Hello — I’m Jess Chao.
Founder & Principal of Invisible Things Co.
I came up inside operating companies, where communications had to translate into measurable impact. That’s the lens I bring: not visibility for its own sake, but the work that actually changes business outcomes.
I spent nearly 20 years building brand reputation, cultural relevancy and company culture across the restaurant, beauty, and pharmaceutical industries. Most recently, I led brand marketing and corporate affairs at a category-defining business, where I built a department, scaled the team’s capabilities, steered communications through high-stakes moments, and helped the company hit its record-breaking growth year.
Two things shape how I work. First, every company I’ve worked at was mission driven and went through some sort of change management, meaning communications wasn’t optional. Second, I’ve learned that the most impactful part of storytelling is what happens after: how a clear narrative becomes positioning, how positioning becomes reputation, and how reputation becomes the durable advantage that protects everything you build next.
I designed Invisible Things Co. to tackle the work I always thought was too quickly glossed over—finding the narrative underneath it all and using it to guide how leaders and companies communicate, make decisions, and grow. I pair that narrative work with senior brand and communications counsel to build reputation, strengthen market position, and drive long-term enterprise growth.
I fell in love with words as an immigrant kid finding my place through language. Writing helped me make sense of the world, but storytelling showed me I could shape it. I studied communications because I wanted to be in the rooms where the right words, delivered at the right moment, could move people.
I built a meaningful career helping companies figure out what they stand for, how they want to be seen, and the stories they want to tell. But somewhere along the way, I realized I hadn’t done the same for myself.
My own reinvention meant getting honest about what mattered to me, what I wanted the next chapter of my life to look like, and how I wanted my work to reflect it. I began using my own narrative as an operating model for those choices.
That experience became the foundation for Invisible Things Co.
Your story is yours
Every piece of your story matters, but not every piece needs to become content. I'll help you understand what informs your narrative, what belongs in public, and what stays yours.
Always honest, always kind
I'll tell you what I actually see—including what isn't working—but never at the expense of the person behind the work.
Curiosity before conclusions
The best material rarely comes from the obvious question. I listen for what you keep returning to, what you almost skip over, and what deserves another question.
Substance over performance
The goal isn't to make you louder or play the algorithm. We start with your objectives and end with a narrative true to you that holds up when the spotlight gets bigger.
Fairy godmother energy
I bring care, encouragement, and a little bit of magic to helping you step more fully into who you already are.
- Brand and communications leadership includes Neutrogena, Allergan, Revlon, Panda Express, and Din Tai Fung Restaurant
- High-stakes reputation work under public scrutiny
- Adjunct Professor at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
- Master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Communications from USC Annenberg
- QSR Magazine's 28 Young Restaurant Leaders to Watch (2021)
I call the people I work with partners, not clients. A client buys a service. A partner is someone I’m in the work with — invested in what they’re building long-term and committed to outcomes on terms we define together. The relationship is built that way from the first conversation.