Alumni and Supporters

As a boy, Jarrad Grigg loved gaming and creating digital art, so he just assumed he’d grow up to be a game designer.

He was so sure of his career path he decided ‘the best place in the world’ for his tertiary studies would be Hyper Island, an internationally renowned digital creative business school in Sweden.

“My parents just flat out said no,” laughs Jarrad, co-founder of Perth-based marketing agency Juicebox. “So I tried to find something local instead.”

In 2005 Jarrad started a Bachelor of Communications degree at Edith Cowan University. He quickly realised that development wasn’t his strong suit, so he changed his major to digital design.

“I could understand development but I didn’t really enjoy it,” he explains. “My passion is definitely design.”

Then, while still at ECU, he and two fellow students decided to pool their talents to start their own marketing agency – and in 2008 Juicebox was born. Jarrad was the designer, Chris Nelson was the developer and Joel Pember was the photographer.

“I did the very first Juicebox logo as an assignment for one of my ECU classes,” recalls Jarrad.

Since then, Juicebox has grown into an award-winning business that manages digital campaigns for a range of clients including Coca Cola, Fortescue Future Industries, Wesfarmers, Optus Stadium and the WA Disabled Sport Association, among many others.

Looking back, Jarrad believes it was the combination of naivety and arrogance that got the three friends through their tough first start-up years.

“We had this rough idea that the marketing output in Perth at the time wasn’t that great,” he says. “We didn’t really know how hard it was to create a business or grow it, but we thought we could do better. I guess we were young and cocky, right?”

Initially working on Juicebox out of their homes after hours and on weekends, the trio happily took on any client who would hire them, providing marketing for everything from cultural events and music video clips, to gallery shows and websites.

As the business grew, the partners were able to make Juicebox their day job, set up an office and hire staff.

Over time they also became more strategic about their work, moving to a more deliberate focus on high-quality website design and digital marketing.

Jarrad, who became Juicebox’s Digital Director, describes how they were able to ride a wave of change in technology.

“From 2010 onwards, every business realised they had to have some kind of digital presence. So we carved a niche of creating really high-quality digital experiences.”

Juicebox began notching up industry accolades, culminating in winning two coveted Gold Skulls in 2017 and being crowned Campaign Brief’s Digital Agency of the Year in 2018.

Today Juicebox has an incredibly talented team, working with multinational businesses to enhance their digital marketing through cutting-edge technology.

In 2020, after 12 years of hard work and long hours, Jarrad decided to step back from the pressures of business ownership so he could spend more time with his young family. He sold his share of Juicebox to his partners, and now works as a contract UX (User Experience) specialist.

Of his time at Juicebox, Jarrad is most proud that the business achieved what the partners set out to do: lift the standard of digital in Perth.

“I’m also proud of the careers we’ve created,” he adds. “We’ve got a lot of long-term staff who are genuinely good people and they’ve done well out of the business.”

Jarrad maintains that the key to success is to take risks and work hard when you’re young.

“I know that’s a cliché,” he laughs. “But when I look back, we were pretty brazen. And we kept at it, we were very persistent.”

Having said that, Jarrad also counts himself lucky that he was able to turn his passion into a successful career.

“People say, ‘Find your passion’. But sometimes your passion doesn’t work out – not everyone can make money from their passion. It’s more like find out what you’re good at, and what people want and hone in on that.”

Jarrad also believes that new graduates should not be afraid of failure.

“You learn from your failures. If things don’t go well, don’t stress about it, it’s nothing personal. It’s just an opportunity to do better next time.”

Jarrad’s career was shaped by his being at ECU doing the same degree as two of his friends. But being at ECU also influenced Jarrad in less obvious ways.

He recalls being both supported and challenged by his lecturers. He maintains that a unit in his course fundamentally changed his way of thinking about visual design. He also met ‘great people’ at ECU – some of whom he has gone on to employ.

“One of the guys in my class who we hired is still working at Juicebox,” he says. “He’s been there for nearly a decade, he’s amazing.”

Having stepped back from Juicebox to focus on his family, Jarrad says it’s important to stay true to yourself.

“I learned quite early on that the world doesn’t owe you anything, you’ve just got to work at it,” he says. “Know what you want and really get after it.”

And that’s exactly what Jarrad is doing.