Females First: Meet Danielle
As part of my ongoing series about female-led businesses and freelancers, this week I’d like to introduce you to Danielle, founder and editor of missy.ie
Introduction
Who are you and what do you do?
I honestly don’t know who I am!🤣
I’m the Founder and Editor of missy.ie, which is Ireland’s No.1 Online Teen Magazine. We cover everything from fashion to beauty to friendships, relationships, entertainment, health and wellness... basically anything that an Irish teen needs to know in 2020!
I started missy.ie by myself in 2017. Like a lot of business owners, I wear a lot of different hats, but my main one is being editor. So, that means keeping the site going with all of our content and managing the Missy Team, and then I try to juggle everything else along with that.
What is the best part of your job?
Two things:
I love collaborating with the rest of the missy.ie team. It’s great to see different voices, opinions and ideas expressed in the content on the site and in our new digital magazine.
The second thing I absolutely love is getting a response from our readers. There’s a lot of pressure when writing for a young audience. It’s such a lovely feeling when we get in messages and emails from readers telling us that one of our articles made a difference to them.
How did you get to where you are today?
Honestly? Sheer stubbornness! Starting my own business from scratch was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and it’s still hard to this day. I think you really have to have a level of stubbornness to stop yourself from throwing in the towel on a daily basis. And I can’t say this enough, I’ve been so lucky with the other writers who have come on board to work with us. And I would be lost with our Social Media Manager, Jessie Bennett.
What did you find to be the most challenging?
Not living in Dublin! It sometimes feels like people don’t think that media exists outside of Dublin, which can make it so exhausting having to travel up and down for meetings and events. One of the upsides of the pandemic is that businesses and brands have started to think outside the box when it comes to these things. Zoom has been great and I hope the willingness to do things differently continues after COVID.
Section 2 - Communication & Leadership
What have you found to be the best way to work with colleagues and clients?
Zoom has changed my life over the past few months. I used to do everything over email and it would take forever. Now I just suggest hopping on a quick Zoom call to chat things through and get things organised and resolved there and then. I’m not a phone call person at all, I like talking face-to-face, so Zoom is a great way to engage with colleagues and clients. (I sound like I have a spon con for Zoom!)
As a manager, what do you to encourage team-building?
This is quite hard at the moment, all things considered. So team-building is really a virtual experience at the moment. But I’ve found just encouraging the team to support each other's articles and work has really made for a lovely atmosphere, even when we can’t be together. The team like and share each others’ work online, which is so nice to see when I’m scrolling Twitter.
How do you check-in on your team members if you notice any problems?
Again, Zoom and a good level of communication is key. If I feel like something is not really going the way it should, I just suggest doing a quick Zoom to talk. Emails can seem really brisk and a bit aggressive if you’re trying to give constructive feedback or talk through an issue. Talking in person is always better so you can have a two-way flow of communication and properly address any issues.
What support do you think is necessary for new team members to get from you and the rest of the team?
It might sound super obvious, but I think it’s really important to just chat. Things have obviously changed since COVID, so when we took on new interns over the summer I couldn’t meet with them in person. Instead, we did Zoom calls. I think it’s a great way to get to know people and just chatting makes sure everyone is on the same page and it can spark really great ideas. Communication is so, so important. And so is establishing a relationship with each member of the team.
How do you help your team flex their creative muscles?
I really don’t like telling people what content to write at all. I much prefer for them to do a bit of research into teen topics and have a look around the site and identify any gaps that we might have missed in terms of the topics we cover and to come up with their own ideas. I’ve found that if you try to get someone to do an article and it just doesn’t gel with them, the piece doesn’t work at all.
Everyone has their own ideas and interests, and I think that it’s really valuable to encourage new ideas to keep things moving forward. It would be really dull if missy.ie was just solely my voice and opinions. And I think giving the team the freedom and the confidence to pitch their ideas from the start makes a huge difference.
What do you think leads to a successful business?
A great team! It’s impossible to be a good business when you’re just one person.
Section 3 - The Gender Question
Have you noticed any differences in the way people treat you compared to men in the same position?
Yes! I was 25 when I launched missy.ie.
As a young woman in business, I just didn’t feel like I was being taken seriously. Another issue was the fact that my business is centred around teen girls. People can be really dismissive of that demographic. As women, we’re often infantilised throughout our lives. So when I mention that I own a teen website some people seem to think that we write about glitter and ponies, because that’s all a teen girl could be interested in, right?
Sure, we write about some “fun” stuff like fashion, beauty and Netflix, but we also deal with serious issues because young women in Ireland do deal with serious issues in their teens.
I have zero business experience, so I did engage with my Local Enterprise Office quite early on. They advised me to go on a number of courses and programmes and the ratio of men to women on most of these is quite stark and so depressing. Last year, I was on a programme and there were 20 men on it and 4 women. Another time I was part of a national business competition and out of the 40 finalists 2 were women.
How can we encourage young women to go for it despite any challenges they might face?
I think business support for women is so, so important. I know a lot of work is being done but there’s still a lot more to do.
What advice do you have for young women entering this industry?
Contact people who have the job you want and see if they’re willing to chat. Most people are nearly always willing to chat about their job and give advice.
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If you want to find out more about Danielle, you can go to missy.ie