Be positive! Martin Luther King said ‘I have a dream’, not ‘I have a nightmare!’ Find out more at www.fancyguppydigital.com
LIFELINE MENTEE Q & A TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF I’m Michaela, I’m 26, I grew up in South Derbyshire, moved around a bit, and now I’ve been living in Birmingham for about five years. I love reading. I dislike exercise more than I can express, but I do like being outside in the sun and in nature, I just want to do it sitting down! I’m deeply passionate about equality, human rights, and the third sector. Ok, so this is going to make me look a bit sad, but, ever since I can remember I’ve felt really angry about all the injustice in the world – poverty, bigotry, domestic abuse, homelessness – and I knew I wanted to do something about it. I loved learning about social justice, human rights, and campaigning generally, so much so that my mum bought me a subscription to New Internationalist one year. So then I became a member of Amnesty International and Liberty at the age of 15/16, and I started putting up posters about issues like Darfur at school, and arranging small events like letter writing sessions, and tried to set up a campaigning group in my school. I lived in an area where knowledge of and interest in all this kind of stuff was low, and I was often surprised and frustrated at people’s apathy
about issues that I was passionate about. But, I’m not easily put off, and it actually kind of spurred me on to tell others about charity work and raise awareness of issues I feel strongly about. So then when it came to deciding what I wanted to do at uni, and more broadly what I wanted to do with my life, I thought there could be no better career choice for me than to work in the charity sector. I’ve now been working in the charity sector for several years, and I love it. I am hopelessly devoted to the sector, I’m constantly inspired and moved by the people who work in the third sector, they’re doing amazing work. Sorry, I’ve just realised you said tell me a bit about yourself and instead I’ve given you my life story! Let’s move on…
WHAT WOULD YOUR FRIENDS SAY ARE YOUR BEST QUALITIES? It’s kind of linked to what I was just saying, I think friends and family would tell you that I’m passionate and determined, yes sometimes it slightly slides into downright stubbornness, but I still think overall they’d say it’s a positive! I’m not really sure what they would say is my best quality (I want to say that I don’t know which one they would pick because there are so many to choose from, but that may not be accurate!), but I think it would be this because I know that they love that I care about stuff, and wake up the passion in them and remind them they care about stuff too. I try not to be earnest with it though: I think we should have positive conversations about ‘how are we going to fix these issues’, not just ‘oh no everything’s broken’. I once heard Shami Chakrabarti sum it up really well – “Martin Luther King said ‘I have a dream’, not ‘I have a nightmare’”.
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS IDEA? My business is called Fancy Guppy, I do digital in the third sector. So I help not-for-profit organisations to make the most of digital to save them time and money. By digital I mean social media, computer software, online tools, even email. When used well digital can help you be more attractive to funders, engage your supporters, and improve efficiency. And if you get the rights tools it doesn’t need to be expensive – in fact there’s a lot you can do free if you know where to go. I can help organisations make sure they’ve got the tools they need, and that they’re not paying for anything they don’t need.
CAN YOU GIVE US AN EXAMPLE? I’ve just worked with an organisation to help them to write bids that use digital to make projects more engaging and have a longer legacy. I’ve also coached CEOs and senior managers on how to promote their organisations using social media. But it’s a tailored service – what you need is what you get. All you have to do is give me a call or send me an email and we’ll discuss what your needs are and what support I can offer.
WHY SET UP YOUR OWN BUSINESS RATHER THAN WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSE? I started thinking about it a while ago because I worked in digital comms, and I was thinking there is some really confused messaging out there about digital. In some ways people are almost panicked because they are so aware of the necessity to embrace digital, but then you look at something like the Lloyds UK Digital Index and find that 58% of charities in the UK lack basic digital skills, compared to only 23% of SMEs. I think digital engagement is so powerful and potentially transformative, it’s such a wasted opportunity to not make the most of it, but most charities simply don’t have the time to do all the research required. I kept thinking that there needed to be something for the third sector that helped them use digital to achieve the things they care about and that speaks their language. For me it’s really important that it’ not just digital first, it’s about using digital to do the things you want to do, it’s a solution to a problem.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU? It sounds cliché but my mum is a massive inspiration for me. When I was born she was working a part-time job at Kwik Save, but she went and did an access course, and then a degree, and then a PhD, all while raising two kids by herself and working two jobs at a time to make enough money to support us. Where I grew up, we didn’t know anyone who had a degree. Everyone told her that she should just get a ‘proper job’ instead of studying. But she did it anyway. That might make her sound more self-confident and assured than she is. In fact, what impresses me the most about her is that she is so intelligent, but she doesn’t know how much, so strong and yet at times completely lacking in confidence in herself. So doing all of this didn’t come easy to her, she really had to work at it – pretend to be confident even when you don’t feel it, ignore what other people say even if it does hurt you, just try and make the best choices you can. I know everyone thinks their mum is superwoman, but I really don’t know how my mum did it! Now she’s a successful clinical psychologist (with just one job!) and I’m so proud of her and happy that all her hard work has paid off. She’s strong, loving, resilient, and fun, she’s always been a role model for me and if I turn out to be half the woman she is I’ll be very happy!
IF YOU WERE GOING TO GIVE SOMEONE IN SCHOOL ADVICE ABOUT THE FUTURE WHAT WOULD IT BE? Oh gosh, this is a hard one, I suppose by now I’m supposed to have some greater perspective on life, but I’m not sure about that!
I think for young people in school now there is so much pressure. When I was at school we were told ‘work hard and you’ll get a job’, but then the crash happened in 2008 and actually by the time I got out of uni it wasn’t that simple. Now young people are told how dreadful the economy is and how hard it will be, and everyone’s terrified they’ll be unemployed forever. It is hard times at the moment, but I do think that sometimes we lay it on a bit thick. So many young people now are completely despondent about the future, so I suppose what I’d want to say to young people is it’s ok, you’re ok! It’s ok to not know yet what you want to do, it’s also ok if you do know, it’s ok to try something and change your mind, and most of all, it’s ok to be worried about the future, but try not to let it ruin your life now. I don’t know if that’s advice really, but I kind of wish someone had said that to me a few years ago.
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