Jamila Brown | How to start over, speak up & lead with impact

Welcome to How To Start Up — the podcast that dives into the real stories behind the startups, side hustles & self-made successes. 

Jamila Brown is an American-German powerhouse who moved to London at 21 and after being told her life was “over” when she became a single mum at 24 — proved everyone wrong.

From running Soho House’s global ESG programme to discovering her knack for freelancing during a sabbatical Jamila’s journey to founding her own impact agency is anything but linear — and that’s exactly why it’s inspiring.

Today, she’s a business owner, a mum of two, a wife and a sustainability and social impact champion. This is an honest, motivating chat about reinvention, resilience, and knowing your worth.

Jamila’s advice: 

• Self-confidence helps!
• As does a sense of purpose/service
• Being vocal makes you visible
• In my case, being a single parent helped concentrate my mind and made me use my time well
• Having good people skills, being outspoken and having drive are all important
• Remember ESG matters, there is a point to it
• I had an idea and a smile - not a website
• Every challenge is an opportunity
• Don’t procrastinate, just do it and you will learn as you go

FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts.
Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason. 

FF&M recommends: 

• LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
• Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
• Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
• Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod.  Link &  Licence

Transcript

Juliet: [00:00:00] Welcome to How to Start Up the podcast that dives into real stories behind startups, side hustles, and self-made successes. I'm your host, Juliet Fallowfield, founder of the B Corp PR and podcasting consultancy, Fallow Field and Mason, and today's guest is a force to be reckoned with. Jamila Brown is an American German powerhouse who moved to London at 21 and after being told her life was over when she became a single mom at 24, proved everyone wrong. From running Soho House's global ESG program, to discovering her knack for freelancing during a sabbatical while pregnant,

again, this time not dumped, Jamila's journey to founding her own impact agency is anything but linear, and that's exactly why it's inspiring. Today, she's a business owner, a mom of two, a fiance, and a sustainability and social impact champion. This is an honest motivating chat about reinvention, resilience, and knowing your worth.

If you'd like to contact Jamila, you can find all of her details in the show notes along with a recap of the advice that she has so [00:01:00] kindly shared. And tune in next week to hear the answer to her question for our next guest.

 Lauren Curry, OBE, and founder of Upfront on How to build resilience in sales.

 Welcome Jamila to How to Start. It's wonderful to have you on, and before we get into the detail of your business, I would like to just ask you, what was the first job you ever got paid to do?

Jamila: Oh, I mean, surely it was babysitting, right? I loved, babysitting when I was younger and I remember we lived on a military base, so they're fairly safe places. And I think I was like eight years old and I got to babysit like the neighbor's kids. It's quite young, but it is on base. And there was this other 3-year-old down the road who I just loved.

Juliet: She was so cute. And I was like, I wanna babysit her too. And her mom was like. You're eight, you can't babysit. And I remember thinking, I'm gonna start a babysitting business. I'm babysitting every kid on this base by the time I'm 10. And I'll show you, It's so interesting because loads of people said paper round or in a pub, and it's quite, it's, I feel like anyone who starts a business, you have to learn [00:02:00] so many different things. It's always good to start doing something you never really expect. So what is the business that you have started and when did you start it?

Jamila: Yeah, so now I run an impact agency, which is totally different to babysitting actually, now that I think about it. Not totally different to babysitting.

Juliet: People, they all involve people

Jamila: That's it. Right? And my impact agency, it supports businesses, brands, but also like individuals in a weird way who are on their journey to being a more sustainable or socially impactful entity. And using your platform, and leveraging your power in whatever shape that is, right?

Like your individual power or your business power to just do good in the world and make the future that you want. Be better.

Juliet: Well, going back to those early years, 'cause I know that you worked in bars and you were doing marketing and events and working your way up through your Soho House group. What did those early hustle years teach you about people and persistence, which we all know is a very necessary thing to have.

