What our Clients Say

Jolene is smart, funny and has a great eye. She continues to guide me on this journey and I look forward to what the future holds with her guidance and counsel. If you need a website and so much more, call Jolene!

– Stephanie Pilk, Owner PILK Design Collective

“Matchstick Communications has become an integral part of our team at Funky Pretty Beads. Jolene has an endless flow of creative ideas that my customers really enjoy. Communication is always timely and thoughtful which I have found to be invaluable. I can exhale knowing all of my marketing needs are covered – one piece of the puzzle not to worry about.”

— Deb Panish, Owner Funky Pretty Beads

“I love the website that Jolene designed for me. She was a joy to work with, kept me on task, and patiently led me through some technical challenges. Jolene understood exactly what I was looking for and she created a website that is beautiful and extremely easy to navigate. Best of all? I had so much fun working with her.”

— Lydia Cassatt, Photographer

“Jolene designed a gloriously fresh, contemporary website for me that reflects the things I value: warmth, connection, playfulness. She really listened to what I wanted, then had great ideas I never would have thought of to make my vision a reality. She is very fast, efficient, flexible, always responsive, and deeply kind. I cannot recommend her more highly.”

— Lily King, Author

“Jolene has the highest standards of professionalism, paired with a strong sense of responsibility to deliver excellent results. She is fast, reliable and a joy to work with. Indigo Arts Alliance has significantly benefited from her vision, talent, expertise, cultural sophistication, and track record as a committed activists for social equity.”

— Marcia Minter, Co-Founder & President, Indigo Arts Alliance

“I’d been trying (and failing!) for years to coordinate my website, newsletter, and blog to create a cohesive, effective, and consistent strategy for reaching my readers directly. I asked Jolene for help. She completely revamped my website, designed a super-dynamic newsletter template that I can use every month, and helped me think about the best way to use my blog to strengthen my message and drive reader traffic. With her help, I’ve been able to publish my newsletter consistently and post to my blog on a regular basis. The content across all three platforms is cohesive and on message. As a result, my subscriber list has grown, reader engagement is up, I’m booking more school visits, and I’m actually having fun communicating directly with my readers. I’m so glad Jolene has joined my team.”

— Jacqueline Davies, Author

“Jolene brought clarity and velocity to my ancient to-do list. It’s given me more creative time in the studio, and the business side of being an artist became easy and fun. I have nothing but accolades.”

— Melissa Sweet, Author + Illustrator

““It was one of those tasks that I knew I had to do, but I was not looking forward to it at all. The writing, decisions, and careful attention to every punctuation mark— not my cup of tea. I would have liked it magically done, but that’s not how it works. And now sitting on the other side of it, there was no magic, but it also wasn’t as painful a process as I imagined. Why was that?

I hired an expert/coach: In this case, I hired a web designer. (Thanks, Jolene!) Not only does she have the technical expertise to create a clearly organized, beautiful site, but she also provided the structure of how we were going to build it step-by-step, and energy to keep me motivated. By taking advantage of others’ expertise, we can get to another level more quickly because we can learn from those who have already traveled this path. It was also much more enjoyable to have someone to work with, to share in the excitement of finding a good photo or layout for a page. Definitely more fun!”

— Kerry Secrest, Owner Watershed Coaching, Llc

“Matchstick Communications brought the design sensibility, skill set, motivation, and big positive energy to a project I’ve been sitting on for years (literally). Working with Jolene was fun and collaborative. I loved her get-it-done and make-it-beautiful spirit and appreciated her patience with me while I got all my materials together. I’m so proud to share my redesigned website!”

— Lucky Platt, Author, Illustrator

“As the owners of a family-owned seafood distribution company in the Washington, DC area we were forced to shut down when the pandemic hit in March of 2020. Like so many other small companies in the same situation, we had to get creative to survive. So, we took a chance and started a completely new company, this time located in Portland, Maine where we live.

First, we needed a website and it had to be up and running in 10 days. Matchstick Communications welcomed the challenge and ran with it. We started talking to Jolene about concepts on a Sunday night and launched the site 10 days later. Jolene was creative, attentive, and passionate about our project. Current Catch is now selling all over the United States!”

— Hannah and Brad Blymier – War Shore Oyster Company/Current Catch

“Jolene is professional, easy-going and very organized. She helped us create a very polished and professional press conference from the beginning stages to the end celebration. Her easy-going style coupled with her attention to detail helped us create a wonderful event that was stress-free, fun and flawless! I would highly recommend Matchstick for any project. She is a great listener and willing to ask questions and put in the hard work for her clients.”

— Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo, Side x Side

“Jolene fired up our team and moved us to a new level. The before and after is truly remarkable. Everything is better— the sales, the look and our confidence. Jolene applied her talent and skill to our business as if she had nothing better to do! I’m forever grateful.”

— Jodi Breau Dental Lace, Inc.

