Krystle Downie is the Editorial Director of It’s My Magazine, a personalised magazine featuring life stories and special occasions in a luxury magazine heirloom to be enjoyed for generations.

ReConnect Africa spoke to Krystle about the joys and challenges of entrepreneurship and how her background in PR and Marketing is helping to set her business on the path to success.

RCA: Can you tell us about your work?

My mother and I are co-founders of It’s My Magazine.  We capture life stories and weddings as our client’s own luxury heirloom using our team of journalists, photographers and designers.  Before launching this I was Head of Consumer PR for the NHS website and realised that I had to launch my dream sooner rather than later, so finally took the step.  We were immediately supported by the Princes Trust, which was brilliant.

RCA: What influenced your decision to start a career in media and the arts?

I’ve always been interested in creative writing and journalism, so getting a chance to bring my client’s love stories to life was very appealing.  Similarly, my mother has a passion for design and photography, so the synergies were just ideal.

RCA: What was the inspiration behind It’s My Magazine?

My grandmother was the ultimate inspiration. She arrived from Jamaica in the 1940’s and impressed us with stories of growing up with Bob Marley’s mum.  I’d always promised to write her life story, but unfortunately she passed away after a brief illness and all of our family history was lost in one stroke.  

It was at this point that I realised that many families might similarly be affected by a lack of written history, and that biographies shouldn’t be the sole preserve of the rich and famous.  I then realised that the same attention should be shown to weddings, and subsequently It’s My Magazine was born.

RCA: What were the key business challenges you faced in setting up your own business?

The biggest challenge was having to wear so many hats!  From Salesperson to Creative to Accountant to Web Designer; many of us have to do so much in so little time.  Getting the right team on board and delegation is vital.  The other side is brand awareness and promotion.

Coming from the supported infrastructure of a major UK brand to a small bespoke SME, you find that you often have to work that much harder to get that journalist to take your call. Dedication is vital.

RCA: What do you hope the concept will be able to achieve?

We intend for our product to capture everyone’s unique slice of history, either as a gift or personal commission. Life stories and major events such as weddings are often not preserved adequately; it’s about informing audiences on why it is so necessary. 

We attempted this recently with the highly successful PR campaign entitled ‘I Am Because We Are’.  Here we got the best UK talent giving their thoughts on the importance of capturing and passing on history and how it’s made them the success they are today.  Spreading the word is necessary and getting advocates on board with high profiles is an absolute bonus.

RCA: What’s the best thing about the lifestyle you have chosen?

The best thing about the lifestyle I’ve chosen is the flexibility and creativity this industry provides me with.  Everyone’s story is different, each day is unpredictable and I am working harder now than I ever have, in areas often outside of my comfort zone, but that’s what it’s all about.

RCA: What advice would you offer to someone who wants to follow the path you have taken?

I read somewhere a powerful maxim that I now live by, “Entrepreneurs work now like others won’t, so they can relax later like others can’t.”

I love that. Work hard, work hard and then work some more - but build up experience in whatever places you can find - as long as it aligns with and is on track with your long term vision.

RCA: How can readers find out more about It’s My Magazine?

We cater for all events and celebrations from It’s My Baby to family reunion magazines and you can order anything from ten to a thousand copies of your luxury heirloom.  Do visit the website www.itsmymagazine.com or take a sneak peek at our 2015 brochure here:

http://issuu.com/itsmymagazine/docs/its_my_magazine_2015_brochure/0 

We would be happy to offer ReConnect Africa readers a free consultation if they are interested in documenting theirs or a loved one’s life story or special event.