Adrian speaks to Alicia Richardson, the founder of BlackCreateConnect, a platform that began as a WhatsApp group in 2020 to support black professionals. The group quickly grew as opportunities and connections were created within it. Alicia recognised the demand from companies to connect with black professionals and decided to create a platform that would facilitate these organic connections. Black Create Connect now offers events, a job board, and a podcast for companies to advertise and partner with.
Alicia acts as a mediator between the black community and companies, listening to feedback and advocating for the needs and wants of black professionals and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion through her platform. She aims to provide meaningful opportunities and support for black professionals in their career journeys.
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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-richardson/
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Website: https://blackcreateconnect.co.uk/
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00:00:00
Hey, guys. Welcome to The Sound of Accra Podcast. I go by the name of
00:00:03
Adrian Daniels. If this is your first time listening, this is the show where we
00:00:07
chat to top Ghanaian founders, entrepreneurs, and creators worldwide
00:00:10
with the aim of leaving you behind with meaningful takeaways that you can apply in
00:00:14
your life, career, and business. Just before we get into today's
00:00:17
episode, you can head over to
00:00:20
www.thesoundofaccra.com/alicia. That's
00:00:22
www.thesoundofaccra.com/alicia for today's
00:00:25
show notes. So all of the references, links, nuggets, wisdom,
00:00:29
you can find them all there. And if you're watching YouTube, please, like,
00:00:33
share and leave us a comment. Let us know what you think of today's episode
00:00:36
while you're here. And Spotify and Apple listeners, five star
00:00:39
reviews, very much appreciated. So I am joined with Alicia, of course,
00:00:43
Alicia Richardson. She is the founder of Black Crate
00:00:47
Connect. I've said it properly, and she's not going to kill me. She's
00:00:52
also a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant.
00:00:55
Alicia, thanks for coming on the show. Lovely. Thank
00:00:59
you. Thank you for having me. I'm good. Yeah. It's great to see you. It's
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my first time seeing you on your trip in Ghana. I know.
00:01:06
Everything's aligning. Everything's aligning. The first time was at the
00:01:10
start of Accra. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for
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inviting me. I appreciate it. Yeah, I'm glad you got to network a little bit
00:01:16
and meet some people. How's the trip in Ghana been? So it's been
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good. I think one of the biggest things for me
00:01:24
is the people whenever I go anywhere. So I've really enjoyed
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just meeting the locals. Everyone's been really nice, really
00:01:31
accommodating. From our touchdown in the airport, I was like, oh,
00:01:35
this is home. I feel really
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loved. I love the different sceneries. I love, I guess, the
00:01:42
bars and the restaurants and being able to sit beside the
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pool and having me. I went to Jamrock the other day. Even I
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haven't been there yet. When I went to Jamrock, I think I ran around. I
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was like, oh, my goodness. They've got all of the names of where we are
00:01:57
in Jamaica, like the Grill, Kingston, everything here. The food was yeah, they
00:02:01
got, like, a little Jamaican community here. You'll notice. They got a little bit everything.
00:02:04
They got a little Britain community. Go to pubs and fish and chips
00:02:08
restaurants. You've got, like, a little Paris community. You got a little Lebanese
00:02:12
community. It's weird. It's so diverse here. So diverse. Yeah, it's so
00:02:15
diverse, and I didn't know. So I'm really happy to be here. And yeah,
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so far, so good. I'm enjoying it. Yeah. You don't know how much happy that
00:02:23
makes me to hear to hear that you're enjoying Ghana. You're one of us now.
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You must get passport. You must get passport. ID is
00:02:30
on its way. Okay. I've already got a garganaian name
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tattooed on me. Wow.
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So I'm almost there. All right.
00:02:43
Okay. So, yeah, it's great to have you on the show. I'm
00:02:47
really excited about that. But we'll touch more about Alicia's time in Ghana
00:02:51
and what her plans surrounding that are. So let's go straight into
00:02:55
mean for the audience and for listeners out there that don't know much or
00:02:59
don't know about Black Create Connect. Could you just give us a quick elevated
00:03:03
pitch about BCC? Sure. So Black Create
00:03:06
Connect was initially a platform that started from a WhatsApp group in
00:03:09
2020 just to provide support for black
00:03:12
professionals. And that grew rapidly because there was
00:03:16
opportunities that were being created. There was people connecting,
00:03:20
and people were growing from the group. And then the companies were
00:03:24
asking to connect with black professionals in ways that I've managed to
00:03:27
connect with them. So I've created a platform for companies to connect
00:03:31
organically through events, through the job board, also through the podcast,
00:03:35
if they'd like to advertise, through the podcast as well, through partnerships.
00:03:39
And it's a way also for, I guess, the black community to feedback to me
00:03:42
and tell me what we want to see from companies. And I'm almost like the
00:03:46
middleman, so I really want to just that's what that great. Connect is about,
00:03:50
opportunities with that professional. I love that. Yeah, you're just kind of
00:03:54
bringing the tribe together and yeah, I
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remember what LinkedIn and even Anne commented as well, and I think
00:04:01
she's in your network, which is fantastic. So, yeah,
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I mean, it's a great platform. I've been enjoying the podcast as well. Keep going.
00:04:08
Keep doing what you're doing. You've been consistent with it as well, and your videos
00:04:11
that you put out as well on the back of the platform, really
00:04:15
well spoken. Thank you. Thank you. I was nervous when I
00:04:18
first started doing it. Yeah, that's what happens. It's natural. You have
00:04:22
butterflies, but then they just fly out and then they fly out and
00:04:26
you get more free. Yeah,
00:04:29
I guess it's with time when you think about the
00:04:33
toss up, because I was so nervous about doing a podcast initially because I think
00:04:36
it's a brave step to make to put your it is to put yourself out
00:04:40
there. And also people have an expectation for you to be consistent.
00:04:44
So it's like, okay, putting yourself out there, being consistent,
00:04:47
it's a bit scary, but when you weigh it up and you look at the
00:04:50
rewards of what can kind of come from, it's worth it. Absolutely. I'm sure
00:04:53
you've seen so far because you've been doing for how you've been podcast for how
00:04:56
long? There you go. And I'm sure a few doors have
00:05:00
opened. Definitely. And when you get to three years, just
00:05:03
wait, you're going to have like a nice
00:05:07
little home run moment, which is what
00:05:11
I like to call where everything just changes, honestly. Yeah, I
00:05:14
can see it. The sound of acre as well. So I'm excited to
00:05:18
have you up. Your own birthday cake soon. I know I have my own
00:05:22
birthday cake. Bite myself.
