Wrap & Chat: Jacqueline Shaw.
WRAP & CHAT: Culture in Conversation.
Guest: Jacqueline Shaw.
Title: Founder, Author, Business Coach & Speaker, Africa Fashion Guide.
Episode 7.
Guest: Jacqueline Shaw - Founder, Author, Business Coach & Speaker, Africa Fashion Guide.
What underrated tools are indispensable for your job?:
1) Zoom.
2) Canva.
3) Sewing Machine.
To celebrate Black History Month (UK), this month’s guest of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation is the highly favoured and divinely protected Jacqueline Shaw, Founder, Author, Business Coach & Speaker, Africa Fashion Guide.
Having met Jacqueline in 2015 at one of her African Revolution Conference’s - in response to the Bangladesh textile factory collapse - where topics such as sustainability practices, regional differences in cultures / textiles and manufacturing benefits in relation to trading across the continent of Africa were discussed in-depth; her impressive business ascent continues to flourish.
Born in the UK of Jamaican heritage, and a bookworm with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, Jacqueline knew from her teenage years that she wanted to work within the creative industry and pursued her goals with laser focus.
“Like many of us, I struggled with self-sabotage when younger…”
During our interview, I was touched by her warmth, honesty and vulnerability as our conversation covered some of the early setbacks and challenges faced however, her deep christian faith - and belief in herself - I believe has been both the source and seed for her business, Africa Fashion Guide, embedding its roots so deeply in our fashion consciousness. To get an authentic understanding of the African fashion landscape, you would be a fool to not tap in and procure Jacqueline for her extensive business consulting services. Her insightful observation:
“It’s more about…the vision of your purpose…when you make God CEO of your business, that’s how you can leave a legacy business and create impact…”
Jacqueline’s top 4 recommended books for reading are:
1) Rich Dad Pour Dad, Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter.
2) The Richest Man in Babylon, George Samuel Clason .
3) The Bible.
4) Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway, Susan Jeffers.
Click the link and listen to episode 7 of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation to hear more about what Jacqueline Shaw had to say.
Africa Fashion Guide - Instagram
Wrap & Chat: Taiwo Meghoma.
WRAP & CHAT: Culture in Conversation.
Guest: Taiwo Meghoma.
Title: Brand Strategist.
Episode 6.
Guest: Taiwo Meghoma - Brand Strategist.
What would you say are the top 3 character traits that are needed to do your job?:
1) Believe in yourself.
2) Be authentic and truthful to the brands that you are advising.
3) Be passionate coupled with patience.
This month’s guest of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation is the debonair and stylish, Taiwo Meghoma, Brand Strategist.
Taiwo and I met in early Spring ‘22 at an event hosted by African Fashion Week London (AFWL). Having been introduced, we struck up a delightful conversation and discovered that we were both planning to be in New York later in the year at the exact same time. Swapping business details we promised to keep in touch with each other.
Born to Nigerian parents, Taiwo’s initial career pathway was in a different field however, fate intervened to take him in a new fashion creative direction. Providing services to luxury fashion brands, plus world renowned entertainment industry heavyweights including a recent Oscar winner; Taiwo has built up a reputation for discretion, accuracy and possessing an innate understanding of what his client/s strategic vision is - for their business or personal brand -and how best to achieve that in as many or as few steps as possible.
“All brands are diferrent…who is your audience…what is your story to tell…”
A strong advocate of speaking great powers over oneself, Taiwo also believes in turning negatives into positives no matter the challenge or obstacle one is facing. We both agreed that our longest and greatest relationships - platonic or romantic - is the one we have with ourselves. To that extent, he honours his mental + physical health and emotional wellbeing by starting his day and providing space for himself at a time when most of us are still deep in sleep. The irony is that even in those precious moments, Taiwo’s most indispensable tool to do his job is his smartphone. Because when Hollywood calls, one must not only answer but continue to deliver!
Taiwo’s top 3 self-care tips - which also helped him during the pandemic - are:
1) Exercising at home / gym.
2) Making homemade pomegranate juice.
3) Listening to Kirk Whalum.
Click the link and listen to episode 6 of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation to hear more about what Taiwo Meghoma had to say.
Wrap & Chat: Charlotte Smith.
WRAP & CHAT: Culture in Conversation.
Guest: Charlotte Smith.
Title: Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Style Cartel Media.
Charlotte Smith - Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Style Cartel Media.
Episode 5.
Guest: Charlotte Smith - Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Style Cartel Media.
Model Scout, Sneaker Reseller and Content Creator.
What would you say are the top 3 underrated skills that are indispensable to do your job?:
1) Networking.
2) Copy editing.
3) Attention to detail. As Black people in this industry we can’t make mistakes!
During the last London Fashion Week A/W ‘22 showcase, I was introduced to Charlotte Smith at Style Swap’s pop-up event. Deep in conversation with Style Swap’s founder, Jo Waddington; the three of us were busy talking shop about fashion and diversity within the industry, plus Style Swap’s plans on how they intend to scale their business . I knew straight away Charlotte would be a great guest for an episode of Wrap & Chat.
With her family hailing from the Bahamas in the Caribbean, Charlotte was born in New York, USA however, that did not stop her from seeking creative and spiritual inspiration by living in other parts of the world whilst pursuing her career. This included a period of study at Mod’Art International et Ecole d’art Maryse Eloy in Paris, France, to complete her MBA in Economy & Management of Luxury Brands and Fashion Industries.
Multi-faceted and highly creative, Charlotte’s calm demeanour is down to her being both a Buddhist and Muslim, as well as a practitioner of Hatha and Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, and good witch. In Charlotte’s own words,
“…meditation calms me down…puts my life into perspective…”
Charlotte’s top 3 recommendations to read, watch and listen to are:
1) Book: The Alchemist, author Paulo Coelho.
2) Film: Pursuit of Happyness, starring Oscar winner Will Smith.
3) Podcast: Drink Champs, hosted and co-founded by hip-hop artist N.O.R.E, formerly Noreaga.
Click the link and listen to episode 5 of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation to hear more about what Charlotte Smith had to say.
Wrap & Chat: Siyona Parekh.
WRAP & CHAT: Culture in Conversation.
Guest: Siyona Parekh.
Title: Student - Ada Lovelace Church of England School.
Siyona Parekh: Student (Year 10) - Ada Lovelace Church of England School.
Episode 4.
Guest: Siyona Parekh, Student (Year 10) - Ada Lovelace Church of England School.
Who is Ada Lovelace?.
Siyona’s top 3 personality traits / strengths required to enter the creative industry:
1) Perseverance.
2) Confidence.
3) Patience.
To celebrate both National Career’s Week (7th - 12th March 2022) - whose mission is about Empowering Positive Change through Careers Education - and also International Women’s Day 2022 (8th March 2022) - whose campaign focus is around breaking the bias women face in moving ahead in their lives and how they can take positive action; we were delighted to sit down with our youngest guest, Siyona Parekh, a Year 10 student at Ada Lovelace Church of England School, London, UK.
Proactive with an inquisitive mindset and grounding support from her parents, Siyona is embarking on her chosen creative pathway - jewellery / fashion design - with immense self awareness, enthusiasm and passion for her subject matter which is infectious.
For the past few months, Siyona and I have been liaising on securing a fashion internship for her in summer 2022, whilst also investigating all the creative career options available to her and the viable routes she can take to achieve her goals. To be honest, it was genuinely refreshing and a delight to speak with a much younger female about the world as they see it currently and how they can honour the International Women’s Day 2022 campaign #BreakTheBias.
Siyona’s most underrated tool (which is indispensable for her to do creative work) are - online apps and resources - Photopea (the free version of photoshop) or Procreate. Siyona feels these tools are necessary to allow her to be free in her art expression and designing. Whether it’s sketching faces or people, to clothes and logos, they have a wide variety of tools that can change one’s perspective on different things. Also, Siyona noted these digital apps can be a great starting point for beginners to experiment and find what they enjoy or for professionals who are improving and expanding their creativity knowledge bank.
I have no doubt that Siyona’s family, school and peer group are incredibly proud of her. Definitely one to watch, we promise to keep the creative conversation going with Miss Siyona as she evolves into the creative force she’s destined to be…
Click the link and listen to episode 4 of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation to hear more about what Siyona Parekh had to say.
Wrap & Chat: Matthew Gordon.
WRAP & CHAT: Culture in Conversation.
Guest: Matthew Gordon.
Title: Musician - who releases music as Pie Eye Collective.
Matthew Gordon: Musician - who releases music as Pie Eye Collective
Episode 3.
Guest: Matthew Gordon, Musician - who releases music as Pie Eye Collective.
Matthew’s top 3 required skills to do his role:
1) People skills / networking / schmoozing.
2) Practising discipline and working on your craft.
3) Getting good at managing your own self-care.
Signed to label Albert’s Favourites, Matthew Gordon - who releases music as Pie Eye Collective - is an emerging British music talent and star in the making. His debut album, Salvation, was released mid-September 2021 and off the back of that some two months later, bagged his first solo support gig at the world renowned Jazz Cafe, London, UK.
Whilst the music industry and tabloid media love to play on the ‘tortured genius’ trope and put specific musicians in a symbolic headlock for merely existing (Amy Winehouse has entered the chat), behind Matthew’s enigmatic presence, lies a passionate and introspective musician whose intuitive observations and sardonic delivery led to us sharing a very candid and enjoyable chat for this month’s podcast.
Matthew’s top 3 recommendations to read / watch / observe are:
Book: The Dictionary (yes my man really said thee mutha-funkin dictionary…you better step your vocabulary and diction game up people!)
TV: Chernobyl (Miniseries and one to definitely watch)
Emotion: Be mindful of the thoughts in your own head…both positive and negative (they are extremely powerful!)
Click the link and listen to episode 3 of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation to hear more about what Matthew Gordon had to say.
Wrap & Chat: Anna Marie Benedict.
WRAP & CHAT: Culture in Conversation.
Guest: Anna Marie Benedict,
Title: Press & Creative Director, African Fashion Week London (AFWL).
Anna Marie Benedict: Press & Creative Director - AFWL
Episode 2.
Guest: Anna Marie Benedict, Press & Creative Director, African Fashion Week London (AFWL)
African Fashion Week London (AFWL)
Anna Marie’s top 3 required skills to do her role:
1) Persistence / perseverance - key life and professional skills one should harness, as they are valuable assets to a person’s character.
2) Don’t take things personally.
3) Be adaptable, as you will wear many hats.
Whilst our ships have passed each other several times over email (due to COVID-19’s enforced virtual world event planning), it was a blessing to finally meet Anna Marie over Zoom and then again in real life recently. Speaking of the online meeting/event platform, I did ask Anna Marie what were the underrated tools that are indispensable for her job? (in no particular order):
Canva
Zoom (how did you guess)
Laptop / mobile (‘cellphone’ for my North American family)
With such a busy hands-on role as Press & Creative Director, having to adapt in a rapidly changing world - as alluded to earlier in the top 3 skills - has served both Anna Marie and AFWL well; setting the latter up for an expanded business model that will most definitely prove lucrative.
This relates to AFWL’s creative partnership with Henley Business School Centre for Entrepreneurship, Reading, UK and Parsons School of Design and Technology | The New School, located in New York, USA. In its inaugural year, due to the pandemic’s impact, the intensive collaborative course ‘Fashion Futures’ for fashion entrepreneurs was transitioned to a 100% online study programme. As an alumni, I can confirm the course truly pushed the students to dispense with our traditional framework of creative thinking and instead, understand how transformable the impacts of technology (in all its facets including design trends, fabric/yarn intelligence and the advancement of the Internet of Things IoT), can support and scale a creative business for the 21st century onwards.
In and around the rollout of the above, whilst still planning the seasonal shows, Anna Marie’s downtime during lockdown included getting out daily in the fresh air around Regent’s Park, London, with her colleague Michael Burgess, Director of Business Development and Partnerships. For Anna Marie, having a valued support system was key to maintaining her positive emotional and mental health wellbeing. In addition, Anna Marie loves to read and her top 3 book recommendations are:
The Famished Road, Ben Okri
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X & Alex Haley
Perfume, Patrick Süskind (Not read this book yet but the film seduces you into the world of olfaction)
Click the link and listen to episode 2 of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation to hear more about what Anna Marie had to say.
Wrap & Chat: Denise Francis-Brown.
WRAP & CHAT: Culture in Conversation.
Guest: Denise Francis-Brown,
Title: Visual Merchandising Lecturer, Westminster University.
Denise Francis-Brown
Episode 1.
Guest: Denise Francis-Brown, Visual Merchandising Lecturer, Westminster University
Denise Francis-Brown LinkedIn profile
Denise’s favourite designer: British emerging talent Ahluwalia
Denise’s 3 top tips for entering the creative industry:
1) Not to be concerned if you are the only Black person or person of colour in the room. Use that to your advantage.
2) Do your project research and do it well. There is a font of information out there so don’t rely just on social media.
3) Making mistakes is a great thing. You can and will learn from it.
Denise’s favourite style era was late 80’s /early 90’s Hip Hop, with thee Janet Jackson being a key ‘hair influencer’ on fashion textiles student Denise - during her degree studies at Winchester School of Art - where she sported her Poetic Justice box-braids with passion.
It’s clear from our conversation that for Denise, much of the diverse creativity, music breadth and music video vibrancy and energy from those halcyon days of Hip Hop and R’n’B have long gone, instead replaced with an identikit look and feel, especially with some of the women. The surgery-manipulated all look the same. Yes, you know the ones I mean…
Such is the power of this ‘artificialised beauty’ - that has arisen due to the permeations of social media within our everyday lives - for her Masters, Denise’s recent thesis focuses on this topic in direct relation to its impacts on the fashion industry as a whole. I look forward to reading Denise’s completed dissertation once it becomes available to share.
For more insights, listen to episode 1 of Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation to hear more about what Denise had to say.
Launched on Tuesday 26 October 2021 to celebrate Black History Month UK (BHM:UK), each month Bardot - Founder and Creative Director for House of Nyabinghi - takes the opportunity to host a 1:1 engaging chat with a wide range of creatives from across Black society.
The beauty of talking and listening to people - for me - allows for pearls of wisdom to be shared, how experiences helped individuals to evolve, supports words becoming memorable quotes, and opens the door to some unspoken tit-bits of information falling into your lap that you didn’t even know you were looking for. Or maybe like me, you are blessed to be connected to many creatives who have much to say and share about the world and part of the creative industry they inhabit.
“To connect + converse is vital if you want to grow. As a person. As a business. As a Society.”
Bardot, Founder & Creative Director, House of Nyabinghi
So I, Bardot, - named after thee French actress Brigitte - opened my book of creative contacts and reached out to those I know across Black society. Fashion designers, visual stylists, musicians, lecturers, set designers, photographers, filmmakers, product designers, researchers, branding consultants, fashion journalists/press officers, buyers…you get the gist!
I wanted to shine a spotlight on this excellent group of technicians and practitioners and share the passions they each have for their craft; whilst growing up and living everyday Blackness. What are their respective anecdotes? Golden rules and top tips? Who in their immediate family circle was always championing their creativity, if at all?
These were the things as a kid I always pondered on - did famous Black creative people ‘before they were famous’ have to push those god awful old school shopping trolley’s with the two wheels filled with West Indian / African food to and from the market on Saturdays? How many legendary trips to the seaside did they go on with the local Baptist Church? How old where they, when they first burnt themselves with the curling iron or where they deemed to have ‘good hair’ so it didn’t matter? [rolls eyes at the nonsense] and so many more questions…
I laugh now at some of these rites of passage which were fundamental when growing up. Yet these rites also serve as a great historical tapestry of primary information on which to source creative inspiration. This is how House of Nyabinghi’s Wrap & Chat: Culture in Conversation was born.
As part of our mission to connect + converse, join us to learn about our guest's creative inspirations, favourite things, top tips and much more...