Black Create Connect Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Rebecca Levy, the powerhouse who traded stilettos for sneakers and PR for People Operations, becoming a driving force at sustainable fashion platform Depop. 

In this captivating episode, Rebecca takes us on her remarkable journey from the vibrant streets of San Antonio, Texas, to leading People, Culture and Impact at one of London's most innovative fashion-tech companies. She shares her fascinating path from writing fan letters to fashion designer Anna Sui to transforming workplace culture within her industry.

Join Rebecca, as she shares her inspiring career journey and personal reflections. Rebecca's story is a masterclass in authentic leadership, cultural identity, and the power of embracing change.

Key moments include:

• The surprising pivot from fashion design dreams to PR and ultimately HR
• Navigating visa challenges and building a career in London
• Leading culture initiatives at Depop 
• Balancing motherhood, career, and personal style (yes, those heels became sneakers!)
• Preparing for an enviable one-month sabbatical in South Africa

Perfect for aspiring leaders, culture enthusiasts, and anyone interested in authentic stories of career transformation. Join us for honest conversation about representation, resilience, and redefining success in the modern workplace.

Connect with her

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-jordan-levy

Whether you're contemplating a career change, facing impostor syndrome, or simply love a good story of perseverance, Rebecca's insights on building genuine connections and fostering inclusive workplace cultures will leave you inspired and ready to take action.

Andy Davis is on a mission to transform investing and empower Black entrepreneurs. This week's episode brings you an intimate conversation with Andy Davis, founder of 10x10 and former Director of Backstage Capital London.

This isn't your typical "started from the bottom" story. Andy takes us on a raw, unfiltered journey through his unique path to success - no university degree, no corporate ladder, just pure hustle and determination shaped by his Sierra Leonean mother's entrepreneurial spirit.

A leading angel investor and advocate for Black founders, Andy’s journey is one of resilience, innovation, and collective growth. As the Founder of 10x10, Andy has dedicated his career to breaking barriers and building opportunities for underrepresented communities.

In this deeply personal episode, Andy opens up about:

• Why he's committed to transforming the European tech investment landscape
• Building the ground breaking 10x10 Fund from scratch
• The profound loss that shaped his urgency for success at age 17
• Real talk about therapy, resilience, and maintaining mental health as a founder
• Practical strategies for democratising venture capital

Perfect for your commute or morning walk, this episode is packed with actionable insights for founders, investors, and anyone passionate about creating lasting change in the investor space.

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Bukola Akinfaderin, Engineering Manager at Carvana, has accumulated over 20 years experience working in Information Technology. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Wesleyan University, CT and a Master’s of Science in Information Systems from New Jersey Institute of Technology.  

Bukola has most notably been recognised for the creation of apps that focus on underrepresented groups. Her first project was Jandus Radio, a mobile application/social network that aggregated over 250 radio stations, a forum/peer to peer chat with a focus on African content. Jandus Radio accumulated over 500,000 registered users.  She also launched Afrocast, a podcast aggregator for underrepresented content providers, Khin, a white label social community platform, and MyComplex, a community app for apartment residents.  Her most recent project is glowup app, a goal setting app for women that allows you to achieve your self-care goals with the support of a community.

Bukola was named as Developer of the Month by Microsoft Africa in 2013. She has been featured on several tech publications including TechCabal, Otekbits, TechMoran, PulseTV Nigeria, Voice of America: Beyond the Unicorns of Silicon Valley, World Bank for their Female Tech Entrepreneurs initiative (infodev). She also won 2nd place in the Microsoft 9ja Apps, a competition which focused on rewarding innovative mobile apps focused on the Nigerian market.

