Next up in my interview series with inspiring businesses women is Hannah. I came across Hannah on Instagram and am so glad that I did. I’ve learnt so much from her about making marketing achievable and fun. Her website is HI Communications and you can find her on Instagram here.

What was your first job? Did you enjoy it?

My actual first job was at Subway as a sandwich artist. I really enjoyed it, although we did get bored of eating free Subway all the time eventually!

My first job in marketing was as a PR and Social Media Officer for the East Anglian Air Ambulance and it was great. Every day was different so it was varied and interesting. It taught me a lot about working and being managed.

What do you do now? Is this what you originally trained to do?

I’ve been self employed for six years now running my business HI Communications. I help small business owners with their marketing through my membership The Best 90 Days Ever and I work with clients to write their social media content.

My degree is in Event Management and while I was studying, I enjoyed the marketing modules the most so I knew that was the path I was going to take. I did my dissertation on charity rebranding which led me to work at a charity after I graduated. I still enjoy running events now and I think I always will!

How do your services help small business owners?

The Best 90 Days Ever helps small business owners to feel less overwhelmed by their marketing. There are so many ways you ‘could’ be promoting your business, we often don’t know where to start. In The Best 90 Days Ever you get a task each day that will help you move your business forward and should only take around the time it takes to have your first cup of tea! The community in the group is so lovely and supportive. It’s amazing watching everyone connect with each other.

My management services help businesses who are too busy to look after their social media account themselves. They will often want to hand them over to someone they trust so that they know relevant content is going out without them having to look at it.

I also offer one to one sessions which helps a range of clients. Sometimes they will come with a specific question around marketing that they would like answered and other times they need help looking at marketing differently so they can promote their business again.

My main goal is to make marketing quick, simple and stop it being overwhelming for small business owners, whether that means I am working with them or for them.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given? How did it help you?

“You’ll always wish you did it sooner.”

This was around leaving my job and going self employed. It’s true – I do always wish I’d done it sooner. I ended up taking my previous employer on as one of my first clients so it worked out well for us both.

I try to think about this advice when I’m doing anything in my business, even if it ends up going wrong. You can’t learn and adapt from things until you’ve tried them so you’ll always wish you did it sooner.

For someone who is impatient like me, it’s good advice!

If you could give your 20-year-old self, one piece of career advice, what would it be?

I would say to 20-year-old me to start talking to other people who run their own businesses and build that network as soon as you can.

I loved university and it was brilliant, but there was limited information about how to go self-employed when we left. It was very much geared towards getting a big job in the city. If I’d spoken to more people who were where I wanted to be, I might have had a better idea of how I could get there.

Which do you prefer, tea or coffee? Beach or pool? Seaside or countryside?

I hate coffee! Always tea for me. I love the beach and the seaside but I also love to be in the countryside, walking through the grass with our dogs.

What’s your dream job or client?

I’m going to be cheesy now and say that this is my dream job and all of the people in The Best 90 Days Ever are my dream clients.

I would like my business to continue to grow and help support more small business owners. So my dream clients would be the same as they are now, but more of them!

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