas are really all her – if you ever want a tattoo go to her!
On fitness: I LOVE fitness. I have always had an interest in it – I use to sprint for my district as a youngster – when I was getting into my later teens I taught myself how to long distance run (my brother was the best and I wanted to be just like him) I trained and trained and I loved to see how far I could push my body and it was then I began getting into marathons / triathlons and duathlons.
I was training for an Ironman – one of my ultimate goals in life (along with swimming with sharks!) but I got an injury just before Christmas (it turned out to be a stress fracture of the second metatarsal) which meant I was out of running for almost four months. My recovery was fairly quick, only because of my amazing trainer Joslyn Thompson-Rule, but it meant I just wasn’t ready to do the Ironman. It was hard getting my head around not running for such a long time, but I deferred my place so I’ll be back ready for it next year. For me it’s all about the mind, our bodies can do ANYTHING, literally. It’s the mind that stops up – so mentally I like the challenge, its also amazing discipline and in a world where everyone is so free spirited, its good to install discipline.
On her favourite Scotch 'tail': I love his sassyness! From the moment I went to choose him from the breeder I knew he would be mine – he let all other dogs run up to me and make a fuss whilst he stood at the back of the room, then after about five minutes he slowly walked over, looked directly at me for a few seconds, then turned away and walked back to his original spot. I knew he was a sassy thing then! He also is the best behaved on the tube – he literally falls asleep in my arms – he makes me a proud mum because I have endless comments about how other people’s dogs would never be so calm on a rush hour commute. His latest thing is to roll onto his back for a tummy rub – wherever he might fancy one – including walking down the street or waiting for the train!
'My father used to be a punk when he was younger so nothing EVER shocks him. I remember coming home having had micro dermal implants in my neck and he didn’t say one thing! '
On style: I don’t really consider myself to have style. Naturally my tattoos are the biggest part of me so I certainly dress for my tattoos so to speak. My piercings also stand out a lot – and I often wear my hair back so they are visible at lot of them time. I was always the odd one out at school I suppose, I would cut my hair into crazy styles, and was always trying out new make up trends. .
My father use to be a punk when he was younger so nothing EVER shocks him, I remember coming home having had micro dermal implants in my neck and he didn’t say one thing! In fact he loves my tattoos – my brother is also covered and its so nice to have a parent that doesn’t judge – my grandparents (sadly who aren’t here with us anymore) even loved my tattoos- I am extremely lucky to have a family who are non judgmental and have almost embraced me making myself stand out.
My celeb inspiration would have to be Dita Von Teese, I mean who else can rock a red lip like her – her beauty is like none other. I also believe a woman who can rock heels and dresses like her are untouchable! I use to ONLY wear heels until I got Scotch, in fact I never owned any flat shoes (apart from my running shoes) I quickly realised with a dog it wasn’t realistic (or comfortable) to be running after him in six inch heels (as much as I love that idea!) I also only owned my first pair of jeans a year ago – again something that I embraced when I got a dog – hoisting up a skirt or a dress when picking up dog shit isn’t the one!
On one thing people should know about her: My tattoos are a façade, I’m not rock and roll nor do I party hard (anymore). My dream night in is watching Love Island, eating sushi on the sofa with Scotch! (But a fun fact is that I was once a Silverstone girl)