Jamila: Yeah, I might go [00:03:00] back a little bit further if that's okay. So I just wanna like caveat all this again, I grew up on military bases, which are totally, different worlds to like the real world. I didn't realize that while I was on them, but it's like a bubble, right? And everybody's exactly the same there.

Like we all go to the same school, we all have the same healthcare. We all live in the same housing. All of our parents do the same job. there's no entrepreneurs or anything like that. So I grew up with this real sense of you must 

Juliet: All follow the same rules?

Jamila: Not even necessarily that, but what you're doing in your life must have a purpose.

It must be for the greater good. And I know obviously now living outside of the military community, I can appreciate there are different viewpoints onto if it's really, serving the greater good or not. But when you're in it, you're really, you really believe that everything that your parents are doing and you as dependents are doing is for this greater good of like world peace or whatever, And your life is in service essentially. And When I then went to uni [00:04:00] and then after that, started living my real life in London off base as I like to call it. I always had this sense of, you know, I'm here working in a bar, but we're just getting people drunk. What are we doing to make things better?

Like, you know, and I was always trying to find the service or the purpose in everything I was doing. And so, I think that need to be doing something good and also being American, being quite vocal with how I managed the people in my career across London.

So, you know, my first job in London was in this bar in East London. This. Horrid old nightclub called Cargo, which I think is shut down now. and I remember the owner would make the bar back. So the guys would go around and pick up all the cup stuff. He made them wear these like horrible little, like hats.

And they had these like neck ties underneath and people would pull on them and because everyone's a drunk asshole, and the bar, and I was furious. I went into the owner's office, right? I'm like this like little waitress, 21-year-old waitress who doesn't know anything about London. I went into his office and I said.

This is not okay. You can't have these poor guys running around here getting [00:05:00] their heads pulled back. And if you don't, I think I said to him, if you don't get rid of these hats, you should know that every American in London gets given a lawyer and I will contact mine again. Americans are very litigious, right?

I will contact mine and I will tell him there are human rights violations happening here, and this is not okay. And he was like, calm down. We'll get rid of the hats crazy girl. but I think I've always had this real fire for things to be better for people and I've always been really, empowered speak up about it.

And so that is how I've, made my way through my career was never being afraid to speak up for what I thought was right and being vocal has made me visible. And that I think has helped me with my hustle. If you get what I mean.

Juliet: Did you know this about yourself then? Or is it something you've learned in retrospective years or you've learned retrospectively?

Jamila: I don't think I knew it then, but I think I can see how if I did, I could have [00:06:00] fine tuned that blunt object a bit better to be even more impactful and even more successful in getting my message and my goals across for the things I was doing. 

Juliet: It's so important to know yourself if you're gonna start a business, if knowing how you tick and what gives you job satisfaction. For me, that's been the biggest learning curve, I think. So it's so interesting that you've observed yourself and you've seen that of string come through all of your different roles.

Jamila: you are in the right job. 'cause you are leaning into it the most, I imagine helping other people find their purpose.

Yeah. I think what I'm doing now, I do feel that sense of, if you love what you do, it's not a job sort of thing. I really feel like I love my hobby that, pays my bills, which is going around and talking to people about how they could make things better,

given their environment. But yeah, I mean, just going back to what you're saying about the hustle side, Okay, for sure. Very vocal. And also I'm a Capricorn. I'm the oldest daughter. My mom is actually German, so there's that sort of loud directness coming through as [00:07:00] well.

But also, I grew up in a single, family home. I, moved to London with literally nothing. I think I had a thousand dollars,from a car that I had just sold the day before I moved to London. And I was like, hopefully I'll find a job. And so I always did have to really hustle to get a job, keep a job, move up in a job.

And I really was always looking for okay, I'm here. I wanna get to here because when I'm here I can do more. And, Not necessarily make more money, but have more influence on like how these things are going and make more impact, right?

Juliet: Well, that's it. 'cause you landed the role at soho House and you moved up quite quickly. What do you think helped you stand out in such a competitive space? Because Soho House, obviously a very strong brand, highly competitive to get a role there. You didn't only get a. A role there, but you progressed fast.

