From Teen Mother to Serial Entrepreneur
For International Women's Day Week, we're delighted to interview a great inspiration to us - award-winning serial entrepreneur and author Jessica Huie MBE.
Today, we discuss how Jessica went from being expelled from school at 15, a teen mum living in a hostel at 17, to going on to have a highly successful career as an entrepreneur, starting with Color Blind Cards and JHPR, a PR agency represents inspiring entrepreneurs and personalities.
Jessica is also Director of Connect Mentors, an online mentoring platform connecting business with diverse talents, and Jessica's book - Purpose: Find Your Truth And and Embrace Your Calling. is available for pre-order now.
Newnham: What were you like growing up? How would your friends and family have described you?
Huie: I was always bossy and leading or directing. I have photographs of my two younger brothers dressed up in a variety of outfits which I had 'styled' them in around the age of nine or ten. Then there was the production of Annie which I persuaded the Headmaster of my Primary School to allow me to direct aged eleven. I even had permission to remove the six and seven year old's from class to rehearse! I was a slightly odd, non-conformist creative even from a young age. I collected berets which I wore proudly on my head until I was about twelve, and wrote brilliantly imaginative stories.
Newnham: You went on to become a publicist in the entertainment industry - what lessons can you share from that time?
Huie: The lessons from working with personalities are the same I would advise for anyone. Do and be you. PR and marketing should be a tool to enable you to promote the work which is the truest expression of you, to the world. Keep it honest and in line with who you are and what you stand for and your tribe will resonate with your work. Whether it's a piece of music, a message or a service. Truth has a way of cutting through noise and captivating people. We are all connected so when we express authentically people feel it and engage.
Newnham: You became a mother at a young change, how did that impact your path?
Huie: I would say that young motherhood didn't so much as impact my path as launch it. Motherhood was the catalyst to me starting on my career path, initially because I had something to prove to a world which I felt judged by. It was a road fraught with challenge, practical and personal, but every struggle and triumph has brought me to who I am today, and I'm very happy and humbled to be here. Disadvantage can be our greatest teacher and a gift actually. Every success is a little sweeter when you've worked your way from the ground up.
Newnham: Can you talk us through the early days of setting up on your own? What were some of the earlier obstacles and how did you overcome them?
Huie: I served my time, in the sense that I got a firm grounding working for two other PR agencies as well as being a journalist for three years at Pride Magazine and writing a column for them for five years. So I really understood the relationship between the PR and the press. I knew how to craft a story, my black book was strong and my work ethic fierce. It came to a stage where I had grown up and began to feel a conflict with my values and my day job, so I leapt into entrepreneurship and the rest is history. My network and reputation were such that clients came to me which was a great position to be in and one that I had worked hard to create.
People often think that I am older than my 37 years because I have packed so much in. Motherhood forced me to focus and get very serious about my career early, which meant that by the time I left to start my own PR agency aged 28, I already had a decade of solid media experience under my belt.
Newnham: There are many facets to your career and passions. What would you say is your calling / purpose and how is it changed over time?
Huie: Our purpose and calling is something that evolves over time and shifts depending on the stage of our life that we are in. Right now my calling is to share the message in my book which is all about why we should be living inside out and utilising our innate wisdom to make our lives the truest expression of who we truly are. Too often we live the lives we end up in, or the lives we think we should be living - so we are existing rather than truly living.
In my book, I share the lessons I learnt as an individual who was once purposeless and unhappy, to someone who recognised her power to design and create a successful meaningful life, built from an authentic foundation. I offer insights into my own experiences of disadvantage, struggle and grief, and share why our greatest breakdowns are often opportunities for life breakthroughs.
Writing PURPOSE has been one of the highlights of my life. I have relished the process, even when it has been uncomfortable. It's a very honest book and one which I started at a time in my life when I was at my most present. My father was in the last days of his life when I began to scribble words on to the back of an envelope, and the book evolved from those intense and precious moments. In terms of impact, the book will touch whoever it is meant to touch and while of course I hope that it does well, for me it has already changed my life and I'm enjoying seeing what evolves. Dreaming big and yet staying healthily unattached to the outcome, is one of my learning curves.
Newnham: What's the most important lessons you have learned in your career?
Huie: Never compromise on your truth to fit. It's a lesson which if left unlearnt will keep coming back for you. As relevant for our professional lives as for our personal.
Newnham: Finally, if you could go back in time, what one piece of advice would you offer a teenage Jessica?
Huie: I'd keep everything as it has been because all is as it is supposed to be. Perhaps I'd say lighten up a little but even then, my intensity has served me pretty well!
Jessica website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook