Author: Michelle Abraham

When I was kindly invited to attend the UK Black Business Week: VAMP Power Brunch 2023 on Tuesday, October 3rd, I was genuinely excited as I thought this would be a really insightful opportunity for the AMAKA community and myself to learn some tips, inspiration and insight into the world of entrepreneurship, business and creators but (and as cliche as it sounds), I got so much more out of it than I had expected!

The Vamp POWER Brunch 2023 was an empowering, personable and positive experience, and in all honesty, one of the best networking and professional events I have ever attended in my 13-year journalism career.

The event began with inviting all attendees to sit around circular tables in the main hall of the ILEC Conference Centre in West Brompton, London. Host Sinead Minkah – a lawyer and content creator – decided to introduce an icebreaker for the attendees by asking them to answer the questions on the paper cards in the middle of each table. Our question was: “What has been your greatest challenge in the workplace?” I was really touched but taken aback at how the group of women on my table were so open, sharing anecdotes of challenges in their careers which included misogny, racism, and much more. It was really moving.

The brunch event was split between networking, activities and speaker panels lasting from 45mins to 1hr with the chance for the attendees to ask questions after. 

As Minkah explained the structure of the day to us, she said something that would become a consistent key message throughout the event. Minkah, the VAMP PR team and all the panellists discussed the importance of relationships in your life.  As VAMP PR Co-founder Christina Okorocha said, “Relationships are currency”, with Minkah adding, “It’s important to be rich in relationships”. She explained investment is not always monetary, but at the start of every professional (and personal) journey, it starts with you investing and believing in yourself, and having a supportive network around you. You may not have the cash, the infrastructure, or resources but the foundation is you and your network, and you can and will go from there. 

As the first panel of the day started; we were introduced to the speakers; Bola Sol, author and finance guru at Grazia; Ebi Sampson, co-founder of event management company August Agency; Morgan Manson, co-founder of fashion company Bad Society; Victoria Omobuwajo, CEO and founder of Sunmo Snacks and Wellness; and lastly Gbemi Okunlola, founder of Alonuko Bridal.

Minkah asked a series of thought-provoking questions to the women regarding their inspiration, their growth, transitions and self-discovery journeys in both their professional and personal lives.

What was pretty remarkable is although the panellists were all very different women in different industry sectors, their approach and advice was quite similar.

All the panellists credited their parents, families and fellow women in the industry as their inspiration. Sol said a particularly moving comment stating that mothers inspire her, “The economy doesn’t exist without mothers; it doesn’t exist without us… we are the inspiration we seek.”

The women also candidly shared that part of their growth in their success is going through challenging periods and making mistakes. Sampson explained that throughout her journey when bad things have happened and she’s felt dark and alone, it is in those moments where she has truly grown and it has been a massive learning curve for her and her business. Manson said that as part of her journey, you may have to try something 100 times and it fails, but the one time it does work, it will be bigger and better than the 99 times you felt like you failed.

Make no mistake, these women have worked extremely hard to get to their level of success and be at the top of their game. But it all started with 100% self-belief and determination. Okunlola explained if you want to start your own project or business, you have to believe in the thing you want to do and understand the audience you want to target. Do your research; do your homework with finding data, focus groups, and make noise and be loud to get where you want.  The women also explained you need to be introspective in your journey and ask yourself the hard questions. As Manson fairly put it, you do not want to “work hard on the wrong thing. Always be honest with yourself.”

After a short break, we met the lovely and charismatic VAMP PR team consisting of Christina Okorocha and her fellow co-founders Ruby Aryiku and and Rumbi Mupindu. One of my favourite things about watching this panel is the friendship and chemistry between the women and host Minkah  – a friendship group formed at university.

After six fruitful years as a well-respected PR company, the delightful trio shared similar sentiments to our previous panellists on success. Work hard, find your USP, accept the failures and learnings, and always have self-belief. 

Also, a strong message from the VAMP PR team was about giving yourself time and balance as Mupindu said, “You can’t always give 100%, give yourself grace.”

A sentiment that was very clearly echoed by the last panellist of the day – keynote speaker Shayla Cowan.

Producer Cowan’s talk was hilarious, powerful and heartwarming. She shared her amazing career highlights from working at Will Packer Productions/Will Packer Media to working on the 2022 Academy Awards.

On time management, she said you can’t give 100% to everything as it is not physically possible, and she was inspired by a podcast she’d recently listened to where a woman stated she gave “70% to her career and 30% to everything else.” Cowan said it is all about being effective with your time management as we all have the same 24 hours in a day.

She gave some real hard-hitting truths about working in Hollywood and how not everyone who says they are your friend is actually your friend, and the industry will “chew you up and spit you out”, always demanding and asking from you.

Her sentiments on growth really resonated with the audience as there were lots of nodding and verbal affirment when she said it is completely natural to outgrow from certain family members, friends and colleagues and advised us to be selective with your tribe; if the energy is not right and you’re on different paths, that is okay.

As the VAMP PR Power Brunch 2023 drew to a close, Minkah asked the attendees to do an exercise; writing a personal letter to your younger self and and writing a personal letter to your older self. We when then invited if we felt comfortable to share our letters to the audience. Throughout the room, many women – from journalists, content creators, to business owners – shared their journey, vulnerability, and growth in their life paths. It was exceptionally moving and one of my highlights of the day!

All in all, I came away from the VAMP PR Power Brunch at the UK Black Business Week inspired, enlightened and I even made some connections from networking that I hope to hold on to. As women, we’re all so busy, navigating many parts of life, and sometimes may feel alone in our journey but the event made me realise as soon as you start opening up, you truly are never alone, and someone knows what you are going through.

As VAMP PR said closing the day, “We don’t ask for help but we should help each other and reach out to each other.” Never a truer word spoken…