What do you think helps that?

Jamila: Yeah. Okay. Again, I'm quite vocal and that isn't always to my benefit. I'm sure I've ruffled quite a few feathers, know.

Juliet: I'm fight and flight. 

Jamila: Yeah, exactly. And sometimes I've been really loud about the wrong thing, and just haven't [00:08:00] had the whole sort of like viewer context of something that I've been fighting for, or it's not always fighting, but just being outspoken about.

 Again, going back to my sort of like military kid background, I moved around a lot. Like every two to three years we were moving. And that made me quite good with people, because constantly having to reintroduce myself, make new friends, figure out, what people like or don't like, those sorts of things.

 I think the combination of, I guess not being afraid to say my opinion, but also Being very smiley and really, wanting to move up was what helped me.

Juliet: Yeah, I've had that in the past, people like, oh, you're so lucky. You've had amazing jobs. there's no luck. I just worked really hard and I knew what I wanted. I was going after it.

I think I can see that in you, that hunger and that passion. I. for you, you took on their first global ESG program.

And this was something I think was it what, seven, eight years ago where the kind of world caught up to the fact that we all need to look after the world and businesses had to sort themselves out. And for ESG environment, social governance, [00:09:00] what did that role involve and what sparked your interest in honing in on that sustainability and social impact area?

Jamila: Yeah, good question. when I moved to London, I was in bars, events, marketing, and when I got my first job at Soho House, it was in events, in Chiswick at High Road House. which, that's another story I'll tell you later. But,we were doing great events. I then moved up to look after the events for West London again, was doing a great job.

But was like, again, missing that sense of purpose. Like I feel like I'm just getting people drunk. what am I doing for the world? it can't just be this. So I've always had that in me like, as a military kid. and so we started looking at ways that we could use the events program to

be more impactful, right? So there was, a program with Sean Sutherland who runs a plastic planet that stripped out all of the plastic, out of our events at White City House. So exciting, right? this amazing girl who still works at Soho House now, she's director of ESG Min Shrimpton and started this mentorship program at White City House, because where it's located Hammersmith and Fulham Borough, it's the [00:10:00] largest, wealth disparity in a borough across.

The UK, definitely London, and I started seeing all these ways that people were using the platform of Soho House to one, be more impactful, but two, also leverage that trendsetting factor of Soho House to influence other people to follow suit.

And I felt really empowered by that,to speak up about, the things I thought we could be doing better, then 2020, lockdown happened, but also there was the murder of George Floyd, which sent off this huge, black Lives Matter, DEI Ripple across the world. I joined Soho Houses', DEI steering committee.

so again, an opportunity to speak with the leadership teams like, Nick Jones, Martin Kuczmarski, the big dogs at the time about what I was seeing in our houses and in the spaces and how I thought we could do better. From a social side, but then also like from an environmental side. 

Juliet: And were they receptive?

Jamila: Yes. Super,

Juliet: Amazing.

Jamila: super. At the same time the company was going [00:11:00] public, and so in the background needed an ESG program, as part of I don't know their IPO or whatever. I didn't really get that involved in that side of it. but I remember saying to the chief people officer at the time, when that job came up, I said, oh my gosh, like this looks like my dream job.

Whoever gets this role, I'm gonna become their best friend. I'm gonna learn everything about how to do this job because I worked in events, I'm gonna learn everything about how to do this. and then after a year I'm gonna push them down the stairs and steal their job. And she was like. Why don't you just apply for it?

Juliet: Yeah, don't murder someone to get it. 

Jamila: Oh, I was like, I could do that. She's like, definitely so applied for it, got the job, like literally interviewed and got offered it the next day, which was a real sign of them like, you know, believing in me and having seen me there for a few years, being loud and vocal and also getting shit done, frankly.

Juliet: And trusting you. You know, they know you. Yeah.

