The Tokens Project

the tokens project

Author notes T

he tokens project is a collection of interviews with tens of successful black men and the images you’ll see throughout these pages are of a fashion editorial conceptualized by myself Grandy Katega.

I believe within the media there is a lack of representation for positive black male figures so within this book I delve into their stories, to find out how they became the men they are today. My purpose in creating this book was to inspire the reader to see the unlimited career possibilities available to black men.

My passion is styling therefore I wanted to also create an editorial using only black male models, counteracting the idea of tokenism. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as it was a pleasure to create.

Michael cains 50, CHEF PATRON AND HOTEL OWNER

W hat is your history?

I was given up for adoption as a new-born at

6 weeks and I was adopted into a white family of six children so I grew up in Exeter which is where I went to school. In my early days, there were not many black people around for me to mix with so my exposure to black culture was very limited. My parents brought me up to believe that if I got an education I could do anything and that I was not defined by the colour of my skin, so my outlook on life was very positive and I had a fantastic upbringing.

Being in a large family we all had chores, we all had different jobs and from an early age, I took an interest in helping my mum in the kitchen baking cakes and cooking meals.

From there I would also help my dad to grow from the garden we didn’t have a lot so what we grew helped the household.

I also would really enjoy the family aspect of eating a meal around the table but I never really thought that I would go into cooking as a career. I always wanted to join the army as a soldier so It was very much a last minute decision to take catering at college.

So after college, I moved to London and spent a year and a half working in a restaurant and it was the first time that I got to get close to my culture. London was very different from growing up in sleepy Devon and being a part of things like Notting Hill Carnival gave me a real sense of belonging.

Then I went to Oxfordshire to work for a 2 Michelin star restaurant Raymond Blanc, and I very quickly moved up the ranks there and became part of the senior management team. Even though people were ignorant and there was some negativity from peers I didn’t let that hold me back. Regardless of that, I thought if I do a good job I will excel and I did. It was obvious to the team that I had a natural talent and a very good work ethic.

So from there, I went to France for 2 years and I worked in two, three Michelin star restaurants. In many places, I was not only the first black guy but the first English guy to have ever worked there.

I had to be very resilient during my time in

France as I spent two years working in the hardest kitchens with extremely long hours.

Then I came back to England because I was recommended for a head chef position by Raymond Blanc my old boss.

I’ve never had to apply for a job every job I’ve ever had I’ve always been recommended.

My reputation always went before me and when I got there I always made sure I lived up to that reputation.

The head chef position was at Gidleigh Park where I stayed for 21 years and while I was there I got two Michelin stars, I created two businesses, I started Michael Caine’s restaurant and also launched business partnerships.

I proved not only that I could be a good chef but that I could transcend those skills into management and business.

After many years I felt that I had worked so hard for somebody else but I didn’t own a part of it, which is how The Lympstone Manor the 21 bedroom Country House hotel was birthed. So I made a decision that I wanted to create my own restaurant hotel. To do that I had to create a business plan to raise £7million to buy and restore this amazing country house and turn it into a hotel. I put all of my money into the venture and I created this incredible business and it’s doing very well.

I always knew that there was never going to be an easy way to be good at anything, I was taught from early that it’s about hard work and determination and to always have an appetite to continue to educate and learn and that’s how I did it.

What advise would you give to your younger self or other young people?

You have to be prepared to be hard-working.

Be open-minded because there are always different ways of doing things. Be a good team player but also hold some things back for yourself don’t give everything away because your time will come to do something for yourself. Never give up on your dreams and give yourself the skills to achieve your goals. Dreams are just dreams until you set yourself goals to achieve them It’s important to recognise that things are not going to be given to you. Things are not going to happen unless you make them happen. You have to

put yourself at the right place at the right time and show that you have the right skills to do the job.

Don’t confuse movement with progress a lot of people move around and keep changing but they’re not progressing but you have to move to progress to the next level.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

I get up at 7:30 and I’m in work by 9 then I’ll catch up with my PA, have a coffee then get on with some emails and some work. Then we have an 11:00am meeting and go into service at 12. Then we have more meetings they could be on anything from marketing to looking at our profit and loss or looking at new business opportunities we look at all the aspects of the business. Then in the evening when most people go home I will go into the evening service and we’ll finish the service roughly around 10 then I’ll go back in and do some emails then finally I get to leave work at around 11 or 12 . And then I do the same thing the next day I generally work about 7 days a week but I try and have Sunday as my day off.

My week is usually broken up with other things like charity work, mentoring, I have an academy at Exeter College and also working abroad. For example, I’m going to Ireland this week to do a dinner. You have to fit those things into your working week.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Career-wise it would probably be opening Lympstone Manor it was a realisation of a big dream and also achieving Two Michelin stars and an MBE for services to hospitality. Next to that it’s being a father, it’s incredible to see your kids grow up and being able to impact their lives in a positive way is great.

And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Probably being in a car accident and losing my arm when I was 25 I fell asleep at the wheel. So overcoming that has been really difficult as it happened at the beginning of my career as a head chef. That was a real setback that I had to overcome that was probably my biggest challenge.

‘Things are not going to happen unless you make them happen.

You have to put yourself at the right place at the right time and show that you have the right skills to do the job’

What are the steps you’ve taken from childhood to get to where you are today?

When I was younger I did a lot of sports then ventured into dance and acting from around 6/7 years. I then started to do fashion during university on the side during my studies.I really enjoyed it so i decided to pursue it once I graduated.

Throughout your journey were you surrounded by many black people , how did you feel about this, Was it and advantage/ disadvantage?

Yes I was and especially in London I think it’s super multicultural and I love that.

Did you seek mentorship whilst studying, or who inspired you?

I was inspired by many people due to the level they were at in life and I keep working till I feel I’m beside them.

Did you always know you wanted to get into this field?

No not at all but I’ve always had a thing for dressing well since I was young.

What advise would you give to your younger self or other young people like you trying to follow in your footsteps?

Work hard. Take Risks and be smart with who you work with and what you do. Time is important.

What does a typical day at work looks like for you?

Wake up Check emails.

Do some research on what I’m going to pull from showrooms and brands.

Do call ins and prep for the shoot.

Take a cab to the shoot location.

Work Come home- then I’ll usually go out with friends after.

Jay Hines Art

Director

&

Stylist

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I dont have one in particular but but being a part of Jaden Smiths team for a few projects was pretty cool And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Money management. Saving is important.

Mike Gayle

48,Best

What

are the steps you’ve taken

from childhood to get to where you are today?

So I went to school and did A levels at a Comprehensive School in Birmingham. Then I went to Salford University to study sociology. When I arrived I thought I was going to end up as a social worker or working in probation services. But while I was at the university I started writing for the University magazine about music and from there I started writing for a magazine in Manchester. And that was when I thought ok this is what I want to do and I also started a magazine with a friend of mine.

So after that I moved back to Birmingham and worked for the Birmingham version of the Manchester magazine that I wrote for. Then I moved to London to study for a masters in periodical journalism.

It was there that I decided to focus on teen magazines because I’d always been a fan of them growing up which is the fun end of journalism. So then I graduated from that course and I did lots of work experience while I was in London.

