Get to Know Jess Guro, Audible’s Director of ACX Creator and Community Relations

Meet Jess Guro, Director of Creator and Community Relations for Audible’s Audiobook Creation Exchange, or ACX. Launched in 2011 “ACX is home to Audible’s indie creators, and a marketplace where authors and narrators can find each other to create world-class audiobooks,” explains Jess. To date, thousands of creators have used ACX to share their stories with the world, and many have grown their fan bases and become bestsellers on Audible.

Jess joined Audible in 2018 to work on business development initiatives, coming from a background in Customer Success, where she worked with enterprise companies to help them make their recruiting a success. She soon brought her talent and passion for helping others succeed to her role as co-leader of Women@ Audible, our employee Impact Group focused on identifying and fostering female leadership within Audible.

When ACX underwent a substantial reinvestment in early 2022, including a restructure and new website, Jess moved into her current role and built the team that addresses the needs of the ACX community, including ACX’s authors, voice performers, indie publishers and agents, and producers. This includes helping them navigate the process of turning their book into an audiobook, either on their own or through working with a producer; advocating for features or capabilities the community wants; and more. 

Supporting and fostering this community of emerging talent is “the most fulfilling job I’ve ever had,” says Jess. Referring to Audible’s People Principle, “Be Customer Obsessed,” she says, “ACX’s customer is the creator, so we’re creator-obsessed.” Jess’s team works to enable creators to make a living doing what they love by bringing their stories to life. It’s especially exciting to “meet at conferences the authors and narrators who got their start on ACX, and when authors’ careers really take off.” This was the case with Canadian author Elsie Silver, who was meeting with Jess’s team at Audible’s Newark headquarters on release day when her audiobook, Wild Love, became a top seller.

Jess recently took time off to nurture some very important new talent: her baby boy, born in October 2023. Amazon’s robust parental leave program can start one month before an expected due or adoption date, and returning parents have the option to “ramp back” over a period of eight weeks, working 50–75 percent while they adjust to their new realities. “Giving birth is a life-altering experience,” Jess explains. “It not only takes time to heal, but to grow into your new role as a parent. I feel really fortunate to work for a company that let me take that amount of leave.” Reflecting on the considerable toll that being a new parent takes versus the amount of typical parental leave offered by employers, Jess says, “Coming back to work any sooner would have been incredibly challenging.”

Since early March, Jess has been ramping back at ACX. “It’s amazing to have this option to ease into projects, because you also have to grow into this new role in your life. I can’t pretend it’s easy—I’m not sleeping much, I miss him terribly when working, and I feel like I’m not able to give my best at work on a divided schedule, but like all moms, I’m doing my best to make it work.” Jess is looking forward to joining other new (and experienced) parents who are part of Audible’s Impact Group Caregivers@, which provides a space for employees to voice the unique challenges around caring for children, parents, and others, and to find mutual support.

In addition to parental leave and flexible ramping back, Audible’s Newark headquarters, where Jess works in person with her team a couple days a week, features fully stocked nursing rooms with lockers, couches and a fridge. “I’ve never heard of other workplaces offering that much support,” she marvels. “I’ve heard of other moms that have to use, essentially, a storage closet with an outlet. Here I have quiet, private rooms where I can focus on my baby’s feeding needs in peace.”

For Jess, having the support and flexibility to ease back into the work she loves, without having to compromise her or her baby’s well-being, is very much in line with another of Audible’s People Principles. “It’s very ‘Activate Caring,’” she says.

Current Listen: Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool, by Emily Oster (plus Llama Llama Red Pajama and Goodnight Moon “on repeat” for her baby boy)