Jamila: Exactly. Gave me a chance. launched the ESG program. There, it was called House Foundations. So you know, the foundations of Soho House. and I [00:12:00] spent the first sort of six months just trying to chat to everybody, but it was lockdown, so lots of the houses were closed except for. Miami, Florida.

it was like there was no covid in Florida. Apparently they were having the biggest party ever. so I spoke to them a lot, but also trying to, catch up with other GMs and just figure out, like almost opening all the drawers of Soho house around the world. what are you guys doing here?

That is cool. 'cause the same way that we were like getting rid of plastic and running mentorship programs, other houses were doing other things led by individuals there who are also passionate about this stuff. So got a really big sort of worldwide view of what social and environmental impact looks like across major cities, in the creative industries.

And then took that and worked alongside a team called the Sustainability Group, to form what was then an official sort of ESG strategy. So an environmental social governance strategy. so we ran eight, big sort of programs around the world that I helped lead, and structure [00:13:00] around DEI. So within the teams, within the members within the supply chain, team wellbeing and development, charitable engagement, and our biggest program, which was Creative Future.

So that was like that mentorship program, but also fellowships, apprenticeships, just ways to open the door for people. And then on the environmental side, I had this like huge learning and understanding of, because something says. I don't know, I'm recycled on the label. Doesn't always mean quite that, or, just getting into the real intricacies of it all.

So environmentally we looked after, waste Management, which weirdly was my favorite, going to like Soho House, Istanbul, and like standing in the trash room and being like. Guys, what's in here that could not be single use, let's dig through the trash. Weirdly loved that. so the waste management, the carbon emissions, the biodiversity, so looking at chemicals and nature and ways that we impact that.

And then again, ethical supply chain, into the houses. So that was my job. I ran that for three. Ish years and [00:14:00] absolutely loved it. Got to work on such exciting projects with such exciting people like our members, our community partners, our teams all around the world. Looking at how these sort of eight areas, impacted and inspired or influenced them and what's innovative in their area that we could then take globally, you know, in these spaces was hands down, coolest job ever.

Juliet: But then in 2023, you took a sabbatical and that changed everything. What happened in that year?

Jamila: Okay, so 2023. I was doing, head of house foundation, so this ESG program, a really hot topic at the time, right? Sustainability, DEI, social impact, everybody's talking about it. I'm also doing it for one of the coolest brands on the planet, I would say. Soho House so,

I was getting nonstop opportunities.

Can you come talk about what you're doing? Can you come start a podcast with us? Can you write a book? I got offered all these incredible things. but I also worked like a hundred hours a week and I have a kid, had [00:15:00] one kid at that point. Now I have two.

Juliet: And I, remember saying I'll never get the chance to try anything else.

Jamila: Because this is all I have capacity for. So the company, we're working on a sabbatical policy anyways, they made me their Guinea pig. They said, okay, you can have the sabbatical, but you have to come back. that was the deal. And then one month in my sabbatical where I was meant to, write a book or, I don't know, start a podcast or whatever, I ended up getting quite busy freelancing for members, being like, oh, you're around.

Can you help me and my brand with this? Or can you help me with this? and then also getting pregnant.

so by the time my, sabbatical was ending, which was so I think I started in April and I was supposed to be back at work in September, so it was like a nice long summer, 

by the time it ended, I was, four or five months pregnant and I was working on all these really cool projects. So it, in a weird way, kind of the same stuff I was already doing at Soho House, just more on my terms and a bit different. So instead of like working to find a [00:16:00] cool, diverse owned, sustainable shoe partner for the staff shoe at Soho House, I was like working with this shoe brand to figure out how they can make their shoes even better for people and better for the planet and how they could use their platform, And I just thought it was such a cool way to be on both sides of it.

Juliet: We're taking a quick 30 second break from this episode to ask, are you thinking of starting your own podcast? If so, this is great news because we run a course that will train you how to produce your own podcast yourself. This course is for people who do not want to outsource and pay someone else to do it.