From there I went freelance and worked for loads of different magazines, for example, Bliss magazine which was a teenage girls magazine I was their agony uncle and from there I became a features editor at Just 17 magazine I realised I did quite well in a short space of time and I knew I wanted to write for a living.

When I first moved to London I started writing a novel I got about 30,000 words done and then put it in a drawer. Then within a year while I was free-lancing I finished my first draft and then I probably rewrote it about 10 times and polished it then I sent it out to agents. I got a couple of rejections but one agent was interested then she helped me really polish it this

selling

this was in the mid-nineties she sent it to some publishers we got a deal and when it came out in paperback It went straight into the Sunday Times top 10.

What inspired you to write your first novel?

I’ve always loved writing and reading novels and I love to get into characters heads and the freedom to write what you want in the way that you want. And it was because I knew I didn’t want to live in London forever but I still wanted to write because the publishing magazine industry was in London but you can still write novels from outside of London so it was the right thing at the right time.

How did your family affect your journey were they supportive?

The thing that my family gave me was it never occurred to me that anything was not possible, it never occurred to me that I could not be a novelist or a journalist It just did not occur to me and I can attribute that to my parents.

Books you would recommend : I think the Bible is a good place to start It’s a rock bed of all literature and there’s a lot to be learned from it.

HG Wells wrote the Wheels Of Chance which is one of my favourite books it just really influenced me.

Gone Girl I think is a brilliant book I enjoyed that a lot Julian Flint is a brilliant writer and her characters are very well drawn.

What advise would you give to other young people like you trying to follow in your footsteps?

Find out what it is that you want to do and do it. You don’t have to wait for permission. With the internet you can start a blog or an online magazine from your bedroom, you can just do whatever it is that you want to do.

Nothing should stop you. Success to

Author

me is making the thing that you want to do and doing it well so just start it.

What does a typical day at work look like for you?

There is no typical day. They’re all different at the very beginning of a novel I might spend a month just trying to work out what the story is that I’m going to tell. It may be in the form of research like watching films or reading books or magazines first of all you need your story.

I’m a big believer in planning so I may write a synopsis so once I’m happy with that I’ll start writing. So because I love to plan I will then plan what happens in every single chapter as well as the beginning middle and end of the book.

I tend to write from 8 a.m. till 1 p.m. as that’s all I can really do in the one day. Saying that I know people who can write a book in 6 weeks but I can’t. It generally takes me about a year to write a book. Mostly it’s just me and my computer I work with my wife sometimes as well but that’s mainly just it.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I would say nothing beats the day that you get your first proof in the post. A proof is the first early released copy of your book. I remember that was the first time that I saw my book as a book and I could actually put it on my shelf, that was a really special moment.

Biggest challenge you’ve faced?

Finishing that first draft and the first novel. When you embark on a novel it takes about a year to write so embarking on that journey that you are unsure of how the outcome is going to be can be quiet scary because after that it’s real.

T J Atkins Property developer

33, Speaker Education history?

I got a bachelor’s degree in business management and French though I don’t think my degree was relevant to what I ended up going into. Would I say my education has helped me, not at all I’m not for education unless it’s specific to the Industry that you want to go into.

After leaving university I realised that the workplace environment that I was going into was going to be HR and it was very slow paced, I didn’t feel like I would belong in that sort of environment In terms of the atmosphere and the English people vibe. I felt like the workplace was going to slow me down from achieving what I wanted to achieve. So after university I worked for about 3 months but since then all I’ve done is that I’ve tried something that’s failed then I’ve tried something then that’s failed then I’ve tried something then its worked.

I felt like being a black person In that type of work environment I would have to work 3 or 4 times harder just to get recognised and in my opinion it just wasn’t worth the trade-off. I would rather fail many times on my own terms and reward myself on my own terms.

I run with every idea that I have I think it’s one of my best traits. A lot of people spend more time pondering on their ideas and eventually wear themselves out thinking how it might not work, but for me when I get an idea I put it down on paper and start it immediately.

So how did you eventually get to the idea of property development?

By mistake. My recruitment company that was doing incredibly well ended up failing because of a tiny little mistake. These are the things that I preach. You have to get a mentor and ask questions. A lot of the time we make mistakes because we don’t ask questions. There’s this thing amongst the black community where we don’t want to look stupid we’d rather figure it out ourselves and

guess what happens we fail the other way is we don’t want to ask someone else because we feel that they might think that they’re superior to us and we simply can’t do things all by ourselves. So I turned my recruitment company Into a 2 million euro company but to take it to the next level I needed help. My skill set allows me to take a business to 100k, 200k a million but at the same time, I didn’t know certain things which caused the business to fail. My recruitment company fell flat on its face and I had to move back to the UK. I was upset and crying every single day until I bumped into a cousin of mine he said listen you’ve been moping around for long enough what are you going to do next I said I don’t know. So he introduced me to some Asian guys who were in property.

And at that time my property journey started and I decided to learn from their dad who was a property entrepreneur and ever since then I’ve carried on learning and learning and learning from people and I even pay over £100,000 a year to learn from other people now.

I’m happy to put money down to learn and that’s what a lot of people are not willing to do. Putting down 100k has bought me more than a million pound back so it’s a trade-off.

I’m happy to pay for education not necessarily traditional education but in terms of self-development yes.

Advice to give to younger self?

Learn from everyone that you can.

Get internships paid and unpaid.

Slide into people’s DMS and offer to work for them for free. Offer them whatever you can. I actually messaged my mentor on Facebook and offered to work for him for one month for completely free. Working for that person for one month completely free at the end of this year is going to bring me 150k through a project that I was able to learn by working for him for completely free.

Everybody’s idols are accessible now just slide into the DMS and offer them something of value.

&

The problem with a lot of young people today is that they want things quickly and are not willing to put in the time to work for it. Be willing to learn, offer up your services and prove yourself to be valuable.

When I said to my mentor I’ll work for you for free he said don’t be silly why don’t you apply for a job within my firm but I said absolutely not I do not want you to pay me. I want to learn when somebody pays you the way they think is a little bit different the way they treat you is a little bit different. They see themselves in you knowing that is what they would have done when they were younger.

Give yourself up to someone offer yourself as value. Be willing to learn.

The biggest highlight of your career?

Failing And losing money.

When things are going great for you how often do you sit down and analyse how they went great we just don’t, we roll with it but when things fail that’s the time that we sit down and think hey I need to change this or I need to implement this. Last year I lost 250k of course I was upset but it made me analyse why that went wrong and it’s because I was around people that I should not have been.

I jumped into a deal that I usually wouldn’t have done. So I’m grateful that that happened then because it could have happened when I was working on a £1 million project or a £10 million project then I would have been bankrupt. I welcome failure at the earliest opportunity. Because this failure hurt me financially I had to sit down and analyse what went wrong and if you don’t analyse after failures you’re just an idiot because it’s just going to happen over and over again.

Biggest Challenge?

Finding the right people to come onto my team. You need to find people that understand the vision and also have a stake in the vision. I incentivise every part of my business so that my staff want to come into work and want to contribute ideas because the success of the business benefits every single one of them.

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What are the steps you’ve taken from childhood to get to where you are today?

I’m always been a creative and into Art so in college, I was more of a graphic designer, I did media where we did things like design magazine covers. So when I went to university I wanted to take it further so I studied mass media communication so that covered graphic design, film, journalism, and all aspects of media. I also worked for the university magazine called Fame magazine and that taught me so much. Around that time I also wanted to get a retail job and I thought how would I do this so I thought let me start a blog and I called it Pause For Swag Long story short it evolved and people kept telling me to pursue it.

And then I used it as part of my university project to launch an issue in my third year.

I did that and it ended up going into Topman and places like that so it was my own passion that I turned into my uni project and people didn’t look at it as a uni project they just took it as a serious thing so it was two birds with one stone. And from that, it’s just been going from strength to strength year by year.

Throughout your journey were you surrounded by many black people, how did you feel about this, Was it an advantage/ disadvantage?

Yes definitely. I have always been surrounded by black people it’s just always great to have creativity from all cultures. It’s always great to open doors and opportunities for people who can’t really access it as well. If I can help my brother and sister in a positive way then I will use my platform to do so to benefit both of us.

Did you seek mentorship whilst studying, or who inspired you?

I’ve met so many amazing people along my journey who’ve inspired me even at the beginning the man who owned Fame magazine really inspired me.

Samuel Ross actually the owner of A Cold Wall really inspires me I knew of him before he started it. He’s always had an essence that he had his head in the right place and right now he’s doing amazing he’s got funding and his brand is growing globally and he’s inspiring a lot of young black creatives.

Did you always know you wanted to get into this field?

No funnily enough because I knew I wanted to get into media and the fashion came naturally. As time went on my fashion sense began to evolve as I would go to uni lectures people would see my outfits and ask where I was going but that was just how I dressed for the lecture.

So it was a natural progression for me to find myself.

So even though I had my fashion blog I had to actually fight to become a part of the fashion scene. I would fight to get into London Fashion Week I would go to parties and network I will just try and get myself and the name out there I always had my business card and I’ll give them out. I just wanted to push I was very hungry to explore what the fashion industry was about.

What advice would you give to your younger self or other young people trying to follow in your footsteps?

Network! Don’t be afraid to DM people that you look up to in the industry. Try and see how you can benefit somebody in any way even if it’s saying do you need help for a few days out of the week. Always be nice it’s such a small industry that you don’t want to tarnish your name.

Don’t be scared of risk . Especially working in fashion a lot of things don’t pay as well. Even if you work for 2 months save up then say next month I won’t work because I want to intern for free for example at British Vogue that’s important because that’s how your able to learn and pick up skills which can lead to opportunity.

If you’re trying to get into the industry start somewhere small some people think I want to be at Vogue or I want to be at GQ If you want to start out in PR look at all of the fashion PR’s and start small because it’s likely you’re going to learn a lot more there than at the bigger places.

the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens JOHNSON the tokens the tokens GOLD the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the in tokens 27, Edtor chief the of tokens the tokens the Pause tokensmagazine the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens the tokens And the smaller places will give you more responsibilities and more freedom to learn whereas at the bigger places it’s more likely you’ll just be offering tea. Slowly learn from the smaller places and use that knowledge to help you grow step-by-step Into the industry.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

It can be crazy some days. Every day is different but typically I would wake up at 8 a.m. First thing I do after I wake up is check my emails then check out what’s new content wise on Instagram If there’s any news that has dropped in America overnight for example I’ll straight away share it to my writers who work from home so they’ll pretty much start working on content for the website.

My day is split up between planning events that I might be working on and having meetings. I’ll be constantly checking emails. It all depends as sometimes I have breakfast meetings in the morning every day is different but it’s usually running around talking to brands on how we can work together. After work I’ll probably meet friends for dinner and cool off.

Luckily though because I work for myself I can choose how I plan out my day if I want to work from home it’s all down to me so it’s good to have that flexibility.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Pause yard the event that we did recently because planning that was so stressful I didn’t sleep for 5 days before the event.

Maybe I had like 2 hours or 1 hours sleep but I did not sleep properly. That was a lot. But sometimes you have to sacrifice to get the things that you want done and it was a success so it was all worth it. what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

When we did print years ago. We did 6 print issues and they weren’t really selling so we decided to stop doing that and just focus online so I guess we overcame that challenge. You learn from your mistakes and that’s the only way that you can grow.

Reece Parkinson 24,

BROADCASTER

What is your history?

I studied Media communications at the University of

East London and while I was in London I worked at a radio station called Reprezent radio and while I was there I realised that this is what I wanted to do and I kind of took the steps to make that happen.

So while I was at Reprezent I created a lot of content that I thought would do well online. I also presented part of a YouTube series that was very popular called BKchat and that did well numbers wise so people at BBC 1Xtra which was predominantly a black station took note of me after seeing me present the YouTube series which was a predominantly a black show.

From there I got an audition at BBC 1Xtra then that went well and I got a Saturday morning show and then a few weeks later I got my own show which is a Sunday night talk show.

In the beginning Reprezent was unpaid so I was just juggling it with part-time jobs until I got BBC 1Xtra which was a paid Internship though it didn’t really feel like it was paid because I was just paying back what I owed from working for free for so long and also travel expenses were high because of traveling from Kent to London every morning so it was a lot of juggling.

Did you seek mentorship along your journey ?

Yes, I was lucky because when I first was looking for internships I emailed so many radio stations in London and Gavin who ran Reprezent at the time was the only one who got back to me, so he’s just helped me so much along the way. Another guy called Joshua who’s a DJ he really taught me how to DJ and to really build my skill. Terrence J and Will Smith are also mentors that I just have online.

I learn a lot from them from how they carry themselves and from their charisma and presence.

How did your family affect your journey were they supportive?

My family couldn’t 100% see the journey when I was first starting out because they don’t know anybody who’s done it so that idea of being on TV is so far and strange to them. But when you start showing them things that are happening then you receive more support but I guess it’s the standard thing.

What advise would you give to your younger self or other young people trying to follow in your footsteps?

I would say to become a broadcaster I would look at a lot of broadcasters that have done it before.

Look at their path as a blueprint for example if you wanted to be on BBC 1Xtra I would look at the past few presenters that had been there before. If you

look at that you will see that they had all been on Reprezent radio so that would obviously be a good place to start. I would also say be patient, take the good with the bad. Don’t let setbacks bring you down or achievements make you overly cocky take everything in your stride.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

This week I have been waking up at about 4 and get to work by 6. Then I have a meeting with the team and producer and I go through my ideas and they go through their ideas and we create the show together. I start the show at 6.30 then it finishes at 10. Then we have a meeting for The Premier League show. I interviewed the England player Ruben Loftus-Cheek and we created a match of the day playlist for the show. Then that was filmed from 1-3. Then I head home where I start planning for the next day’s show then I do other work like creating content for social media on Twitter and on Instagram for myself and I’m always trying to come up with fresh content ideas. Then I do some emails and admin work then I have a big scan on Twitter which helps generate ideas on what to talk about the following day on the show. Then I would sleep by 8 to get a good 8 hrs before I have to be up again.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Joining BBC1Xtra was amazing but I also got to go to Atlanta for work we did a documentary for BBC on how Atlanta Is as a city and before that I was proud to be black but when I got there it was a whole new proudness because American blackness is on a whole other level. Here we don’t see the middle-class black family often but in America, it’s everywhere and it’s so refreshing to see. You also got to see how hard it is for black people in America so in general, it was an insightful trip. And I’m happy we got to create something that was so meaningful. And to be real being paid to do what I love Is great.

And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Trying to keep a balance of life. Because now that I’m on TV and radio people will now expect a lot more from me even if I don’t feel like I have necessarily achieved that much yet. The entertainment industry can also be very up and down when it comes to people that you encounter. Because I try and spread positivity as much as I can but it can sometimes be challenging in certain work environments.

So it’s just about remaining grounded and sticking to your values.

T

Abraham

22,Director

Adams

&

Founder

of fashion label World of Nalu

Why did you start the world of Nalu?

For me it was mainly to do with expression I felt like the world we live in today lacks expression.

The world lacks people expressing themselves in the way they want to. So that’s why I started Nalu to show my way of expression through fashion.

Did your education Impact where you are today?

I studied economics. So the course itself no, but the whole journey of uni did because I’m different I know everybody says that but for example when I would be going to uni everyone else would be on their phone but I would be observing what was going on around me. So while I was at uni I learnt about how people would dress and how they would talk around certain people it helped me understand how people expressed themselves and that’s how I translated it into designs and other aspects of Nalu.

And Economics helped too because learning numbers helps with the business side of Nalu but then Uni itself I would say wasn’t so helpful but my journey through uni helped me a lot.

Did you always know you wanted to get into this field?

I always knew I didn’t want to go down a conventional path or to get a 9-5. But I didn’t know that I wanted to pursue fashion until I understood that fashion is the main thing that differentiates every single individual, like some people wear couture, some wear fast fashion why do they do that, so when I looked more into it that’s when I decided to go into fashion which was about 3 years ago.

Did your family or people around you ever inspire you to get into this field?

Luckily my family are very supportive but I felt like I’ve given them no reason to not be supportive.

Throughout uni I held myself down I bought my own car, I paid for my own insurance so because they believe in me they in turn believe in Nalu and my journey.

What advice would you give to your younger self or other young people like you trying to follow in your footsteps?

I would tell myself to make mistakes fast and learn from them fast. When I was younger I didn’t like making mistakes which would lead to me not wanting to listen to what people say because I would rather do what I wanted to do and fail rather than do what I was told to then not learn from it. For

example in Maths at school when it came to answering the questions I would work it all out in my head and find the answer without writing it down because I didn’t want to write it down and have to cross out in case it was wrong. So I would advise against this and instead tell people to not be afraid to get things wrong.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

I wake up at 7 and I start off by praying. Then I would normally start by designing. Then I would start packaging the orders that I have gotten the day before or that morning. The delivery man comes to my house at 12. Then I’ll start doing some admin however long that takes me. Then I will start strategizing on how I can make my knowledge better for example I would research fashion trends and work on my website because I do my own coding.

Then I would schedule tweets and work on creating content for social media and on some days I’ll be doing shoots for the brand.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

The Pinnacle moment was when I saw Wizkid wearing my durag on Instagram story. And then he even said he wants another one. Seeing something that I have materialized be respected and appreciated by a world-renowned icon that was my pinnacle moment because it showed me that anything is possible and the only way is up.

And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

A hardship I face is reigning in my creativity and making it actually practical because I didn’t study fashion so sometimes I don’t know the logistics for example if velcro can go on silk things like that .

Another thing was probably planning my biggest shoot to date. I had 5 models 3 photographers and about 8 products that needed to be shot so it was a lot of work organising and directing everything so I would say that was pretty challenging but it all worked out in the end.

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I work at the University of Birmingham, so I’m basically a statistician I look at data and try and make stories out of it and make it make sense.

Education history?

Initially, I wanted to be a lawyer so I took those types of subjects at school like History & R.E and I did pretty well for my GCSE’S then I took Maths, Economics and History for A level. I always loved maths because there was always an answer and it came very natural to me. So I decided to study Maths and Economics at university then I found out that I really enjoyed stats so that’s what lead me to be here today.

How did your family affect you?

The biggest thing that my family helped me with was instilling in me the belief that I could do anything and they would always encourage me to do whatever I wanted me to do.

What advise would you give to your younger self?

I would say to start playing guitar earlier now that I play guitar I would have liked to have learnt to do it earlier also I would tell myself to be more Social. I can be quite introverted naturally but I can see the benefits of being social.

Do you think being introverted helped you excel at your studies?

In a way yes because I never felt the desire to necessarily be around people so I was always very happy in my own company and I was able to focus on my work although that also just comes down to discipline.

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Advice on discipline?

I think having a passion. if you have a passion for something and you can see the benefit of being good at that thing and where it can take you then you’ll be able to prioritise the things that you need to do to achieve that goal. You have to have a reason to be disciplined which brings out that fire that pushes you to succeed.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

I would wake up at 6:30 get ready and get to work by 8:15. Then I’ll do my devotion which is a time where I read the Bible. Then I check my emails and prioritise what I need to do for the day I make sure to write a to-do list of what I need to get done that day. Then I start the projects that I’m doing I would look at data and create stories and trends always being on top of information and try to find patterns using a number of different software’s. And typically I’m out of work by 5pm.

And finally what has been your biggest highlight so far?

Probably getting a first at uni because that was my goal and by Gods grace, it happened uni was hard because I found it hard balancing social life, grades, church and sleep but it all worked out in the end.

And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

During University there were times that I felt really low and I had to look at why. There were times where I could spend two weeks without communicating with anybody because I was so focused on my work but typically when I realised this I would try and solve this problem but it did take a mental toll on me at times.

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TIBEKU 23 Data Analyst

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George Rugarabamu 32,

Global

What is your education history?

I grew up in Tanzania until I was 17 years old. Like in many developing countries in Tanzania we deal with infectious diseases so it’s an issue that you come across pretty much daily. You have family that gets sick from vaccine-preventable diseases you get malaria on and off, you have family and friends who have succumb to HIV Aids and TB. These are diseases that mostly affect poor countries. So as a kid I was always interested in finding solutions to these issues. So I really wanted to be a doctor in order to help solve public health problems.

Though when I moved to the UK I got exposed to other subjects and avenues that you could study that meant you could still contribute without actually doing medicine.

So I studied the Sciences for A levels. And I applied to study biochemistry for uni in the UK and overseas. I ended up getting a full scholarship to go to Germany for uni which was a Godsend because I couldn’t have afforded to study that in the UK as an international student it was all way too expensive.

What drove you to work hard in school to be able to get these scholarship offers?

I knew I had no other choice because I couldn’t afford the uni fees so I had to get a scholarship even though it was hard. For A levels I lived by myself so I needed to work part-time. I worked in a warehouse and I was the youngest one there but it helped me save a lot of money. I would work overnight from 10 till 6 and then I would have lectures at 8 and then the following day I would go to work again it was pretty hard work but I had to do it because I knew what I wanted.

Health

The university was very international there were students there from 90 countries. When I first arrived I thought I was quite clever and studious but people there were on another level it was really challenging and inspiring. So I did 3 years of biochemistry there.

While I was studying I realised I wanted to become a medical researcher on diseases that affect poor countries malaria was my main focus at the time.

Over the 3 years, I did Internships to try and help me get experience in medical research.

So I did internships in laboratories.

Once I did it over the summer in Tanzania working on HIV research.

Another summer I went to Switzerland for a laboratory Internship at a university researching malaria.

Since I knew I wanted to be a medical researcher you can’t really be one without having a PhD so I moved to Switzerland with the hopes of doing my PhD there. I did 2 years of my masters in Zurich working in HIV, sleeping sickness and malaria research. Then after that, I decided I would spend 4 years looking at malaria for my PhD and I moved to Geneva.

Then after completing my PHD I worked for a few months conducting research in Ethiopia which was a great experience. I stayed there for a few months but then I finally decided to move to join my wife in Australia.

In Australia I found the role that I’m currently in now It’s a small company called Policy Cures Research we are a consultancy agency. We don’t seek profit but what we do is to analyse how much money different players invest into the research and development of products for diseases that affect poor countries.

analyst Throughout your journey were you surrounded by many black people how did you feel about this & was it an advantage/ disadvantage?

Because I have predominantly worked in western countries I would say I mainly have always been the only black person in every room I would go into. After a while, I think you don’t notice it anymore so it wasn’t really an issue but when you see another black person you’d get excited.

I think the issue that limits the number of black people in these professions is lack of role models because there’s nothing innately difficult about becoming a scientist.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Completing my PhD because it’s pretty much the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s very rewarding when your actually solving problems, when your works being cited by other researchers and when your theories are being further proven by other researchers which is what has been happening in my case, it’s really a great feeling.

And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

I would say moments during my PhD when my research wasn’t giving me the answers that I wanted.

It made me seriously want to quit and I’m glad I didn’t but I think that was the lowest point. It’s actually quite common for people studying their PhD to have mental health problems so I’m lucky It didn’t get that bad for me but I did have points where I felt depressed.

Daniel Edmund 28, For

Co-founder Tea

of

Milk

Milk for Tea is a social enterprise that

works to support the well-being of the male community. We do workshops, we do 1-1 coaching to help them find their truest identity to help them recognise their worth and develop their purpose.

We’re all about supporting men to reach their potential not just for themselves but to have an impact on their community.

For us it’s about progressing modern masculinity.

What is your history?

So I did university for a year and then I actually left, I was on an athletic scholarship and the university was really expensive so when I lost interest in running professionally I had to leave because I couldn’t afford to attend without the scholarship. I was getting more interested in PR and communication at the time so I ended up getting a communication role at True Religion the jeans company in LA. I meant to only stay for a few months but they kept me on so I decided to drop out of university and carry on with that because that is the job that I would have wanted after university. The role was great and while I was in LA I got scouted for modelling.

Then after a while, I wanted to take modelling more seriously, so I ended up moving to New York to get more into highend fashion modelling I had an interest in fashion so I wanted to take it two more seriously and work with bigger names.

I moved to New York and it went horribly. While I was in LA I worked consistently in commercial fashion and I was really well taken care of by my agents but when I moved to New York it was a lot more cutthroat, I ended up booking only one job while I was out there which was for Converse so quickly I ran out of money and had to move back home to Maryland.

I was born in Bristol because my dad is British then I was raised in Maryland which is where my mum is from. So I had given up my scholarship to work for True Religion in LA then after I wanted to pursue the career in modelling in New York I had failed and ended up back in Maryland. I felt like I was back to square one and I was at a really low point in my life.

So I moved back to Bristol as we had a lot of family over here, that was in 2010 and I have been here ever since it’s been 8 years now.

When I got here I was trying to find myself as I was very insecure. I grew up very confused about who I was as and as I was travelling between university and LA and New York I was doing really cool stuff but I didn’t really know myself. And while I was in university I started my 5 year battle with substance abuse so as I was doing all this stuff I was really heavily into drugs and when I got to Bristol it got a lot worse. With me, I was very

insecure so I took drugs to try and combat that but I just got a lot worse when I moved to Bristol.

But I don’t regret it because I learned a lot about myself I had to hit a very low point to realise that that is not the way I wanted to live anymore and it helped me reconnect with my faith and God because for me that’s incredibly important now but it wasn’t then. I grew up in a Christian household going to church but for those 5 to 6 years I didn’t believe in God and I turned my back on that but it was towards the end of that time I came back to my faith and I started working on myself personally which is what has got me to where I am now. And after I became clean from the drugs that is when I came up with the idea for Milk For Tea. How did you manage to get clean?

To be honest I wish I had more of a practical thing for people but how it happened is one day I just decided to go running I was still in a very weird space and still doing a lot of drugs but I always kept up running. So that day towards the tail end of my run as I was getting closer to home I had this massive vision from God. It was one of the most vivid experiences I’ve had and It was God I just knew it was him because for one I wanted nothing to do with God and I knew they were not my thoughts it was nothing to do with me. So I had this vision of a lot of people living their dreams they were travelling and pursuing the things that they wanted to do It was like our generation just living to the fullness of their potential It looked amazing and I was like this is incredible. Then I heard God say this is a portion of what I will give to you if you choose to follow me then I remember being like yes this is what I want. And I remember running home my Dad was visiting at the time and I ran up to my room when I got back into the house as soon as I got into the room I got on my knees and started crying my Dad had thought that I’d injured myself while running and was asking if I wanted to go to A&E but I just remember just worshipping God. So then my Dad just knew and started praying for me and that was really it for me everything changed since then.

And everything straight away didn’t change but my mindset definitely did I had to be really disciplined and I couldn’t go out really because I still wanted to do drugs my friends and my brother really helped me at the time to kick it. It took me about 3 to 4 months and even after that I still had to be very careful to not fall back into my old ways.

So then I started the idea for Milk For Tea I was at the time working for a marketing firm which wasn’t really the best fit but then I found the Prince’s Trust they helped me set up and get some support to develop because initially, it was just

an idea. I knew I wanted to help men but it was very general and I knew that there are high rates of male suicide and I also was suicidal when I was younger so I wanted to help with that.

This was before mental health was openly discussed as it is today not many people spoke about it then and I wanted to be somebody who spoke up about it for men full stop and more specifically for black men. Mental health and suicide, identity and drug use is not things that we discuss especially to each other so that’s when I started Milk For Tea back in 2015.

And now we’re in our 3rd to 4th year and I have a business partner. We’re really passionate about what we do and we love what we do.

It started off as a blog that I started by myself then it started picking up traction and I was working on it with a friend then soon after TedX Bristol found out about it and they thought we were really progressive and they enjoyed what we were doing so they asked me to do a talk in November 2015. That was a big moment for me and Milk For Tea I’d only had the blog for 3 months and they gave me the opportunity really early on and that was great.

I think when we started we were a bit ahead of the curve and some people just didn’t really get it. They were just like what is this? Why are you doing it? But people who got it really got it and they were really behind us which was great.

It’s a very isolating and lonely path I think that a lot of men live. And not many people recognise that men deal with a lot of issues around confidence, identity, value and purpose. We don’t really speak about it because I don’t feel like we think we can, I know even myself I used to feel like that even though now I speak quite openly about it.

What do you do on a typical working day?

I wake up 7am, go to the gym, I’ll get to my desk look through emails and find out what I need to do for that day. Right now it’s a lot of planning for events that we have coming up. If I’m in London that day I’m probably doing meetings or delivering a workshop a large part of the role is delivering. Then I’ll have a meeting with my business partner and we will talk about our next movement and who we want to collaborate with. Then I may have a meeting. Me and Jack actually coach each other as well a lot of what we do for Milk For Tea is people based so we could just go to lunch with somebody or go to coffee with somebody and just generally support them. People just want to talk and we love that people feel like they can come to us and we generally just love on people and be supportive towards them.

AMARA KAYDEN 24 Business Analyst

A business analyst is someone that looks at a situation within a company and tries to figure out a solution to it using a number of different methods. What is your education history?

So for A levels, I studied economics politics and IT. Then I studied business management at University.

The great thing about the course was that it tapped into all different aspects of business so the course was very broad. During university, I took a placement year and worked at Canon Europe’s HQ as a marketing coordinator though it was one of the most boring process driven companies I have ever worked for, it was terrible so I left halfway through. So I got another small internship at an IT company so In terms of gaining experience for my CV placement was great but otherwise it wasn’t the best.

So after uni I really wanted to go into finance so I applied and then I got a job a few months after graduating but the role was very boring and unfulfilling for me so then I left and got a job at a technology company as a business analyst. I learnt a lot about technology speak there so that was good then and now I work for a French bank as a business analyst.

What advice would you give to your younger self or other young people?

I would just say learn to focus, and be careful to have a good work-life balance don’t let work consume you. I’ve had problems with this in the past but now I do things to help like attending Muay Thai in the mornings before work. Having to be focused and active in the mornings sets you up to have a more productive day because the most productive people are morning people. It’s extremely hard but I’ve seen a big difference in my productivity by doing this.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

A day-to-day of a business analysts life is never the same. For example on the current project that I’m on there are about 9 different work streams and I get to hop from one workstream to another. So each workstream is totally different It could be working on a portal, I can work with the marketing team and the design team to understand what the client wants for the visual perspective and I also work on the backhand side on the technology side to figure out how you can make the portal work. In one day I can go to a number of different meetings to create solutions for different streams within the company.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I would say buying property in Nigeria I’m planning to retire by the time I’m 35 so I want to be owning several properties that generate residual income. This is so that I won’t necessarily have to work 9-5 but I’ll still be earning money, that’s my mentality right now.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

I would say self-doubt because it can lead to self-sabotage. Everyone talks about having self-confidence in your abilities which is cool but we’re all humans so realistically we’re all going to have blips. But you just have to persevere and encourage yourself by keeping focused knowing what you’re capable of executing.

Andre

Spence,30

The Purpose Coach , Host of purpose leaders Speaker

What is your history?

I started out on a reality show on MTV called Sweet Sixteen then I moved between a variety of jobs within the entertainment industry. I used to do events with MTV, I used to do blogging for the MOBO awards, I used to do influencer marketing working with different brands like River Island when it was just starting out. And it’s funny because at that time I would never put forward black people to work with brands I just knew that it wasn’t cool I remember one instance with a big brand and I told them about one of the biggest black female YouTube bloggers in the country and they were very confused and they didn’t know who she was. So at that point, I realised that they weren’t concerned about the black community.

I got to the end of myself in 2017 because I realised that I had done a lot of creative things but I didn’t know what my purpose was so because I’m a Christian I was praying and that’s how I decided on the term The purpose coach. And I started to write my book and I started to get speaking engagements talking about purpose. In 2017 I put out a poll online and asked people what they thought their purpose was and over 70% of them thought it was vital to know what their purpose was but the majority of them did not know what it was so I realised that this was an epidemic.

So in 2017, I birthed an event called The Purpose Leaders which came from wanting to see Black Asian and minority people succeed.

Did you seek mentorship along your journey whilst studying, or who inspired you?

Definitely, I have a number of different mentors that have

helped me so much along the way.

There’s a guy called Justin he’s a brands expert so he helped me a lot. I also have a business mentor who is MBE Ade Omooba he has an amazing network and has helped me so much it’s as if his ceiling becomes my floor. I have spiritual mentors and even good friends mentor me. You don’t even have to have a physical mentor you can have a mentor via YouTube or by reading a book you can be mentored that way.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

-From waking up to lights out.

I wake up every day at 6 a.m. I start my day by praying and reading the Bible. Then I write down exactly what I want to achieve that day. A typical day very much varies day to day it can range from meeting influencers, having meetings with brands, If I have an event coming up then I could be going to the wholesaler buying water, promoting the event on Instagram, acquiring waiting staff, coming up with a schedule of the event each week will be very different today I’ve been finishing writing my book and also preparing for my webinar series. I’m always educating myself so I always want to have a book on the go. if I have a speaking engagement I also prepare for that.

What advice would you give to your younger self or other young people?

What was crazy was that when I had mentors their visions would become my visions because I didn’t have one I didn’t know what I wanted so you have to sit down with yourself and think God what do you really want for my life you need to ask yourself some questions. What is it that you want out of life, what do you want to create to make a difference and on Instagram you see people doing so many things when you start to compare yourself you get jealous of what they’re doing but if you have a vision it will save you heartache and the embarrassment it is so important .

What is your history ?

I went to Newcastle University and did Civil and Structural Engineering.

Growing up, I always either wanted to be an engineer or a pilot. So I did engineering at university and after university, I went into engineering. I did a graduate scheme and for the first two years you do different placements around the nuclear industry and once I had finished that scheme I then went and worked for a company for about three years. During that time I still thought about being a pilot as it was still on my mind.

I thought I’m not getting any younger and I still want to do it so I just went for it. I think I was 27 when I applied and got onto the scheme and finished in September/October last year and started flying in November last year.

The course was two years. Just under two years from start to finish.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I’d say if it’s something you want to do, just go for it. Do everything you can to do it. Don’t be put off of if it’s going to be difficult. For me personally, there was never anyone in the commercial aviation world. Say like on Instagram, if you follow pilots or whatever industry you are interested in if you follow people, there’s never black pilots - especially in the UK. I mean America, there are a lot more but in the UK there’s no one. So if you can, put that to one side and try and see past the lack of representation if it is something you want to do just go for it. Just keep at it and if you can find someone who can mentor you then great. If you can reach out to someone if it’s on LinkedIn or on Instagram if you message someone and it’s for a career they are more than likely to reply and try and give you advice if they can.

Step by step of a typical day at work: Usually, I would do earlys. So on earlys, I might report at say 5 or 6 in the morning at the airport but at the moment I am doing a few late shifts. So lates can be anything from like 10 am, reporting all the way to about 6 pm but finishing a lot later. Dubrovnik that we went to the other day, I think we reported at 3 pm so I had to be at Manchester airport at 3 pm. You go through all security and then you got to the crew room then you’d meet your captain and then you’d print off all of your documents, all your flight plans telling you the route that you are taking. Then you and the captain would go through the flight plan and all the documents. You then decide who is going to fly which leg, so who is going to take the aircraft to Dubrovnik and who is going to fly

back. Then you would look at all the weathers and decide which fuel you want to take to Dubrovnik and how much fuel. I’d speak to our handling agents and tell them how much fuel we want and once we have done our briefs, just me and the captain would then go and speak to the cabin crew. We would usually have 2 flight crew and 4 cabin crew. We would go and have a quick chat with them and tell them how long the flight is going to be, is there any turbulence or anything like that. Then an hour before departure time. Let’s say 4 pm would be the time we are supposed to depart and take off. Between 3 pm and 4 pm, in that hour we have a brief between myself and the captain then we brief with cabin crew and then we walk up the aircraft and then we do our security searches, start setting up and maybe half an hour before the departure

and land and take off and land and take off just to practice landings and takeoffs if that makes sense. So I’d say that’s probably the highlight so far, as I said I only started at the end of last year so it’s quite the beginning of my career.

What would you say is the biggest challenge that you’ve faced?

I think it is getting used to the lifestyle.

When you are working days on, days off, lates and early’s. For instance, today is one of my days off, but then I’ll be working on the weekend so it’s trying to sort out stuff with friends and family can be quite difficult.

You don’t know when you’re necessarily going to be off and it might not match up with when they are off and also getting used to early’s and lates can really mess with your body clock. So you get used to waking up early and then all of a sudden you have to get used to doing lates. Yeah, it’s not ideal so I’d say the lifestyle, just getting used to that.

Was the Aviation school quite intense or was it manageable?

So you basically don’t have a life for the first 6 months because you are basically just studying 9 to 5 in the classroom then you’d go home in the evening and study again and then in the weekend just study. So it is just really intense for that part, but once you’ve done that 6 months you then go and do the flying part. So we went to Phoenix in Arizona and that was really good and that was a lot more chilled and your actually doing what you’ve gone there to do, to actually fly. So yeah, challenging at the beginning, it wasn’t technically challenging but the amount of stuff that you had to learn was the difficulty so I’d say you don’t have to be ridiculously clever or even clever. You just need to be able to take in a lot of information.

time passengers would start coming on. Say we depart at 4 o’clock, Dubrovnik might be just under 3 hours. Land in Dubrovnik, refuel, passengers get off, quick turn around.

Probably about 40 minutes and then come back to Manchester.

What would you say has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I’d say probably the first time you fly an aircraft. You do all this training for just under two years and then you go and do what’s called base training which is you take an aircraft for the first time, a passenger aircraft with no passengers maybe up to 10 of you on the plane. We went up to Darlington airport and basically, you’d take off, you wouldn’t climb very high - maybe 1,000 feet so not that high off the ground in aviation terms and eventually come back around

DEAN GENTLES PILOT

Labi What are the steps you’ve taken from childhood to get to where you are today?

I went to secondary school in North London and when it was time to choose your options I chose media music and business.

In media lessons, I would muck about and my teacher was actually very wowed by what I would create even though I had thought it was very simple. And as time progressed my teacher would sit me down and tell me how impressed she was of my skills in that lesson.

Then I started getting top marks and being rewarded for being creative. I hadn’t experienced that before so when that started happening I realised I could do well in that lesson very easily. Then in college, I also carried on studying media then got straight A’s I chose a college that was very advanced in technology so that helped a lot.

Then I went to uni close to home so I could stay close to London and get work experience on sets and shadowing music video directors whilst I was studying. At uni, I studied film studies specialising in fiction and graduated with a 1st.

After uni I went straight in freelancing shooting small things here and there learning then I got a job at Apple part-time to be a film expert, that was to keep myself afloat whilst I was building my portfolio as that was the more difficult thing.

It was a lot of doing videos for free and putting my own money in until the projects started getting bigger and bigger and better.

What advise would you give to your younger self or other young people trying to follow in your footsteps?

Be patient with the learning learn as much as you can take it all in and soak up as much information as possible.

How did you make the decision to go from part-time working at Apple to make the leap to full time?

After a while of juggling both jobs directing and working at Apple, I realised my Apple job was holding me back from fulfilling my potential so as my projects started getting bigger and I started working with more clients I started to realise that you can never get a full-time

28,

Director

income from something that you only give to part-time.

So then I realised the longer that I stayed at Apple the older I was going to get and the older I get the more responsibilities that I had. So it’s easier for me to try when I’m younger than try when I’m 35.

the easier it is for them to understand and be on board with your vision.

What was your biggest motivation?

Just to create what is in my head. I knew I had dope things in my head but I just needed some means of bringing these ideas into fruition that was my motivation. Just to make dope art and that is still my motivation till today.

-Time efficiency is also very key in this field.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

It depends on whether I’m directing music videos, films or commercials. Films will take a lot longer so the development stage will be a lot longer it involves casting directors, writing, shooting for 3 to 4 weeks or if it’s a short film then they only take a few days, then you go into the editing process. Music videos are a bit different they have a faster turnaround. For those You create the idea, you talk it through with the artist and the manager, you create a template, you work with a team a producer then you go into pre-production and get everything that’s needed for the shoot like props. Then you shoot the video then get it edited and delivered to the client.

I feel like a lot of creatives work at night so I may wake up at 10 but then I don’t stop working until the early hours. Days are very different some days I’m scouting locations but on shoot days I wake up early as some shoots will start at 7 am. So my schedule is a bit more flexible but a lot of the time it’s 24/7.

A few qualities that would help to make a good director?

-Handling pressure well in this field of work is very important as everything is always changing. A good director needs to make sure that everything can be fulfilled within the budget so sometimes you have to be very flexible and able to think on your feet.

-You should be clear in describing your vision to people the clearer you are to everyone in your team

-Having a good bank of adjectives is important because people need to understand what it is you’re talking about quickly.

-Know your shots and know what they do, directing is storytelling so the more technical knowledge that you have the better your story will be conveyed.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Probably shooting in LA because I used to go to LA a lot when I was younger and my goal was always to shoot productions out there. So I would say shooting in LA with French Montana with a big label that was great. Because I used to drive past people shooting while I was on holiday and I really wanted to be doing that, so the fact I get to do that now is amazing and I’m grateful in general every time I get to make productions happen.

When I can, I do try and give information back to people learning the ropes I do try and do that when I can.

And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

When you’re trying to step up to the next level but you haven’t done anything of that calibre yet trying to convince people to trust you with that responsibility can be hard.

I remember when I wanted to do music videos for labels or work with big brands for commercials when I hadn’t yet produced that type of content before. It’s harder because you don’t have that type of work to show them.

The restriction of budgets can also be a challenge. Most of the times if you want things fast and good quality then it won’t be cheap.

I call it a triangle because if you want something cheap and fast then it won’t be good quality so it’s hard to achieve all three things but that’s what clients always expect and my aim is to achieve it all even though at times it can be difficult.

//you can never get a full-time income from something that you only give to part time//

LABI 2019

Timi Odorgu

30, Senior digital account manager at a diversity reqruitment agency and Diamons business co-founder What is your History?

What is your History?

My mum pushed me to get a scholarship to get into a private secondary school because my primary school wasn’t in a great area. It wasn’t a full scholarship so my parents still paid some money but it meant that I could study at a very good school in Central London. At the school, we had a lot of exposure to professional careers so I had a good grasp on certain careers very early on.

Then I studied business with French at Warwick University and in my final year I moved to France and studied at a business school there where I also mastered French.

I realised I didn’t want to go into banking because of the stressful hours and Rare Recruitment actually the firm that I work for now, put me forward for an internship at L’oreal. I went in on the graduate recruitment scheme and after completing It I went into sales and became an account manager at L’Oreal.

I was at L’Oreal for 6 years and became the regional sales manager and managed a team of 10 people and that was really great, then after another role which I did for 2 years, I got headhunted by Rare who were looking for a sales account manager. I now manage a team that looks after big companies who use our software to help with their graduate recruitment. They use our software to identify disadvantaged applicants who may have gone to low performing schools or who may have grown up in care generally students who need to be given an extra chance in the process. Our software adds context to someone’s application. We manage about 70 accounts How did you start your Diamonds business?

The main aim for me has always been to have a comfortable life but the aim was to do that without having to sacrifice my weekends and to have no life outside of work. So I knew the way to do that was to have my own business which gives you flexibility. I have that at work because It allows me to be done at 5 pm and I have no guilt if I do no other work for that evening. And this allows me to spend time working on my other venture which is a Diamonds business. We create

bespoke rings and wedding bands. Fortunately, the office is around the corner from my normal workplace so I could get there easily after work. I started it with a partner who is already very experienced in diamonds so that was very important for me.

And the starting of the business was very organic I connected with the partner to create my wife’s diamond ring it was bespoke and because the process was so fun I thought more people should be doing this.

The really great factor is that I get to interact and connect with people so that client-facing role is really something I’m happy doing.

I’ve always had the goal of giving my family a comfortable life whether that’s climbing to the top of a corporate role or building something myself.

What advise would you give to your younger self or other young people?

For young people, I would say try and get work experience as much as possible even if it’s just a day shadowing. You pick up so much just by watching someone you can learn about what you do like and what you don’t like about that role.

As you get older I would say to network as much as you can you never know what connections could open a door for you or who could put in a good word for you.

Also having an open mind, sometimes we get ideas very early on and it can be great but it can also be quiet restrictive.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

I’ll be up at quarter to 8 and be in the office for 9 most of my days vary but let’s talk about today for example today I had two calls in the morning one with clients who wanted to know how they could implement our products and they wanted to understand how our technology could integrate with their technology. The call was great and I believe you can get a lot more done on the phone in general than over email. Then I had another phone call with another client who wanted to understand the effectiveness of our business so I had to be prepared with all the data analysis and I had to explain how beneficial the business had been or even the problems that there are as you have to make the client aware of everything.

Being prepared for these meetings is important.

This afternoon I’ll be going out to pitch a new product that we have to an existing client when pitching I prepare with my team in sales call it building a need.

Salespeople are originally looked at as being good talkers but really in sales, it’s important to be a good listener and the starting point of being a good listener is asking questions and drawing out the need of a client. Because when you identify the needs of the client you can come to them with a solution to their problems and they won’t be able to say no to what you’re offering.

Then I’m going to a diversity roundtable discussion looking at how the education system advantages and disadvantages black students.

Then in the evening, I’ll do some work on my diamonds business. At any given time I may have 5 or 6 clients looking for diamonds and particular stones for rings so if I’m not sourcing things directly I’ll be in touch with my business partner and they’ll be looking for particular diamonds with particular specifications so there’s a lot of communication back and forth most of my meetings will be in the evenings with clients to show the diamonds to see what they like and that’s always a fun process.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

At 25 and became the youngest regional sales manager at L’Oreal and I won a Black British Business Award For Rising Star In Consumer Goods. It showed me that I could be what I wanted to be. I’d always been quite competitive and I always wanted to get to the top and win so getting recognition that early in my career was very encouraging.

And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Again at L’Oreal, I got my first management job in Leeds and I had just got engaged to my wife to be who lived in London. I got a call from my boss that I had a promotion but it was going to be in Leeds so I took it and moved to Leeds and it was very challenging because I was far from home and I was commuting a lot to try and visit family and my fiancé so that was difficult but a massive learning curve.

But out of the biggest challenges, you get the most learning as well. Ironically being away from people that I knew gave me a lot of time to master my craft and make as strong of an impact as possible.

JEREMYBOAMAH, 30 Software developer

What is your education History?

I grew up quite fortunate as we had a desktop computer in the house and growing up I was generally quite fascinated with it and spent time learning how to use it. We had a family friend who is called uncle Joe who was a computer technician ever so often he would give me advice about how to use a computer and I probably got inspiration from him without knowing.

At College, I studied a vocational course in IT and business and that was because I like computers and one day I thought I may want to start my own business. Then in uni, I studied computer science.

Then after uni, I got a job at an IT firm which is where I am now 7 years later. What we do is make bespoke tailor-made software for our clients who are mainly big businesses.

What advise would you give to your younger self or other young people?

I would just say work hard, be confident with what you know and what you don’t know. A lot of people like to fake it but you can be confident in what you don’t know.

Don’t be afraid to take the time to learn what you need to learn and don’t be too hasty on your path to where you want to get to. Your path may not be straight forward but it doesn’t mean you are not going to get to where you want.

Can you give me a step by step of what a typical day at work looks like for you?

I wake up at around 7.30 though my work is quite flexible so If I go in later I can stay later. Your output though is the most important thing.

With me when I’m working I’m really working I have in mind the goals that I want to achieve that day and seek to achieve them. And even if I don’t achieve those goals I make sure not to beat myself up over it.

We typically have morning board meetings where we discuss what we’re working on and then for the rest of the day, I’m mainly at my desk coding.

W3school.com is a great site to learn about software development and coding for those who want to get into this field.

What’s the biggest highlight of your career so far?

There was a big project that I was working on and that was a good highlight because it meant a lot of long days and making big decisions. It was challenging but whenever I get to grow in my abilities as a coder it’s great.

And finally what’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

My attitude towards making mistakes. I know I’m not perfect but I don’t like making mistakes and at times I can be defensive when I make mistakes which is not good so this is something I’m working on.

Acknoledgements Thank you God for making the entire project possible and thank you to my lecturers as well as my friends and family who helped me along the way.

My endless gratitude goes out to every single amazing man who allowed me to interview them for this project.

I’d also like to say a huge thank you to my Incredible team who worked on the editorial aspect of my book for allowing me to bring my vision to fruition. The Incredible photographer Paula - Narcography, my two models Gratias and Yemz and my sister Gratitude who assisted on the day I couldn’t have done it without you all.

Also many thanks to the generous showrooms, Independent designers and brands who allowed me to use their pieces, all the looks featured in this book are as credited below.

Look 1 Yemz Wears Suit Siyi Long, Harness bag ASOS Design Look 2 GK Wears Puffer and Trench coat ISBIM, Bag Burberry, Sunglasses ASOS Design Look 3 Yemz Wears Hoodie Catherine Deniss, Jacket 4SVCIETY, Longline Puffer Gilet Lucy Wood, Glasses ASOS Design Look 4 GK Wears Suit Tira Liscent, Tactical vest Stylists own, Bucket hat Puma, Goggles World of Nalu Look 5 GK Wears Fendi Jacket Loose Threads, Trousers Siyi Long, Harness stylists own Look 6 Yemz Wears Fendi Jacket Loose Threads, Dungarees Tira Liscent, Bucket hat Asos Design Team Credits Direction & Styling: Grandy Katega grandykat Photographer: Paula @narcography Models: Yemz @yemz.wg Gratias @gkay.one

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