In this Episode, Alicia & Bukola discuss:

• Creating the first app to introduce Afrobeats to the US.
• Exploring the real process involved in app building.
• Discussing how trialing entrepreneurship can positively impact career trajectory.
• Understanding different code platforms and their purposes
• Emphasising the importance of being confident in one's idea.
• Examining the challenges faced by Black women in accessing investment opportunities.
• The true benefits of using the glow up app

See more about Bukola here:

http://www.techcabal.com/girls-who-code-bukola-akinfaderin/

https://projects.voanews.com/beyond-the-unicorn/

Coodie Simmons is an American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and producer. Coodie started directing from his music video fo Kanye West, entitled "Through the Wire", which was nominated for a MTV Viewers Choice Award, and won a Source Award for Best Music Video of the Year. Coodie has continued his music video success directing "Two Words" and the third version of "Jesus Walks" off Kanye West's The College Dropout album, Pitbull's "Culo" video, Mos Def's "Ghetto Rock" video, Erykah Badu's controversial video "Window Seat" and most recently Lupe Fiasco's "Old School Love" video. 

Coodie received acclaim for their ESPN 30-for-30 film, Benji (2012), a film about a high school basketball player who was tragically killed. In 2013 they directed Good Morning, a short film for American Family Insurance. Good Morning debuted at the 2013 American Black Film Festival. In 2022 Coodie released the documentary series jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy, Act 1 of which premiered on Netflix on February 16, 2022.

In this episode, Alicia and Coodie delve into a variety of fascinating topics, including:

• Their experiences as tourists in Ghana and the cultural insights gained from the trip

• The artistry, story, and profound impact of Ernie Barnes

• Reflecting on their upbringing in Chicago and the harsh realities they faced

• The motivation behind Coodie's meticulous documentation of life moments

• The journey of losing everything and finding the strength to start anew

• The deep passion and purpose driving their Jeen-yuhs documentary project.

Connect with Coodie here - https://www.instagram.com/coodierock/?hl=en

Michelle De Leon is the founder and CEO of World Afro Day®, 15th September. A global day of celebration and liberation of Afro Hair and Identity, with an estimated reach of 1.5 billion. Michelle successfully combines her broadcasting career of 20+ years at ITV Good Morning Britain with leading World Afro Day CIC. She has overcome her own struggles with Afro hair and was inspired by her 8 year old daughter to set up the day of celebration. Since 2017, her work has influenced the UN, UK government, global brands, international media and major celebrities. Key highlights are the Workplace Hair Acceptance report 2023; contributing to the EHRC guidelines to prevent hair discrimination in schools 2022 and a speech at the United Nations in Geneva 2018.

In this episode Alicia and Michelle discuss:

• The significance of recognising and healing from past traumas
• The inspiration behind Michelle's establishment of World Afro Day
• The journey involved in creating and growing the movement
• The importance of black women embracing their natural hair and the empowerment it brings
• Predictions and aspirations for the future of World Afro Day and its impact on society.

Learn more about World Afro Hair - https://www.worldafroday.com/

Connect with Michelle here 

Sandra Adu is a design director, multidisciplinary design educator and cultural policy researcher, who has harnessed her myriad design talents over the sprawling decade of her illustrious design career. She has always associated herself with branding and design initiatives that have effectively fostered positive organisational growth and behavioural changes.

She is the founder of Black Girls in Design and has over the years played a crucial role in helping agencies to deliver exceptional creative projects for a diverse and exciting client base across multiple platforms. Her journey as a designer began with a mission to help small businesses to fight their corner. Her notable clients have been Hsbc, Net-A-Porter, REN, L'Artisan Parfumeur, META, JP Morgan, and Puma.

In this episode Alicia and Sandra Discuss:

• The challenge raising a daughter as a single mum and attending uni
• The importance of stripping back culture habits to succeed 
• Why Leaders need to be coached 
• The value in design and career opportunities 
• How black girls in design will work with the education curriculum 

Connect with Sandra here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-a-3a845237/

Jamelia Donaldson is the founder and CEO of TreasureTress — a monthly product subscription service for girls and women with kinky-curly hair and also the co-creator of The Teen Experience, a monthly workshop series which offers young black women to attend a series of personal development workshops, network with other like-minded individuals and be inspired by mature and successful women. Workshops to date have included creating vision boards and discussions about self-care.

