Global Head of Advertising and Partnerships at HER LGBTQ+ Dating/Social. Campaign's 40 Over 40 Winner
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Mar 21, 2024
As the world’s most loved sapphic dating & social platform, LGBTQ+ marketing is something our Advertising & Partnerships team is deeply passionate about.
In any industry, those who are unafraid to bring their whole selves to the table are the driving force of change, paving the way for others to run where they walked.
We wanted to spotlight and celebrate some of the amazing people we have had the pleasure of meeting. This is just the first post in a monthly series where we celebrate LGBTQ+ changemakers.
Being Black and queer shapes the way I see the world. Tapping into my identity and background has allowed me to develop my creative process in a way that not only challenges the status quo, but also allows me to positively impact my community.
Refusing to hide the things that make me unconventional can ultimately open opportunities for others who also don’t fit “the mold”.
I am making a positive difference within my industry by making a conscious effort to show up, wholeheartedly, as my authentic self. People who look like me are underrepresented within my industry, which makes this extremely difficult.
It’s made me really think about being inclusive, especially in the way I think of the customer journey and experience. This is important in terms of copy and visuals, but also the wider customer journey. It’s also made me think more broadly around other areas of inclusion, including ethnicity, disability and faith. I have always focused on putting the customer at the heart of the experiences I both develop and consult on, but my personal journey has made this all the more important.
Because as human beings we all want to belong and feel included. I think we can all recall that ‘feeling’ when we are left out or excluded. This might have been at school, with friends or at work. It is obvious that it will impact your wellbeing and performance if it continually happens. It makes good moral sense to focus on it, but also so much research shows the financial impact for business.
My new venture, OUTspoken, which I am co-founder of, is really focusing on gender inclusion and women. The data shows that women and those who are LGBTQ+ or non-binary feel they have less voice and visibility in society, and especially in media, advertising and business. We want to better platform, support and grow the voices of LGBTQ+ women, those who are non-binary and female allies. We are working with brands to help them support this community and better understand how to maximise their potential.
The two of them have been very strongly interlinked. Before coming out, I like to think that I was more of a textbook marketeer. I learned the codes on how to be successful and applied them. Since coming out, I am more authentic, outspoken and bold. I also gained a higher purpose as I want to leverage the work I do to drive positive change might it be within my team, organisation or wider society.
Growing up, LGBTQ+ representation let alone positive and female LGBTQ+ representation was poor. Especially at the beginning of my career, this drove me into assimilation mode. I was so obsessed about fitting in that I cancelled the best of myself. At the same time as a marketeer, I noticed that often brands and ads my straight friends liked did not resonate with me. This is why championing diversity and inclusion is so important to me: I don’t want anyone to feel the need to cancel themselves at work or beyond and in my job as marketeer, I will leverage the power of brands and ads to challenge the norms and drive positive representation.
First, I try to be that person I did not see when I was younger to hopefully inspire people to challenge conventions and ultimately break those glass ceilings. Second, I try to educate myself and use my privilege to get the voices of other marginalised and/ or under-represented communities heard. As the famous quote says: “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us”. Third, I want to ensure I champion the importance of a diverse team in order to drive business performance.
Whether we were considered leaders or not, we were determined to share our travel journeys and challenge the travel industry to strive for better diversity, equity, and inclusion. We were frustrated by the lack of representation in marketing.
Championing diversity and inclusion is not just important but crucial for creating change, especially for marginalized groups. For too long, Black women, queer Black, and people of color have often been sidelined and treated as an afterthought in most industries.
Representation matters. We struggled with lacking role models while growing up and seeing ourselves represented in media and marketing in a wholesome and authentic way. It’s important to showcase the love and joy that also exists in our community so that those within it can feel like they belong and also deserve to be seen.
Managing communities for brands the last 8-or-so years has been all about celebrating people with shared interests, and that’s a big part of why I love what I do. The community I currently manage is the most vibrant, diverse, and often – queer. They’re incredible! As an LGBTQ+ leader, I have a strong understanding of just how powerful being a part of a community can be and this helps me bring passion to my work each day.
I’m glad to be in a place where the people I work with always have DE&I as a priority; there are no afterthoughts, it’s just baked into the foundations of everything we do. I know it’s sadly not like this everywhere and I do hope that changes quickly. But for me, building teams and marketing campaigns with people who have different backgrounds and life experiences means we’re bringing together so many new views and ideas about the world. In this environment, creativity thrives.
Being proud and visible as a queer woman in marketing is so important to me. I try to be the person I wish I had in my office when I was starting out my career. It’s cliché but representation really matters. Showing up unapologetically and being embraced for being yourself means you have more time to focus on things that are going to move you forward in your career.