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Yeah, so you quit your job while pregnant for the second time, and you started your own agency. This is a bold decision.

Jamila: Yeah, so did not go back to work while I was pregnant. Literally, it was like, I'm throwing away a mat leave package here that I have worked a long time to earn and I didn't have a mat [00:17:00] leave package with my first kid. So this was like the holy grail for me. Threw it away.

Juliet: Ah... that's a bold move. How did you make that decision, and what were your first steps in making that decision? Because I know a lot of people, I was pushed into self-employment because I was made redundant and felt like I didn't have a choice. In hindsight, I probably could have gone another, got another job. But people who were sitting on that salary share schemes, pensions, paid holiday, maternity cover, or maternity packages, what would you advise them to do if they're thinking, walking away from that package?

Jamila: Okay. think real hard about it because I will say, the thing that pushed me to it is I spoke to my accountant and I was like, let's just really run the numbers here because I'm making great money freelancing. I was actually making more than my salary was. But it's different in that, there's no benefits.

It's not guaranteed, et cetera. Right?

Juliet: Yeah, you have to put time against winning the business as well as doing the work.

Jamila: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I'm on some great projects. I've got some great retainers, but I'm having a baby in February and then I'm gonna wanna take [00:18:00] some time off. If I keep going at this right till February,can I afford to pay myself a maternity leave? Which we figured out. I could.

We also talked about, like what other options are available to you when you're self-employed, when it comes to maternity pay. So you're still eligible for SMP, which is not much right, but 

Juliet: it really took getting somebody who's an expert in this to sit down and figure out what this really means.

Jamila: If I'm like throwing away a mat leave package and a career at a super cool company. 

Juliet: Real terms, real money.

because a lot of people say you just don't want to spend time worrying about anything and worrying about money is the worst thing.

Jamila: Oh my god.

Juliet: you can save yourself that pain and future-proof your, cashflow, it sounds very sensible.

Jamila: Yeah,

Juliet: get to know numbers, sit with accountant, know the lay the land.

Jamila: again, I'm a Capricorn, love an Excel sheet,love a plan. So, I made a plan, and I spoke to my partner about it, and ultimately was like, look, I. We can do this and what will get in return rather than, just, being my own boss or [00:19:00] whatever is while I was freelancing on sabbatical, my older daughter, this was the first time in her life, my life that I was able to take her to school at the same time as all the other moms didn't have to go to Breakfast Club and pick her up when school finished.

I could never do that when I was working full time. Like she was always the first kid at Breakfast Club at Eight in the morning, the last kid picked up at the end of the day and I realized how special it was for me to be able to have the option to drop her off and pick her up at normal time if I wanted to.

I'm not saying I do it every day, I definitely don't, but the fact that it's, not that anyone at Soho House was ever like harsh or anything, but there's no what's the word? Stigma of leaving early to get your kid or anything. It's all totally on my terms was probably the thing that was worth more than the actual money to me at the end of the day was that freedom of my own time and my own ability to do what I want with my kids. 

Juliet: Well, this is it. You work harder than you'll ever work for anyone else, but you work on your terms in the hours that you wanna work. And it's, for me, it's that. I get to [00:20:00] be a grownup. I get to choose how I run my day

Jamila: gonna work that hard, I may as well do it for myself. But it's so funny 'cause so many people are like, oh, you get unlimited annual leave and you can always be on holiday, I'm like are you joking?

Juliet: Like the boundaries around this is very different. I miss the old days of get up, commute, sit in an office, leave, come home, and

Jamila: Blackberry pre iPhone, pre, almost pre email. I started my career and you have the boundary. You go to work, you do that and you come home and it's very time and very obvious.

Juliet: Whereas now you could be on a walk on a Sunday and suddenly be thinking about strategy for something. You're like, no, switch it off. But with that comes the freedom and autonomy of choosing your hours and

Jamila: Yeah. 

Juliet: your eldest child would've been so grateful, especially if there's another baby coming for you to have that bonding time with both of them. 

