Black Create Connect Podcast

Ep 37 - A Black Woman bossing it in Tech ft. Nuria Manuel

Nuria is a GTA Voices in Shadow II book nominee and Founder & CEO of Veriom, a software quality analytics and diagnosis business on a mission to ensure that software remains safe and reliable no matter how complex it becomes. She has worked in various roles in the engineering and software industries and frequently speaks about technical subjects including data being a driving force of better software good, big data and software quality.
 
In this episode Alicia and Nuria discuss:
Why and how Nuria studied Chemincal engineering 
Why she was determined to study engineering despite the fact she was a minority 
Why she declined a well paid internship opportunity 
Why she started Veriom Ltd 
Rejecting an incredible scholarship opportunity 
How she became accomplished within her field quicker than the average 
The challenges being a black women working in engineering 
Nuria’s experience working internationally 
Connect with Nuria - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nuria-manuel/ 

Ep 36 - The truth about HR ft Lola Abitogun

Lola is the Founder of Alchemy HR, a boutique HR consultancy. She started her career as a Tax Advisor, spending 5 years at Deloitte where she qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) and Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA).
Having discovered a passion for people management, Lola made a career change into HR where she held a number of senior appointments, before founding Alchemy HR in 2021.
Clients of Alchemy HR include Europe’s fastest growing FinTech business and one of the largest VC firms in Europe. 
In 2022, Lola completed a Masters in HR Management where she was able to focus on her specialist knowledge area of Gen Z in the workplace.
She also co-hosts Everybody Hates HR, a weekly current affairs podcast with a HR focus.
 
In this episode Alicia and Lola discuss:
Why she started her own HR Consultancy
The realities of working in HR 
Why we don’t like the term BAME 
Performative Diversity 
Understanding how to best navigate your career with timing 
The importance of having a visible online brand 
Connect with Lola:
https://www.youtube.com/c/AdultingbyLola
https://www.instagram.com/adultingbylola/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/adultingbylola 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lola-abitogun/
 

Ep 35 - New year, Reflection and Thanking God

This Episode is a solo Episode with Alicia Richardson, The Founder of Black Create Connect. She talks honestly about her 2022 journey with building Black Create connect and shares what her plans are for 2023. She also gives thanks to key individuals that have contributed positively to the growth of this platform, and shares her journey with God and how it ties in to her purpose and vision for this community. 

Ep 34 - Our greatest achievement is our family - Christmas Special ft Mum and Dad

Alicia decides to interview her biggest inspirations for a Christmas Special, who are her parents. Alison and Barrington have been married for 30 + years and have 4 daughters including Alicia. They have managed to successfully run various family businesses, from a restaurant to a security company, and invested heavily in property back home in Jamaica.
In this Episode Alicia and her parents discuss:
- Their childhood - growing up underprivileged
- How they discovered that they were meant for each other
- How they work in partnership to acquire a life of flexibility and financial freedom
- What they're most grateful for and why
- What motivated them to want more for themselves
- Their experience of Racism in the 90s and how they dealt with it
 
To connect further with Alicia if you haven't already follow her on Instagram and Tik Tok - @alicialatoyldn

Ep 33 - The cheat code to long term success ft. Franklin Boateng aka King Of Trainers

Franklin Boateng aka @KingOf Trainers is a Consultant, TED X speaker, Collaborator, Author, teacher, twogger (twitter blogger), footwear, and fashion personality. He is the first Black Billionaire and became a millionaire before 26. Franklin is a serial entrepreneur, having written 5 audiobooks, and owning a clothing store, CBD brand and multiple properties.  
He specialises in teaching digital marketing and youth projects and teaches his followers on social media about the latest and trendiest footwear.
Franklin built the first social media site, 'Fabs Network' and within his career as a trainers blogger he has worked with Ellesse to design his own trainers, and he's collaborated with JD sports, Averex, Puma and more. 
In this episode Alicia and Franklin discuss: 
 
- How he started social media consulting
- The story behind the King of trainers 
- How he became the first black male influencer to hit over 100k followers 
- His early career in advertising 
- How Franklin became a millionaire before 26
- How he created his social media network and grew it successfully 
- His earlier relationship with money and investing
 
Watch Franklins TED X talk here - https://youtu.be/LsKtixzMK5s 
Connect with him on - https://www.instagram.com/kingoftrainers/?hl=en and https://www.instagram.com/franklinboateng/?hl=en 
Find Jobs in Footwear - https://www.instagram.com/footwearjobs/?hl=en Franklin's Clothing Store - https://www.instagram.com/rxtrostore/?hl=en 
Franklin's CBD brand - https://www.instagram.com/greenmachinecbd/?hl=en 

Ep 32 - How to be a well rounded respected leader ft. Bose

Bose is a strategic visionary who is driven by the desire to use education, entrepreneurship, and community development & engagement to equip and empower women to access career and industry opportunities. 
Bose has worked as a senior leader within UK Local Government for over 10+ years, and specialises in strategy development, operational implementation, improvement planning and innovation design. Because of her keen eye for developing organisations, she also consults for SMEs in relation to branding, marketing and product development.
In this episode Bose and Alicia discuss:
Why she started BWN - Belongs Women Network
How she’d become a respected leader 
How faith plays a part in her journey
The importance of passing on knowledge 
How to connect with mentors 
Managing rejection and how to keep going
Creating a valuable network
Key Tips for running multiple ventures successfully 
Connect with Bose - https://instagram.com/bosesworld?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Belongs women’s network - https://instagram.com/belongwomensnetwork?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Ep 31 - How to give yourself the head start you wasn’t given ft. Bolu Faseun, Senior Manager, Diversity Equity inclusion