00:05:27
Free year celebration is copy. Yeah,
00:05:33
feel free to go there. All right, so let's talk more about Black, create,
00:05:36
connect. So, of course, you just gave us a quick pitch, but let's go a
00:05:40
bit deep. So talk us through the kind of
00:05:43
guests let's talk about the podcast first. While we're talking about podcast, talk us quickly
00:05:47
through the kind of guests that you seek to get on the podcast and what
00:05:51
your mission is with the podcast. I know it's the extension of the platform.
00:05:54
Yes. To give you guys, like, a backstory.
00:05:58
Right. I found that before the podcast,
00:06:01
I find that I was constantly meeting incredible
00:06:05
individuals from the network that I was building to different professionals,
00:06:09
entrepreneurs, creatives, and I was constantly having
00:06:12
sometimes I'll just have a zoom and I will have such an interesting
00:06:16
conversation, and I'm like, I wish that was recorded. There was so much that
00:06:20
was shared in that conversation. We can't let these conversations
00:06:24
go to waste. And then I also found that I was being asked a lot
00:06:27
of the same questions twice. Not twice, multiple
00:06:31
times. So again, people ask me for advice on CVS, on
00:06:35
career progression. They'll ask me about my journey. They'll say, I know
00:06:39
you're connected with so and so. What did they say about this? And I
00:06:42
thought, it makes sense to just record these conversations so that you can
00:06:46
be directed to listen to these conversations. So how I
00:06:50
go about actually selecting podcast guests, it's
00:06:53
about what they're doing in their field and how their journey so
00:06:57
whatever journey they've kind of put out there. So I'll give you an example. Sometimes
00:07:02
I select guests based on mainly
00:07:05
energy. Sometimes I go to an event. I really like what they said. So
00:07:09
an example was Torrin Ellis. He's a dei consultant.
00:07:13
And I remember I went to an event called RecFest.
00:07:17
And for those that don't know what RecFest is, it's a recruitment festival.
00:07:20
So, like, wireless, like Afro Nation,
00:07:25
but it's for recruiters. And then I went to his talk
00:07:29
was really packed, and I went to quite a few talks. I don't know if
00:07:32
you've gone to an event before, Adrian. Probably no,
00:07:38
like a conference. And you go to so many
00:07:41
different talks. Oh, my God. And you get talk fatigue. It's like some
00:07:45
talks, there was too many. Yeah, some are too many. But then there's some that
00:07:49
stand out to you. Have you ever had talks that stand out to you before?
00:07:52
Oh, 100%. Yeah. And so his talk stood out to
00:07:55
me because of the things that he was saying. I was learning new things
00:07:59
about how to approach diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I thought,
00:08:03
he can teach me some things like, no one else here has really taught
00:08:07
me anything new. But he's really sparked, I
00:08:10
guess, my thoughts. And then it was his delivery, it was his
00:08:14
presence. It was just the silence. He had silence,
00:08:18
complete silence in the room. And then afterwards, I saw some people
00:08:22
go up to him and just to say thanks, and I thought, you know what?
00:08:25
I feel compelled to go to him and just say the same thing.
00:08:29
So I went to him. I said, Turin, that was an amazing
00:08:33
talk. I loved it. Thank you for inspiring me
00:08:37
and educating me in that 30 minutes. And he was like, you're
00:08:40
welcome. And then something just came into me. And he's from the States,
00:08:43
right? So I was like,
00:08:51
at the time, there was a girl that I was managing
00:08:55
in my team beside me. So she's looking up to me, and she's like to
00:08:58
me, Come on, Alicia, you're so confident. You always tell me to take
00:09:02
but I was so nervous. So then I was like I said, Torian,
00:09:06
how long are you in the UK for? He was like till Sunday. The day
00:09:09
that we were speaking was Thursday, okay? And I was like, can
00:09:12
you come on my podcast? Because I think that you amazing.
00:09:16
Did you do your eyes closed? Did you do your eyes close?
00:09:23
And the thing is, I was thinking in my head, Why am I so scared?
00:09:26
It was just rejection. I was scared to hear a no, and
00:09:30
you shouldn't. I mean, that's a fair that needs to be taken
00:09:34
away. But I said, you know what? You're great. And he was like, sure, let's
00:09:37
look at him right now. And I was like I was like, there's no fee.
00:09:41
There's no PA, there's no nothing. He was like, no.
00:09:45
I like your approach. I'm happy to come on with
00:09:49
you. And I promise you, Turin has been one a
00:09:52
blessing. It hasn't just been the interview. The interview was phenomenal with him,
00:09:56
but since then, he's had conversations with me, to
00:10:00
mentor me, to coach me, to help me, give me advice. He's reviewed documents for
00:10:04
me. He's helped me so much. So when I look at podcast
00:10:08
guests, I think, who can I potentially have a real relationship with as well?
00:10:11
A real business. Not even necessarily even business, but who do I
00:10:15
gravitate towards? Whose story really engages me, who can teach me some new
00:10:19
things, who can inspire me?
00:10:22
Those are the type of conversations that I want to have. So it's not about
00:10:25
numbers, necessarily. It's about you and
00:10:29
whatever I see from you at whatever time in life. So
00:10:33
that's my explanation. Hope that helps. It definitely helps. Definitely helps. Context not
00:10:37
necessarily content and quality over quantity, finding people
00:10:41
that stand out, people that really get your attention,
00:10:45
and you feel that, okay, this person got my attention. I think you get my
00:10:48
audience's attention, too. And I think you kind of know the kind of listeners
00:10:52
that you have as well on your show. Thanks for sharing a bit more about
00:10:55
your podcast. It's really insightful to hear that. It's a powerful story,
00:10:59
listening back to this and then of course. You got your
00:11:02
network, you've got community. You do events from time to time.
00:11:07
Your actual community comes out and meets each other and got
00:11:10
WhatsApp group. Yes, exactly. Ecosystem. I love it.
00:11:14
Yes. So, I mean, just to talk a bit more about that, if you're happy
00:11:17
for me. So for more context, everyone. So with the WhatsApp
00:11:21
group? As I said when I first started it, the real answer
00:11:25
actually is I was a recruiter, right? And I was on
00:11:28
LinkedIn doing a LinkedIn search, looking for project managers
00:11:32
for one of the clients I was working with. And I promise you, I
00:11:36
kid you not, Adrian, I went through about ten pages. I didn't see one
00:11:40
black person. No. Yes on LinkedIn. Recruiter. When you typed
00:11:43
in project manager yes on LinkedIn. Do you know how? LinkedIn recruiter.