So special.

Jamila: Yeah. Yeah, no, it was a hundred percent the right decision. and so I had Ivy in February of 2020, no, March of 2024. and I took sort of six months off, but honestly, by six [00:21:00] weeks I was like, I wanna get back to work a little bit. Not fully, but I was really excited to get back to doing these projects and solving these problems and working with these cool creatives.

At six months. Yeah. I went back very slowly. I remember, I called my mom and I was like, I'm actually a little bit I don't wanna say depressed, but like I'm a little bit miserable. And she's like, why? And I was like, all I do is just hang out with this baby all the time.

And I feel like my identity has been stripped from me. Like I'm literally a cow on the sofa watching Vanderpump Rules, breastfeeding a baby nonstop. And six months ago I was like bopping around town, like doing cool stuff, And she was like, get some childcare. I was like, what? You can do that?

And again, I'm American. And she was like, Jamila, Everybody I know goes back to work after six weeks in America. I was like, oh yeah. She's the fact that you've been six months at home with your child's blessing, she's if you wanna go back to work one day a week, two days a week, no one's gonna judge you get some childcare.

And so I did.

Juliet: how have you found that juggle? I don't have kids and I fill my days [00:22:00] very

Jamila: I always look at friends with kids and businesses thinking, how on earth do you do both? Like how do you divide and conquer?

Yes. Okay. Well, so, I mean, childcare number one.

Juliet: Outsource.

Jamila: So yeah, a hundred percent. my, my older daughter, she's nine, almost 10. She's in school anyways, right? Monday to Friday, nine till three. The baby, she goes to a childminder three days a week. So those three days, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from nine to three are my sacred, get shit done time, and I figured this out when I was 25 and had Ellie, you get a lot more done when, you know you only have three hours to do it, right?

So I've gotten. A lot more productive than I used to be. but then also, my partner's really good at helping like those balance, who gets. Time, I guess during, outside of the sort of childcare hours. So a good example, a lot of my job, is networking with potential clients.

I do a lot of public speaking, so going to events, that's really good for my brand, helps me grow my agency. And those [00:23:00] don't always happen between nine to three, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. Unfortunately, so there is this balance of okay, John's also a freelancer. So I think that.

Maybe it does help, maybe it doesn't. I don't know. But it is what is Okay, John, like next week, what days are you working? Because on Tuesday night, I've gotta go to this event for work. It's always for work, it's not for fun, although it is quite fun to go to them, but I won't tell him that.

I'm like, oh, so bored. And Cornwall at this retreat for B Corps. I hate it here. But I'm like, okay, I've gotta go to this. And he's actually super supportive. He's like, okay, cool. I got the kids. You go get the money. I'm like, I'm going.

Juliet: Love

Jamila: So there is the balance and like I do have a really supportive partner, and equally I support him.

Like his hours aren't set. So we do balance between each other, 

Juliet: coming out of the juggernaut of Soho House, and I can relate to this 'cause I used to work for Chanel and Burberry brands, people knew, and for you leaving that big umbrella, business behind.

Jamila: Hmm.

Juliet: How did you learn to sell your own services and your own business? Were there any sort of challenges you faced [00:24:00] around suddenly you are out at the coalface on your own?

Jamila: Yeah, I think I had a good advantage in that I've got, I had two good advantages, number one. Whenever I tell people I work in events, I think oh, you just make things pretty, like it's not so nice. You get to pick pretty 

Juliet: No, events are war. 

Jamila: It's war And it's also sales, right? not on the PR side, but if you're on the like venue side, it's sales.

So like I had a big network and I knew how to quote unquote sell to them anyways. and then that actually is the second advantage is the big network. So coming out of somewhere like Soho House, and, being publicly ish known as somebody who's doing a lot of sustainability and social impact work, globally, for a cool brand, who's got a big network because of the sales part.

And now this part were my two like golden arrows to launching. And again, that's why I said, going freelance, I had three retainer clients within a week, and I appreciate that's not the normal and that's a huge blessing and a huge [00:25:00] privilege.

