Women-Owned Business Series: Hope from Wonder Woman Media and Mia Joy Foundation

Welcome back to our Women-Owned Business Series! Today we’re featuring Hope, the founder of Wonder Woman Media — a marketing and storytelling business, now in its 15th year, helping female-founded brands, nonprofits, and meaningful businesses find and tell the stories that make people feel something.

The inspiration behind Wonder Woman Media comes from the founder’s belief that telling your story well, and building real success through marketing, shouldn’t be a luxury reserved for those who can already afford it — which is why she offers discounted services to every female founder she works with. That same conviction recently led her to launch the Mia Joy Foundation, extending her mission of accessible, meaningful storytelling even further. Read more about her story below!

First, tell us about your business and anything special we should know about it or you.

Wonder Woman Media (www.wonderwomanmedia.com) is my marketing and storytelling business, now in its 15th year. I also recently launched my nonprofit, the Mia Joy Foundation (miajoyfoundation.org).

Why do you feel a connection to your work?

I get to be a storyteller. That’s the whole job, really. I help female founded brands, nonprofits, and meaningful businesses find and tell their story, because a story people can actually feel is what makes a business stick.

As a business owner, community is everything. In what ways do you serve your community, and how has your community served you?

I offer discounted services to every female founder I work with. Telling your story well, and building real success through marketing, should be accessible and attainable, not a luxury reserved for people who can already afford it.

What advice would you give to others who want to start a small business?

One step at a time. One percent at a time. As my mom used to say (taken from one of her favorite books) “Just enough light for the step you’re on”. You will get there. Looking up at the whole mountain is terrifying. Taking it one step at a time is how it actually gets climbed.

What women inspire you and why?

Only women, honestly. The two who come to mind first are my mother and my daughter, both of whom have passed. My newborn daughter passed away last year, and she inspires me every day to be the best version of myself. I am still her mother. My mom inspired me while she was alive, and she still does. Her strength through a genuinely difficult life was immeasurable, and the joy she brought to people around her, even while carrying her own hard things, was remarkable.

What do you think are the most significant challenges for small business owners or women in leadership positions?

The pay gap is real, and it still shapes what women in business are up against, from what we’re paid to what we’re assumed capable of leading. I still have potential clients where a man on the team tells me what he thinks I should charge. When I’m consulting with teams that are majority men, I have to reassert myself in ways my male peers simply don’t, and it’s a constant, visible tax that has nothing to do with the quality of the work.

Please plug any promotions, events, or recent milestones you have!

I recently launched my nonprofit, the Mia Joy Foundation. And this year, Wonder Woman Media (rebranded in 2017, formerly HA Studios) hits 15 years in business.