Kevina, Marketing Professional

What did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was younger, I said to my mom I wanted to be a writer and a business woman. Growing up I saw my parents working hard in various ventures including teaching, ministering in church, and consulting. In the 90s, I saw my parents ‘live the dream’ travelling across the country with their ‘pileup case’ which I later found out was a ‘pilot case’ going to conferences and visiting clients. You could say the image of the upwardly mobile power couple was somehow etched in my mind and became one of my inspirations. I remember our home was filled with motivational books and tapes (way before the days of audible), so I knew part of the success was in educating myself and applying the knowledge.  

At age 14 when I was looking for work experience, I sat down with my mom to hone down on a career that might suit my passion and strengths. We sat down at the computer, searched prospects.ac.uk and found (at the time) public relations seemed to be a good fit. I was fascinated by how PR consultants represented their clients publicly and helped build their credibility in different industries. Over the years, my passion has broadened beyond PR to include branding and marketing, however the experience with PR was a great starting point.  

What do you want most in the future? 

To travel to new continents such as South-East Asia, although many of us take it for granted, it’s a rich and fulfilling way to discover new cultures, meet new people and discover more of what you like and who you are. Ideally, I'd like to travel at my own pace and with loved ones so they can experience it with me.  

What’s been your biggest achievement to date? 

It’s difficult to pin point one moment, so if you’ll allow me, I'll share two... 

In my personal life I have had the honour of mentoring and leading 30+ men and women in 2019 through a series of once in a lifetime experiences. With a strong and supportive team behind me, I led the Coventry & Warwickshire Gospel Choir at Birmingham's Symphony Hall for a Fusion of Music and Dance, arranged vocals for BBC One's crime drama, Shakespeare and Hathaway, hosted a vocal masterclass with Clinton Jordan from The Kingdom Choir and prepared the choir to back Karl Loxley in his concert 'You Raise Me Up'. What I loved was the fact that this was an achievement that allowed multiple people to ‘win’ at the same time. I feel life is more enjoyable when you see people that you’re doing life with, thrive and come into their full potential. 

The other one is more personal but also occurred in 2019. I fulfilled a career dream of landing a role within the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Industry, after many years of preparing I finally got to merge my passion of marketing, technology and food into one role. I met several life-long friends through this role and learned so much.  

What’s your advice to other women/girls? 

Stay curious and try things until you find a career/calling that brings you that sense of flow. This is a state of mind where you’re immersed in the activity, time flies and you feel in balance. I’ve had several moments in my career and life where the activity became intrinsically rewarding and brought a sense of fulfilment. This includes my time directing a gospel choir, working within my local church and on some marketing campaigns.  

I would also say invest in a ‘personal boardroom’ in your life, these are people beyond the classic role of a mentor or coach to feed into different areas of your identity. Having loyal friends is important but if you’re looking to achieve certain goals, you need to surround yourself with people who challenge you, sponsor you, anchor and connect you. A book I recommend on this is by Zella King and Amanda Scott called ‘Who is in your personal boardroom’.  

What does it mean being a black woman in your industry?

It means being firmly rooted in your identity and learning to own your space, whether small or big. Over the years, I’ve learned that the more comfortable you are with your own skin, voice, hair, height and more, the easier it is to stand confidently and produce in your environment. One analogy I like to use is the process of germination. There are some foods such as potatoes or onions that even without perfect conditions e.g., soil and direct sunlight, thrive naturally because they have everything inside them to grow. If you compare something that was manufactured artificially, it will either stagnate or die in certain conditions. My advice to young girls is even if your environment is telling you that you’re not experienced enough, too loud, too quiet etc, this doesn’t have to be your story. You have agency to change the narrative, to rewrite it and become the person that God has naturally called you to be. If the environment is causing you to stagnate, change your environment and your circle of influence.  

In some industries, we may be the ‘first’ or we’re coming behind pioneers who paved a way for us, but either way, I’ve had to unlearn the mindset that I'm good for a ‘black girl’ and remind myself that I am good at what I do...period. So, I advise every black girl to go into their environment knowing that they are an asset to the organisation and their contribution matters. You offer a unique perspective that is different from everyone else in the room, the moment you understand how to harness this is the moment you’ve won. 

What school did you go to?  

I started off at Lindens School and moved to The Streetly School, here I developed my passion for reading and creative arts. They often say your childhood can be some of the best days of your life and I agree. I had many fond memories of the two schools including writing a poem which was published in a book celebrating young writers, being featured in the local newspaper promoting an afterschool club, singing in the school talent show and with thousands of children at the National Indoor Arena. 

I would say my early schooling was my first touchpoint with learning how to integrate into multi-cultural society and other life lessons. In 2008 I moved to Blue Coat Sixth Form where I studied sociology, psychology and business. This was a great period of time when I became free of the school uniform, could somewhat choose my hours of study and met some of my life-long friends.  

Again, my passion for music continued to grow and I sang alongside some peers in some school assemblies at The Coventry Cathedral. In 2010 I moved on to Aston University where I studied Business & Sociology, I loved business for teaching me the foundations of working within a career or becoming an entrepreneur. My placement year made a huge difference to my degree, allowing me to put theory into practice. However, it was sociology that opened my mind to the way society operates, it’s where I learned about concepts such as meritocracy and social mobility, key areas of debate in day-to-day life.  

What is the most important thing in the world to you? 

My relationship with Jesus, immediate family and close friends. During tough times in my life, these have been my anchor and my safe space. They’ve been with me through both the low periods and the victories. You can have all the money in the world, accolades and more but without a firm support unit, life can become very difficult. I’m grateful for the way my relationships have grounded me and helped me become the person I am today.