President, Journey Group
CCC Board Member
Philip De Jong, president of the Charlottesville, Va.-based Journey Group, Inc., has more than 30 years of publishing and media experience. He started his career as an intern-photojournalist with The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press while a fine art and journalism student at Hope College. His first published story, a documentary on the fragile nature of the Lake Michigan sand dunes (which, as a child he fell in love with), appeared in the Sunday magazine edition of The Press.
Following graduation, Philip traveled to the west side of Lake Michigan, where he joined the photojournalism staff of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. For three years he daily cut his teeth on the craft of visual storytelling before making the move from newspapers to magazines.
As a photojournalist, Philip traveled to more than 40 countries providing coverage on a variety of stories before becoming the managing editor and, later, editor-in-chief of Worldwide Challenge magazine. His passion for visual storytelling influenced major design changes at the magazine with then-art director Greg Breeding, resulting in numerous editorial and design awards that continue today.
In 1992 Philip and Greg founded Journey Group with a simple goal: Do great work and be nice to people. Since then, the media landscape has changed radically, yet barely at all. Amid a vast new array of media channels and choices, Journey’s essential goals have never been more important: Tell brand stories that matter. And Journey has done just that for its clients, including Worldwide Challenge magazine, the United States Postal Service, World Vision, Opportunity International, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Relief, the University of Virginia, the Evangelical Free Church of America and The Salvation Army.
Philip understands Custom Content Council members face the same industry challenges and changing media landscape. While the digital revolution is well under way, the next chapter is yet to be written. One of his primary board goals is to encourage members to further explore multiple media platforms in the expression of great content for clients. Additionally, Philip will bring representation that gives voice and vision to smaller CCC-member firms like Journey.
Journey Group has been an active member of CCC since 2005, and its involvement has included frequent staff attendance at CCC events and conferences, as well as participation and recognition in the annual Pearl Awards.
Philip lives with his wife, Christine, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Charlottesville, Va. Together, they have five children (two of whom are married), two dogs and a cat. When he’s not cheering on his kids at sporting events, his other passions center around distance running, fly-fishing and house restoration, including Journey’s 108 year-old office building in Charlottesville’s historic district.
