Media Feature: Emily Mills, Founder, How She Hustles

Wednesday, Jul 29th, 2020

This is a great feature! I love that I am getting the chance to tell you about a fantastic woman who is doing great things in the world. Emily Mills is the Founder of How She Hustles and so much more. This is a person you need to know about! Emily shares some key knowledge here in terms of her business and media and PR! There are some great insights and serious nuggets of knowledge shared!

This feature also allows me to highlight someone else, a fellow PR rep and former CityTV colleague of mine, Fennella Bruce of FKB Media. Fennella and Emily work together. While it may seem strange to mention another PR rep here, I believe it is important to support other women and other entrepreneurs. Fennella is a pro and has decades of experience. While I believe entrepreneurs can do their own media and PR if you want to but it is important to know about the talented media and PR pro’s out there doing good work so you know who they are when you need them!

CL: Tell us a bit about you and your business

EM: My name is Emily Mills and I am the founder of How She Hustles. How She Hustles is an online community – specifically focused on women of colour in Canada – to network and develop meaningful connections. For the last decade, How She Hustles has provided opportunities for diverse women entrepreneurs and leaders to connect, through sold-out networking events, informative virtual seminars, and inspiring digital series such as Startup & Slay or HERstory in Black. Our virtual village continues to expand – we have 18,000 digital followers and growing!

CL: What made you start your own business? What was your why?

EM: I started How She Hustles 10 years ago after I saw a lack of diversity at networking events across the city. Especially events where women and leadership were the focus. I wanted to see more women like me – and not like me – in the audience, at the podium, and setting the agenda behind the scenes. I then posted a reflection on social media that sparked interest and led to our first How She Hustles brunch with 50 diverse women in Toronto. When women saw the warm and inclusive space we had created, the buzz kept building and we kept going. A decade later – here we are.

CL: Tell us about your media experience…where have you been featured?

EM: My media experience is three-fold.

I graduated from journalism school at Ryerson and studied PR there so over the years, I learned the business from the inside out. I’ve worked in media relations for non-profits, as assistant diversity producer at CTV, in administration at Corus, and as a senior communications officer at CBC for more than seven years. I’ve been responsible for communications strategies, partnership and sponsorship negotiations and have worked directly with some of the top names in the industry from Matt Galloway, former host of Metro Morning, and have been mentored by inspiring pioneers like The Social’s Marci Ien.

I have also been featured in different media outlets over the years, to share the journey of How She Hustles, what it’s like to be an entrepreneur and insights about my lived experience as a Black woman in Canada. Most recently, my amazing publicist Fennella Bruce helped me land on the cover of the Toronto Star’s Business Section. I’ve also been featured in the Globe and Mail, Financial Post, CBC Television and Radio, Global Television, Breakfast Television, Flare Magazine, G98.7 FM, 680 News, Refinery 29, SheDoesTheCity.com, ByBlacks.com and so on. We are very fortunate that the How She Hustles story resonates and that there are many women over the last decade who can share the impact of this community on their lives and their businesses.

Finally, my media experience continues to be enriched as I began creating digital content that amplifies the voices of diverse women. How She Hustles gained a national profile through the award-winning HERstory in Black digital photo series we created then successfully pitched to my former employer, CBC. It was an honour to lead a high-profile multiplatform project that resulted in coverage on TV, Radio and digital including a 1-hour TV documentary. When I became my own boss in 2018, I started the Startup & Slay event series sponsored by CIBC to make space for diverse women in business to tell their entrepreneur stories. Then in 2019, we created a national digital series. Now in 2020, we have an exciting new exclusive partnership with Rogers Sports & Media to keep sharing these stories online during COVID-19. We’re looking for stories until July 31 and we invite entrepreneurs to apply. Amazing to see the exposure this project is getting right across Canada!

CL: How did it come about? Did you pitch or did the media get in touch with you?

EM: After working in the media industry for almost 20 years, I’ve made some great connections and understand how this business works. I’ve also been a freelance music writer who has interviewed Grammy Award winning artists Mary J. Blige to covering the Juno Awards, so I feel comfortable speaking to media about my work and passions.

When I became an entrepreneur and created Startup & Slay, I hired FKB Media Solutions to help expand my media profile and manage growing interest in our story. Since working together, Fennella has been able to create even more buzz around How She Hustles while we have been hard at work building this community. Working with Fennella has been incredible for my brand and my business.

CL: What was/is your biggest challenge when it came to reaching out for media mentions and coverage?

EM: Before connecting with FKB Media, earning media coverage wasn’t a key focus. As an entrepreneur, we have to accept help and the fact that we can’t do it all. Having Fennella’s support means we have a dedicated strategic leader who understands media, can make valuable connections, pitch skillfully and offer insight that has helped me secure and leverage new media opportunities. In short, she helped us step our media game up and amplify our story.

CL: What was easier than you thought it would be in terms of media and PR?

EM: While we certainly aren’t perfect, we were ready to make headlines in so many ways. How She Hustles has been documenting our own story for years because I knew the power of media. So we have years of stunning photos, a rich archive of event videos, and a wide network of diverse women who are thrilled to share the story of our impact on their lives and businesses. Having that treasure chest of content and connections made it easier to work with FKB Media on PR.

CL: Why do you think media attention/press is important?

EM: Media attention is crucial for any business. During the first stage of any business, most companies get discovered through word of mouth. This is great, however, to sustain the longevity of a company we wanted to make sure we had a great media presence. Good press can lead to so many opportunities such as better sponsorships and more business connections, and it also establishes your brand as a whole. How She Hustles continues to build a vibrant community of diverse women and telling our story through media helps to position us an influential network to watch.

CL: What is next in your media and PR plan? Are there any specific media outlets you would love to be featured in or on?

EM: I’d love to be featured in magazines like MacLean’s, Toronto Life, Chatelaine, and Elle Canada. I studied magazine journalism at Ryerson and have a special place for these long-lead publications.

I wrote a feature article on Canadian business magazines during my final year of university. I’d love to one day grace the pages of Report on Business, Canadian Business or get a mention about my work in Canada through Forbes.

Finally, I’ve been a lifelong fan of Essence Magazine. It’s the gold standard for Black women around the globe. Would love to get some love from them – and I see they’re covering Canadian stories more and more.

CL: What advice would you have for other entrepreneurs who want to get press but are afraid to reach out?

EM: #1 – Don’t wait for permission to tell your story. I’ve earned major press coverage since my teens for speaking up and raising my voice about issues that matter. Write an op-ed to a newspaper. Start a blog. Reply with a letter to the editor to share your point of view. Don’t wait for journalists to call you. Especially if you are a business owner, you have expertise. Share it.

#2 – Pay attention to who is getting press and take notes. Watch who is often called upon in your industry to speak. What issues do they address? What angles of the story are they missing? Where is there a gap that you can fill with your story and insights?

#3 – Get professional help if you need it. Definitely consider amazing PR professionals like FKB Media – and make sure you’re a good fit for each other. Ensure they understand you and your business, and have relevant insights to help you grow. Also take advantage of PR webinars or online tools so you are at least familiar with the work that needs to be done. Remember, you can’t do it all so you’ll need to invest when it makes sense for your business. You’ll know when it’s worth it.

CL: There is no doubt COVID-19 has been a challenge and changed the business landscape for many. So many entrepreneurs have been forced to change, pivot, and innovate. What have you done to pivot?

EM: Like many other companies, COVID-19 was a game-changer. But How She Hustles was actually well-positioned to go online because we have a strong, highly engaged digital community before the pandemic hit. Diverse women have been connecting with us using social media from the start – along with our in-person events. So COVID-19 just allowed us to step our game up. And I think, it showed the value we have been bringing to this audience for a long time. We’ve got our humble receipts. Since March, we have hosted virtual meetups, a 10th-anniversary virtual celebration, and are in the thick of producing our 2^nd Startup & Slay virtual series. We were made for this.

CL: What is next for your business?

EM: Until July 31, we’re accepting applications for the 2^nd Startup and Slay digital series featuring Canada’s diverse women entrepreneurs. This program is designed to highlight and connect small businesses anywhere across the country led by women of colour or racialized women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous women, those who identify as members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, or those who come from an immigrant or refugee backgrounds. We also welcome applications from non-binary entrepreneurs. Details and the online application can be found at howshehustles.com. We’ll roll out the stories this fall with a social media and publicity campaign thanks to sponsors CIBC and partner Rogers Sports & Media. A great way to build buzz for these businesses, create a national peer-network, change the narrative around business in Canada, and connect these founders to experts who can help them grow. Stay tuned!

CL: Anything else you want to add about your business or your media plan/strategy?

EM: A big part of How She Hustles story isn’t just what we do, but *how* we do it. We are passionate about the many small businesses and freelance creatives we have worked with over the last decade. We work almost exclusively with diverse women to produce our events, create our digital content, and help to grow our online community. Our success story is a collective story. And I think that’s what also makes How She Hustles appeal to many women and also to media.

And here is how you can find Emily Mills and How She Hustles!