She may go under the brand of ‘Just Jo Bird’ now, but Jo Bird is anything but a “just”. 

She’s a multi award-winning Art Director, Tedx speaker, Cannes Future Lions judge, mentor and coach with over 10 years’ industry experience. Having worked for brands including Gymshark and Lounge Underwear, she’s built a reputation for her creative mind and no BS-approach to brand. 

Having recently gone freelance, we’re seeing Jo take over the world. She delivered a personal branding session at IGNITE, our first full-day female founder conference, and it was the perfect opportunity for us to meet the woman of the hour! 

Meet Jo Bird…

It goes without saying that you are *quite* the woman! Tell us a bit about your business journey so far… 

I’ve been building my business as a side hustle for a few years while leading creative teams in-house at Birmingham-based brands Gymshark and Lounge Underwear. I’ve always felt entrepreneurial, but never been sure on how to bring my skills and passions to life in a way that can truly serve others. I think running a side hustle give you some ‘test and learn’ time, preparing you for when the time is right.

What inspired you to set up your business and what have been the most significant steps in growing it to where you have to date?

Three months ago I was made redundant from my job as Head of Creative and so I took the leap to self-employed. I LOVE it! In the first 3 months, I exceeded my Head Of salary, which makes me really excited about the potential of my offer.

Did you dive straight into entrepreneurial life, or did you take your time planning?

The side hustle phase of my business was really crucial for me. I actually spent a lot of time posting content on LinkedIn and ended up building a significant following. I didn’t really know what that meant at the time, but since being more public about my business, it’s definitely generated plenty of marketing opportunities (talks and events) as well as organic leads.

Business support comes in so many forms – accelerators, mentors, finance, and networking, to name a few. What support have you found the most significant in helping you to start and scale?

Honestly, emotional support. Through my networking and LinkedIn audience, I’ve been in conversations with multi-million pound investors who were keen to start a business with me. But ultimately, I’m quite an emotionally led person who makes decisions from the heart and I need to be around people who understand that way of working.

What’s on your vision board for next year?

I’d love to build my own community. I have so much energy and passion to share, I’d love to create something that feels emotive, supportive and still generates great money. I know it’s possible, when done with value and integrity.

They say “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” so what’s the magic bullet that will help you scale and who do you need to make it happen?

A network of talented, reliable people with different creative skills. I want to build my business around organic social content, but it’s tricky to manage all of that by yourself!

Apparently, a founder’s morning routine says a lot about them. Talk us through yours…

Oh no, I’m not a morning person AT ALL. I snooze my alarm, force myself in the shower and then sip a cup of tea while trying to put make up on my face with my eyes half open. I think there’s a bit of a stereotype with the whole morning routine thing. I’m a founder because I want to live life MY way. That means I’ll probably have creative juices flowing at 9pm, not 9am.

What are your non-negotiables, in both business and life?

I don’t deal well with time wasters. Or anyone who isn’t kind. I think these are just basic, respectful traits to have. The rest we can figure out later.

As a successful founder, how easy do you actually find it trying to have work/ life balance… or as we like to say, work/life blend?

I struggle with this overall. My brain has been wired around work since a very young age. I’ve always wanted to make something of my career and this has been the focus of my entire life. I’ve sacrificed friends, hobbies, holidays. It’s just who I am. Even when I can afford time off, financially and workload-wise, I struggle to take it. I will caveat, I recently took out a gym membership and still make time for some TV on an evening. But overall, I think if you want to achieve anything significant in life, you have to spend a LOT of time on it.

Are there any go-to resources you’d recommend to fellow founders – be that books, podcasts, memberships, or something else entirely?

Be very intentional about who you surround yourself with. Negative or anxious people will crush your dreams before they even started.

On the subject of advice, what’s the most BS advice you’ve ever received? Did you ignore it straight away or learn the hard way?

That everything has to be data-driven all the time. No, it doesn’t. If you look back at some of the most incredible discoveries, creative work and businesses of all time, they were a combination of persistence, luck and timing. I think intuition and ‘gut feeling’ are the most powerful sources of information we’ve been blessed with. But I’m happy to keep those as my own super power, if necessary 😉

Finally, we believe in the power of celebrating your wins. What are you most proud of?

On paper, I’m an award-winning creative and public speaker, with 2 x self-published books (that made it to the Amazon bestseller lists on launch), a TedX speaker, Cannes Future Lions judge and profitable businesswoman in month 3. In reality, I’m most proud of my energy. I often get told that it inspires people. And that makes me very happy.

Want more from Jo, head over to her website: www.justjobird.com. 

WHAT. A. WOMAN!

Do you know a founder that will inspire The 51% Club community?
Get in touch with us and tell us a bit about her story: girlpower@the51percent.club