Jennifer DiMarco

Since September 14, 1994, Jennifer has been the Chief Executive Officer of Orchard House Press, an independent entertainment company. She was twenty-one when she purchased the private company (then called Pride Publications) for an undisclosed sum, buying out the collective that ran this niche press that had originally published her own early novels.

Jennifer was confident of her ability to lead as OHP's CEO and never considered building the company around a Board of Directors. Her firsthand experience with seemingly endless voting processes and panels of second-guessers did not appeal to her. Her vision was very clear and she was willing to bear the brunt of the risk. Jennifer's goal was nothing short of building an independent, mainstream press capable of publishing timeless books and games in multiple genres by both new and well-established authors.

Jennifer did recognize that her experience in the industry was not absolute, and that her age and limited education at the time did not befit the journey she wanted to take. Within two weeks of finalizing the purchase, Jennifer secured degreed experts proven in their fields to fill the crucial roles of Senior Editor and Art Director.

"Jennifer has an ability to take in a vast array of facts and variables, very quickly, and make a decision that is both swift and accurate," says Cris DiMarco, her original choice for Senior Editor, and the woman who still holds that position today. "She is not afraid to face consequences and thrives on the type of conflict that I've personally seen immobilize other executives."

Not a person to build a company then walk away, but always open to the idea of expansion and diversification, Jennifer launched the Mardi Gras 3000 brand for OHP in 2007. MG3K is built around a trading card game, novels and comics set in an angels and aliens mythology created by E.J. Angel and is extensive enough to support its own dedicated website and forum. Jennifer heads the MG3K efforts as the Brand Manager, and is also the designer of the operating system that runs the card game. Her patented operating system led to her subsequent founding of Stacked Games, a company that builds operation engine for complex card and board games.

In 2010, Jennifer opened Blue Artisans Design, a design firm of artisans working in a huge variety of the arts from portrait painting to baking to wood-working. Blue Artisans had been an independent company that OHP hired to do most of their book covers and other design work, but under Jennifer's ownership, Blue Artisans grew to symbolize the modern craftsmen and jack-of-all-trades.

[Top photo by Cris DiMarco, Jennifer on the North Carolina coast, 1995.]

[Bottom photo by Faith DiMarco, Jennifer at home, 2010.]