Well, that was fast. Barely six months after Jay Carter announced his retirement following an illustrious 40-year career in healthcare and pharma marketing, he’s back in the saddle.
CG Life announced Tuesday that it has pulled Carter out of retirement to serve as its executive vice president of business development. In that role, he’ll focus on helping to expand the reach of CG Life across the life sciences industry.
“Everyone who has worked with Jay or competed against him knows he is driven to win, but he does it with integrity and a relentless commitment to client success,” CG Life CEO David Ormesher said in the announcement. “Those are his non-negotiables, and when I had a chance to bring him on the CG Life team, I jumped. He’s a friend and a highly respected leader in the agency world, and I know we’re going to have a lot of fun building the future with him.”
Carter is no stranger to his new title and responsibilities. After getting his start in medical marketing in the mid-1980s as an account supervisor at William Douglas McAdams, he moved to health-focused advertising agency AbelsonTaylor.
He ultimately put in more than 35 years there, from the late ‘80s through last summer, with his final decade at the agency spent heading up business development in leadership roles of increasing importance. After that, he spent about six months as executive VP of business development at ad agency Juice Pharma Worldwide, up until his retirement in January of this year.
In announcing his decision to retire, Carter wrote on LinkedIn at the time that he was “looking forward to spending more time with my wife, our dogs, and enjoying our home and lake”—though he simultaneously unveiled a new self-run consulting firm to continue making (part-time) use of his vast marketing expertise.
In CG Life’s announcement this week, Carter said, “When I decided to retire in January 2024, I was certain it was time to finally take a step back, slow down and spend time with my family. And yet, I found that I was lacking that spring in my step that I exhibited whenever I was actively engaged in a business or project. After spending time with the leadership and team at CG Life, I realized this is where I’m supposed to be. I’m really looking forward to sharing the many capabilities of this quickly evolving shop and finding ways I can help the CG Life team continue to grow.”
He joins the agency amid a bit of a growth spurt. In just the last few months, CG Life has made two major acquisitions: The first came in March, as the purchase of biopharma-focused digital agency Toolhouse doubled the size of CG Life, followed just a few weeks later by its buyout of Berry & Company Public Relations. Financial terms of both acquisitions were not disclosed.