We’ve been asked for our publicist’s details quite often this year. Afrocenchix has featured in dozens of publications including The Guardian, The Telegraph, iNews, The Independent & Vogue so other founders have very reasonably asked for the hook up.

The truth is we don’t have a publicist, and we’ve never paid for PR. But we do have some tips we can share.

Before I get into how you can get press, the first question I always ask is: why do you want it? Press coverage isn’t a magic bullet, it won’t necessarily lead to sales. …

What does every startup want? A focused, motivated team that consistently succeeds in reaching objectives. A simple aim. So why is achieving that so hard?

Well, whilst research has made clear that commitment to a specific, ambitious goal improves team performance and engagement, it can be hard to determine exactly what those goals should be. Enter OKRs.

OKRs are as method for management by objective. The methodology involves outlining core objectives to work towards and deciding on the key results that will get you there. Done correctly OKRs will boost your team’s focus, clarity and drive. …

Afrocenchix was born out of recession. In 2008, when the last economic crisis occurred, Joycelyn and I met, then started mixing products in our university kitchen soon after. We registered as a business in 2010, simply to collect the prize for the Ethical & Sustainable Business Innovation Competition we’d won. We figured Afrocenchix would be a great way to help people and a good side hustle as we figured out our careers. But by the time we’d graduated in 2011, there were no jobs. …

People often ask me how I get so much done. To tell the truth, when I reschedule that one meeting for the fourth time or curse myself for yet another overpacked day or even worse, when my daughter tells me I’m working too much, I don’t feel like I’m good at time management.

Even the phrase ‘time management’ has always felt a bit strange to me as it suggests you can be completely in control of time and I just don’t think that’s true. When it comes to getting things done, I prefer the idea of time optimisation.

Time optimisation…

Every year under 0.2% of business funding goes to Black women so last year when Joycelyn and I set out to raise £360k ($450k) whilst I had a very visible baby bump, we knew we’d have a serious fight on our hands…

At this years London Tech Week I was flicking through my notes and saw that a year ago we didn’t know the difference between VC and angel investment. Under a year after attending events to learn about investment, in an environment where young black women aren’t funded, we managed to smash our target and raise over £510k ($650)…