Q&A: Rachel Jackson

Rachel Jackson has had an exciting last few weeks. 

At Loupe Americas 2026 last month, she received Labels & Labeling’s Future Leader Award. Then, last week, she was promoted to president of Columbine Label Company, having served as vice president of operations for the past six years. Finally, a few days ago, she was officially named to the TLMI board at the association’s Annual Meeting.  

Jackson runs day-to-day operations at Columbine Label, a Colorado label converter company that her father, Greg Jackson, purchased in 1999.  

L&L: What was it like to grow up in the label industry? 

Rachel Jackson: That is an interesting question because when you are growing up, you don’t yet have the perspective to know that other people are having completely different experiences. Everything happening in your household is ‘normal’, so for me it was just normal. Reflecting back on growing up in the industry, it was a huge blessing. That comes down to the stability it provided and the curiosity it provoked in me. 

My dad purchased Columbine Label in February 1999 and moved the family from Kansas City to Colorado. This was the midst of the internet boom, and soon so much of the print industry generally would be gobbled up by the internet. Labels, fortunately, have remained relatively insulated from that because physical products still need physical packaging. Additionally, my dad was home every night. That’s not to say he didn’t occasionally work late or have to travel, but as a rule of thumb he was there, at the dinner table, at my dance recitals, and anywhere I needed him. I didn’t know it then, but this stability was an immense blessing. 

Growing up in the industry also taught me to be curious about how things are made. When most people see a label, they’re typically thinking of the brand behind it or the information that they are trying to garner from it. If you ask someone to think about everything that went into making the jar of pasta sauce they have in the pantry, they jump right to the ingredients of the sauce and skip over the packaging. But quietly in the background, each piece of the packaging is supporting whole companies and supply chains that go layers and layers deep. Being at the shop, seeing how the labels were made, was like being inside of my very own episode of ‘How It’s Made’. 

L&L: Did you always know you wanted to work with your dad? 

RJ: Yes and no. For those who know us both, they know that I am Greg junior and pretty much always have been. We’ve always had a close relationship, and we share a lot of things in common, especially when it comes to temperament and problem-solving style. If you would have asked this question to the 5-year-old version of myself, she would have put her hands on her hips and boldly announced: ‘One day I am going to run this place’. If you would have asked the teenage through early 20s version of myself, the answer would have been a lot less certain, but pointing toward a no. Working with family can be challenging, and at the time, I wasn’t sure I was up to it. But hey, good for the 5-year-old version of me, because look where we are today! 

L&L: What makes Columbine Label stand out on the market? 

RJ: Speed, knowledge and that personal touch. We are primarily a digital shop, so we turn typical orders in three to five business days after art approval. Our staff is small but mighty. We have a wealth of label knowledge and expertise, people who have been not just here at Columbine Label but other shops in the industry, and they are both willing and able to help advise customers so that they end up with labels they are truly happy with. We are big enough to get the job done and small enough to care. You will never get a phone tree of recorded options when you call; it will always be a real person who can help.  

L&L: What has your experience been like working at Columbine Label? How have you grown? 

RJ: The analogy that I like the best is that it has been like building the plane and flying the plane at the same time. It was planned in 2019 that I would come back to the family business in the summer of 2020. As we know now, that was impeccable timing. In addition to the unprecedented year that was 2020, we also went through some key staff departures shortly before I was set to start work. Almost all of what I have done and learned at Columbine Label has come because something needed to be done, so I had to find help, or learn to do it myself. Which was not an altogether bad thing. Greg was, at that time, much more involved in the day-to-day than he is now, which was a big hand for support. He also gave me enough autonomy that I felt like I could bring fresh, new ideas to the table and lead the team as I saw fit. It has been an experience that has challenged me and grown me more than any other. I have grown in my professional leadership skills, in technical skills, in interpersonal skills and so much more.  

L&L: What are your current responsibilities at Columbine Label? 

RJ: I am responsible for the bottom line and the day-to-day running of Columbine Label. Being a small business, the daily priorities of my specific role can shift depending on what is going on inside of the business. On any given day, I could be working on anything from equipment acquisition, to hiring and personnel management, to marketing, to vendor management, to customer account review or to policy creation. The buck stops in my office, so leading, training and managing are the names of the game. 

L&L: What has been your proudest achievement at Columbine Label? 

