Jessica Huie, MBE, Author of PURPOSE and Founder of The Purpose Academy, The Purpose Academy and The Purpose Retreat
Jessica Huie MBE is the Author of PURPOSE published by Hay House and the Founder of The Purpose Academy and The Annual Purpose Retreat, held in Jamaica.
Jessica enjoyed an accomplished career as a publicist and has worked with some of the world’s biggest stars and business people, including Samuel L. Jackson, Simon Cowell, Kelly Rowland and Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle.
Sixteen years ago Jessica launched Color Blind Cards, a multi-award-winning multicultural greeting card company which drove an early conversation around the importance of ethnic representation in retail and became the first independent brand to secure a high-street presence for black cards.
Following the publication of her book PURPOSE, Jessica co-created the Diverse Wisdom initiative with Hay House to bring more authors of colour into the personal development publishing space. The initiative is now in its third successful year bringing black, Asian, mixed heritage and indigenous authors’ stories and cultural wisdom onto bookshelves globally.
Labelled one of Britain’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs by the Evening Standard in 2014 Jessica was honoured with an MBE for entrepreneurship and her contribution to diversity.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Instagram for a while I perceived as being more welcoming to the authentic and holistic expression of users. Then I realised that was just a narrative. Now I'm rediscovering LinkedIn and very much enjoying it.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I launched The Purpose Academy in 2020. It is the culmination of over 15 years working at the epi-centre or the British media in PR, with some of the world's best-known names and brands and writing my book PURPOSE. The Academy repurposes the vehicle of publicity, for good.
It's a container which supports small business owners doing great work in the world in stepping into greater visibility. The process is transformative not just for the businesses, but for the individuals who come on the journey.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I am in love with my work. I don't see it as work it's a calling. I get to be a part of witnessing people get out of their way and drop the obstacles which stand between them and their potential and create a positive, powerful impact on the world in the process. It's an honour.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
"Why don't you go back to school?" Said a health visitor who came to visit me as an 18-year-old with my newborn baby in my council flat on the 15th floor of a tower block in west London. She was the first person who had suggested that further academic or achieving might still be a possibility for me.
I took her advice and it completely changed the trajectory of my entire life. One of the most important conversations I've ever had. She saw me beyond my circumstances and I like to think I do that for others now. See their greatness beyond any limitations or obstacles, real or imagined.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
It's the feeling I get when people see who they are. When they connect with their true power and start to show up embodying that. That feels like everything to me.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
My children. My courage. My book PURPOSE, launching Color blind cards, Diverse Wisdom and the new wonderful writers is birthing in the wellness space. The impact of The Purpose Academy and The Purpose Retreat. I don't reflect on and acknowledge what I'm proud of enough, so thank you for the opportunity here. :)
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
It used to be in person through the events I hold so often in London and Jamaica but I can now say Linked-in!
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Resilience, the ability to dream and integrity.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Nothing. I believe we see what we need to see exactly at the time we are supposed to see it.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
There are many people, but it's those who are driving new progressive ways of being through their sector that inspire me. I'm inspired by leaders who use their influence to help us move beyond separation.
Caragh Logan Co-Founder of branding agency Jerrard Wayne whose agency was pivotal in the PFA's rebrand and anti-racism work, Mia Forbes-Pirie an incredible Mediator whose work helps organisations with opposing views to communicate and my brother Jethro Huie Founder of Huie Designs, stand out.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
Being in nature, that's why I live between Jamaica and London. Yoga, dancing and chasing waterfalls.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
The pandemic was the catalyst for me to move to Jamaica. It gave me great clarity about what my priorities were and prompted questions about how I wanted to live my life. I had not long launched The Purpose Academy online, and so once I got to grips with the wifi in Jamaica I was blessed to navigate the pandemic with a degree of ease.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I have mentored many people both formally and informally, and I've been fortunate to have many mentors throughout my life. Karen Tippett deserves special recognition for the many hours she spent supporting me with guidance when I was a twenty-something running my first business Color blind cards, the multi-cultural greeting card business.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Get to know who you are beyond the title on your business card or the roles you play in your world. The work I do today is an expression of all that I have experienced rolled into one unique bundle. Purpose meets PR.
Only possible because after many years of being disconnected from myself and immersed in workaholism, defined by my business card and client roster, I am no longer. And that's why work today no longer feels like work, it feels like a privilege.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
There are so many factors. Lack of support? Lack of self-belief? I believe there is a gift in what is often deemed failure too.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"Stripped back is where we meet ourselves". I know you're not supposed to quote your own book but these words are meaningful to me
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Branding agency Jerrard Wayne, We are Parable, Friendly CFO, Media Zoo,
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
My definition of success was completely redefined in 2016 and it was this shift that I wrote about in my book. I was caring for my father at the end of his life and it was the first time I'd got off the treadmill - this constant conveyor belt of doing and addiction to achieving because I was completely defined by it.
Grief broke me open and brought me into contact with all of the pain I'd been avoiding by incessant doing throughout my life. I began to write during that profound time and it evolved into a book which evolved into a retreat and The Purpose Academy.
Success shifted from being about external validation based on my output to living a life which felt like an honest and true expression of who I am underneath the doing. My life's work has become about sharing that message and supporting others in becoming more of who they really are.