Having previously worked as a Recruitment Consultant across various industries, Bolu recently transitioned into a Diversity & Inclusion role. During her years as a recruiter, she encountered clients struggling to embed D&I in company values and candidates from minority backgrounds who were forced to seek new opportunities due to the challenges they faced in the workplace, which included discrimination in the recruitment process, being overlooked for promotion/pay rises, lack of training or support etc.
In her current role as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion lead, Bolu is part of the driving force that ensures underrepresented groups are represented fairly in the recruitment process, as well as helping organizations recognize the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Outside her full-time role, Bolu is passionate about property investment and runs a property management business with her sister, Dola, called RentbuddyUK . Bolu and Dola are both landlords who combine their love of property, local knowledge and bespoke service to provide clients with solid rental returns and peace of mind—delivering the service they wanted as landlords, driven by high quality, transparency and integrity
 
Alicia and Bolu discuss:
 
- Building wealth in the UK 
- How and Why Page Group created a Diversity lead role for Bolu
- How Bolu started her property business
- How Bolu became self made and bought a property before 25 
- How slavery still affects us today
- Why the black community need to be elevated 
- The difference between low and high return property investment 
- Why we loved our job in recruitment 
Connect with Bolu 
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bolu-faseun-43494397
https://instagram.com/miss_fash?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
 
Rent buddy : 
https://instagram.com/rentbuddyuk?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/592015097012980206?fbclid=PAAaaueLZWJkgT7jovz9f3iskBEvB8FKke-3eYzHYQ78GMyqWA-lBhOe9fQ3Y&_set_bev_on_new_domain=1669989769_ZmQ4MmYyZTNmNDQ5&source_impression_id=p3_1669989771_TcH6KGy%2Fyu9A3wha
 

Ep 30 - How to thrive being your TRUE authentic self ft. Charley Jai

As a creative freelancer, Charley has produced over one hundred hours of radio. The shows have included interviews with media personalities, professional TV & film actors, NHS staff, community youth-leaders, and other notable individuals across various sectors. For each show, Charley curated a diverse playlist, presented a news segment, ran special features and hosted interactive games.Flex FM radio is the most recent platform on which Charley produced and presented a weekly brunch show between 10am and 12pm to a mixed audience from age 15 upwards. The show reached thousands of listeners and is available to replay via Mixcloud (search: Charley Jai Mixcloud).Some of Charley's other career highlights include her extensive work as a Young Persons Guidance Coach, following a career with Chain Reaction Theatre as an Actress and Workshop Facilitator where Charley would perform and/or deliver educational plays. Sessions focused on lifestyle and personal development, covering topics such as healthy eating, positive relationships, confidence, the importance of boundaries and more.To date, Charley has worked alongside Channel 4, Rich Mix Arts & Cultural Centre, Theatre Royal; Stratford East, Talawa, Deja Vu FM, Itch FM, Shoreditch radio, Newham Recorder, and Amor Magazine to name just a handful of platforms where she has exercised her talents within media and entertainment.In this episode Alicia and Charley discuss: 
- Helping people you don't always like 
- Knowing what battles to pick in life
- The art of being brutally honest 
- Coaching Youth the process and results
- Identifying where you can exhale
- The importance of being relatable
- A career in radio
Connect with Charley Jai - https://linktr.ee/charleyjaiuk
IG: https://www.instagram.com/charleyjaiuk/

Ep 29 - How I raised over 2 million for property development ft. Alfred Dzadey

Alfred Dzadey is an multi award winning property investor & entrepreneur. Previously served as a contracting Project Manager at Jaguar Land Rover. He is the Founder and Director of a property business, Real Property Ventures. A company that specialises in the acquisition, development and letting of affordable, high specification co-living accommodation in the UK. He won the new property investor of the year 2021 awarded by Property Investor Awards. He also won best entrepreneur in real estate for the 2022 International Business Awards   awarded by Stevie Awards and is also a finalist for the 2022 Great British Entrepreneur Awards for the category Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the West Midlands region.
 
He has ventured into the mergers and acquisitions space and is looking for profitable businesses with revenues of £5 million plus to acquire in the haulage industry.
 
In this episode Alfred and Alicia discuss: 
 
Raising over 2 million for property development 
Spending 2 years studying property development before starting it 
How to raise capital in a short space of time
Why he charges £3000 for his property development group
Getting investors to invest without meeting up
The cost of renovating a property for HMO’s
 
You can find out more about him on the socials
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alfred_dzadey/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfred-dzadey-969326a7/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlfredDzadey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alfreddjnr/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alfred_dzadey
Website: www.alfreddzadey.co.uk

Ep 28 - Being a Black man has been more challenging than being transgender ft. Alan Bray, Founder TalkDEI

Alan, Founder of Talk DEI is a technology entrepreneur and business developer with experience across multiple startups, including Riskalyze, GoCardless, Zendesk and Splunk. He combines his interest in technology with a longstanding interest in DEI issues. 
In this episode Alicia and Alan discuss:
Why Alan started Talk DEI 
How Alan built his network for Talk DEI
The process of transitioning and being black 
The power of internal support groups 
Growing a suicide helpline for Transgender men
Attending 26 schools growing up
Connect with Alan via Linked In - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanbray/ 
Email. - abray@braymedia.co 
https://www.talkdei.io/