But I've always, to this day, I don't even have a website. It's all my network or through public speaking or whatever. I'll connect with people, we'll get a coffee, I'll chat about, what I think, how I could maybe support their business. And then if it goes somewhere, it does.

And if it doesn't, I never burn a bridge. Those relationships can turn into potential partnerships for a different client at some point. And I think it's just always good to keep the community strong.

Juliet: You never regret a conversation, which I obviously have found my metier in comms, working in PR and podcasting and self-employed. It's the kind of virtuous circle of always being able to have lovely chats and then doing a podcast obviously such a nice excuse to have loads of conversations.

Jamila: Yeah, that's good.

Juliet: So you had your first daughter at 24 I think.

Jamila: Yeah, that's right.

Juliet: Your partner quickly departed, and a lot of people reported to say that your life was over at that time.

What would you say to people who are feeling like they're too late to start or they haven't got an idea to start, or their life or their career is over and that it's not for them? What would you [00:26:00] want to say to them?

Jamila: Oh, that is like a hundred percent not true. And I think this is where like putting on my, like DEI hat diversity of thought in your circle is really helpful. When I got pregnant, At 24 and broken up with, never to hear from this person again. sure. Some of my friends here in London were like, oh my God, 

 what the fuck? what are you gonna do? You can't be a single mom, this is fucking crazy. But then on the flip side, loads of my other friends from, my military community or from like college in America, were like, it's about time you have a baby at 24, because we already have two and you are late to the game.

 And then also, like I said, I grew up with a single mother who was like, I did it with three kids in a foreign country. My mom's German, she was my American military parent randomly. I did it with three kids on my own foreign country. you can totally do this.

So I had, some voices being like, you're fucked. But I had a lot of voices being like. You'll be okay and you can do this and [00:27:00] things that may seem like a challenge are an opportunity. And like I said, I got way once, once you gotta pay the rent in London for you and a baby and there's no one helping you.

you get really good at work, you get your shit done, you don't fuck around. You're not about to get fired. You're not getting a performance improvement plan or anything like. You hustle. And I think you can do that at any age. And I love, you know, You see those Instagram memes of Vera Wang started her brand at 50, right?

 That to me is inspiring because I'm 35 now. I had to think about it

Juliet: It's fine. I'm in my forties. You stop counting after a while.

Jamila: and I'm like, there's still so much I can do. fuck the Forbes 30 under 30 list. I'm gonna be on the 50, under 50. I'm gonna be on the 60, over 60 list. I'm gonna be fucking president when I'm 85. No, I mean, I'm not, but you know, I just, I can see so many different examples of things going well for people at all stages that I don't let the, like 'your life's over' [00:28:00] or 'it's too late' or 'you can't do it ever stop me because there are so many examples out there in the world of doing it and doing it well.

Juliet: Yeah, and everyone says this. You just have to start and

scratch that itch. Just get going and learn as you do, learn as you go rather.

I had no idea that I was gonna become self-employed until the day before, and I. Was made redundant and suddenly it's I've got no choice. And I thought you needed a business plan.

You need an investment. It turns out you just need good wifi and a laptop and just get going.

Jamila: I don't even have a website. I've got literally nothing except a smile and like an idea, and I'm about two years in at this point.

Juliet: This is it and it's working, and I think that enthusiasm is just. completely. It's so obvious it's oozing out of you. It's so exciting. But I think I see a lot of people procrastinate 'cause they, they don't have to start and they're thinking about it. It's oh, I'm gonna spend another year building the website and I need a logo and a business card.

you need nothing. You don't need an business cards. You need to need an idea and some grit. And I think

Juliet: Yeah. just go [00:29:00] for it.

so what's next for you and your agency?

Jamila: Yes. Okay. Well, I am potentially gonna get a website. I'm really excited about this. So when I like went accidentally freelance, I said, I made like a little Instagram reel as you do these days, right? I did a little story and I was like, I'm not going back to Soho House everybody. I'm starting my own thing and I'm calling it JB Impact Agency for now, but I'm gonna change it at some point.

And I feel like the some point is now coming. So this is a year and a half, two years later. 

 I've been working with this super exciting guy up north named John Wally from Youth Space. He's a creative director, brand designer, and I basically met him in January and said to him, I've been thinking for two years about what I should call this impact agency.

'cause I don't want it to be JB Impact Agency. I don't want it to be about me. I want it to be about all the cool people who I know and the cool things they do. Our mutual friends, Jen and Ashing, from Sid Connect, or my shoe clients or Jamal Edwards' [00:30:00] Trust or just, any, I wanted it to be about all of us coming together to collaborate, to create change.

And for that reason, I don't want it to be called JB Impact Agency 'cause it's not about me. So this guy has been helping me and God bless him because I've sent him probably 700 emails of what about this name? What about this name? What about this name? I decided I don't like this name. At one point, I was gonna call it "Moola", and he was like, don't do that.

And I was like, you're right. Drum roll. Drum roll. Okay. So we finally got a name and he's helping me make a website. I'm finally gonna make a website and I think what I'm gonna call it notice, I'm not a hundred percent sure. I've still said I think, but I think we're gonna call it Club Vested.

Juliet: It's about a club of people having a vested interest in the future. Oh,

Jamila: So that's what's next. What's next is we're gonna. I think I'm gonna relaunch a little bit, with a stronger like brand mission and purpose of what we're doing. I've got some really great, like freelancers that I work with.

I've got my amazing partner who is a videographer and editor [00:31:00] who can help, tie in some of those cool things. for my clients. All of my clients are really cool and collaborate with one another, so I'm just really excited to turn this into, little old me, yelling at everybody about how to be more sustainable to like a real, like force for good.

working together, collaboratively with lots of different, with lots of different, peeps. So that's what's next is upping the leverage.

Juliet: So something we do is a question from the previous episode's guest has a question for your episode. 

 The founders of hiphop who started as a kombucha brand and now are an alternative soft drink, brand who create gorgeous drinks that are delicious, but also good for you. Kenny and Emma, who based up in Manchester, their question for you was that sliding door moment where you could have gone back into what you usually did, your normal job, your day job, or the sliding doors moment where you take the path of self-employment. What was it that stopped you going back to that old job?

Jamila: I know a hundred percent. It was at the end of my sabbatical, [00:32:00] I was chatting to the CEO at Soho House about what returning looks like, and I just got really depressed thinking about it. Not because I don't love Soho House, but because I had a taste of the good life

Juliet: Yeah,

Jamila: my own boss, of creating my own path, And I just thought, can't go back to commuting on the tube.

Juliet: And someone said, when you're self-employed, that's it. You'll never be employed by someone else again. 'cause they know that, you know, like, oh shit.

What would your question be for the next guest?

Jamila: Oh,

Juliet: Anything around entrepreneurship, starting, scaling.

Jamila: okay. I've got one. If you could. Start your business from scratch, but it had to be a totally different business. What would it be and why?

Juliet: I love that I'm writing this down. Oh, I'm now gonna go on a long walk and think about that

 when you start one, you suddenly get a hundred ideas for a hundred other businesses as well. And Jo Fairley from Green and Black said this. He's I just give the [00:33:00] ideas away now. I've had enough.

I've had too many. I will let you know their answer. 

Jamila: Yeah I can't wait to hear it 

Juliet: Thank you so much for joining How to Start Up Today. It's been wonderful chatting to you and best of luck with everything. What are we calling it?

Jamila: Club Vested.

Juliet: Club Vested. Woohoo. Amazing. If you'd like to contact Jamila, you can find all of her details in the show notes along with a recap of the advice that she has so kindly shared. And tune in next week to hear the answer to her question for our next guest.

 Lauren Curry, OBE, and founder of Upfront on How to build resilience in sales.