The value of the global media market is expected to reach $2670.66 billion by 20251. Increasing her company’s share of this dynamic economy is Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) class of 2014 alumna Zoë Share.
Zoë has spent the last seven years, since graduation, as the founder and CEO of Schmooz Media, a female-led Canadian Digital Marketing firm specializing in Social Media strategy. As Zoë moves into her next chapter, her new focus is on the acquisition of Daddy’s Digest, a global media publication focused on progressive fatherhood and family. We had the chance to catch up with Zoë hot on the heels of this latest chapter in her venture’s growth story and just in time for Women’s Entrepreneurship Week 2021.
An unexpected entrepreneurial opportunity
Asking her about the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey, Zoë tells us that she was a teacher before she joined the MBET program, and most of the professors will know that because she often reminded them. But she also knew that there was a business inside her she could not ignore. “
I was a teacher. That was my path…and I left teaching because I basically spent my time teaching thinking: ‘why isn't anyone taking a picture of this moment?’ The parents would love it. I was already a marketer, and I didn’t know it.”
Zoë wasn’t certain about starting her own business when she began the MBET program. She was, however, really passionate about helping her classmates be more successful with marketing and communicating their venture ideas. “Without realizing it, I became a consultant”, she recalls, “I would ask them if they have spoken to their audience? Do you need me to copy edit this for you before you send it to a venture capitalist? I did this just for my classmates. And at the end of the year, I said: Who wants to pay me to keep helping you?”
"I cobbled together 30 hours a week of consulting work, created a sole proprietorship called Schmooz, and within six months I was hiring staff because I was overwhelmed with work."
One thing leads to another
Seven years later, Share makes a major acquisition. She tells us she “was pregnant when I had the opportunity to come up for Daddy's Digest, and that opportunity came up because, at the start of the pandemic, I published a children's book called ABC, Stay Home with Me and I sold the book to raise money for front line workers. One of the people who bought the book, a recent immigrant to Canada and a parent also working agency, was the founder of Daddy's Digest. We built a friendship…and one thing led to another. I knew with certainty that I could not wait to work with this publication and help it grow."
As a creative entrepreneur, author, mother of two beautiful children and passionate director of social impact brands, Zoë Share’s timely story of entrepreneurship is an inspiration. Here at the Conrad School, we’re proud to count Zoë among our MBET alumni and thank her for taking the time to share her story with us for Women’s Entrepreneurship Week 2021.
1Media Global Market Report, The Business Research Company, 2021