I LIKE NETWORKING

Alexandra is a Live Music Promoter at one of the UK's leading gig promoters, Metropolis Music, part of the conglomerate of live music giants, Live Nation Entertainment. The Business Management and Leadership graduate also heads up Diversity Employee Resource Group, starting EMBRACE Nation at Live Nation UK - a cultural hub striving towards racial equality in and outside the workplace becoming a learning hub for ALL Live Nation Entertainment employees. Alexandra also works across The End Festival, Somerset House, The F List (director), Black Music Coalition and UNICEF Music Group. She has worked on the shows and tours of some of the world’s leading talent’s such as; Ms Lauryn Hill, Robbie Williams, Janelle Monae, Ella Mai, SiR, Nao, Mura Masa, Goldlink, Jordan Rakei, Ghetts. As well as rising talents, Kojey Radical, Etta Bond, Arlo Parks, and Che Lingo to name a few. Founding Acoustic Live in 2013, an award-winning events company, dedicated to the manifestation of acoustic talent and keeping stripped back music alive. She has built a dedicated community, providing a powerful platform that offers artists a chance to flourish.

Her second not-for-profit organisation, Women Connect, acts as a female-forward collective creating safer, inclusive spaces and equal opportunities for Women, Non-Binary and Gender-Variant people in the creative industry.

On this episode, she opens up about her struggles with anxiety, how she overcame that and being the only Black woman in the room for a long time. Alex is a delightful human and a huge talent in the Music Industry so I hope you will enjoy this conversation. 

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

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Jess Gosling is a UK Civil Servant, an Award-Winning Entrepreneur, Public Speaker & International Strategy/Culture/Leadership Consultant. She was recently named 27th in the Top 100 Women Future Leaders 2020 via Yahoo Finance and Involve. Earlier this year she was also named Most Influential Women in the Tech UK 2020 by Computer Weekly and one of the Pitch 100 SuperWoman 2020 by Pitchfanzine.

With an eclectic 10+ years in various sectors and industries, Jess has consistently strived to bridge the gap between culture, diplomacy and innovation. She spent over 7 years abroad in deployments with the United Nations, NGOs, civil society, startups in EMEA, MENA and LATAM regions. She has built her career around interdisciplinary thinking, and adding value from a cross-sectorial approach.  Jess works within the UK Government on matters of cultural diplomacy, soft power and international affairs, with a focus on Europe and Latin America. The transmission of ideas, how we can come together under the lens of diplomacy has been her core interest for the past decade. She will begin her PhD in interdisciplinary thinking, focusing on how soft power is understood, what metrics we use and how successful it is as a term.

Jess is the co-founder of a professional network, the Growth & Grace Collective (G&G), a global network changing the narrative of upskilling, learning and development. Founded in 2019, G&G focuses on both equipping and empowering professionals in all sectors to grow into themselves. Over their first year, they upskilled 2500+ people across 70 events focused on social mobility, women’s issues and D&I, hosted events with a truly global attendance and won the UK Social Mobility Honour Role in 2019.

Over the pandemic, she began to the curate of a bi-weekly segment titled Culture, Diplomacy and Innovation with 9k readership in 10 weeks. She has also started an offshoot of this project, called The Showcase, to champion more intersectional voices around the world.

On this episode, she shares her working life with unseen disabilities, what led her to study Korean, her journey across the world and why she wears so many hats.  Plus: why networking is KEY. 

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

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Give yourself compassion to learn who you are and make sure that you dream

Some pretty great advice from this amazing conversation with mathematician turned independent curator & writer Fatoş Üstek. Her list of accolades is HUGE and this is just a small preview:  listed in the celebratory Apollo 40 under 40 Thinkers section in 2018 ; included in Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 London’s most influential people in 2018 and 2017; Artlyst Power 100 list 2018, and 2017; Artsy The Top 20 Most Influential Young Curators in Europe and nominated for ICI Gerrit Lansing Independent Curatorial Vision Award in 2016.

She was Director of Liverpool Biennial (2019-20), a jury member for Turner Prize Bursaries 2020, Arts Foundation Futures Award 2021, Scotland in Venice 2022, Dutch Pavilion 2022, and as an external member of the acquisitions committee for the Arts Council Collection (2018-2020). She is the curator of Do Ho Suh’s largest UK commission (2018-2020). She was formerly Director and Chief Curator of DRAF (David Roberts Art Foundation), curated miart Talks 2018; Art Night, East London, 2017 and fig-2 50 exhibitions in 50 weeks, ICA, 2015. She acted as Associate Curator for the 10th Gwangju Biennale, 2014. Ustek is a contributing editor to Extra Extra Magazine, a founding member of the Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA); trustee of Art Night; board member of Urbane Kunste Ruhr; advisory panel for Jan van Eyck Academie; member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) UK; and an ICI alumni. 

Recently, Ustek delivered keynote lectures at London City Hall, Tate Modern, Leicester University and presented papers in conferences held in the UK, Europe, and South America. She publishes regularly in exhibition catalogues and art magazines and was the co-founding Editor of Nowiswere (2008-12a). Find out more here. 

I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

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Some of the links mentioned in this episode:

The first time I recorded this podcast my computer shut down and we lost all files but luckily Tiauna Jackson is very kind and allowed us to record it a second time, just as she was launching the Black Agent Network. 

Tiauna Jackson is a Talent and Literary Agent for The Jackson Agency. Headquartered in Century City, California, Ms. Jackson built her agency from the ground up within the entertainment industry’s most competitive market, Los Angeles.

Tiauna decided to start her own agency after finding barriers to entry not only for herself, but for artist and writers of color, LGBTQ+ identifying, and Senior Citizens. She made history by becoming the first Writers Guild of America franchise in Atlanta, Georgia; and is believed to be the first known Black woman with 100% ownership of her agency to become a WGA franchise in Los Angeles.

With her agency dedicated to the underestimated, underrepresented, and the underserved, Jackson applies a “root for the underdog” mentality to fostering the careers of emerging artists. She looks forward to providing representation that matters to the exceptionally talented artists of the world. She was featured in the New York Times, Medium, Oz Magazine, and Arizona Informant for her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion while facing adversity through resilience.

Follow her work here

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

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Jessica Teal is one of our AMAZING mentors and the founder and principal of Teal Media, a full-service creative and design agency with offices in Washington, DC and Detroit, MI. Jessica leads the creative vision and strategy for Teal's nonprofit clients who are taking on the most important social justice issues of our time. Teal Media also created the original website for Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, encouraging people to know the candidate and optimized for conversions, with a strong focus on privacy, security and accessibility. 

Before founding Teal, Jessica served as Design Manager for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. She also served as a special consultant to the Obama White House, advising on digital strategy, user experience, and visual design. Jessica was recently named in the top 5 “2018 Responsible Designers to Watch” by Graphic Design USA, has been featured in Forbes as part of the ongoing Self-Made Women series, and has been a speaker at SXSW Interactive, NTEN, NOI, RootsCamp, and Netroots Nation. 

On this episode, she discusses how a heartbreak landed her a job, letting life take her to different paths, politics and leading a life with purpose. 

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

Stay in touch with us on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter with career resources

Frankie Cotton is an entrepreneur and agency CEO specialising in brand, culture, growth marketing and business development. Her experience includes working with startups through to international £100MIL+ revenue companies spanning technology, professional services, media, fintech and e-commerce in both B2B and B2C. Frankie is the creator and host of podcast Women On Top, a series of intimate conversations with real women about business, entrepreneurship, money and careers through a feminist lens.

Frankie is a master of advice. On this conversation, we talk about business plans,  failed businesses, finding opportunities outside of London and how NOT to let work define you. We also talk about supermarket jobs and fashion (not necessarily in this order).

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

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Graeae is a force for change in world-class theatre, boldly placing D/deaf and disabled actors centre stage and challenging preconceptions and its CEO and Artistic Director Jenny Sealey MBE is no different. 

She talks to us about her initial struggles, the people who helped her along the way, how she nearly didn't apply to work at Graeae and things we should all be doing to create a more inclusive society. It's an AMAZING interview with the participation of two fantastic interpreters! 

As Jenny is deaf the conversation was recorded on Zoom so the audio is not amazing, but Vicky and Ali, the AMAZING interpreters, agreed to stay on camera so we could share the conversation with subtitles on our channel - so check it out here

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

Stay in touch with us on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter with career resources

About Jenny Sealey MBE

Jenny’s directing career began with Interplay Theatre, co-directing Sea Changes, then directing Stepping Stones and Mad Meg. Jenny has been Graeae’s Artistic Director since 1997.  Directing credits for Graeae include: This Is Not For You, Reasons to be Cheerful (2017, 2012, 2010 and concert versions), The House of Bernarda Alba (in a co-production with Royal Exchange Theatre), Blood Wedding (in a co-production with Dundee Rep and Derby Theatre); The Threepenny Opera (with Pete Rowe in a co-production with New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Nottingham Playhouse and Birmingham Rep); Belonging (with Vinicius Daumas and performed in Brazil & London); also Signs of a Star-Shaped Diva; Static; Blasted; Whiter than Snow; peeling; Bent; Iron Man and Rhinestone Rollers.  

International credits include: Blood Wedding (Setagaya Public Theatre, Tokyo); Romeo and Juliet (Saitama Arts Theatre, Tokyo); and at Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF) then touring outdoor arenas: Against the Tide; The Garden; The Limbless Knight – A Tale of Rights Reignited. Jenny co-directed the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony alongside Bradley Hemmings (GDIF).  

She also won the Liberty Human Rights Arts Award and was on the h.Club 100 list of the most influential people in the creative industries.

Cassi Young is the Specialist, Head of Sale for the Modern & Contemporary Art auction in London at Bonhams. Before joining Bonhams, Cassi worked in the Post-War & Contemporary Art department at Christie's, London and also gained experience at Deutscher and Hackett, Sydney. Cassi holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours, as well as a Double Masters in Art History and Curatorial Museum Studies from the University of Adelaide, South Australia.

She talks to us about chai lattes, her struggles with managing stress, moving to the UK, trusting her gut and what it is really like to work for an auction house. 

Australian Artists mentioned in the conversation: 

Tsering Hannaford

Alex Seton

Dale Frank

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

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Jade Coles is a creative strategist whose niche is designing cultural event programmes that resonate with London's creative, forward-thinking audiences. Jade has over eight years experience in cultural production and event programming having worked with industry leaders in the hospitality space such as Soho House, Festivals like Lost Village and a host of startups in the Creative Industries space including Creative Entrepreneurs and The Collective. Most recently Jade headed up the cultural programme at co-working space 'The Wings' first international site based in Fitzrovia, creating events to inspire community across a five-storey townhouse.

On this episode, we talk about how her career led her everywhere - even to world stages as a performer - how to assess our limiting beliefs and even spreadsheets. If you need some positivity, this is the one for you.

Connect with Jade here

SHOW NOTES:

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

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Sharlene Gandhi is a reporter at Courier Media, focusing on small business owners and modern entrepreneurs from all over the world, who are living life on their own terms. Previously a freelance climate, food and business journalist, she has previously written for the likes of gal-dem, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Dazed, and the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy. She has also spoken on the topics of climate migration, air quality, and racial inequity in the climate movement. 

On this episode, she tells us how she managed a full-time job with her freelancing career, how she made the switch to full-time journalism and speaks with candour on the industry: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Plus: how to network intentionally and when to write for free. 

You can follow Sharlene on Twitter and Instagram at @sharlene_gandhi

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I LIKE NETWORKING is the mentoring and networking program for womxn and non-binary people in the creative industries.

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Stay in touch with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilikenetworking/

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