In this episode, Lọ́lá discusses her experiences with name mispronunciation throughout her life, and how it was a particular source of frustration during her formative years. She also reflects on her sons' experiences with Yoruba names, and how times have progressed since Lọ́lá was growing up in London. This episode also outlines Yoruba naming ceremonies and highlights the thought and care which goes into a name.

In this episode, Alistair shares his decision to combine his surname with his partner's surname, his experiences with legally changing his surname in the UK, and his personal reflections as a gay man in the UK and the increased focus on diversity & inclusion in the workplace. 

Alistair is a vibrant event professional with over 9 years’ experience in producing meetings and conferences. His main passion is to help independent brands deliver impactful Virtual Events and Meetings delivered with three core principals in mind: Planning, Production and Pride. Having gained event experience within the pharmaceutical and medical sectors, Alistair prides himself on attention to detail and compliance for regulations, whilst being able to inject unique creativity. Alistair lives life by the mantra: every day is an event, so put on a show and learn or teach something new.

In this episode, Phil Ossai shares his experiences with feeling guilty about having an English first name, his reflections on being a Black founder and entrepreneur, and his views on using your difference as your superpower.

Phil runs OSSAI agency, a personal branding agency for founders and CEOs. For the last 7 years, Phil has been helping brands and founders, especially from underrepresented backgrounds, by building their communities on various social platforms, most specifically LinkedIn, TikTok & Instagram. All with the aim to create opportunities to improve their businesses and careers.

In this episode, listen to Darain Faraz discuss the many names he's gone by and how they served different purposes and reflect different times in his life. Maya and Darain also discuss accents and code-switching, and make the distinction between changing accents as a way to fit in and assimilate or to make others feel more included.

Darain is Co-Founder of People Like Us and is a seasoned Marcomms leader – he formerly headed up Communications for MySpace in Australia, as well holding a Global Communications role for WWF’s Earth Hour. He joined LinkedIn EMEA in 2011, and is currently their International Director of Brand Marketing, where he’s responsible for devising, and implementing their international brand strategy. Darain and his brother, Sheeraz, set-up not for profit, People Like Us, in 2020 to address the underrepresentation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people in Marketing & Communications industries. Darain regularly features Marketing Week’s Top 100 Marketers list, and last year, alongside his brother, People Like Us was awarded PRCA's Trailblazer of the Year Award.

In this episode, learn about naming restrictions in Iran, cultural and political views towards different ethnic groups in Iran, Farzin's experiences with his name, and him deciding to use the name 'Frank' at Starbucks.

Farzin is the founder of Critical Equity Consulting, LLC, a boutique Organizational Justice consulting firm focused on helping organizations rebuild with a primary focus on creating equitable outcomes and seeking justice, and a Global DEIB Strategist and Trainer at PowerToFly. With experience working with higher education institutions, trade associations, local government, and the private sector; Farzin has broad experience tailoring DEI strategies to organizational design and structure.

Holding two master’s degrees in international affairs and diplomacy as well as a certificate in conflict resolution skills, Farzin leverages his unique academic background, extensive travel experience, and experiential knowledge to provide comprehensive, thought-provoking local and global approaches to his work. In addition to training and education, Farzin is a seasoned project manager with expertise in developing strategies that build equitable workplace environments and government services, along with building internal capacity that makes programming stick.

This episode discusses Baiba's journey with the spelling of her name, how she ties her name to her identity and sense of belonging, and her family's history and the changing spelling of her family member's names. Over the 10 years of living in the UK and catering for the Brit’s comfort, Baiba's name has been butchered beyond recognition a number of times. After a decade, she finally and unapologetically reclaimed the original spelling of my name. I was inspired by Thandiwe Newton’s story and realised that she also allowed others to mispronounce her name for too long.

Baiba is a connector. She connects people, ideas and past to the future like dots, and is fearless in challenging the status quo and conventional thinking and certainly is someone you can count on to inspire you to think differently. Baiba is originally from Latvia, but have spent the past decade living in the UK. Over this time she has worked with FTSE100, NYSE listed corporates, Tech startups, and government organisations where has been involved in various global initiatives concerning People, Workplace Culture, Digital Transformation, Sustainability and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Today Baiba is the Founder & CEO of Lakehouse Consulting, where her key focus is evolving the global state of leadership to create more sustainable, equitable and inclusive ecosystems. She works with leadership teams to assess and optimise the impact of them.

In this episode, host Maya speaks with Glenn Lutz about the journey he's had with his name, the different names he's gone by which have reflected different periods of his life, how his name has been tied to religion, and Glenn's experiences with his mental health. Glenn Lutz is an author and conceptual artist living and working on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i. His practice spans photography, sculpture, hip-hop, and publications— examining topics including identity, the connections between spirituality, religion, mysticism, and mental health, and the cause and effect of the injustices faced by the Black community in the United States and abroad. He is also NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Ambassador and mental health advocate, working with NAMI to destigmatise mental illness and bring awareness to mental health resources available to the community. www.glennlutz.com | @glenn_lutz

In this episode, learn more about Zimbabwean naming traditions, specifically focused on the Shona tribe.

Tino Chakadonha is a senior account manager at Veritone - an Enteprise AI company. His professional interest lies at the intersection of technology and humanity. As a British-Zimbabwean, Tino has experienced the introspection that comes from feeling that you don't quite belong anywhere and the advantages/disadvantages that come with that, day to day and long term.

Aira Gonzales moved to the UK when she was 7 and since starting school, her name has always been something she's been hyper aware of. Whether it’s a teacher assuming she was Spanish because of her last name and greeting her in Spanish, her name warranting a pause during the register because the teacher was unsure of how to pronounce it, and the name being mispronounced or spelled wrong despite it being in her email signature.

The most striking thing for Aira is the fact that she's had to explain why as a visibly non-white, South East Asian woman, has a Spanish last name. A lot of people mean well when they ask out of curiosity but sometimes Aira notices people getting uncomfortable when she tells them that her last name is down to colonialism. The Philippines, where Aira was born and raised until moving to the UK, was claimed by explorer Francis Magellan in 1521 as part of the Spanish Empire. It wasn’t until 1898 that the Philippines became independent, but at that point, a lot of the culture of the Philippines became heavily mixed with Spanish influences. For example, last names. It was made strictly mandatory for Filipinos to take on a last name from a catalogue of names, many of which, were Spanish. On paper, this was because traditionally surnames in the Philippines weren’t governed but of course, taking on a Spanish last name meant stronger colonial rule. To this day, it remains ingrained in Filipino identity. Even though to some, it’s just a name, to Aira, it’s also a reminder of the colonisation of our country by the Spanish and the effects colonisation had on our culture and society.