00:11:47
So I've done keyword search, and I didn't see one black person. And I was
00:11:51
like, but I know so many black project managers. So it's either
00:11:55
LinkedIn algorithms are biased
00:11:58
somehow, I don't know how, or it could be
00:12:02
that black professionals are not updating their profiles enough
00:12:06
to be seen on LinkedIn. Whatever it is, let's solve this problem. And I
00:12:10
literally put a post out on LinkedIn there and then and said, okay, I know
00:12:13
that. And this, ironically, was around the George
00:12:17
Ford. I said, okay, let's come together. Let me plug you because I have
00:12:20
so many jobs, and you need to get some opportunities. And what I
00:12:24
noticed is that people was joining the group
00:12:27
rapidly, and I was getting people in. Do you remember clubhouse? Yeah,
00:12:32
clubhouse was such a time.
00:12:36
So I remember I was doing talks on Clubhouse, just
00:12:39
giving out career advice, and people were just joining the group, joining the group, preparing
00:12:43
their friends. And I was like, there's something here. And at the time, I didn't
00:12:46
know what it was. The first public speaking gig. Yeah,
00:12:50
clubhouse. But when I saw people coming into the room
00:12:53
and then having people on stage and interviewing people, I was like, yeah, I love
00:12:57
this. I was scheduling work time on my
00:13:01
work diary, and I said, Managers, directors, that's my
00:13:05
clubhouse time, where I'm going to be talking about. I hired people from
00:13:09
I made so many hires from Clubhouse, and that's when I realized
00:13:13
I hired people from Twitter, from LinkedIn. So not just LinkedIn,
00:13:17
that's obvious. Instagram. Facebook groups. Slack
00:13:21
groups. Events. My method of hiring is
00:13:24
diverse. So that's why I've managed to, I guess, learn
00:13:28
it and teach other people how to hire diverse organically. So, yeah,
00:13:32
so with the group that grew and then whilst I was working
00:13:36
internally, some companies I was managing I won't say their names, but I was
00:13:40
managing some other external partners that were
00:13:43
targeted for black professionals. And what I did on our
00:13:47
ATS system, I created a tracking link to see how
00:13:51
many applications we got through their platform
00:13:54
versus mine. Yeah. So I created a tracking link for Black.
00:13:58
I didn't tell my company. Let me just analyze it and see what we
00:14:02
have here. Because this is a small knit community. We've only got maybe 400 or
00:14:05
so people in the group. Yeah, but these platforms have
00:14:09
thousands of people on social media and it's very
00:14:13
concentrated. Exactly. And when I saw
00:14:16
the results, I kid you not, and I wish I could tell you something
00:14:20
different. Those platforms didn't get any applications on this. They
00:14:24
didn't get any relevant, I think, today from the
00:14:27
group for me directly, other people, there could be
00:14:31
more. I think there's been about 32 hires, and
00:14:35
that's from like, clients. That's me. Remember, I worked at a talent
00:14:38
consultancy where there was multiple clients we're working on. So from the group, there's
00:14:42
been about 32 altogether. There was probably in my
00:14:45
last role, I hired about four people from the
00:14:50
at Deepop, about four people that came from the group. And then before
00:14:53
then at Engine, now House, three, seven, I can say the name
00:14:57
is fine, probably about eight or so
00:15:01
from the group. And what I realized is that is that there's
00:15:05
power in direct networks, like if someone
00:15:08
refers because maybe the hires weren't from the group exactly. But it might have been
00:15:12
that Adrian sent it to his sister and his sister sent it to her friend.
00:15:15
And because it's a direct link, you trust the source and then you apply for
00:15:19
it versus just putting it out there. So because of that, and I
00:15:23
know the power that has, and people somehow
00:15:26
trust me as well, because it's all love. I know
00:15:31
because of that, I want companies so companies will work with
00:15:34
me on partnerships to really, I guess, tap
00:15:38
into that network and to expand on it. Something that I'm doing this
00:15:42
year as well with companies is content creation, job ad campaign.
00:15:46
So stay with me, stay with me.
00:15:52
In this day and age, right, when you're looking for a job, or if you're
00:15:55
thinking about looking for a job, you won't necessarily go to a specific diverse
00:15:58
job board. Or would you would you type in
00:16:02
diversejobs.com as your first thought? Not necessarily. I'll
00:16:06
go to the big platforms. You go to the indeed, LinkedIn,
00:16:10
Perfect, and although those are wide platforms, not necessarily
00:16:13
targeted. But right now there's a trend in
00:16:17
video content like TikTok, Instagram,
00:16:20
Reels, LinkedIn, and companies are not
00:16:24
advertising jobs through these methods. They're not commonly
00:16:27
advertising jobs. They're missing out on a massive market. Not only
00:16:31
that, but if they were to advertise jobs in that method with
00:16:35
trusted voices from particular communities, it's
00:16:39
a no brainer. You're going to get more applicants and more interest
00:16:43
for your company. So that's what I'm working with companies on for
00:16:47
Black create Connect this year as well, working with Black content creators
00:16:50
that specialize in tech or creative and advertising jobs
00:16:54
through them. That's clever. No one else is doing it. And I just think,
00:16:58
why are you not doing it yet? And if you want to do it as
00:17:01
well and see the results, come back to me and tell me, tell me how
00:17:05
it is. But that's one of the things that we aim to do kind of
00:17:08
long term. I hope that gives you some more. No, it's fantastic. I think
00:17:13
this method of job seeking or recruitment, I think it can be
00:17:17
applied to any country, any continent in the world because
00:17:20
this is the day and age that we're in where short form content and
00:17:24
video content, like you said, is taken over and our attention spans are getting
00:17:28
narrower. We don't have time to patience, to read long
00:17:32
applications as a recruiter or as a job seeker. We don't have time
00:17:35
to maybe just read lots of descriptions. We just want
00:17:39
it now. You understand? So I think that will grab attention
00:17:43
100%. That will definitely grab attention. For sure. Yeah. Wow, that was
00:17:46
fantastic. So I'm really excited to hear about what Black Create Connect is
00:17:50
doing. And of course we're going to come back to what the plans are going
00:17:53
to be for this year. Primarily, I want to go into a bit more
00:17:56
about dei. So diversity, equity, inclusion. So
00:18:00
for those that aren't too familiar with the term, could you just break it down
00:18:04
real quick? Sure. So a quick definition of diversity.
