Jessica Huie
We met up with serial entrepreneur Jessica Huie, the CEO of ‘Colour Blind Cards’ and Founder of ‘Jessica Huie Public Relations’ in Westbourne Grove. She talked to us about herself, her business and how she over came prejudice. At just 29 years old she has achieved so many things from being her own boss to awards such as ‘Enterprising Young Brit Award 2007’, Evening Standard ‘Most Inspirational Entrepreneur Award 2007’, ‘Precious Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2008’.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Dynamic, driven, and kind.
How did your childhood shape the women that you are today?
I am the person that I am because it didn’t come on the plate, I mean by getting pregnant at a very young age forced me to either become a stereotype or do the complete opposite. I think if I hadn’t had the obstacles that happened in my life I would not be here today. (Laughs)
You said that your dad told you that you will become a statistic when you got pregnant. How did that make you feel at the time?
I felt guilty that I’ve let him down because he worked so very hard. Also as the eldest child of the family, he had big dreams for me like going to university. To say getting pregnant as a teenager is every parent’s nightmare. At the time I probably believed him and it was a statement that led me to act as a catalyst in me going to achieve things and back to education.
How did you get into PR?
I did my degree in journalism and decided to experiment with public relations. So I contacted Max Clifford who is the biggest publicist I heard of as a teenager. And I was lucky enough to get a work placement. After I graduated I went onto paid work as a journalist and worked for Pride Magazine for 3 years. I also worked on BBC London Radio and Choice FM for over a year. Then I went to work for Max full-time. I spent about 7 years there before launching my own company.
How old were you when you got in touch with Max Clifford?
I was 19 years old.
Who have you worked with over the years?
–Oh my goodness. (Laughs) Simon Cowell, Samuel L. Jackson, Mariah Carey… Prime Minister, there is so many.
Who was your favorite?
–Well, I enjoyed working with Simon because he’s a very down to earth and inspirational. (Humm) There are lots of different people just for loads of different reasons.
What skill do you feel you need to posses to work in PR?
You need to have good communication skills and be able to think outside of the box. I also find my journalism background really helpful because it helped me to know what I wanted to get out of a story, which of course helps me promote it in the way I want.
Tell us about your two businesses?
‘Color Blinds Cards’ (Laughs) is a multicultural greetings cards company; we are stocking in Clintons and we also have American distributions. The other one which is called ‘JH Public Relations’ is a PR company where we are looking after businesses, celebrities and lifestyle kind. It’s a very new company and we’ve had a great first year.
It must have been a big decision to leave your job with Max Clifford. What was the motivation behind it?
It was kind of a natural evolution, I’ve been there for a long time and I had secured some great relationships in the media which is really what PR is. (Humm) Relationships. Also my other company was taking off and I wanted more freedom to go to my daughter’s school assemblies and take holidays when I wanted to, so in order to do that, I needed to be my own boss full-time.
What is your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievement is my daughter being head girl.
What’s your motivation?
My daughter is and also I love life, I enjoy life so I strive on the next opportunity and the next experience. And I am really blessed to have increasingly enjoyable experience.
Do you believe there are any secrets to your success?
I believe it’s a mixture of luck, hard-work and blessings.
What advise would you give to anyone starting their own business?
They will need to do some researches and make sure that there is a need for it. Make sure what you do is better than the services or whatever that’s already provided or you are doing something new. It’s either of the two. They will also need to have lots of self-belief.
What do you like to do away from work?
I like working out and also travelling. I also like reading and dance. I’ve got lots of different hobbies really.
Where’s the best place you’ve travelled to?
(Laughs) Wow I love Cape Town, Monte Carlo there’s so many.
What is your favorite food or dish?
(Laughs) I like strawberry cheese cake, Haagen-Daz ice-cream. (Laughs) Does this count?
What does the future hold for you?
We’re launching a US office for the Pr Company in 2011 and we are also about to launch a real exiting new line for ‘Colour Blind Cards’ which is set to make it a global US recognize cards. I can’t say too much about that. But there’s also a gift line which is new territory.
Christelle Dasse
