With her first company, Cake Technologies, Michelle Songy experienced firsthand how difficult it was for a startup to access the media in a meaningful way. She couldn’t afford a full-service agency on her bootstrapped budget, and found the process of personal outreach time consuming, and yielding no worthwhile results.She sold that company to American Express, and after 2 years working there, traveled to a remote area abroad to consider her next move. It was while traveling and talking to local businesses Michelle realized just how many small companies lacked access to the media, a powerful source of revenue and recognition.Michelle came back in 2020 and got to work on her new dream - a tech-enabled earned media platform specializing in promoting startups and small businesses. She ran a beta program and helped over 50 businesses scraping by on a tight budget throughout COVID. Press Hook launched in 2021 and today has thousands of journalists that use it to connect and collaborate with brands on a daily basis.