00:18:07
Equity and inclusion. So diversity is
00:18:11
actually what we see around us. So the difference in the
00:18:15
makeup of society, whether that's through cognitive abilities,
00:18:18
cultural backgrounds, experiences, socioeconomic
00:18:22
backgrounds, the spectrum is wide, but that's what
00:18:25
diversity is. Now, equity is when you
00:18:29
have the I guess you have infrastructure in
00:18:32
place that enable the people that are from marginalized backgrounds
00:18:36
to elevate and so that they're equal.
00:18:40
So some companies swap the E with equality. But
00:18:43
I commonly use equity because in for example, let me give you an example
00:18:47
of equity in the workplace. If there's someone that is
00:18:50
neurodiverse and they need to have a particular
00:18:53
software to do their work to the same level as someone that
00:18:57
isn't neurodiverse, a company will be adding equity
00:19:00
by giving them that software to use because they're helping them to be level
00:19:04
and have an equal opportunity. Right. That's an example.
00:19:08
And then inclusion is making sure people always say not
00:19:12
just inviting someone from the party, but asking them to dance as well. So inclusion
00:19:15
is actually considering different people's contributions, perspective, not
00:19:19
making people feel that their difference is not
00:19:22
okay. Making sure that people feel that their difference is actually
00:19:26
an addition. A lot of companies use the word culture fit a lot
00:19:30
of the times when they're advertising for jobs or when they're looking for people.
00:19:33
And the change should be culture ads. And that's the inclusion piece. That's the
00:19:37
inclusion mentality. That actually you're different, but you can add something
00:19:41
different. And there's statistics that show that companies
00:19:44
that are more diverse are 36% more profitable people know the stats.
00:19:48
Yeah. They're much more profitable companies that
00:19:52
are more diverse, they're 45% more innovative than companies
00:19:56
that are not. There's been studies that show this.
00:20:01
Again, I think 69% of candidates consider
00:20:04
diversity to be a deciding factor when they look for jobs as
00:20:08
well. So that means if companies are not diverse, then
00:20:12
actually they're missing out on probably a lot of different candidates. There's so many different
00:20:15
stats that I can reel out. But, yeah, that's the value in
00:20:18
it. The problem with dei is that because it's not
00:20:22
really new, but it's a new busting right now,
00:20:26
let's be honest, it is 100% it's a new busting. I think since you mentioned
00:20:30
George Floyd earlier on in the conversation yeah, I think you did.
00:20:33
And yeah, I think even since then, I think it really started to take off.
00:20:37
Yeah. So the problem is with dei as a consultant
00:20:41
that I've identified, is that companies say they want to
00:20:45
do it and they want to apply dei,
00:20:48
but a lot of them don't know how. So when I have conversations
00:20:52
in particular, funnily enough,
00:20:56
I'm very candid and straightforward right. With a lot of white males that are
00:20:59
in senior positions at companies. And I speak very candidly with
00:21:03
them. They say, yeah, we're hiring more
00:21:07
women. And I'm like, that's a very
00:21:10
small part of it. But it goes beyond that as well. There's so many
00:21:14
other aspects of diversity to consider, and it's not just about
00:21:18
hiring women either. Do they have a voice in the boardroom
00:21:22
as well? Are they being promoted? Are they in CC
00:21:25
level positions? Are they able to actually contribute massively to the
00:21:29
workplace? So there's that. There's also another thing that
00:21:33
I hear companies say is, we're working with 10 black
00:21:36
interns, or we're working with these diverse
00:21:40
internship companies. Replacement, that's all well and good, but what about
00:21:44
the decision makers? Who is at the top? Because you
00:21:48
can't have a massive influence on culture and company
00:21:52
structure or anything if you're at the bottom. So that's fine, but
00:21:56
who are we having at the top? And that's something that I'm working with
00:21:59
companies on. And a lot of companies don't know how to measure up
00:22:03
dei with company growth and
00:22:07
losing my words. There profitability. They don't know
00:22:11
how to marry the two. And that's what I help them do
00:22:14
because they need to also see what the business
00:22:18
effect is as well. And it's important, but if
00:22:21
they're going to invest time and money and resources into it, they need to see,
00:22:25
okay, where is the ROI? And that is something that I help companies
00:22:29
do. Got you. So you're helping them to connect the dots between
00:22:32
profitability and having dei in
00:22:35
the organization? Basically, yeah. Okay, that's interesting. So I think when you're
00:22:39
consulting them, you're connecting the dots, but also you're showing them
00:22:43
how important is for them to have it in their talent strategy as
00:22:47
well. Well, yeah. And the thing is, I don't necessarily go in.
00:22:50
So when I work with clients, my approach is always, let me look in
00:22:54
first. We forget about external statistics and external factors,
00:22:58
because for your company, that's irrelevant. Right now. Let's look
00:23:02
at what has hindered you from making more money, what's hindered you
00:23:05
from growing? What's hindered you from
00:23:09
having a diverse leadership team, having a diverse thought and
00:23:13
opinion? What are some of those things? So it's an
00:23:16
audit. You have to look at company trends. You have to do deep
00:23:20
dive interviews. You have to have real conversations. To do my
00:23:24
role, you have to be very ballsy, because, think about it.
00:23:28
There's people that have been doing things a certain way for a long time.
00:23:32
You got to change the mold that. They yeah, I've been told that I'm too
00:23:35
young. Yeah. I've been told that.
00:23:39
With all due respect to Lysia, I've been in the industry for 30 plus
00:23:43
years or 20 plus years, and I'm like, I understand
00:23:47
that, but I'm here. You're not a di expert. I'm here. I've looked
00:23:51
at trends. I'm studying it. I'm continuously studying it. I'm
00:23:54
continuously educating myself. And if I'm
00:23:58
telling you that something could be detrimental to your
00:24:01
business or could be improved, why would you not
00:24:05
just listen? I would if there's a 15 year old coming to
00:24:09
me and saying, maybe you should try this for social media instead, show
00:24:13
me. Okay. It's not a factor. Absolutely. Because gen z's
00:24:17
know more about social media. Exactly. They grew up with it. We
00:24:20
didn't exactly. Windows 95 or
00:24:24
minecraft, wherever. Yeah, exactly. But
00:24:28
yeah, I mean, there's also this theory that I like to share with
00:24:31
clients about hiring, in the sense where
00:24:36
a lot of what I hear is there's not enough black leaders to hire from.