“Matchstick lit a fire under my ass. I needed help desperately and Jolene communicated so well and cleared out all kinds of Funk Shui from my marketing systems. It is such a pleasure to have my web site and mailing list functioning properly! I have a great new contact in Jolene. She is so helpful and supportive I can’t thank her enough for being there for us!”

— Terrill Waldman, Tandem Glass

“Working with Jolene and Matchstick Communications was a great experience. She was clear in her initial communication around the scope of the work and that clear communication continued throughout the website development process. Jolene was enthusiastic about my ideas and brought forth many great ones of her own as the website was taking shape. I highly recommend engaging her for this type of work.”

— Gillian Schair Founder Ladies Adventure Club

“I hired Jolene to help raise awareness in greater Portland for Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences work and our new CEO. While Bigelow science is highly regarded and renowned globally, people right here in Maine don’t know much about the Laboratory or our huge contribution to oceanography and the state’s economy. Jolene quickly and efficiently connected us to premier venues in the state for marketing and visibility. With her help, we got a large spread in the Maine Sunday Telegram and a spot on the upcoming TEDX Dirigo program, among other things. She is very results and customer service oriented and a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend her.”

— Jennifer Cutshall, Bigelow Laboratory

“I’ve been working with Jolene for over 17 years and am awe-inspired by her ability to make things happen. Her energy and enthusiasm for any project or event, large or small, goes beyond expectations which is why we continue to work with her company, Matchstick Communications, on a weekly basis.”

— Jill McGowan founder, Jill McGowan, Inc.

“I knew I was in the middle of a great story- I was soon to present my handcrafted guitar that honored the Allman Brothers Band to their Big House Museum in Macon, Georgia. But when I hired Matchstick Communications to help with promotion, it suddenly seemed like the whole world knew also! Jolene McGowan’s skills quickly landed 2 feature newspaper articles about my guitar, here and in Macon, as well as a spot on Macon’s nightly news and a mention on Maine’s 207 show. Well done!”

— Jim Macdonald, Fine Woodworker, Luthier

“It was a joy working with Jolene McGowan to build my new website… She is easy to work with, very responsive, patient, and ready to help. I described what I wanted and she produced a really good-looking website, and right on time…I can’t recommend her highly enough. Jolene is great to work with and a real pro.”

— David Wade, Photographer

“Working with Matchstick Communications was a true delight. The professionalism and guidance made it an educational and incredibly fun experience. The website ended up better than I could have ever imagined. I cannot recommend them enough!”

— Liz Polkinghorn, Bespolk

“Jolene’s background in corporate, coupled with her sensibility around the workings of a small business (and a family business, at that!) was invaluable. She became my go-to advisor. I found her to be an adept, big picture, strategic thinker with a whole lot of personal charisma, social media savvy, and an aptitude for matching resources to people’s needs. Jolene was particularly helpful to me in encouraging relationship building between other local businesses for mutually beneficial marketing opportunities. Her guidance and ideas were always forward thinking and mission focused.”

— Molly Thompson, Pretty Flours

“Jolene unfreezes decision fatigue that can otherwise leave you in paralysis when it comes to marketing... very liberating.”

— Jeanne Paterak, Bloomstudio, Jeweler

“What a wonderful experience it was to create a new website with Jolene. She had great ideas and was super fun to work with. I am delighted with the results.”

— Jessica Gandolf, Artist

“I moved to Portland less than a year ago and knew few people in the art world, tho I’ve been making my art for decades. Within a month, Jolene has done for me as much as I could have wished for in such a short time. I said, “I want you to pay attention to me!” and she did. I now have a super website, a new logo, numerous new photos of my work, new business cards and postcards and a new friend. Jolene is super efficient, patient, funny and innovative. She has a keen sense of what will work and lots of ideas to keep my new business growing.”

— Vicki Fox, Artist + Craftsperson

“The thing about working with Jolene is the ease of communicating with her. We share ideas and I really enjoy working as a team. She has sparked my creativity and helped to craft my story, that is still unfolding. Stay tuned.”

— Tracy Johnson Fine Jewelry

“Jolene: she LISTENS. She asks the best questions and nudges you patiently. She’s got savvy eyes for what will pop, and knows her STUFF. So grateful to be working with her!”

— Jamie Hogan, Artist, Illustrator

“Not only is Jolene fluent in the language of marketing and promotion, she is an amazing writer who, with both visuals and text, can bring a story to the work that immediately engages the readers curiosity. With her warm, business like approach, you will immediately trust her expertise and want more reasons to utilize her marketing and communication services.”

— Lynette Breton Design, Fine Woodworking

“When people would ask me if I had a website, I would say no, because the one I had did not represent my work in the way I wanted it to. Jolene’s simple, clean approach to building a site was exactly what I needed. The fact that she has known me for years and has heard all my stories, was a bonus. She knew where to look before I did. I’m thrilled with the results.”

— David Caras, Photographer