Alumna enjoys helping businesses connect with the world

Jenny Gensch describes herself as “a passionate creative since crayons, and technology nerd since cassette-taping the radio.”

Originally from Apple Valley, Minnesota, she enrolled in St. Cloud State University on a softball scholarship.

“Part of the reason I chose St. Cloud State was that not only could I continue playing sports, help earn some money for school and continue having fun and living out that passion, but also because SCSU had a great art department,” Gensch said.

She majored in graphic design and minored in marketing communications at SCSU while playing shortstop for the Huskies softball team. During her time on campus she also took part in the Art Student Union and played a season with the women’s hockey team.

“I had a great time at St. Cloud State and I'm very thankful for all the professors and roommates and teammates. It was great being able to have all sides of the college experience,” she said. “I got to be an athlete, drive across the bridge to practice and come back all dirty to go to art class. I'd go to practice and people would be making fun of the charcoal on my hands. But then I'd go to art class, and they'd be like, ‘Why are you wearing a sweaty uniform and you have dirt on your knee?’

“I loved my experience in St. Cloud. I'm a very proud Husky.”

Gensch earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2008 from SCSU and started freelancing through her networking connections. While initially she was primarily designing logos, she started to teach herself website coding.

“They say if you can code and design, it's kind of a really rare combination. And so you're considered a unicorn,” she said. “It just doesn't always work with the same personality type. So I got into a lot of that and it really reaffirmed that I was in the major and in the programs I really wanted to be in.”

Gensch worked as a software and technical trainer while freelancing, before she moved out to San Diego, California, in 2012. From there she took a marketing position with an emergency preparedness company, before working with then-startup software company Zingle, and eventually an enterprise software company.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gensch had a number of family members back in Minnesota who were facing some health challenges and complications.

“I had thought about moving back home, but that kind of pushed me over the edge,” she said. “I miss them and I need to be there. I want to support my family, go to these appointments, drive them, make them soup — whatever it is.”

The timing of her move back to Minnesota worked out well, as Zbra Studios — a company she had hired in her previous position to build a website — was in need of a creative director.

“My website and marketing experience paired with some of the design, and it was a pretty good fit for the type of business they were running and the projects they were doing,” Gensch said. “So I happily accepted and I'm now back on the creative side of life, which is kind of my ultimate goal.”

In addition to building websites, Zbra Studios also offers marketing, search engine optimization and conversion optimization, among other services.

“Getting to know all of these different industries; it's something different every day. It is challenging, which definitely keeps me learning. When I stop learning, I feel like I stop getting better and that's hard. I don't want to be complacent,” Gensch said. “You always need to have a good dynamic and great people to work with, and this place is really a home for that for me. I get along so well and respect and appreciate all of my colleagues. We're a small team, but I think that is great, too. I just really enjoy working with them.”

It is her hope to help businesses share their stories and their brands.

“It's great knowing that we're helping businesses, large and small,” Gensch said. “The impact I feel like I have been able to be a part of is all over the internet. More importantly, I think it’s felt with these small businesses and larger businesses, on a local level with these franchise companies — we're allowing them to have a modern-day face and way to connect.”

Gensch encouraged those looking to follow a similar career path to soak up as many experiences as possible.

“Don't get too excited about climbing the ladder quickly, because you might find that doing the work makes you happier than you realize. I think a lot of people — myself included — when you're young, you have all these goals. It’s good to be motivated and want to work and make an impact, but a lot of times there's two paths,” she said. “It's doing the work or managing people. Just enjoy doing the work and enjoy getting experiences and learning, because marketing technology and websites are moving exponentially faster now than it was then when I was graduating. You need to keep your eyes open at all times and be patient, and just keep working.”