Jo Altenwerth

Why this persona fits the audience

Works in Dublin on a 4-person marketing team using Brave and Chrome on macOS, with tabs open for drafts, CMS pages, social copy, competitor research, and image libraries; Finder windows usually stay open for campaign assets and export folders.

• Age: 34
• Location: Dublin, Ireland
• Occupation: Content strategist
• Income: €74k
• Education: MA in communications
• Company size: 4 people (startup/agency)
• Years in role: 6

“It's not just about making things look pretty; it's about ensuring that when someone reads our words, they feel like they've walked into a room that was prepared exactly for them.”

Jo Altenwerth has navigated the evolving landscape of digital marketing in Dublin since completing her MA in Communications six years ago. Now 34, she serves as the linchpin of a lean, four-person marketing team where agility is the only constant. Her career trajectory reflects a shift from generalist roles to specialized content strategy, driven by a genuine fascination with how language shapes user behavior. She is deeply embedded in the local tech scene, often attending workshops and networking events that bridge the gap between creative storytelling and technical implementation. Her professional reality is defined by a unique constraint: she operates with significant autonomy but limited resources. This has forced her to become a master of the 'good enough' solution, optimizing existing tools rather than waiting for perfect ones. Her daily existence is a testament to the modern hybrid worker, straddling the line between traditional editorial discipline and the chaotic pace of social media. She is currently navigating a pivotal project phase, tasked with rebranding a legacy service for a younger demographic, a challenge that requires her to balance heritage with innovation. Financially, Jo is comfortable but mindful. Her €74k salary allows for a solid lifestyle in Dublin, though the rising cost of living keeps her budget conscious. She invests in her own development, spending a portion of her income on courses and conferences, viewing these as essential rather than optional. Her relationship with technology is pragmatic; she uses Brave and Chrome side-by-side not out of loyalty to either, but because each serves a distinct purpose in her complex workflow. Recently, she made the decision to digitize her entire physical filing system, a move that initially caused anxiety but ultimately streamlined her access to historical campaign data. Despite the pressures of her role, Jo remains optimistic, driven by the belief that clear communication can solve complex problems.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Jo wakes at 6:30 AM, brewing a strong pour-over coffee while scanning the morning headlines on her phone. By 7:45 AM, she's cycling to her office in Smithfield, listening to a true-crime podcast to prime her brain for analytical thinking. At work, the morning is dedicated to deep writing, often fighting the urge to check Slack immediately. Around 11 AM, she dives into the browser abyss, toggling between Brave and Chrome to finalize a campaign brief, her screen littered with twenty tabs and three Finder windows. Lunch is a quick sandwich eaten at her desk while reviewing analytics. Afternoons are reserved for meetings and collaborative editing, followed by a final hour of tidying up the digital workspace before heading home. Evenings are for cooking, a walk, and occasionally scrolling through design inspiration sites before bed.

Lifestyle

Jo lives in a sun-drenched, slightly cluttered apartment in Rathmines that doubles as a creative sanctuary. Her routine is structured but flexible: early mornings involve a commute by Luas or bicycle to the office, followed by evening walks along the River Liffey to decompress. She is health-conscious, prioritizing home-cooked meals over takeaways, though busy weeks sometimes lead to meal prep compromises. Financially, she is pragmatic; she saves aggressively for a potential move to London or Berlin in five years but enjoys splurging on high-quality travel experiences. Socially, she balances intimate dinners with friends against a vibrant community of fellow creatives in Dublin's north inner city, often meeting for coffee to swap stories about local events and cultural shifts.

Work life

As the sole content strategist on a four-person team, Jo wears every hat except sales and coding. Her days are a frantic ballet between drafting blog posts, scheduling social threads, and ensuring visual assets match the brand guidelines. She relies heavily on a dual-browser setup—Brave for privacy-heavy research and Chrome for collaborative CMS work—often leaving both open simultaneously. Her desk is a landscape of digital chaos: multiple Finder windows tracking campaign exports sit alongside dozens of browser tabs containing competitor analysis and draft copy. The pressure comes from the need to maintain absolute clarity across all channels while managing a tight deadline cycle, requiring her to constantly switch contexts without losing the narrative thread.

Relationships

Jo shares her life with Mark, a software engineer who provides a grounding counterpoint to her creative chaos. They are close with a circle of five childhood friends from university who remain their primary support network, often gathering for monthly dinners. Professionally, she looks up to her Director of Marketing for strategic guidance but acts as the de facto mentor to the junior copywriter. She is active in a local women-in-marketing meetup group, where she finds community and professional validation outside her immediate workplace bubble.

How they decide

Jo approaches decisions with a methodical blend of curiosity and caution. She rarely buys into hype; instead, she prefers to test solutions in low-stakes environments before committing resources. Her process involves gathering diverse perspectives from her small team, reviewing free alternatives first, and then weighing the cost-benefit ratio against her existing workflow efficiency. She values privacy and data control highly, so any new tool must demonstrate clear security credentials before she considers adoption.

How they sound

Jo speaks with a measured, articulate cadence typical of educated Irish professionals, blending standard English with subtle local idioms. She is direct but never harsh, preferring phrases like 'I think we could explore' over 'That won't work.' She avoids jargon unless necessary, always striving for clarity. In conversation, she pauses frequently to gather thoughts, showing she values precision over speed. She rarely uses slang, maintaining a professional yet approachable tone even in casual settings.