Jessica Huie was a mother at the very young age of 17. Determined to establish a great future for herself and her daughter Monet, she decided when her baby was only 9 months old, to study media.
Her ambition paid off and Jessica enjoyed a very successful career in the glamorous world of TV and PR, flying all over the world interviewing celebrities and later working in PR with clients ranging from Simon Cowell and Kelly Rowland to Dragon’s Den’s Peter Jones and Hilary Devey. However having stumbled on a gap in the greeting card market, in 2007 she created Color blind Cards, bringing diversity to the industry. A year later Jessica also founded JH Public Relations, her own PR agency. Jessica now runs the two companies, while enjoying being a mum a second time around. She talks to Myriam O’Carroll about her journey and what drives her.
Jessica, you were a young mother, at the age of 17, and with a nine-months old baby at home, you decided to study media. What was the attraction about the media world?
I had always enjoyed reading and writing, English was a subject I excelled at. Aged 17 I had this kind of fantasy of flying round the world and interviewing celebrities, so I thought I would pursue journalism and see where it would take me. At that age I had a very limited understanding of the mechanics of the media industry, and once I understood the intrinsic relationship between journalism and PR I got my degree in journalism and set about accruing a much PR experience as I could to compliment my academia. I aimed for the top and worked under Connie Filipello (George Michael, Versace & Mariah Carey) and Max Clifford (Simon Cowell & Peter Jones.) Later experience working for BBC London and Choice FM radio and Pride Magazine and writing for the National newspapers left me with an enviable CV, all perfect preparation for launching my own PR agency with incredible contacts and relationships.
What was the most challenging in studying while raising a small child?
Adapting to motherhood was difficult anyway, without the additional course work, which I was trying to undertake. But I became very determined, very quickly, and as soon as I went back to education I had the motivation of wanting a good life for myself and for my daughter, so I had a powerful catalyst driving me. The motivation for wanting to prove I hadn’t messed up my life and my professional potential by having a baby was a huge driving force for the first part of my career until I realized in my late twenties around the time I was invited to take part in a round table on encouraging a more enterprising young Britain with the Prime Minister, that I no longer had anything to prove.
What did you learn working with high-demanding clients?
I learnt that celebrity and wealth do not necessarily make you happy.
It gave me access to an amazing lifestyle and wonderful experiences… but I think as you grow up, you become much more aware of your own values, what’s important to you and what you want to do with your life. These days I do less with celebrities and more with inspirational entrepreneurs. I still work with celebrity, but there has to be a talent, a contribution, something that resonates, in order for me to get involved these days. That said, my celeb contacts are a great use to my business clients and we do lots of cross-pollination amongst clients where there is a value and objective fit.
In 2007 you decided to create your own company, Color blind Cards and became your own boss. Why this urge?
I was still very ambitious even while working for Max Clifford at the pinnacle of British Media at a time when X Factor was taking off and our office were responsible for the majority of the biggest news stories in the country. I was on a lunch break and as I was looking for a card for my daughter. I recognised that there was a complete absence of multicultural cards on the high street. I thought it is important that all children have access to positive imagery about themselves through images that reflect their own identity, but on the commercial level, there was a really good opportunity for business there, because the mixed race ethnic group is the fastest growing in this country. No one seemed to be doing it, so I decided to do it myself!
I am impulsive and so Color blind Cards was born.
It’s a vision of magnitude, we are on a mission to become the global market leading independent publisher for multicultural cards and gifts. It’s not commercially driven, it grew out of love and the success will become a platform for supporting the next generation and nurturing their self esteem and sense of self belief, regardless of their circumstances.
A year after, in 2008, you created you own PR agency, JHPR. Why that?
I left Max Clifford Associates but I love the media and had a good reputation and great contacts and a desire to use PR to tell the public about inspiring or accomplished clients, whether they be brands, entrepreneurs or experts. My First client was Hilary Devey, then it was Kelly Rowland and people started recommending me, so it kind of snowballed, without me having to pitch for business, it just happened. It does work well to have Color blind Cards and JHPR, they complement each other.
What are the next challenges for your business(es) doing today?
With Color blind Cards, we will soon be available in one of the UK’s best known supermarket chains which is a huge accomplishment on a social level. Making multicultural cards readily available and visible on the high-street was my intention at launch. It had never been done and we have achieved that so its now about building on that. Later this summer we’ll also be selling through one of the USA’s biggest online stores Staples.com our US version of the website goes live imminently so that customers in the USA can personalise their cards and gifts and receive them in 48 hours. On the JHPR front we have introduced our new Start-up service for new businesses who don’t have the budget for a standard agency retainer. We offer a reduced rate but access to our expertise and experience and representation alongside an inspiring accomplished roster. We delight in working with brands or entrepreneurs who make a contribution or inspire just by doing what they do.
It keeps us inspired and working in the enterprise space is a great place to be.
How do you find time to network and which advice would you give?
I am an organic networker. I have a very diverse network. My advice would be to follow up and reconnect. I often go through my stacks of business cards and think about who might be interested in what I am doing now – or who could I possibly assist because of where I am now? And I just drop them an email – it is an easy way to reinvigorate your network.
Where do you get your inspiration?
From my children. Monet my daughter definitely inspired me to make something of my life and she continues to motivate me to grow.
Children do what you do not what you say, and the best thing about my achievements is that my daughter has grown up with me and witnessed them, so she knows that the sky is the limit for her. That is truly worth all the hard graft and sleepless nights. My son, who is 20 months old, has given me a new burst of energy and a reason to illustrate to him that you can do whatever you want, you just need to have the work ethic and the focus to realise your aspirations.