Since launching in 2015, with a huge online community, and an active and thriving offline presence, Treasure Tress has proven that natural hair and black sisterhood can truly go hand in hand. 

As a solution to the beauty industry’s difficulty connecting to their Black, female consumer in the UK, Jamelia added a consultancy arm to  TreasureTress as a way to guide brands in the US on the unique experience of the Black, UK natural hair consumer. Providing them with strategy, social, digital and influencer marketing.

Jamelia has been featured in Forbes, Buzzfeed, Good Housekeeping and Pride Magazine just to name a few.

In this episode Alicia and Jamelia discuss:

• Her experience as an intern in NYC 
• Studying 7 subjects at A level 
• Why she started Treasure Tress 
• How Treasure Tress can save black women 100s a year 
• Overcoming challenges; building a product based business at home 
• Winning over 100k work of TV ads & Billboard space 

Learn more about Treasure Tress here - https://www.treasuretress.co.uk/ 

Connect with Jamelia Here - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jamelia-donaldson-73952237 

Tevin is the founder of 1000 Voices, a production company with a vision to eradicate all racial inequalities and inspire a generation of black British changemakers. He has a background in social entrepreneurship and currently works as a financial sales professional as well. Driven by his desire for a more equitable society for all, the 1000 Voices podcast is his first step towards realising his vision.

Tevin is the founder and host of 1000 Voices, a podcast that interviews black British changemakers and aims to empower a generation of black British changemakers. With a background in social entrepreneurship and a current career as a financial sales professional, Tevin is driven by a desire to create a more equitable society for all. Through the 1000 Voices podcast, Tevin is working towards his long-term vision of eradicating racial inequalities and inspiring others to make a positive impact in their own communities and beyond. 

In this episode Tevin and Alicia discuss: 

• Career Transitioning in a short time frame 
• Tevins near death health experience and his new view on life
• Wealth in sustainable fashion 
• The power on generational story telling

Connect with Tevin here:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tevinkittoe

Vanessa Lyall is a bubble tea enthusiast of Ghanaian-Scottish heritage, born in America and raised in London. When she’s not working as a Senior Account Manager at Coolr, she’s creating something including TikTok content, poetry and Zara wishlists. She is an advocate for good mental health and the proud president of the ‘every person should get therapy’ club.

In this episode Alicia and Vanessa discuss:

• Life in DC - Childhood & Changes
• Being Young Free and Fearless 
• Creative vs Professional - finding the perfect mix
• The realties of being an Influencer account manager 
• What makes Coolr an enjoyable place to work 
• Tips on applying for a job with Coolr

Connect with Vanessa here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-lyall/ 

Apply for jobs at Coolr here - https://joinus.wearecoolr.com/jobs 

Sayce Holmes-Lewis is an entrepreneur, sports coach, mentor and activist providing strategic counsel and cultural insight within the public & private sectors, whilst also delivering aspirational keynotes on the importance of community, racial equity, personal growth & resilience.

Sayce is the founder & CEO of Mentivity, an award-winning mentoring organisation, and alternative education provision that provides aspirational support for young people, schools, parents, and carers across London, Brighton, Barbados, Kenya and Uganda. Founded in 2016, Mentivity has touched the lives of thousands of young people with their adaptable, holistic approach and proven record of expertise in coaching, mentoring, and support.

Sayce feels extremely fortunate to be doing work that he truly loves, using his platform and vast network within business, sport, education, and government to advocate for diverse and underserved communities.

In this episode Alicia and Sayce discuss:

• Sayce's experience of being discovered as a talented football player in his neighborhood
• Overcoming life-threatening health struggles and achieving a successful recovery
• The obstacles faced by black male teachers and how to navigate them
• The inspiring story of how Mentivity was born and how the new hub will positively impact his community.

Learn more about Sayce and Mentivity here:

https://sayceholmeslewis.com/my-story 

https://www.mentivity.com/