About Jess: founder of Wild

Marketing expert, UN Women UK delegate, painter and Pisces (that last bit sounds like a cute coffee shop or a pub, doesn’t it?)

And it’s funny you should say that, because Wild actually began as an in-person hotdesking venue in Frome.

My story of self-employment has all the classics: a toxic corporate workplace, burnout, self-employed loneliness, networking events centred around the pale, male and stale, a global pandemic (which meant the in-person community changed to a virtual one), a surprise epilepsy diagnosis and a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

And whilst, sure, some of those are quite specific (I’m looking at you, ruptured Achilles’ tendon on the first day out of isolation…) every single one informed and/or reinforced my motivation behind why I do what I do: the current system is built with a very narrow slice of people in mind, and something needs to change. 

Enter Wild: a welcoming, supportive community for self-employed women and non-binary folk globally.

Both Wild and JDH. communications, my marketing business drawing on 18 years’ experience in marketing and PR (working for places like Bristol Old Vic, Alexandra Palace, Harbour Festival, Wimbledon Arts Festival, British Council, Extraordinary Bodies and ACM), are built with accessibility and inclusivity as a non-negotiable, not a nice-to-have.

I’m also a UN Women UK delegate, working to close the gender pay gap everyday.