The Ultimate Mom Trepreneur

Jess Mouneimne, 31, is the entrepreneur behind creative agency, Jam Media, and author of being boss (jam media). She lives in Devil’s Peak, Cape Town, with her husband, Mike,and their two children, Hamza,6, and Hana, 4.

I embraced being 'different' from a young age. Unlike many other children when I was growing up, my parents were divorced, which odd at the time. Added to that, my family was an arty group of actors, singers, dancers, and painters. With all that creativity flowing, they were a loud and ‘mad’ bunch.

My mom’s bipolar disorder and her trips in and out of hospital were quite a distraction during my schooling, and unfortunately I didn’t have too much support from my dad who, now a recovering drug addict, reached the height of his addiction during my school years. Most of our family friends and their children took drugs, so I started using drugs before I even entered high school as it seemed like the only coping mechanism.

Despite my home life and the fact that I was failing all my ‘maths’ subjects, I did well in creative writing and public speaking, and received top marks for essays and poetry. I really struggled in school because I only did well in the subjects I enjoyed, and my poor performance meant I was ostracised by my peers. When I entered Grade 10, my parents supported my decision to drop all the subjects I didn’t enjoy and only take those I was good at. I forfeited university entrance and matric exemption, but it was still the best decision I could’ve made because my grades shot up almost instantly.