Jules Brooke, Business owner

Like what you've read? Share the love!

Resident of Kingsville, business owner of Handle Your Own PR

My dad was in the British Army as an obstetrician. He was given a choice to relocate, and it was between South Africa, Canada or Australia. Australia won, and the whole family including I moved from Ireland to Australia. I was 11 years old then. I am the oldest of four siblings and have three younger brothers.

I moved around a bit while I was younger but only moved to the Inner West in 2002 from St Kilda. In the last few decades, I have had a few businesses, but nothing quite as exciting or fulfilling as my current business.

I have three boys, Jake and twins Ned and Tom. Jake is 16 and is 6 foot 5 inches tall. That comes from my side of the family as they are all tall. Jake plays for the VIC volleyball Under-17, and the twins play basketball for Under-14 at Westgate.

Life has taken me on a journey and it all started while I was still in uni in the mid-1980s.

In 1985, I was doing telesales for Herald Sun’s Classifieds before joining them as a Supervisor from 1986 – 1988. I moved on from that role and turned to graphic design. I set up a company called Terminal Design in St Kilda however things didn’t work out as planned and I had my business partners buy me out a few years later.

In 1995, my grandfather was turning 80 so I decided to go back to Dublin to see him and family in London. Somehow, I ended up in Jamaica for three months and did absolutely nothing but meet locals, listened to music and sunbaked.

When I finally made it to London, I found a job in Fleet Street (yes, the same Fleet Street in Monopoly) as a graphic designer, which opened up a few doors from where I lived. Over a five year period, I must have travelled about 15 times back and forth between London and Dublin. I have both sides of grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins in Ireland.

London was where I met my ex-husband, Dan. We travelled around and had an amazing trip to India in 1997. My dad was born there, as my grandparents lived there for 35 years during the English colonial rule. 1997 was also the 60th anniversary of their wedding. While in India, we also found their singing of registry dated 1937. What history! It was a wonderful three months of fun and travel.

In 2002, I had been away from Australia for seven years. I was only too glad to leave England. Where else can you get skin on your tea? Or blowing your nose at the end of the day, and your tissue turns black?

Oh, I can go on! How about a hot day, but no beaches to go to? You end up in the park instead, as you find a 10cm gap between the towels on the beach! How about bacon that froths when it cooks?

The day I returned to Melbourne, I realised I was pregnant. I was desperately looking for work, wondering to myself “Do I tell them I am pregnant?” I found a job in a design agency but realised quickly juggling work as a mum is not ideal due to the long hours and inflexibility. I left the job when Jake was one year old.

In 2002, I became acquainted with Australian comedian Mark Mitchell while out socially with a mutual friend. For some reason, he thought I was doing PR and persuaded me to launch his DVDs. I had no experience in PR at all, and there was a comedian dangling money in front of me. I only had $16 in my bank account then, so naturally, I accepted it!

Everything just snowballed from there. I founded Handle Communications in 2003 and went solo for a while before a good friend of mine, Simone Heydon, decided to help me out with the PR as I knew absolutely nothing about it. After a while, Simone turned to me and said she wanted to buy into the business. We ran it up until 2014, although as separate offices from our homes from 2008. By then, we have become specialists in parenting products and services.

In the middle of all this, my twins Ned and Tom were born in 2006. As the children grew, Simone and I changed our focus to lifestyle and older kids’ stuff.

In 2008, the GFC hit and our clients were not able to afford our fees. I realised “Oh my god they need PR help but they can’t do it!” Handle Your Own PR was founded in 2009 as I realised PR is the most effective way to create brand awareness for small businesses and I could teach them how to do it.

We literally taught most of our staff as we built up the agency. We employed graduates and stay-at-home mums in the beginning and built up the business for four years. By then, I had developed an interest in teaching people how to do their own PR.

There are many free ways of doing your own marketing, and you don’t require formal training. Journalists out there are desperately wanting new stories every day, and small businesses just don’t know how to get themselves out there.

I’ve lived in Kingsville since 2002 and I’ve done all the typical Yarraville things such as sending your kids to Clare Court Kindy and Yarraville West Primary School. My first home was in Chirnside Street, but have since sold it before moving to my current home along Wales Street.

I often think that I would love to have a party and invite everyone from the school and the local area to it. The people here are all fantastic and I have made life-long friends. I only ever go to two places – Seddon Deadly Sins Cafe and VAULT Yarraville for work and pleasure. I’m a creature of habit!

I remember when Biggin && Scott Inner-West and Flight Centre Australia moved into Yarraville Village in 2004. I actually went “Woah! Fantastic! This place is taking off!”

I met my boyfriend Dave (love of my life!) at Pirates Tavern in Willy in 2014 at my friend’s 40th. It was a lucky night for me as he lived in Rye so he was a long way from home. I was out with local friends and they invited him to join our group. There are about 3 people who can claim that they introduced us…and they often do!

I only got this pink hair about four years ago. My mum absolutely hates it and says it’s stupid but my social circle and clients have told me it makes me stand out. It’s my brand. They love it. In supermarket, little girls stare at me like I’m a pink princess!

I may not be rich but nothing bounces me out of bed in the morning more than my job. I love my job!

Like what you've read? Share the love!