Name: Jessica Huie
Job: Runs an ethnic-card company
Tips for success: I didn't know any black people that went to uni when i was growing up, but i just went for it.
Role Model > Jessica Huie
Having fallen pregnant at 17, Jessica Huie went back into education after having her little girl. She got a degree in journalism and left with a role at Max Clifford’s PR company. She now runs two thriving businesses: the first high street ethnic card company (Colourblind Cards) as well as her own PR Company. Jessica’s advice to young people is to dream big and to believe in yourself. What do you do? I started my career as a journalist, then moved from journalism to PR, where I worked with Max Clifford. During this time I saw an opening for selling greetings cards with ethnic images on them. I am a mother to a black child and I realised that you couldn’t find black cards anywhere on the high street. I started that company two years ago and we were the first ethnic cards to be stocked n the high street in Clinton Cards. I worked a couple more years for Max and then started JHPR (Jessica Huie Public Relations) which was kind of a natural progression as I spent so many years in the media. I wanted to be my own boss; it was quite scary going out there on your own but I guess that is what separates the successful business people from the not so successful ones: being able to take risks and be brave. What was your journey to get where you are? My journey was very unusual. I was always academically strong but my attention span wasn’t very good and my report always said that I had a lot of potential but didn’t use it as much as I should. I never really knew what I wanted to do. Then when I was 17 I fell pregnant – I’d dropped out of A levels twice by then. My baby’s birth changed a lot for me. The stigma of being a teenage mum really got me down, and so did living in a flat from the council and being on benefits. Then a councillor I spoke to told me to go back to college. It was such a simple statement but for some reason, even though I’d dropped out twice before, it didn’t seem so out of reach now. I went back to college and decided I wanted to be a journalist. I started my A levels doing sociology and English lit. I then decided I wanted to go to uni, which is something I previously thought I’d never do. In fact no one thought I’d go to uni. I finished my A levels and went to uni to do journalism which was hard, really hard. I did some work experience with Choice FM and went to Pride magazine. You have to work for free in media because there are so many people that want to do it, so you really have to show that you’re dedicated and willing to do more than anyone else. I did work experience with Max Clifford, I just dialled the number and said hi I’m looking for work experience. They told me to come down and have a chat, and I hid my daughter from them because I was so hung up thinking they would have a problem with a young mum. When they found out it really endeared them to me and I guess it showed them that I really was putting in 200 per cent. Did you have any support from family and friends? When I decided to go back into education my family were really supportive. My friends were around sometimes, but you know we were young. I was often alone, which hurt at the time but you know, that’s what having a child is like. Some of them are now godparents so they must have done something right. What challenges have you faced? People’s mindset. Our generation are a lot more open minded and ambitious, and the older generation are a lot more set in their ways. People assumed that only a black person would buy a card with a black face on. So I was really battling people’s opinions. Money was a problem too: when I was at uni I was putting my baby through nursery. Banks didn’t see Colourblind Cards as a company that would make it. I couldn’t go to the Prince’s Trust as I was still employed. So juggling all of the things that I was doing made it quite difficult. What advice would you give young people setting out? Dream big, and don’t let other people’s limits hold you back. You’ve got to do your own thing and do what you love.Once you work out what industry you want to work in, just go for it. The most important thing is to believe in yourself - I didn’t know any black people that went to uni when I was growing up, but I just went for it. Who is your role model and why? My daughter is my inspiration. What motivates me? The knowledge that I know I got out of the life that I was in and turned it round for myself. That’s what motivates me; I don’t think I’ve got a role model as such. What does success mean to you? Success is doing what I love. It means being able to go to my daughter’s school assembly without having to ask the boss. I can have as many holidays as I want. It means fulfilling what I see as God’s plan for me.
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