RJ: There are two things that go hand in hand that I would say are my proudest achievements, and those are my organizational restructure and my staff. When I first started at Columbine Label, I looked at how we were organized and realized that the structure that brought us to where we were wasn’t scalable and wouldn’t be able to take us to where we want to go. I reworked our front of house operations, established two new departments, redesigned corresponding roles and responsibilities, and installed new leaders over several departments. It has made all the difference in our capacity and our ability to scale. The second part of that is the staff. One piece of that is, of course, the leaders that I installed, but all the way down to entry-level employees, I have designed a hiring process that I believe has resulted in the most aligned, most positive, most productive staff that we have ever had in both the office and production sides of the business.  

L&L: How do you hope to lead Columbine Label into the future? 

RJ: I hope to lead Columbine Label into a future of prosperity and success. At Columbine Label, you might think that our purpose as a business is to print high-quality custom labels. It isn’t. Our purpose is to create opportunities and make a positive impact on the lives of our customers, employees and communities. We just happen to accomplish that through high-quality custom label printing. In the business world, if you are not growing, you are dying, so naturally every business leader hopes to grow their business; that means revenue, technology/equipment and staff all growing. In addition to that, I hope to bring my people along for the ride and bring more people into the Columbine Label family. 

L&L: What drew you to get involved in TLMI? 

RJ: Columbine Label has been a member of TLMI since 2003. Starting in 2007, my dad would bring us (my mom, my brother and me) along to the annual meeting. During the day, he would go to the meeting and the rest of us would go to the pool. It was at the pool that my label industry networking first began. I met so many people who are now industry colleagues. When I joined Columbine Label in an official capacity, it was a continuation of what we had already been doing but now getting to see for myself the professional benefits that TLMI brings. I was drawn to deeper involvement first by the Regulatory Affairs Committee. Living in a state that likes to be at the front of the line when it comes to new and changing regulations, it was a great benefit that TLMI was already doing the work to stay on top of it all.  

L&L: Why did you decide to take on a leadership role with the Membership Committee?  

RJ: Last year, I became a committee co-chair on the Membership Committee. If I am honest, I joined that committee because the previous chairs were stepping down and they needed someone in the seat. But I have really loved it because it is a great way to make a real impact on how members experience TLMI. I get to have a voice for change and for improving the organization. It’s a great way to give back to the organization, and it has been a lot of fun! 

L&L: What has your work been like as co-chair of the TLMI Membership Committee? 

RJ: The work has been a joy. Not to brag on my own committee, but we have the most fun. Membership committee gets are all the extroverts who are excited to be a part of TLMI; how could it not be a good time when we all get together? They make it so easy on me. We meet monthly via Zoom call for 30 minutes to an hour. Our committee is structured around three pillars: Grow, Engage and Retain. Grow is obviously about growing membership and how will we reach new members. Engage is about the TLMI experience: how can we engage with and bring value to current members? Retain is about how we can reengage with current members so they can see and experience the value of TLMI and therefore continue to choose to be a part of it. During our meetings, we discuss topics related to the pillars to create actionable items and advisements for the board that we believe will increase new membership and create meaningful experiences for existing members. We also meet in person once a year at the Committee Summit where we do a lot of the work of planning the topics for the monthly meetings and the overall direction of the committee for the coming year. 

L&L: What do you see as the value of TLMI? 

RJ: I would say the biggest values that I have experienced have come down to network and knowledge. As in any industry, a strong network of vendors, customers and even competitors can help you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to trends, emerging markets, new technology, or simply seeing how other businesses are approaching similar challenges.  

TLMI has given me the opportunity to build that network from a young age. Because of those relationships, I know there are people across the industry that I can trust for perspective and advice. They bring a depth of industry knowledge, as well as general business acumen, but most importantly, they are people of integrity who are willing to help. It is a joy and a pleasure to get to do business with them. 

L&L: Have there been other ways you’ve been involved in the industry? 

RJ: I am also a member of Flag. That organization has also brought a lot of value to Columbine Label through being able to network more intentionally with other companies like ours and also increasing our buying power with certain vendors. 

L&L: What are you most excited about for the future of the labeling industry? 

RJ: What really excites me about the future of the label industry is that labels are becoming both more accessible and more sophisticated at the same time. Label technologies have advanced in incredible ways and have allowed for more customization, smaller runs, better embellishment, variable data and so much more. At the same time, these technologies have made professional label printing more accessible and affordable for small businesses and have provided larger businesses more customization options. I think that is really cool. It has been amazing to see how the industry has developed over my lifetime so far, and I know there is a lot to look forward to for how it will continue to get better and better.