00:24:40
There's not a lot of selection. And I say,
00:24:43
well, once upon a time,
00:24:48
I'll say Alicia alicia wasn't a leader, but someone gave
00:24:52
her the opportunity to grow into a leader. Someone gave her that opportunity to
00:24:55
get into that role. When oftentimes enough, when companies
00:24:59
want to replace someone that's in a leadership position, they forget about where they
00:25:03
started in the company. So they don't hire
00:25:07
for that person that they started from. They hire for the person that
00:25:10
they're leaving at. Does that make sense? Yeah. And that's another thing that I've
00:25:14
noticed that I try to help companies with. But yeah, there's so many different spectrums
00:25:18
to go on. It's a shame, because it blocks some opportunities for really good people
00:25:21
that have potential to come into a certain role.
00:25:25
It really does block opportunity. I see a few synergies
00:25:28
between I think it's the BYP
00:25:32
network. Yeah. And yours. Did you know this was coming? No,
00:25:36
but I've been told this plenty of times before. I've worked with BYP before. Okay,
00:25:39
cool. Yeah. I was going to say, what's your relation with them?
00:25:43
I've worked at companies where I've worked with them as partners. Okay.
00:25:47
And they're doing incredible things.
00:25:50
So I really love how they've grown
00:25:54
a lot. I've been kind of following them from the beginning.
00:25:58
They did something called the Black Experience documentary. Have you seen
00:26:02
it? Haven't seen it. I think you have to be a partner
00:26:05
with them. But I watched it because I wanted to roll it out to
00:26:09
my last company for everyone to watch before I got made
00:26:13
redundant. No, it's okay. It's fine. When was
00:26:16
that? Actually? This was last year, August.
00:26:20
But the Black Experience was
00:26:24
that documentary was really, really good. I was actually really shocked by it and I
00:26:27
learned a lot from it. And it was just literally different individuals from
00:26:31
various organizations and levels speaking about their experiences. But it
00:26:35
was in depth. It was really good. Yes, I do like their platform.
00:26:39
I do think what they do is good. However, working with them, I
00:26:43
do think that they're more targeted towards corporate. Okay, yeah, that's fair.
00:26:47
So the companies that I've worked in have been more creative
00:26:51
advertising, marketing, fashion, and I don't think
00:26:55
that's their strong point because they don't
00:26:58
naturally attract candidates from those fields. Absolutely.
00:27:02
That's just from me working with them. Someone else can say completely different.
00:27:06
Apart from that, I can shout out Jute. Jute's been amazing
00:27:10
from BYP ever since I've ever communicated with her, from years ago till
00:27:13
now. She's been really on the ball, really helpful. And I'm
00:27:17
looking forward to potentially collaborating one day with BYP as well, because that's what
00:27:21
it's know. We've both got strengths. We collaborate, we can grow, do more
00:27:25
things. Our collaboration is the key to growing. Sometimes.
00:27:29
For those of you who don't know what BYP is, so it's black young
00:27:32
Professionals, it's
00:27:36
Spared from the UK, but it's like an international black professionals
00:27:39
network. So we'll put information about that in the show notes as well. And of
00:27:43
course we're going to continue to plug in this year here, but I feel like
00:27:46
it's a similar network or community, but you're both
00:27:50
on a similar mission, but doing it different ways, working
00:27:54
with different kinds of people. Like you said, you're more focused on creatives. There's a
00:27:57
sound of a crowd. We speak to entrepreneurs and creatives, but they're more kind of
00:28:00
corporate PwC. I think they work a lot
00:28:04
with the big four and people. Yeah, they do. Fantastic. All
00:28:08
right. I mean, this is a really good tape. Again, I think you guys are
00:28:11
getting a good taste of what Black Drake Connect is all about.
00:28:16
Let's talk about your public speaking. So I know, of course, you're a
00:28:19
really good public speaker. I just found it quite interesting how when
00:28:23
it comes to us, I wouldn't really call me a public speaker per se, but
00:28:27
when it comes to us speakers, when we approach in someone, it's funny. It's
00:28:31
ironic or it's funny how we get butterflies in our stomach and we get nervous.
00:28:34
Trying to ask someone to come on a podcast or for something,
00:28:38
right. Try and give them value. At the same time,
00:28:42
you've spoken at a few places and you've spoken at universities, you spoken
00:28:45
at councils with a Barnett Council university, Southampton, et cetera, right?
00:28:50
What's that experience been like and how did you get into that? So
00:28:55
with the universities, there were just career talks,
00:28:59
advising students, business students, on
00:29:03
how to navigate in their career after, I guess,
00:29:07
graduation. So how they came about. I had a
00:29:10
conversation, I think the one for
00:29:12
Southampton, I was just having a conversation
00:29:16
with their careers advisor, just talking to them about my
00:29:19
journey. Sometimes I just arrange calls with people if
00:29:23
they ask to speak to me on LinkedIn and I don't know where it's going
00:29:26
to go. Sometimes I just say, okay, cool, let's have a chat and see what
00:29:29
happens. And that's how that opportunity came about.
00:29:33
And they said to me, do you know what? You're really honest about your journey,
00:29:37
share it with the students. Because I think sometimes when I was in
00:29:40
university, I went to university apart.
00:29:44
I used to live there, actually. Oh, did you? Okay. So you
00:29:48
know, you know what, you and I remember when people came to come and speak
00:29:52
about their career journeys, it
00:29:55
intimidated me a little bit because I felt like,
00:29:59
oh, that's that bar is really, really high. Like, you left university,
00:30:03
you started this business, you're thriving, you're doing this. I wanted
00:30:07
to hear something realistic. It wasn't like that for me and a lot of people.
00:30:09
When we left university, it was actually very hard, it was
00:30:13
very difficult finding out what you wanted to do, what you're good
00:30:17
at, what your degree even means. And so
00:30:21
what I do when I do public speaking. So when I did the
00:30:25
university ones, I spoke about my journey when I left
00:30:28
university, and that really resonated with the students and
00:30:31
they felt, I guess, compelled to message me directly asking for advice.
