She’s the Boss | Jules Brooke

Jules Brooke was born in Dublin, Ireland and lived in Germany, Cyprus and England before moving to Australia at the age of 11. Her Dad was a doctor in the British Army and once he qualified as a specialist, he left!

She had a beloved uncle in Ireland who ran a huge PR company and he regaled her with all sorts of exciting stories every time she would visit. She knew she wanted to do PR, but had NO idea what it was! She was also keen on being a teacher or an actress/singer when growing up. We are lucky enough to be sharing Jules’ story.

Jules Brooke, Founder She’s the Boss and Handle Your Own PR

What gave you the idea for Handle Your Own PR and then She’s The Boss?

Both business ideas happened during a recession! Handle Your Own PR came about when the GFC hit in 2008. I had a small PR agency and our small business and start-up clients all peeled off for financial reasons. PR wasn’t at the top of their ‘must have’ list and so they cancelled. But I realised how badly the media needed content, and I knew all the business owners had great stories or advice to share, so I thought, ‘Why not teach them how to go directly to the media?’. The business has changed a lot since the start, but I still believe that businesses should all be using PR as a tool to market their business!

She’s the Boss started in late 2019 as a TV show I hosted on Ticker TV and then morphed into a business in March 2020 at the beginning of the Melbourne lock down. I felt very passionate about shining the light on the incredible female founders I was meeting, many of whom had amazing businesses that were helping people or solving problems for all of us. I started with a regular Friday zoom lunch (#noagenda) for any female founders that were feeling a bit down, or cut off, in the lock down. Then I decided to create a podcast where I would interview a female founder for each episode about her career and how it had evolved. Then, when the Ticker TV show was cancelled, I decided to keep going from my dining room so I started a YouTube channel. Every week since last July I have interviewed one or two women who are seriously making a huge difference to the world. I’ve interviewed female founders from New York, Delhi, Reykjavik, Toronto and London as well as Australian business stars. I LOVE it!!

Now I want to start a TV channel for women in business globally. I’m currently capital raising to launch it at the end of 2021.

What does Shes The Boss do and Handle Your Own PR do? Who is the solution for? What problem does it solve?

Handle Your Own PR started as a way for people to understand they could get free media coverage for their business by sharing their expertise and stories. When money is tight, PR is a fantastic tool to get the word out and build a brand. It is now more about building a media profile for experts, entrepreneurs and business owners, but the same principles apply. It solves a problem for the media, who need content, and the business owner who needs brand awareness.

She’s The Boss is all about building awareness of female founders, both here in Australia, and around the world. I’m particularly focused on women who have achieved success, so most are 40-60 years old, and on television, because I think it is still a powerful medium. Especially for building an expert profile. Women ‘of a certain age’ are practically invisible on TV, add business to the mix and you wouldn’t even know they exist! I want to change that.

What is unique about She’s the Boss and Handle Your Own PR?

They are both pretty unique. These days there are quite a few people teaching PR, but I have also built a PR SaaS platform where people can build a media list, fill out the media release template, choose who they want to send their release to, and they can manage the whole campaign from one place. There isn’t anything like it on the market. I also coach business owners and match them directly with journalists to mentor them and edit their releases which is a pretty unique model. There are other businesses doing ‘pitch fests’ to the media, but not many who help people work directly with journalists.

She’s The Boss is one of the only groups around for female founders where, not only do we all support each other, but I am posting and sharing videos and podcast interviews so that others can hear about their entrepreneurial journeys, what they have experienced and what it has taught them. I also run the weekly online lunches that attract women in regional areas and those who can’t leave the house or office easily, as well as city dwellers. It’s great to see friendships born and collaborations happening because of the lunches.

I also have a pretty strong business network and am able to access some seriously powerful and successful women globally, which makes many of the She’s The Boss guests unique. I have interviewed a few senior women in the oil and gas industry, including one who has founded an oil company in the Caribbean, Oprah Winfrey’s Chief of Staff of 11 years, a woman who has helped over 7000 Nepalese women gain independence and skills and has spoken at the UN and won an OA. Another has composed for Hollywood movies, another uses her disability to advocate for the media and advertising to be more representative of the 20% of our population that are disabled, another has over 800,000 Mums on her database, many have successfully sold businesses and a huge percentage are doing things to give back. I am very privileged to be able to speak with these women and have them share their life stories with me and my audience.

Where do you see your proposition in ten years time?

I hope that in ten years I have sold both of them and can spend my retirement mentoring and helping women start, build and grow their businesses! But I would like to think they will still continue.

To handle your Own PR is extremely scalable globally. I’ve set up arms of the business in the UK and USA before but didn’t have the right model or platform. I’d like to see the business with a presence in the UK, USA, South Africa and India over the next 5 years and then grow from there. In ten years I really hope every business owner has access to media contacts and knows the PR basics so they feel comfortable about approaching the media directly

She’s The Boss has a clear goal - to create an on-demand TV network for women in business globally. One that only has female hosts and that focuses on business, innovation and technology. I would like to think that in ten years it has 10,000 shows and content from all over the world. I also hope that it is run mainly by women, with a majority of female board and with Producers making programming decisions that are relevant to the millions of smart, business savvy women who run businesses, who are looking to be leaders or who are dreaming of what they could do in the future, but currently can’t find that on television.

