In this episode Peymana, the first person of Afghan origin elected to public office in the United Kingdom, shares how her lived experiences as a child refugee coming to London from Afghanistan shaped the trajectory of her education and career. A refreshingly honest exchange with a politician who chronicles her journey from volunteering, charity work, activism to eventually finding her political home with the Labour Party in Harrow. She is fierce in her approach in that she has clarity and direction about the role politics and politicians should play in society. For her, politics is inseparable from campaigning and activism, it is not about the 'me' but about the 'we' and 'us'. She is one of those rare change markers, with not only a vision for society that is inclusive, collaborative and safe for everyone but she is armed with a plan. Scouted by the Obama Foundation to take part in the leaders in Europe programme, she absolutely has the drive, passion and fire to trailblaze and responsibly pull the ladder down for those behind her. 

 In this episode we talk about the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender and religious beliefs and how all these dynamic identities impact opportunities and experiences. Amina has a no-nonsense approach, fostering and working hard to maintain a positive, growth mindset to life and work. Like so many working ambitious career mothers, she’s hard at play in the professional world and also committed to family life. No apology needed! No room for guilt! The conversation is peppered with human resources tips and advice. We talk critically about the explosion of job openings in equality, diversity and inclusion and question if commitment to create organisational change is genuine and sincere. With diversity saturated only up to certain levels in organisations, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done. Leadership teams need diversity and they need to lead with trust to create a positive organisational culture. A big take away from this episode is;

Put. Your. Self. Out. There.

I spent an afternoon with Candice in late October, in Paris. Candice is the co-founder of MUV studio Paris, dedicated to food, fitness, play and movement. We discuss travelling, learning, relationship with the body and self, belonging, mothers and motherhood. Each time, Candice circles back to identity politics and belonging. She speaks with ease about serious issues, from body dysmorphia and eating disorders to depression. With a mixed heritage, in her younger days the insider outsider sense of self was constantly in flux and only seemed to lessen after moving from California to settle down in France. Paris afforded her the opportunity to write her own narrative versus feeling trapped in preconceived ideas of who she was supposed to be. Now a business owner, a mother and stepmother, her sense of self has gone through a massive transformation and she chooses to see the silver linings and opportunities living through the global pandemic; being introspective and working on herself. Unsurprisingly, self-care is about taking time to express gratitude, for her body, for the day and for good health.

Savraj joins me on this 5th episode of This is Women of Colour. Savraj is the executive director of a philanthropic start up, she has many years of experience working in not-for-profit organisations and international development. Much of the conversation is about the negotiations of the self and others. She charts her experiences from her school days volunteering to finding her place in the philanthropy sector. She is frank about her upbringing, taking on the responsibility to fulfil the mother role to her siblings, confusing a traditional south Asian trait of serving the family with her true purpose for charity and giving. An important point is again made in this episode where so many women of colour cannot imagine themselves in roles that they do not see themselves represented in. We talk about the impact of the ancestral journey, breaking out of the scarcity mindset and the importance of taking time to heal childhood wounds. Throughout the conversation Savraj offers some great advice;

1. Keep moving your goal posts and finding your flow

2. Listen to your gut

3. Do not limit your possibilities, explore and enjoy the journey of discovery

4. Pay attention to the way you speak to yourself

Nelly Kibirige is a former university student union president, mother of four children, a life coach and graduate in Business Management with Law.  This episode will leave you feeling energised and inspired by Nelly’s many stories where she consistently overcomes barriers by picking herself up and dusting herself off. Nelly juggles the very real-life of single parenting, education and career. The first part of the conversation details the important work she is involved in on the serious issue of the rise in Domestic Abuse during the first COVID 19 lockdown in the UK. We swiftly move onto discussing her motivations for pursuing higher education, applying for student union president and the many opportunities that she’s engineered as a black woman living in England. We discuss the responsibility of having a ‘seat at the table’ where Nelly illustrates how her diverse lived experiences contributed to changing policy positively for the student body at the University.  Nelly is a strong and passionate woman and yet her recent experiences of discrimination, prejudice and gaslighting culture have affected her mental health and well-being. She has learned to find small moments for self-care and healing. Nelly reminds us that self-care can be as simple as taking a walk, refocusing on breathing or seeing a friend.

In this episode with Sarah Bekele Johansson we discuss her transinternational upbringing, adoption, race and gender. Sarah takes the time to contextualise the adoption processes of the 80s in Sweden, she talks us through the progressive approach her white Swedish mother took in protecting and preparing her two Ethiopian adopted daughters for the reality that would await them. Sharing her lived experiences of access to opportunities and the importance of understanding social norms and codes between several countries (Sweden, France, UK and the US) in unlocking those opportunities. An important discussion takes place about diversity in organisations versus diversity in senior management in organisations. In the last part of the episode we discuss motherhood, identity and selfcare practice.

In this episode with Tina Patel we discuss her experience of navigating her career in the construction industry which is traditionally a very male workplace. Tina Patel is the Managing Director of an architectural practice in London. Based on her experiences, Tina offers some important advice to women who are considering a career in architecture, acknowledging unfortunately that women need to work harder than men and that architects from a black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are often over-looked in promotions. We touch on the urgent need for mental health awareness in architectural schools across the country and the importance of diverse representation within the School Faculty. She is very candid about her upbringing and the impact that ‘babysitting’ her younger siblings had on her early ideas of building a business that would allow her the flexibility to manage motherhood and career (something men are unlikely to consider). An interesting aspect of our conversation refers to the limited imagination of what is possible which is directly linked to socialisation and gender, race and ethnic stereotyping in the early years in children’s books and television programmes. Lastly, Tina talks about self-care in a positive and inspiring way, which is worth a listen!

In this episode Esmorie and I talk about finding the self within the influence of social negotiations. We begin and end the episode full circle with a key lesson, the importance of training the muscle to say, ‘I don’t know right now’.

Esmorie grew up in Jamaica, she was surrounded by both male and female black leaders, so role models could be found everywhere. She grew up believing in a common goal of greater progress for everyone, she acknowledges now as an adult this perception has not been her reality outside of Jamaica. Our conversation refers to the systematic, systemic and structural racial and ethnic marginalisation that continues in society but specific reference to Higher Education. This leads the conversation onto the ‘good citizen’, decolonising the curriculum and the role of individuals sustaining notions of colonialism. We also touch on gaslighting as a means of / method commonly used to deny those of their experiences of racial discrimination in the workplace. Esmorie offers an interesting perspective on the way in which university students perceive power within departments, the choices they make to engage with the teachers who they perceive has the most power and she likens this to the dynamics between children leveraging power with their divorcing feuding parents.

We finish with my signature question on self-care, while we acknowledge the importance of this, self-care contradicts inherited ideas of hard work, sacrifice and colonial history.

This short episode introduces the impetus for this podcast. 

Dr Jaya Gajparia introduces herself and her motivation to start this podcast project to document the lived experiences of women and girls of colour.