What made you want to work in publishing?

I have always loved talking to people and finding out about their stories. The thing I love about journalism is that you get access to people that you wouldn’t normally have access to. I have a genuine passion for people and over the course of my career I have spoken to a lot of amazing individuals.

Chart your career from the start to where you are now.

I did a History degree at Cambridge University where there were only three black faces and few across the university as a whole. My time at Cambridge toughened me up and definitely helped me in my journalism career. After graduating I did work experience at The Voice newspaper, which is a black British weekly newspaper. My big break was when I did an interview in 1996 with OJ Simpson right after his trial. The only two people who got interviews were myself and Richard and Judy and that piece got me a job on a black magazine called Pride.

I always had a passion for sport and eventually I shifted on a number of newspapers and launched the first women’s football column on the Daily Express. Two years later I made the move to magazines and came to Bauer in 2002 and got my first insight into ‘real-life’ journalism working on that’s life! Over the last 18 years, on and off, I have written for a number of other magazines at Bauer and last year, I joined Take a Break, the best-selling women’s weekly, as Features Writer.

Over the course of my career I have seen a massive change in the media world. When I started out the atmosphere was very different, and I do think it is one of the most exciting times to be a black journalist – if the industry is serious about change.

Bauer have a lot going on the celebrate Black History Month (BHM). Can you tell us more about it and your involvement?

Everything happening at Bauer is very organic. Internally we are committed to diversity and inclusion and embed it into everything we do through our ‘Belonging at Bauer’ manifesto. We believe we should celebrate diversity, celebrate BHM, 24/7, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and as part of that, BHM is very important to us. I sit on the BAME group of the Diversity & Inclusion group at Bauer, and we have the full support of our CEO Chris Duncan to organise and the events and activities that we want. This month our big theme is education, inspiration and allyship. We will have lots of internal newsletters going out, which include personal essays from black employees and features along with a panel talk: “All in this together? What it means to be a true ally.”

In terms of content going out to our readers we have lots of things happening. For example, Take a Break will be running an in-depth report into whether the world of ‘injectibles,’ from fillers to botox, is giving equal treatment to black customers and practitioners. It exposes the injuries caused when untrained practitioners work on black skin and welcomes the creation of a new organisation set up by BAME professionals to level the playing field. In Grazia there is a feature written by Fashion Director, Kenya Hunt about black womanhood and Garden News will be investigating why so few people from a BAME background train to work in horticulture.

On air, there will be BHM specials on Scala Radio, Absolute Radio and Jazz FM and the Kiss FM co-hosts, Tyler & Swarzy, will each be having a family member on the show to have a relaxed intergenerational conversation about black experience in the UK.

There is a lot to be done in the media industry as shown in the last major survey done by City University in 2016, which found that just 0.2% of journalists in the UK were black. But there is something about this time which feels like things are changing.

Why is it important for publishers to celebrate BHM?

This is our chance to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions that black people have made across the world and in the UK. It’s a contribution which is sometimes ignored, and people don’t know about so it’s really important that publishers educate their readers about this contribution. We are an increasingly diverse society and you cannot produce content without reflecting your diverse audiences.

What does BHM mean to you?

It fills me with so much pride seeing all the contributions that black people have made and we need role models to push us forward. BHM is so important to educate people from all backgrounds.

Often people shy away from taking action for fear of getting things wrong or causing offence, what would your advice be to others who want to support BHM but don’t know where to start?

One of my colleagues on the BAME group said: “You don’t need to come from the same background or have the same life experiences as someone in order to be an ally. You need to be able to show empathy, be a good listener, provide support and speak out when required.” The key thing now is to listen, to be humble and accept that you don’t know it all and to educate yourself. Our panel talk about allyship will be followed up with resources for the whole month on websites to visit, things to watch and books to read. If you are raising the topic in the workplace, the key thing is to ask everyone. Ask white and black colleagues because we are all part of this conversation. You need to be willing to call out discrimination you may see in any form.

What magazine would you stockpile?

Obviously Take a Break because I love hearing women’s stories and Grazia, which is really at the forefront of a lot of issues.