Being queer and trans impacts how I move through the world. It impacts how I think about community, how I build relationships, how I consider safety & risk. It’s the lens through which I see the world and that impacts how I talk about my business and how I reach my audiences. It’s inherent in all of the content I create and the ways that I work with my clients.
Diversity & inclusion represents an approach to work. It’s a commitment to valuing who we are, acknowledging the different experiences we have, and ensuring that we all have the resources we need to thrive. Workplaces that prioritize DEI are more productive, innovative, and effective workplaces. We can call this DEI or we can call it anything else but I know that these are places that I want to work.
When I started talking publicly about inclusion and about experiences specifically when I talk about my experiences being trans or autistic or Jewish, people started calling me brave… a lot. But I’m not a brave person.When people call me brave, I think they are saying I am brave for simply existing. It’s easier to call me brave than create a world where I don’t have to be. I am hoping that the difference I am creating is a world where we don’t have to be brave, we get to just be. We can be frivolous or earnest. We can be excited or nervous. A world where we can choose to be brave, but we don’t have to be.
I entered the world of Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) and People Development at Unleashed International because of my experience being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. My own personal lived experience and the learning through initiating EDIB improvements during my time at The Body Shop, provided me with the opportunity to observe my workplace through a different lens.
My most important value is fairness, which is why I’m so passionate about what I do and strive for. My leadership approach has always been fair, collaborative, and inclusive and over the last 10 years, my understanding of the power and benefits behind this approach has grown and that’s why EDIB, People development and inclusive leadership is such a priority to me. I can empathise with others from minority groups, I can utilise my passion, experience, and energy and influence improved inclusion for all.
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I can use both my personal and professional experience to be an action-driven ally to people across all other minority groups, I can help provide others with an opportunity to be heard.
I am a passionate believer in the benefits of having more diverse and inclusive teams because it’s fair, but also because it makes brilliant business sense. You see too often the boxes being ticked, but the culture not changing. I want to observe more businesses and organisations harnessing the true power of a diverse and inclusive team; respecting differences and utilising the varied lived experience and varied ideas and suggestions that come about as a result. I also appreciate the stress and anxiety caused when worrying what colleagues or line managers might think of you because of your sexuality, because you’re part of a minority group. I’ve wasted a huge amount of energy in the past editing myself in the workplace and I’ve realised the value of completely being my authentic self instead.
I want other people & organisations to know what I know, to feel what I feel. I want to use my influence to increase fairness and equity; it’s not complicated; it’s just about adjusting your thinking and adapting your culture. If this can be my contribution to making the world a better place for one person to live in, then that’s success.
I feel privileged to be in a position where I can use my own experience as part of the LGBTQ+ community, as a global senior leader, and through my EDIB work, to authentically influence business leaders and the teams they work with. I know what it feels like to be leading and supporting a team, whilst balancing the business priorities you’re faced with daily. I know that by taking the time to develop yourself and your teams across your organisation and influencing the leaders of today and tomorrow with the inclusive skills to lead with heart; the well-being of your team will increase, all team members can be their authentic selves and as a result will be successful and will add to the wider success of the organisation they work within.
At Unleashed International, we are all supporting organisations through: Educational programmes – Inclusive leadership, Conscious Inclusion, Inclusive recruitment and Allyship People Development – Leadership Development, Early Careers, Team Development, Coaching & Mentoring Consultancy – Inclusive Talent Management, Inclusive Recruitment Strategies, Culture and Values and EDI Strategies.
I believe I am making a positive difference and I feel proud to be part of an organisation that mirrors my values and my passion and as a result I love what I do! My 8-year-old self who loved playing football at Primary School but was forced to stop when I began High School would be smiling too if she could look into the future!
It’s funny, I recently watched a short documentary “OLD LESBIANS” celebrating activist Arden Eversmeyer who documented the stories of over 800 lesbians as part of the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project. Arden commented that every single woman she spoke to downplayed their role within the community and my immediate response was to do the same.
I’m in such a fortunate position, that I get to champion queer cinema and deliver films to the audience that need to see them, I love to read comments about how films have changed people’s lives or helped them feel less alone. It’s easy to look at marketing as simply a tool for selling, but I see it as an opportunity to have a positive impact in the community, even if it is just reaching one person.
Representation is everything, every day I hear the words “I wish I had this film available when I was younger”. Everyone deserves to feel seen and validated. The more we challenge the norm the easier it will be for our future generations to thrive.
My approach has always been audience-led, for me the most important thing is to listen to the community and serve them. I’m in a position where I can give people access to content that they are craving, last year for example I had the pleasure of working with HER on the campaign for YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER. We were able to host a free screening and invite members of the HER community. Post-screening we had an impromptu pub hang and it was wonderful to see so many new connections formed.
Global Head of Advertising and Partnerships at HER LGBTQ+ Dating/Social. Campaign's 40 Over 40 Winner
