“When life throws curveballs, I react with new initiatives”

COVID-19 has posed significant challenges to UK female entrepreneurs, but many have found ways to thrive in these challenging times. We talk to CMe Media Founder and Barclays customer, Charisse Smith, about her journey from teenage single motherhood to successful business owner – and why entrepreneurs need to “work smart”. 

Aged 16, Charisse Smith was a single working mum, estranged from her parents. It was at this point she knew she wanted more for her son.

“I just had this feeling inside that there was no way I was going to live my life like that,” she explains. “I felt a burning desire to go out and do something ­– not just for myself, but for my son. I had a responsibility to provide for him.”

Having long been supported by Barclays as both a business and personal banking customer, Charisse is now the Owner and Managing Director of a successful media advertising agency, CMe Media – which before the COVID-19 crisis was heading for an annual turnover in excess of £2m.

She took her first step towards a new life by applying for a role in telemarketing before moving onto advertising roles in print and radio media. “I was actually the wildcard in most of my jobs,” says Charisse. “They took a gamble on me – my target was always to set sales records and prove myself.”

These jobs saw her juggling late nights and bringing up her son – even rollerblading six miles each day to get to work – but helped her grow in confidence and gave her a determination to set up her own company years later.

Charisse has overcome many challenges since she founded her company, which helps brands across the UK buy media space – supporting them from attending campaign briefings, to creating and executing advertising strategies. The last year, however, has been a particularly challenging time, both for her business and her family. Her second child was born almost three months premature in November, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.  

“In January we were having a great time at the company, we were happy with all the campaigns that were in place and going live, and looking forward to a great year,” she says. “Then we had the first call come in to cancel all advertising in preparation for a potential lockdown – and realised the extent of what COVID-19 could potentially do to our business. Getting through those next two or three months was really frightening as a business owner, because I wasn’t in control.”

As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Charisse was straight on the phone to her Barclays High Growth and Entrepreneurs Relationship Manager, Ian Jarvis. He worked closely with Charisse to secure a CBILS loan to help her navigate this challenging time, bolstering cashflow and supporting long-term growth ambitions. 

“I had a number of conversations with Ian to explore all of the opportunities available – not just for the COVID-19 period but actually post-COVID-19 as well. He is in touch on a regular basis and really understands where you’re going as a business, you as a person and your ability to achieve.”

“You need to work smart”

It was back in 2013 that Charisse set up her first Barclays business account and started her media advertising agency. “I originally had a personal account with Barclays and had great service, so I decided that when it was time to set up the business, I wanted to bank there,” she says.

As a fledgling founder, Charisse had the knowledge and contacts she needed to navigate the industry – but it was a challenge to get to grips with the demands and details of running a business.

“Having the experience and expertise in what I was doing was actually the easy part of running a business,” Charisse says. “What was quite challenging was the operational side. I really had to understand my accounts, to understand a profit and loss sheet and a balance sheet – and to know where that money was going. I was so motivated to grow and set myself some really big targets to achieve in that first year, often working round the clock to deliver those objectives.

“Managing cash flow was key and we worked with Barclays to understand what options were available to us if we were to exceed the growth expectations that we’d set out. That could have been anything from loans to invoice financing, and actually the education we received was really, really good.”

She started running the agency with “immense support” from her mother, who handled finances and administration – but over the last seven years has grown the business. She now works with a “fantastic” team of six others and is currently recruiting to expand the team.

Charisse is honest about the difficulties she faces as a mother and a business entrepreneur: “Balancing a business when you are a mother to several children, at different ages and stages in their lives is particularly hard. You need to be incredibly organised and you need to work smart.”

But, despite these challenges, she encourages other mothers who are considering starting their own businesses: “Don’t let motherhood put you off because you can still be a mother and a businesswoman – you can become amazing at spinning lots of plates.

“I do believe your children start to learn from a young age how to be more independent, how to value hard work, and, actually I think that forms them into better people as they grow up.”

Overcoming challenges

Now CMe Media has forward bookings for the year ahead, putting the team in a good position to explore ways to grow the business. Charisse recently relaunched her digital business, which is currently doubling month on month, and is hoping to add CMe Creative to the digital and media strands of the brand next year.

She’s also determined to use the opportunity to support other female founders and women in business who have faced such a challenging year. The CMe Media virtual businesses she’s setting up throughout the UK will bolster cash flow, help the brand expand into new areas of the country – and give new opportunities to leaders who operate these business satellites.

“Over my media career I’ve been really fortunate enough to meet some incredible women who have definitely shone as leaders,” she says. “And during these unprecedented times, they’ve found themselves in situations with a decline in business.

“For myself, when life throws curveballs, I tend to react with new initiatives. I find the opportunities and I act on them. I have the ability with the brand I’ve already built to give other female founders the tools to be able to create fantastic businesses.”

Resilience and Recovery Report – published by the Female Founders Forum