Get to know Jill
Growing up in Pella, Iowa, some of Jill VanDerPol’s most memorable moments were spent on a court. She was a forward on her high school’s 6-on-6 girls’ basketball team and helped lead her team to the state tournament. Another special memory: “My senior year, I was on the Pella Tulip Court. We traveled all around Iowa in an RV to promote Tulip Time — giving speeches about Pella’s Historical Village, foods, costumes, and heritage; and singing songs in Dutch.”
Jill’s fascination with advertising started at a young age. “I loved TV commercials and would reenact them in front of the mirror. And art class was my favorite all through school.”
That fascination led Jill to Iowa State, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Art + Design with a minor in advertising. Her proudest moment: “I participated on basketball and water polo intramural teams and received one of the coveted ISU intramural champion T-shirts.” During the summers, Jill worked at Vermeer in their marketing and accounting departments and as receptionist. Her senior year, Jill landed an internship at a boutique design agency in Nashville. “I loved Nashville and had every intention of going back and living there when I graduated, but my dad insisted I find a job while looking for a job there. I ended up getting a job in the art department at a promotions company in Pella. There I met my husband, Kenny, so Iowa stayed my home base.”
Jill got her big break when one of her friends in marketing at Vermeer told her that Tom Dunphy — Kragie/Newell’s Vermeer account supervisor — was looking for an assistant. “She kept bugging me about applying there because she knew I was up for moving out of Pella, and it would be a good foot in the door at an ad agency.” After getting the job, Jill spent half of her day working with Tom as his assistant on new business and other client or agency needs, and the other half working as a production artist with Bill McKnight. After a couple years, Jill found that she enjoyed the client side more (and could still design a creative report or presentation) and chose to go that route.
When Tom started Two Rivers Marketing, Jill came along with him as one of the 14 original associates. Her role at the new 2RM was client service on the Principal Financial and John Deere Financial accounts. “I loved the culture at Two Rivers and enjoyed planning events, so I did internal agency projects on the side,” she explains. Jill rapidly became the go-to person for taking care of all things culture-related, earning the nickname “Mama Jill.” Another important reason for the nickname: “I had the first Two Rivers baby: my son, Max. We started the tradition for associates to announce their pregnancies by bringing chocolate chip cookies for the agency.”
Through the years, Jill’s had numerous roles at 2RM and is now Executive Director, Agency and Community Initiatives. “I consider myself lucky. It’s been a rewarding experience — especially because I’ve met some of my best friends through work, and that’s the main reason I love coming here every day.”
Jill and Kenny are parents of three. Max is a senior at the University of Iowa daughter Chase is in her second year at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in Los Angeles, and daughter Skyler is a freshman at Des Moines Christian. “We’ve always spent most of our time going to our kids’ events — right now we go to a LOT of Skyler’s volleyball games. But we love it.”
When she isn’t busy making 2RM a fun place to work, Jill likes to spend time with friends and family, do Pilates, read, and enjoy anything that feels creative — looking at art and magazines, baking, and trying fun cocktails.
And she loves to travel. “If there’s anything I enjoy more than drinking a good cocktail, it’s drinking one somewhere on a beach.”
By Two Rivers Marketing