00:30:35
I've also done, I guess, a small talk with, I think
00:30:39
it's
00:30:45
not Found Divine. You're going to kill me, sorry. It's
00:30:49
black valley. Black Valley? I've never heard that's the one. I'm so sorry. I
00:30:52
misproted Black Valley because I know that they've done work together. That's why
00:30:56
Black Valley is by. Lucky for founder. And that
00:30:59
was really, really short. That was like online. But again, me talking about
00:31:03
how to approach UI design to the
00:31:07
students, that enabled them to speak to me directly and ask me
00:31:11
more questions. And actually, I've got one of the girls from that session that interns
00:31:14
with me now at Blackcrate Connect. So there was like a link.
00:31:18
And with Barnett Council and a couple of other
00:31:22
companies, like Analog Folk, for example, Media course, the
00:31:26
talks I've done with them have always been stirred around Dei.
00:31:29
So I've done a lot of talks on Allyship, what that
00:31:33
means, how to apply it why it's important.
00:31:36
Also, I've spoken about diverse characteristics, understanding and
00:31:40
identifying them, how to navigate with them. And Barnett Council. I
00:31:44
remember that was for International Women's Day or month one of the deals
00:31:47
in March. And that was kind of speaking about women experiences in the workplace
00:31:51
and how to empower women. So I think when I
00:31:55
do talks, it has to come from
00:31:59
your story. For me, I can't just
00:32:03
talk about something that I haven't experienced. If someone asks me to speak about
00:32:07
I don't know how to build an app from scratch. I
00:32:11
could research it online, but I would say no, because I don't have that experience
00:32:14
and it's not going to be genuine. You're going to be able to do it
00:32:16
justice no. And speak on it from an authentic place. No.
00:32:20
And that doesn't serve anyone justice. I'd rather refer you,
00:32:24
connect you with someone else. That is better. This is the connect
00:32:28
part of Black. But that's what I'm like.
00:32:31
I will try to help. If I can't help, I will say, Sorry, that's got
00:32:34
my bag. But I think this person is better.
00:32:42
In the name black crate, connect. What does the
00:32:45
crate mean? Yes. Everyone always asks the
00:32:48
question, I know you're Black.
00:32:52
Where does the crate come from? Okay, you crate in context.
00:32:56
Well, I mean, the crate has so many different, I guess,
00:33:00
meanings. But when I thought about it when I sat down in Cyprus, actually, and
00:33:04
I thought I was in Cyprus when I thought of the name
00:33:07
and I thought, okay, do you know what?
00:33:11
Because of how organizations
00:33:14
are and because I've had firsthand experience
00:33:18
in recruitment, I am a massive advocate. I've done it so many
00:33:22
times with hire managers where I say, create an opportunity, create a role for this
00:33:25
person. It doesn't exist right now, but we need to add a role for
00:33:29
this person. They've done it a couple of times. My company I work with
00:33:33
now wasn't a role that existed. Okay. It was a creative roles
00:33:36
now. Yeah. It happens in companies where they don't create
00:33:40
jobs because they find someone that's so good that we have to create a job
00:33:43
for this. Exactly. And that's what I'm trying to do because
00:33:47
companies are open to it. A lot of companies I speak to, they're like,
00:33:51
yes, if it makes sense. But the thing is about
00:33:54
creating opportunities, right. It takes someone to be that
00:33:58
influence in between because someone has to identify what can
00:34:02
be created and someone needs to be like a senior
00:34:05
stakeholder needs to be convinced as to why
00:34:09
basically a business case. Exactly. That has to be put together. Now,
00:34:13
when you're a hiring manager and you're looking for a marketing manager, for
00:34:16
example, you're not thinking about anything else but that.
00:34:20
So you won't be able to have that mindset to necessarily
00:34:24
you might, but it's unlikely for you to think about creating a role if you
00:34:28
have an in between. Person that says you want to be more diverse. This is
00:34:31
a role that could be suitable for your business. In addition, they have this experience
00:34:35
that's different to what you have. Let's create something for them then.
00:34:39
That's kind of where it comes into play. So that's what I want to do
00:34:41
with companies, not just replace the hire, because
00:34:45
unfortunately, Adrian can't replace Peter or
00:34:48
Alicia can't replace someone.
00:34:54
Even realistically, I think roles are created every single day and people don't
00:34:58
realize when there's a CEO of a company that leaves, you can't replace that exact
00:35:01
CEO. They're not going to have the exact balance of skills or
00:35:05
experience or personality. You're going to create a different role for them.
00:35:09
You're going to call it CEO, maybe, but it's a different role. So
00:35:13
yeah, that's what the crate is for. Thank you for
00:35:16
explaining that. That makes a lot more sense now. Okay, so now I've
00:35:20
been able to put all the pieces together. Black, create, connect. Yeah.
00:35:24
Wonderful. I love it. And do you ever get
00:35:28
fear when you're speaking? I know it's probably like I know it's not like you're
00:35:31
speaking on huge stages or anything, but do you ever get fear when you're speaking?
00:35:35
I think I will when I get to that point. And I do a Ted
00:35:37
Talk one day, what happens, putting it out there into
00:35:41
the universe? When that happens, I feel like,
00:35:45
yeah, I might be nervous, but to be honest with you, Adrian, do you know
00:35:48
what helped me with my public speaking church. Really?
00:35:52
Yeah, church. When I was younger, because
00:35:56
I was quite bold, they always said, Alicia, do a sermon for us.
00:36:00
Do this. Yeah. So when I was younger, I remember a particular
00:36:04
sermon I did was called A Weakness for Sweetness. I think I was like,
00:36:07
maybe eleven. Yeah. A weakness for sweetness. Wow. When I was about eleven years old.
00:36:11
Were that sermon you're eleven? Yeah.
00:36:15
I'm sure we can guess what the sermon was about.
00:36:18
I have a few ideas.
00:36:23
Me doing those things when I was younger, it helped to build my confidence in
00:36:27
general. Now as an adult, it's different because when you're at church,
00:36:31
it's a place of love. People want to hear what you're saying. They're there.
00:36:34
Whereas when you're speaking to companies, sometimes everyone wants to hear what you're saying,
00:36:38
sometimes they don't. So you have
00:36:42
to find a way to connect.
00:36:46
The way that I deal with things is I think before I do
00:36:50
any speak and any talk, I do need silence.
00:36:54
I need to just be in my own space for a second, just to
00:36:58
pray, to meditate, to think about
00:37:01
what I'm going to say and to make sure that I'm clear and I'm
00:37:05
slow and when I go in.
00:37:08
And also I want to preserve my energy.
00:37:12
I can't, for example, have like a crazy, crazy
00:37:16
busy. I don't know how people do it. Crazy, crazy day of doing loads of
00:37:19
things and then do a speak. I need to do that first thing in the
00:37:22
day so I can get it out of the way, give everyone my genuine
00:37:26
energy. And I find that when you do that,
00:37:29
people read it. People read when you're present in the
00:37:33
room, when you're taking your time, when you know what
00:37:37
you're speaking about, they know it. So that's one thing
00:37:40
I pride myself on. Just know what you're speaking about. Be calm. I
00:37:44
can talk fast sometimes. Slow down in a cr. That's what I say. Slow
00:37:48
down. Okay. And be your true self.
00:37:52
And that's kind of how I do it. I hope that helps. Oh, fantastic tips.
00:37:56
Fantastic tips. For those that want to pursue public speaking in any way, shape
00:38:00
or form to any extent, those are fantastic tips. I couldn't have said it any
00:38:03
better. Thanks for lightning the audience. In terms of public speaking, I love
00:38:07
it. Yeah. So let's talk about
00:38:10
Ghana. So, of course, you've been here for a minute. We've
00:38:14
talked about how you're planning the trip. Of course you've networked a bit. You went
00:38:18
to Aqua Connect, you've met a few people,
00:38:21
and then maybe you have some future. Maybe there's some plans that you're probably
00:38:25
considering. Talk us through that. Talk us through that.
00:38:29
I love Ghana. I'm Ghanaian. My Ghanaian
00:38:32
name is Ya because I was born on Thursday. I
00:38:36
know. Literally, I feel so connected here. It's so
00:38:39
strange. But yeah. So Ghana, I've gone to a
00:38:43
couple of yes, I went to the networking event Africa Connect, and funnily
00:38:47
enough shout out. Yeah, shout out. That was a really good event.
00:38:51
I was sent that event by someone from Black Create Connect.
00:38:55
Really? In London? Yeah. Did I invite you as well to it? You didn't invite
00:38:58
me,
00:39:02
no, but someone from the group messaged me
00:39:06
anyway. Maybe you did. I missed
00:39:10
it, but yeah, someone said to me in London and
00:39:13
said, I think this is a bit of you. I said, oh, okay. And when
00:39:17
someone recommends something to me and says It's a bit of you, I think I
00:39:20
have to try it. And so when I went there, I had no
00:39:24
expectations at all. I just thought let's see. First thing I loved
00:39:28
about there. Oh, I loved it. Everyone just went up and spoke
00:39:32
and introduced themselves, and I think that's really important at networking events.
00:39:35
So I did that at my last networking event in Summer.
00:39:39
So not my most recent one, but one in Summer. I did I had a
00:39:43
session back in London. Yeah, in London, I had people come up
00:39:47
and just say who you are, what people can come to you for. And
00:39:50
it helps to break the ice a little bit because you don't really
00:39:54
know how to navigate. I mean, you can go to a networking event and just
00:39:57
talk to people, but it's so nice to just say, okay, that person's into
00:40:01
property or that person does a podcast. That person's got a book, so you just
00:40:05
know. I love that bit. So that was something I liked. And I've got a
00:40:07
mug, a Ghana mug as well. Everyone got a gift, which was nice. The
00:40:11
food at Cork's Lounge.
00:40:15
I might get some tomorrow
00:40:19
somewhere else. Food is great. Again.
00:40:23
I signed Eric as well. Which was Eric? Yeah, which was really
00:40:26
nice. And again, I feel like
00:40:30
whenever you meet someone through different methods, like I met
00:40:34
him, obviously there and then obviously I found out that he knew you.
00:40:37
It just reaffirmed that you're supposed to meet that person. That was
00:40:41
really nice. That was really nice to see. I've got
00:40:45
someone that I guess is a client now, but they want me to help them
00:40:48
with their life. From Ajra
00:40:52
super Connect. Honestly, I've met so many people through.
00:40:56
Yeah, honestly, that was really good.
00:41:00
And then I came to obviously the third
00:41:03
year, which was really nice to see.
00:41:07
I got to see James.
00:41:11
James is phenomenal. So it was great seeing him. A great
00:41:15
seeing Akua as well. Yeah. Akua. It's funny. You were interviewing the next
00:41:19
day as well. You expected to be there, probably. No, I didn't. I didn't. But
00:41:23
it was nice seeing her. Then I saw yasmin. Me and Yasmin have literally
00:41:26
I literally texted her just before I came in. I didn't expect to see her,
00:41:29
so I was just texting her saying, hey, do you have Wi Fi at the
00:41:31
studio? And then I see, oh my gosh, Yasmin.
00:41:35
It's just nice. And it really makes me feel like
00:41:39
it's really easy to connect her. I feel like it is.
00:41:44
Yeah, it feels easy to connect. And to be honest with you, I think
00:41:47
being in the sun, being in a nice place and environment,
00:41:51
it adds to your whole energy, your whole
00:41:54
vibration. So everyone's a bit more positive, I reckon,
00:41:58
than they would be in London.
00:42:02
Everyone's just really warm. So it's been nice. My network standpoint
00:42:05
and of course I came to do
00:42:10
Dirty December. They call it Dirty December. So for those
00:42:14
that don't know, dirty December is the term knowledge you use by
00:42:17
many across the globe.
00:42:22
I'm even saying it wrong. Some people say both.
00:42:26
Where it's nothing bad. It's actually quite a big celebration where people come
00:42:30
together in West Africa and just party. And I did
00:42:34
that the moment I touched down into Accra. I
00:42:37
went to my apartment, I got ready and I went out
00:42:41
and I was out till like 07:00 a.m. That's crazy first day, you know, first
00:42:45
day and then back to back for like six days. I went out
00:42:48
and do that. I was exhausted.
00:42:52
I can't tell you the last time I've done that. Maybe when I
00:42:56
was 21, I don't know. Yeah, but I and up a
00:43:00
day, that's really when I did it. And I was like, wow, that was really
00:43:03
fun. But very tiring. So I think
00:43:07
the next time I come to Ghana this year, I will. Come again for
00:43:11
Christmas. I'm going to be more selective on where I go.
00:43:16
I was sleeping my days away initially. Yeah. So the second
00:43:20
half of the job, I'm so happy I extended because sleeping the
00:43:24
day, yeah, I can't waste Ghana like that. So
00:43:28
I'm happy that I'm able to experience it properly and
00:43:32
go to networking because I wasn't going to go to Africannect
00:43:35
because I was tired. Yeah, but did you just force yourself to go? Yeah, I
00:43:38
said no. I said no, I cannot just come here and just no, no, I
00:43:42
must meet people. Okay. So I said
00:43:46
to my friend, we have to go. Even though we got there late, but we
00:43:48
got there just in time. We got there Ghana time.
00:43:52
Wonderful. Wonderful. Yeah. It's really great to hear about all the
00:43:56
experiences, the connections and the networking you've made. And I think you've really
00:43:59
lived up to Black Create Connect, even in Ghana as well. You're just
00:44:03
doing what you're doing in London in Ghana, which is great. So maybe we'll have
00:44:06
some kind of Black Create connect in Africa. Who knows?
00:44:10
Some kind of version of it. Who knows? Really enjoy this conversation. Alicia thank
00:44:14
you. Is there any announcements you
00:44:18
like to make? Announcements and 2023
00:44:21
plans. Okay, so first of all,
00:44:25
announcement wise, the
00:44:26
Blackcreateconnect.co.uk
00:44:31
website is live. So for candidates, create
00:44:35
an account because we are adding at the end of February,
00:44:38
we have, like, a long list of resources that we're adding to help you elevate
00:44:42
in your career. It's free, so join it,
00:44:45
sign up for it. You'll get first access to our events that always sell
00:44:49
out as well. We don't sell the tickets, but all the tickets always go really
00:44:52
quickly, so connect with us on that.
00:44:57
Also, if you feel like you know anyone that will be a good
00:45:01
guest for my podcast as well that you think I should connect with, I'm open
00:45:04
to recommendations. Drop me an email. Alicia at
00:45:07
Blackcreateconnect.co.uk, if you're a company and you're
00:45:11
wanting to work with us, if you would like to, I don't know,
00:45:15
connect more authentically and creatively professionals,
00:45:19
again, connect with me Alicia at Blackcreateconnect.co.uk.
00:45:22
I'm always open to interns. I have interns pitch to me and say,
00:45:26
oh, I want to do this, and I say, OK, let's see how we can
00:45:28
fit it in. I'm open. Doesn't matter where you're based. I've got interns in
00:45:32
Ghana as well, too, and I've got someone in Nigeria. Love it. So
00:45:36
I'm really open to connecting globally. Doesn't matter what your race
00:45:40
is, where your background is, what your abilities are. I will
00:45:44
do all I can to make it work. So that's that plan for
00:45:47
2023. I want to
00:45:51
get some more partnerships with various organizations, but organizations
00:45:54
that really genuinely want to connect with the black community,
00:45:59
I'm not really focused on profit. I'm focused on impact. I'm
00:46:03
focused on value more than anything.
00:46:07
At the end of 2023, I want there to be at
00:46:11
least minimum 100 black professionals that have said,
00:46:14
listen, I found a job for your network, or, I've got a great opportunity for
00:46:17
your network. Thank you for connecting me. Thank you for helping me get to the
00:46:21
next step in my career. And I want companies to turn around and say, you've
00:46:24
helped us get incredible talent. For me,
00:46:28
if I just have that by any means, I'd be like, okay, great.
00:46:32
Let's go again. 2024. Let's double it. Let's double it. Let's keep
00:46:35
going because that's the mission. And
00:46:39
hopefully maybe not for 2023, but I want Black
00:46:43
Create Connect to be Create Connect as a
00:46:46
franchise where I actually empower other community leaders
00:46:50
from other marginalized groups to create their own network. So you
00:46:53
might be from I don't know, you might be Latina,
00:46:57
but you might be from LGBTQ plus background, or you might
00:47:01
have particular abilities. It can be whatever it is I want to
00:47:04
eventually have. That the reason why I don't have that now, because people might be
00:47:07
thinking, why you only focus on black. What's the reason
00:47:11
for that? I can only, I guess, connect and relate
00:47:15
with those experiences. So I don't want to speak on experiences
00:47:19
and lead out in a community that I'm not part
00:47:22
of. I'd rather empower another leader to
00:47:26
follow a similar kind of footprint, and we can share ideas on
00:47:30
how to do it, but I would love to empower someone else to do it
00:47:33
for their community. That's what I'm about. That'll be great. So you can
00:47:36
basically hand over the blueprint or the 100%,
00:47:40
the business model. Thing, you can hand over to someone exactly. And say, look,
00:47:44
the communities. Exactly. Fantastic. I'm really excited
00:47:48
about what 2023 and beyond has for you, Alicia. Thank you. Thank you
00:47:52
for blessing us with your presence. Where can people find you and black create, connect.
00:47:56
Thank you. Thank you for having me, Adrian. I appreciate it.
00:48:01
So to follow for that, Create, Connect, first and
00:48:05
foremost. Podcasts, Spotify,
00:48:08
YouTube, Apple, podcast.
00:48:11
Black, spelt normally. Create spelt normally.
00:48:15
Connect, spelt normally. All one word on social
00:48:19
media. Instagram TikTok twitter. Again, exact same
00:48:22
thing. All one word, no spaces in between to
00:48:26
connect with myself. If you want to see more of me, I'm on
00:48:30
LinkedIn. You'll see Alicia
00:48:33
Richardson. If you search me, it's Alicia R. But then you'll see, like, a
00:48:37
beige background, my hair's up. You'll know it's me.
00:48:40
You'll know it's me. You will. And I mean
00:48:44
instagram's. Just vibes. So don't worry about that.
00:48:48
They'll start finding you now, they're
00:48:51
going to send a search crew to go and find you on Instagram. I mean,
00:48:54
if you find me, just know that's Alicia on Instagram
00:48:58
and that's enjoyment. I'm not doing anything crazy. I just, like, turn up and look
00:49:02
cute, that's all. So, yeah. So connect with me on those platforms.
00:49:05
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing this. So we'll have all of those links in the
00:49:09
show notes you can head over to
00:49:11
www.thesoundofaccra.com/alicia, you know, imagine that you got your own
00:49:15
page. So for all of the links, nuggets, wisdom references
00:49:18
that she's dropped on this episode, and other than that, on your way out,
00:49:22
please, like, leave us a comment, let us know what you think of this episode
00:49:26
and subscribe and Apple Spotify listeners, give us a five
00:49:29
star review, and we'll see you in the next episode. Thank you so much, guys,
00:49:33
for listening. Take care. Thank you. You thank you so much, Adrian. Pleasure.