I also hope that the podcasts and TV episodes I am recording right now will have had millions of views and downloads!

If you are not from a Tech background how has that impacted and what do you bring to the table?

I am totally not a techie and it has hampered me a lot, especially in the early days of Handle Your own PR, as both of my businesses are tech based. I have the creativity, ideas and the business networks to get things happening, I am also a super connector with people so that's what I bring to the table. I have had to learn about tech as I go.

Handle Your Own PR has had so many iterations over the years, and the fact that I am unable to code, or in some cases, know what is possible, has been hard. I’ve also lost a lot of money along the way by making bad decisions with suppliers, but you learn a little more each time! Having said that, building a SaaS platform was a real game changer for my business so I have no regrets.

With She’s The Boss, I have been extremely lucky. My gorgeous partner, Dave Stokes is the owner of author2audio.com, and is an audiobook and podcast producer, so he encouraged me to start the podcast and produced the first 50 shows for me. My son Jake Brooke, had his first year out of secondary school at home with me last year and he volunteered to produce the TV shows and YouTube channel.

I also have a business coach/partner Paul Lange who has been invaluable to me as he understands the tech and what is needed and what isn’t. He is a total godsend!

Biggest challenge you have faced so far?

Gosh. Where to start...there are many! I think the biggest challenges have been with Handle Your Own PR. Twice things have happened that almost brought me to a stand still at the time. The first one was when I got my best friend at the time involved in the business. She was looking for some part time work and knew me, and the business, since it was just an idea, so it seemed a natural progression to get her to join me. When it all went pear shaped, we didn’t have a contract or any paperwork in place and it soured our friendship. She now no longer has anything to do with me which is a real tragedy and at the time, seemed impossible to overcome.

My other big challenge came with the build of the Handle Your Own PR SaaS platform. I agreed to ‘partner’ with a digital marketing specialist. He was to build the platform, and I would provide the content etc. But having gone through tens of thousands of dollars, we ran out of money and he left! The platform wasn’t finished and he took all his connections with him so I didn’t know how to finish it! Eventually I got a business coach and he helped me get it finished and marketed but I was frozen for a while!

Example of a good result with Handle Your Own PR and She’s The Boss?

All I want with Handle Your Own PR is to help as many people as possible understand how PR works and get free editorial coverage. A great result would be 1000 new customers all getting publicity! as it is, we have people that are getting regular coverage on radio, TV, in magazines, newspapers, on podcasts and in blogs. Pretty good! One of the stand outs was Melbourne physio who got an article in the Herald Sun that got picked up by radio and ALL the evening news. He had a hot on his website every minute following the news, for three hours, and 7 months worth of bookings in 2 days!

She’s The Boss is all about shining the spotlight on all the incredible female founders out there so a great result would be that the podcast series and YouTube channel gets loads of followers who spread the word about the amazing women!

In what ways do you think female founders are treated differently?

Well, I think it’s well documented that we can’t access funding anywhere near as easily as male founders. Only 3% of VC funding goes to female founders, which is pretty short sighted I think. I also believe that a lot of female founders have created products or services that help other women, which makes it hard to explain in a way that resonates with men.

When you start talking about older women starting businesses (and there are loads of women over 40 who go out on their own), it becomes even harder again. Most accelerator and incubator programs clearly market themselves to younger women. Add the practical invisibility of women over 45 in the media and it starts to get really hard to find support and role models if you don’t know where to look!

What is your focus now? And for the next couple of years? How has COVID impact your activity?

My focus is to grow Handle Your Own PR internationally. I want to make it available in the US, Uk and India.

With She’s The Boss, I am going to capital raise and start a global on-demand TV network focused on women in business, with only female hosts. I have been talking about it for about 4 months, have my pitch deck ready and will soon be knocking on doors to make it happen!

What tips would you have for female entrepreneurs?

Find a support group of women who are your ‘tribe’, as they will be able to guide you and help you on down days (we all have them!). Do some research into the sector you want to move into and then just get started!

What are the one or two lessons/principles/ you carry with you into everything you do?

I have a high appetite for risk so I’m a big believer in having a go! I also believe that things happen when you let go so I don’t get too attached to outcomes or initiatives that don’t work. I also have a philosophy of abundance - there is plenty of work, and customers, for all of us so I like to collaborate with my ‘competitors’ wherever possible. I am also a straight talker and I tell the truth in everything I do. I’m pretty transparent and people know that what you see is what you get!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

I hope to have built up, and sold, two amazing businesses that help people get ahead. Then I would like to be supporting female founders and start ups while lying on a beach somewhere, semi-retired!

How do you balance your personal time and your ‘work’ time?

I am pretty good with the balance. I have 3 kids and I’m a single Mum so I always make my boys a priority. But I do work odd hours, depending on what I have on, and I work very hard at everything I do!

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