Jodie Cook founded JC Social Media, a specialist social media agency, in 2011 the day after completing a year in the National Skills Academy for Social Care graduate scheme. In 2016, JC Social Media was shortlisted for a national award for its work with Subaru UK. In November 2017, JC Social Media won the nationalChamber of Commerce's “Best use of Social Media” award. Cook has published several books on social media management for business. In 2013, Cook co-founded and co-wrote Clever Tykes, a series of children's storybooks written to inspire enterprising behaviour in primary school children. Cook was invited to discuss the project with the Prime Minister's enterprise advisor Lord Young, and the project was included in a national government report entitled “Enterprise for All” after receiving his endorsement. In January 2016, support from Lloyds Banking Group enabled the distribution of 24,000 sets of Clever Tykes books to primary schools across the UK. In May 2017, Cook recorded her TEDx talk “Creating Useful People” at TEDxAston University.She delivered the opening keynote at the 2018 NACUE Student Enterprise Conference and contributes to Forbes online. Cook was selected as one of the original twelve ambassadors of the Start-up Loans scheme, as an example of someone who started their business with less than £1000. In 2017 Cook was a guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme, "Being bored: the importance of doing nothing" hosted by Phill Jupitus, where she suggested that he solved his problem of never being bored by scheduling boredom in his diary. In 2018 Cook interviewed Jupitus for the Clever Tykes podcast: Creating Useful People, which explores the childhood influences that shape future success. Other guests interviewed on the podcast are Jordan Daykin, Emma Jones MBE, Craig Donaldson, Sara Davies MBE and Graham Allcott. In 2019 Cook released the book , a collection of 36 articles on the topics of entrepreneurship, happiness and lifestyle design.
Awards
In May 2014, Cook won the title Birmingham Young Professional of the Year at an event at the International Convention Centre having won the marketing and communications category. Later that year, JC Social Media was awarded best small business at the Midlands’ Venus awards, also held at the ICC. The following year Cook was named the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce's ‘Future Face’ of digital, whilst Cook was also listed in the Drum's 50 under 30 women in tech. Cook was named a ‘rising star’ in Computer Weekly's 50 Women in Tech in 2015 and named as one of Birmingham's most influential people in the Birmingham Post's Power 250. Cook, alongside her husband won the regional and national NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Award with the title Entrepreneurs’ Champion, beating E-Spark and Biz Britain.
Powerlifting
Cook is a competitive powerlifter, and competed for Great Britain in the 2018 IPF World Championships in Calgary, Canada, in the open 57 kg weight class category. She competed for England in the 2019 Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships, winning the silver medal in the open 57kg weight class category.
