LIONESS WEEKENDER COVER STORY
Glass House PR Ltd, a diversified PR agency helping businesses to position their brands in Africa
Mary Njoki is an award-winning entrepreneur in Africa, a thought leader, a PR guru who founded Glass House PR Ltd in Kenya in 2012 at the age of 23. She is an influencer, a technology enthusiast, trainer and mentor through a platform she also founded called a billion start-ups, connector and a leader. She has a background in Mathematics, Business Information Technology, and Public Relations. Mary has worked with renowned brands for over 10 years, and she has been recognized globally for her immense contribution in the field of PR. She is equally feted for her volunteering contributions in the Marketing and PR industry as well. Mary has worked alongside 100+ organizations across Africa and globally. Today, Glass House PR employs 30 people.
Lioness Weekender spoke to the award-winning and highly experienced entrepreneur, Mary Njoki, to learn more about what it takes to build a sustainable and diversified PR agency business.
What does your company do?
Glass House PR LTD is an independent agency that brings together a mix of services and comes up with a customized approach for each client. We are an award-winning Pan-African independent PR Agency that positions brands to their target audience across Africa. While we are a diversified firm with a portfolio of work in various industries, we first and foremost are an agency with established and extensive branding, marketing, communication, digital and media relations experience, not only in the East Africa, but across Africa. We have conducted media outreach programs for various local and international companies including; Paxful, International Coach Federation (ICF), Viber, Facebook, Nissan, Walt Disney, Access Bank, Greenlight Planet, Banda Homes, Threadsol, Flower & Perishable Logistics Africa, Ethiopian Government and many others.
What inspired you to start your company?
To help companies and individuals to reach their fullest potential.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
We customize solutions for our clients as opposed to the one-shoe-fits-all approach.
Tell us a little about your team
Our team members have grown from being interns to executives in the company.
I have trained the team members to focus on achieving their fullest potential and growth, and each member who has chosen to be trained this way has grown exponentially. The team members are creative, always growing, young and energetic.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I do not come from an entrepreneurial background; I started my journey in 2012 at the age of 23 years old after being in employment as a sales person in the tech industry for 4 years; I had little experience in PR. In the early years of the journey, I did a lot of pro-bono jobs to be able to prove that I could deliver the services. When I started out, I did not have capital but KES 6000 and a laptop which I had been given. I used the 6000 to buy a modem to be able to access the internet. Due to the IT skills, I had; I created a website and started marketing online. My initial services were social media marketing before I grew and learnt more on PR; but I could see how PR was shifting to digital even in those early days. I worked a lot with small businesses at the beginning and local musicians in positioning them to their audiences through socials and eventually through the traditional media.
In 2014, we worked with our first big company - Facebook - and a locally based real estate company, and we continually grow. The entrepreneurship journey has been more about my growth as a person, I have grown as a person by learning to persevere, to be patient, to believe in every conviction I have, and to keep becoming.
It has been 10 years, and every day and in each project there is something to learn. As I aspire to help people and companies reach their fullest potential through PR, I am also growing as a person to reach my own fullest potential.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
We are a growing company with many projects, apart from what we do for clients.
We aspire to become a content hub for content in Africa and to shape the narrative of the economy of Africa until it reaches its fullest potential.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
To see growth with everyone I work with or the companies that we work with.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
The only limit that one has is the limit they have set for themselves; women are able to go beyond any limit and to grow to their fullest potential affecting their economies and the economy of their countries and their continents.
To learn more about the work of Glass House PR Ltd, contact Njoki via email: njoki@glasshousepr.co.ke or visit the company’s website and social media platforms:
