In this week’s Let’s Reset: the podcast, I talk to the brilliant young entrepreneur, Shanice Mears. She is an incredible woman who is a passionate leader in the marketing and advertising industry. She is the Co-founder of The Elephant Room, an agency which helps companies to build inclusive brands. 

In our conversation Shannie highlights some disturbing insight into the continued lack of ethnic minorities still in the industry today and what can be done to improve this.  With this in mind we discuss her own career journey through advertising.  She speaks of the stark contrast between her work life then, where in her office she was one of the only people from a minority group, compared to her personal life where she was surrounded by empowering black women and how this drove her to find more ways to represent and embolden her peers. Now she spends time teaching people from minority groups to believe that the industry deserves their talent, and that they deserve their positions in business and agencies. 

I learn from Shannie some ways that I, as a white female businesswoman, can support others from the black ethnic and minority background communities in the workplace and in my own personal life. 

Together, Shannie and I reflect on the colleagues and leaders who have motivated us to keep pushing to be where we are today. She speaks of her empowering journey alongside Vanessa Sanyauke , CEO of Girls Talk London, who gave Shannie the freedom and support to start her own community and then provided her with empowering career insight and support to maintain it. 

How Shannie handled her own personal losses and negative experiences with such grace and power is one of the many reasons she is such an inspiring woman to me and I wanted to share some of her story with you today.

* Suki’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suki-thompson-07615b6/

* Suki’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sukithompson/

* Let’s Reset Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsreset1/?hl=en

* Shannie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanice-mears-frsa-41b36510b/

* Shannie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannieloves/