Mental Health Awareness Week

So. Mental Health Awareness Week. Everyone’s been talking about it. I’ve jumped on the band wagon. Clearly.

I am someone who has actively advocated the importance of emotional well-being. If you’re a regular listener of my podcast, you’ll know that with every series I have included a bonus episode with Uschi, who used to be my counsellor. I’ve listed where you can listen to these episodes at the end of this blog post. We talk about her top three ‘Keeping It Reals’ that we should all live by generally, how to overcome your childhood and affirmations vs afformations- what’s that last one? Listen to the episode!

I’m writing this at 11pm on a weeknight…when I promised myself I would improve on my ‘sleep hygiene’ and make sure I get a good solid 8 hours sleep per night. Alas, that’s not going to happen tonight, because now my mind is whirring away with what I want to say in this particular post.

It shouldn’t take a ‘Mental Health Awareness Week’ for us to acknowledge how vital it is for us to be talking about depression, emotional well-being, anxiety, bi-polar, psychosis etc, without it being a taboo subject. I use to tell my friends that depression (and the like) is like a cancer of the mind. Not from personal experience – I can’t say I have been depressed or lived with an illness that affects the mind. But I have been around people close to me who live with depression and psychosis. And in my not so distant past I have felt despair. I know how tough it is when you can’t think straight, when you can’t see the wood for the trees, when it feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel…except there is… always… light at the end of the tunnel. Cliché 🤷🏻‍♀️

I want to share what helped me… and it was counselling. I’ve written about the benefits before so I won’t repeat myself (check out this previous blog post here). But I did have another great tip to share from Uschi…

In my sessions with her I used this term ‘get a grip’ consistently, not just about myself but when I was talking about others too. Needless to say, it really isn’t helpful to have this mindset and expectation of oneself… or others!

For me, I used this term as a way of blocking my feelings. I’d put on a show for everyone, the smile was always on display. In 1:1 chats with people I would breakdown…sometimes when there wasn’t time for those chats, I’d sit alone, in my car, in the carpark at work, at the end of a long day of ‘keeping up appearances’ and just cry. Proper snotball sobbing (attractive). Then I’d give myself a hard time for allowing myself to cry and keep telling myself ‘I need to get a grip’.

My expectation of others was not down to a lack of empathy. I used to be quite the people pleaser and always put others before myself. It was more because I would build resentment to those I was ‘pleasing’ and myself. I would wish they would change and just ‘get a grip’ because I felt like I was being taken for a mug. And then I’d beat myself up for not doing anything about it – and that’s no good for no-one.

So Uschi’s tip on getting over ‘getting a grip’ was to put my hand on my heart and just allow myself to feel what I feel. If you follow me on social media, you’ll know that I refer to ‘Hand on Heart’ a lot and use these emojis ✋🏼 on ❤️… A LOT! I’ve had many transformative tips over the last two years and this has been one of the most important ones… because it has finally helped me LISTEN TO MYSELF! Sounds like a weird thing to say, but I never listened to myself before. I ignored myself. I put myself last. Every. Single. Time.

By taking a few moments to put ✋🏼 on ❤️ and just sit with my feelings and acknowledge them, it is easier to ‘let go’ of any negative energy because I confront those feelings head on. Then I figure out what I need to do to resolve them… and more often than not in my case, the resolution is always an act of self-compassion, i.e., setting boundaries. This means saying ‘no’ or ‘not right now’ or ‘I can do this instead’. This approach has been life changing. Because now I set clear expectations from the off. I don’t put everything all on my own shoulders to sort and in turn I have been respected more for it (in some cases I haven’t been and there has been resentment from the other person but I no longer have the people pleasing side of me. I am now OK with them not being OK).

So that’s it…from Uschi – ✋🏼 on ❤️ feel what you feel and from me… set boundaries. I make it sound easy. It isn’t. But with time and practice it becomes a lot easier. Remember to read the previous blog post I referred to earlier because I share some useful info on who to follow on Insta for inspiration!

Oh and I do have another tip – a recent discovery – the Wim Hof Method! It’s a breathing technique that just opens me up and has really helped transform my meditating! Check out Russell Brand’s podcast Under The Skin. He has a specific episode with Wim Hof which you can listen to here. Fast forward in at 59 minutes and 17 seconds. This breath work is an amazing way to get a natural high…it gives me the tingles! I’ve been doing this first thing every morning for the last couple of months… it’s the best way to start the day!

Here are the podcast episodes with Uschi I mentioned earlier: Her Keeping It Reals, How To Overcome Your Childhood, Affirmations vs Afformations.

If you need help with your emotional well-being there are affordable alternatives to private counselling (just because NHS waiting lists are huge). Better Help could work for you. There are also the charities Mind and Samaritans who can offer you support. In the meantime, I hope the podcast episodes I have shared goes some way to helping you or someone you know. 🙏🏼🙂

Creative Diversity Network Fourth Cut Diamond Report

The Creative Diversity Network (CDN) published their Fourth Cut report earlier this year. Whilst this blog sets out to give a quick snapshot of the report, I would encourage you to set aside an hour (with a cuppa) to fully invest your attention in reading this report from start to finish, and truly take in these sobering stats.

Diamond is a tool not a solution

Creative Diversity Network, 2021

If you’re an influencer or key decision maker in the industry – particularly at an indie – you can use this report to help inform your recruitment strategy and set achievable targets – not just to meet a ‘quota’ but to really consider the likelihood of green-lit commissions going ahead, where you will advertise your roles for each commission and how diverse the talent pool will be in each of the places you publicise a role. You can find support from the bigger broadcasters to help you crew up a production – Channel 4 are going to great lengths to help with the creation of their regional hubs in Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow and ITV’s Creative Diversity Partner has spoken at a recent ScreenSkills event (which I will blog about separately) to openly offer support – even if you’re not working on an ITV production. Bristol based, Gritty Talent are working towards launching an app this Spring where you can search for diverse talent in one place. Find out more here.

Report Headlines

This is the fourth year of data collection from 36,000 diversity forms completed from 74,000 TV productions. The data spans the period from 1st August 2019 to 31st July 2020. This is the largest annual sample to date.

Contributions made by disabled people and those over 50 on and off screen

CDN stated last year that these two groups were ones that needed attention, in terms of increasing their representation in the industry.

Whilst there have been encouraging increases in the contributions made by disabled people, this group is still under represented with only 5.8% working off screen, which is well below the national workforce estimate of 17%. Disabled people made only 8.2% of on-screen contributions, despite comprising of 18% of the population.

For the over 50’s, off screen contributions were at 21.5%, where the national workforce estimate is 31% and 25.5% on screen against 36% of the UK population.

Contributions made by ethnically diverse people on and off screen

It is disappointing to see that off screen stats have fallen from 12.3% last year (2018-2019) to 11.8%, which is below the national workforce estimate of 13%. This reflects the findings of the Race and Ethnic Diversity Deep Dive Diamond report (published by the CDN last October. I wrote about this report in a previous blog post) where they stated that South Asian representation continues to be low, with on-screen contributions having declined every year for the last four years. This prompted me to consider what the representation numbers are for East Asians and as I continued to read the report, CDN had of course outlined the stats for this group too which is comparably lower to any other ethnic group:

It’s not clear how much Covid has had a negative impact on these stats. There was a rise of unemployed freelancers when productions were cancelled back in April 2020. It is likely that Covid played a part in the decrease of the number of diverse freelancers working on productions once they resumed. I am aware that some freelancers had taken up PAYE work in other sectors to maintain an income.

Drama

Drama saw the fewest off screen contributions made by disabled and ethnically diverse people. Contributions were at just 2.7% from disabled people – down from 4.7% last year. And 5.9% from ethnically diverse people, compared to 8.6% in the previous year.

Senior Roles

Women, transgender, ethnically diverse and disabled people continue to be less well represented in senior roles.

The number of women working in senior roles fell from 50.4% last year to 47.1% this year. Women are particularly poorly represented in the role of Directors at 29% and as Writers where there was a fall from 38.1% last year to 33.4% this year.

When it came to ethnically diverse and disabled people, their contributions were as follows:

  • Disabled Writer contributions at 3.5%
  • Disabled Director contributions at 4.9%
  • Ethnically Diverse Writer contributions at 6.5%
  • Ethnically Diverse Director contributions at 8.4%

This table outlined where each senior role reflects the UK workforce and the level of action required to increase representation:

Craft and Tech Roles

Unsurprisingly, these roles are highly gendered with more women working in Hair and Make Up and more men working in Lighting, Camera and Sound:

What next?

Doubling Disability

CDN are taking a collaborative approach to improve the representation of disabled people by partnering with Diamond Broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Channel 5/Viacom CBS and now UKTV) and other CDN members. The aim of the Doubling Disability project is to double the percentage of disabled people working off screen to 9%. The project will be extended to the end of 2021 given the impacts of the global pandemic. Despite the extension, CDN has stated that additional efforts will be required to meet this target. An interim report outlining progress will be published later this Spring.

Everyday Diversity Project

This is led by the University of Glasgow and in partnerships with CDN and the British Film Institute. It is based on extensive academic research, which is being used to inform the creation of practical tools for the screen industries.

More focused reporting

Following the positive response to CDN’s ‘deep-dive’ report into racial and ethnic diversity last October, there is a demand for more detailed reporting. CDN will look to publish a further subject-focused report in 2021. I imagine this will be around October time again.

My summary

I think the work CDN do is incredibly invaluable. I’m looking forward to reading more reports from them because I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to stats and figures 🤓 😅 and more importantly, the work they’re doing to provide such useful reporting can help to build lasting tangible change 🙌🏼💪🏼👍🏼

To read The Fourth Cut report in full click here.

What to look for in a counsellor

Following on from my last blog post I had promised to write about what to look for in a counsellor. Since I have been very open about receiving counselling and its benefits, I have been asked a few times now how I went about finding my own counsellor.

THE WHY

Firstly, I think it’s essential to establish WHY you feel you need counselling. The ‘why’ will obviously be because you’re not feeling good. You do not need to have experienced a huge traumatic event to validate gaining access to help through counselling. Equally, there will be more complexities in any indivdiual case.

I have decided to write about it to share my own lived experience more widely because when sharing it on a 1:2:1 basis, it has been of benefit to those who have reached out to me.

My advice is to work out WHY you’re not feeling good…what is the root cause? That’s where journaling can help – do click on the link above to my last blog post on journaling to find out more. Once you have identified WHY (whether through journaling or another method) then you can work out who is best placed to help you. When you know why then you know how… it’s not that simple though, because it may not be clear what type of counsellor can help you straight away – it’ll take time to figure that out… so how do you do that?

THE HOW

I didn’t look for credentials or the qualifications of a counsellor. I went with someone who aligned with my values. For me, I wasn’t buying a product… it’s not like buying a washing machine for example, where you look up reviews to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck. Yes it’s a service and yes you are paying for it, but that exchange is just as much of an emotional transaction as it a financial one. You will be opening up on all sorts of past experiences and you need to be comfortable sharing that with someone you trust.

Go with your gut and try not to be sceptical. Most counsellors have an online profile that outlines how they help their clients. My approach was based on location initially (so this was pre-Covid where the thought of online counselling hadn’t even crossed my mind) and then reading profiles of those counsellors near me. I was very lucky. If I’m honest it felt like the universe was helping me out on my discovery. The counsellor I chose is German (I have a close friend who lives in Munich), she loves nature (as do I) and does walking therapy – I love walking in nature and thought this was a great alternative to sitting in a room. Sadly, I didn’t do walking therapy as I couldn’t find a suitable time to do that with her, but it’s basically going out for a walk along an area in Bristol called Clifton Downs surrounded by trees, grass and nature, sharing your ‘turmoil’ in what seems to be in a really tranquil way.

Of course now, the world is your lobster! 🌍🦞 and you can find a counsellor to work with from anywhere since the use of video conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Meet have become the norm due to the pandemic. So I’d say, rather than location, focus on your values and interests first – what are the things you like doing? What traits do you admire in a person? On their profiles, some counsellors will talk about their hobbies and how they interact with their clients/patients. What I am writing here seems very similar to the process of dating! 😅 But really, it is sort of like that. You need to find a counsellor you will ‘click’ with, who you will trust to guide you as you share your deepest and most private thoughts and feelings.

THE THEN WHAT?

Throughout your first four sessions or so you’re likely to be doing all of the talking…it’s an information gathering exercise. The counsellor needs that time to get a full picture of all of your experiences that have led to where you are now. There maybe an element of trial and error here, as in you may not find the right ‘fit’ first time – just like dating! But you will know from the first session, instinctively and immediately, whether they will be right for you – and some counsellors offer a free 20-30 minute introductory ‘taster’ session, so it is possible to find the right one for you without spending a penny. To reiterate; base your decision on your gut, how their values align with yours and not what letters they have after their name. They can have all the letters in all the world after their name…and still be shit at the job. Your counsellor shouldn’t be the best one on the market, they should be the best one for YOU.

INVESTMENT vs SPEND

In my last blog post, I offered advice on where to find affordable counselling services online such as Better Help. In the UK you can be placed on a waiting list to receive free ‘Talking Therapy’ however, the waiting list for such services are very long. Many employers in the UK have Employee Assisted Programmes where you can access x6 free sessions to a counsellor. If you can afford to pay for the services but are reluctant to spend money on it then my advice would be this…think of it as an investment rather than a spend. Once you have found the right counsellor for you, I guarantee it will change the way you approach everything. You will understand yourself better, you will understand other people better and that inevitably leads to living your life better.

USEFUL RESOURCES

I interviewed my counsellor on my podcast. I have recorded two bonus episodes with her (1 per series and at the time of writing this post we have another recording for Series 3 scheduled which will be published on Wednesday 30th March 2021). Links to listen to these episodes via Apple Podcast and Spotify are further below. In the first bonus episode we talked about two interconnected frameworks which were complete revelations to me upon hearing about them… The Drama Triangle and The Empowerment Dynamic.

Basically we all go about our lives between these three character states: the Victim, the Rescuer and the Persecutor. These characters ‘sit’ at each point of The Drama Triangle (which is inverted) and is anxiety based/problem focused. What you are encouraged to do is ‘flip’ this and work to The Empowerment Dynamic, where the three character states switch: the Victim becomes the Creator, the Rescuer become the Coach (or as my counsellor referred to it as the Enabler – which I prefer because it sounds more empowering without a ‘hierarchy’ but then it is just semantics – ‘coach’ and ‘enabler’ are the same thing I suppose!) and the Persecutor becomes the Challenger. All super interesting stuff! In the second bonus episode we talked about three aspects from a book I read by The School of Life called How To Overcome Your Childhood. I also wrote a blog post about this book which you can read here.

Bonus Episode 1 on Apple Podcasts Bonus Episode 1 on Spotify

Bonus Episode 2 on Apple Podcasts Bonus Episode 2 on Spotify

I’d also point you in the direction of this brilliant Instagram account: @the.holistic.psychologist owned by Dr. Nicole LePera. I have a love/hate relationship with social media 😬😅🤦🏻‍♀️, however, I must say that without social media I would never have encountered the brilliant advice Dr. Nicole shares. And even more excitingly, she has just released a book called How To Do The Work.

I’m never really sure how many people actually engage with my blog (I should really check the stats 😬😅🤦🏻‍♀️) but if this helps just one person – it’s been worth the few hours it has taken me to write this.

Photo by Anthony Shkraba from Pexels

The Journey to Journaling

I’ve already written a little on the subject of journaling under the About page on my website. I was prompted to write about it in more detail in the form of a blog post because I was recently asked; Why do people do it? How do you even start to journal? What’s the point?

I want to reiterate that it was suggested to me to start journaling by a fab friend – it wasn’t something I discovered myself. This one bit of advice has CHANGED MY LIFE. It helps to clear my mind and free’s me of tension.

The image featured in this post is of the inside cover of my journal and on that is a drawing of me by an ex-colleague of mine called Martin. I worked with him at Practice Plan. He is a really talented graphic designer and artist. It was Martin who came up with my favourite nick name ‘Glam Tan’, well it was originally ‘Glamourous Tanya,’ as you can see! But then over time it evolved to become much ‘snappier’! My colleagues at Practice Plan used to take the p*ss out of me for wearing a little handbag at events I was managing – ALL THE TIME…. I never took it off 😅 It was because I had everything I needed in that little bag, as a true events professional does; my phone, a pen and piece of paper, lip balm, paracetmol, a mirror, my purse (with actual cash), hand sanitiser (before it became a proper thing because of Covid), a USB stick and finally it had a handy front pocket where I could easily attach a walkie talkie or talk back comms. Sadly the bag is no more – it started to disintegrate. Anyway, I digress…

I thought it would be useful to share my top three tips to start your journey to journaling, in case it is something you have thought about but not sure how to go about it. And if you have never thought about it before… I would strongly recommend you do!

TIP #1 : Be strategic and specific all at the same time

It can be a bit daunting to unleash all your thoughts on to paper. I’d start with being a little strategic about what you want to gain as a result of journaling. Whilst I’m using the word ‘strategic’ as if it’s a corporate task, it is actually the best kind of baby step to take before you get to a point of doing a complete brain dump on the page. So start with the bigger picture – how do you want to feel overall – and be specific – do you want to feel ‘lighter’ because bearing that specific load feels heavier and heavier each day? Do you want to feel ‘clearer’ about the direction you want to take with a specific situation? Do you want to feel ‘better’ about a specific aspect of yourself? Notice I have used the word ‘specific’ with every example here…if you’re not specific (can I write specific any more times here?! 😬😅) about whatever it is you want to resolve, then your journal becomes like a ‘dear diary’ with no aim. I realise I’m stating being strategic on the one hand and being specific on the other, which is a bit of an oxymoron… in this case being strategic and specific is intertwined, you need to get an idea of the bigger picture first, to allow you to focus in on what part of the picture needs to be edited to make it look better for all time!

TIP #2 : Mind mapping is your mate!

Once you’ve ascertained the point of your journal (which will change and evolve over time, depending on what situations you have resolved) then you need to get more specific with the specifics. This is brain dump time. It’s about drilling down, getting to the nitty gritty of why you’re feeling the way you are about a certain situation or even a certain person. Start off with that question you’re always asking yourself – and deep down you know what it is, even if on the surface you feel you don’t. This requires you to let go of your ego, to let go of the fear and get comfortable with being uncomfortable – because you need to be able to sit with your thoughts. To help you get to a point of sitting with your thoughts, I will suggest to you what my counsellor once suggested to me… she said to put my hand on my heart and let myself feel what I feel. And, in case you’re not familiar with what a mind map is, you draw a circle in the middle of the page and within that circle you write either the situation you want to resolve or that question you’re always asking yourself. Then you draw arrows out from the circle and write the first thoughts that come to your mind, without any hesitation. DO NOT OVER THINK IT. You basically let rip. You’ll be amazed what comes out.

TIP #3

Identify trends. It is highly likely that you will have more than one situation you want to resolve in your life and more than one question you’re always asking yourself. So repeat the above for each situation and/or question as time goes by. Then every month or so, look back at what you have written in your mind maps and see if you can spot any trends. Are there any patterns of the same type of thoughts for each situation or question? Are you repeating certain negative thoughts or noting repeat behaviours (that are likely to be unhelpful or harmful) when trying to deal with that situation? Are you even trying to deal with it or are you just living with it? Maybe you’ll realise that you’re being consistently treated in an unacceptable way, but it wasn’t something you acknowledged until you wrote it down. Maybe it’s you who is treating someone else in an unacceptable way. Writing your thoughts, helps you to organise them. It gives you clarity in a way that nothing else can – but only if you’re willing to do the work and as the youth say, ‘get woke’. Yes, talking to friends is always a great way to help you, yet sometimes friends can be biased, they may tell you what you want to hear so as to not ‘rock the boat.’ Whatever it is you’re experiencing, may be as a result of how you are behaving and that may need to change for the better.

AND NOW WHAT?

So once you start journaling and you have identified the trends, then what do you do? Well, it might be that you can find books or articles to read up on about this particular situation or question you have asked yourself that can help you with figuring out the next steps. Or a listen to a podcast or watch a YouTube video that discusses this.

I would also encourage you to invest the time and – if you can afford to do so – money, in counselling. In my next blog post, I’ll share advice on how to find the right counsellor for you. In the mean time, if you have read this and need help now, there is an online counselling service called Better Help that I’ve recently heard about as both Elizabeth Day and Russell Brand have talked about them on their podcasts.

Feel free to message me via the contact form here or comment below if after reading this you’d like further advice on journaling. In the spirit of service… I am happy to help. 😁

TV Roles: Diversity in the Detail? From BBC Digital Cities

This week, the BBC hosted another Digital Cities event that included a series of masterclasses, workshops and panel sessions. Previous events are available for free on demand here. I’d encourage you to check out the virtual events they have held over the last year via the link above – they’ve done a lot of very interesting and engaging stuff!

On Wednesday 27th January they held a fascinating event entitled TV Roles: Diversity in the Detail? Hosted by TV Journalist Babita Sharma with Deborah Williams, Executive Director at Creative Diversity Network (CDN) as her guest. It was an open and honest discussion around their lived experiences of working in the broadcast industry as ethnically diverse people. Their conversation was structured around the CDN’s latest deep dive report (published in October 2020) around the race and ethnic diversity data outlined in the CDN’s Third Cut Report which was published in Spring of 2020. The Third Cut report represents data from more than 600,000 contributions by individuals working on and off-screen on qualifying television content produced for the five main Diamond broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4, ITV, C5/ViacomCBS and Sky) and broadcast between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2019. I should explain that the CDN exists to enable the UK Broadcasting industry to increase diversity and inspire inclusion both on and off screen. They work with their members towards a broadcasting industry with equality at its core. They also manage Diamond, the world’s first and original online diversity data collection system, for the UK television and broadcasting industry.

The deep dive report on Race and Ethnic Diversity is segmented into four parts:

  1. On-screen vs off-screen
  2. Genre
  3. Senior roles
  4. Craft and technical roles

What struck me was when Deborah shared one particular slide (see below) and her words were: “It’s sad.” Babita concurred and said, “that’s the word that leaps out to me – it’s an experience that I totally understand. I’ve been in the media for almost 20 years now. I have seen that I am one of very very few…what saddens me is there hasn’t been a massive amount of change when you’re looking at this data. Are they reflective of how far we’ve come?” Deborah’s response: “Yes unfortunately it is.” – i.e., we haven’t really come that far when it comes to increasing diversity in senior roles.

If you’ve read my #BAMEOver article, you’ll know I have decided not to use this acronym in my vocabulary any longer… for now, I’ll gloss over the fact that it has been used in this report.

There were many discussion points throughout the hour so I’m going to share in an ‘easy to digest’ manner.

How can we build structural change?

Deborah talked about the number of training courses and masterclasses that have taken place over the last year. One masterclass she had attended showed the root of the problem. It was about directing popular drama/ continuing drama where an audience member asked “how do I learn to do this, where do I train?” The session presenter (who has worked in the industry) responded with “you just learn on the job.” Deborah explained that this is the old catch 22 situation. She went on to reveal that 40 years ago she embarked on a career as an actor. However, she found she couldn’t be an actor unless she had an equity card but she couldn’t act without an equity card. What is clear to Deborah is that people at the top of the game, learnt on the job and had more opportunities.

How can we maintain momentum?

Before this discussion point it had been explained what the big broadcasters were doing (I talk about this in my previous blog post) and Deborah highlighted Sky’s most recent announcement around their new Diversity Targets. She described this as: “a real commitment around retention and progression for black people and others from an ethnically diverse background, to move on up in the organisation.”

Babita then stated that, “we need to have honest conversations about data; around how it’s collated and reported on… you look at the representation on news for example and then see the data and it does not correlate,” – meaning that the data outlines there is more representation compared to what is actually seen on screen and behind the scenes in the newsroom.

Deborah went on to explain that the Diamond data focuses on UK transmission only and that they don’t collect BBC World Service data. This is to avoid binary collection that will skew or weight the data – and this is critical – not to say it’s not needed but CDN don’t do it. Deborah goes on to say that, “Open, Transparent and Honest are the three words I work by – if you’re serious about this stuff, then you’re willing to accept to listen and work together to find solutions.” Babita added, “It’s ok to have that conversation!

Deborah also wants to see how the next Ant and Dec will be nurtured – “how are we going to make a pathway for the rough diamonds to shine through? Because if we’re not nurturing them now they won’t be able to get on camera straight away without development.” Deborah did make a point about the fact that Ant and Dec were able to easily push boundaries without anyone ‘blocking’ them; they went from being child actors, to pop stars, to kids TV presenter and then making it into prime time TV – and staying there. Babita described the experiences of others in the industry who were being ‘blocked’ by outlining the thoughts of decision makers: “We’ll put you in Countryfile and you’ll stay there.” (I knew Babita was referring to Anita Rani in this instance, although she didn’t state that’s who she was referring to – read these articles from the Guardian about Anita Rani in 2016 and again in 2019 and you’ll realise why Babita referred to this as an example).

There has to be diversity at every level

Here Deborah spoke about the fact that there is a real issue in Drama – where most of the investment goes – because there is a lack of diversity in commissioning, production and senior roles: “This allows for the perpetuation of stereotyping and ill thought out ways of representing.”

Babita spoke of her personal experiences in pitching The Corner Shop to commissioners with the conversation going like this:

Commissioner: “We’re not sure about the popularity of that subject… and even if we do it, we’re not sure about you telling it.”

Babita: “I grew up above a corner shop.”

Commissioner: “Yes but, you don’t have enough experience in the industry.”

Babita: “I’ve spent 17 years as TV journalist.”

Commissioner: “Yes but…

Changing the story landscape… an optimistic assessment

As the event drew to a close, Babita asked Deborah whether she was optimistic for the future. Deborah said:

I am optimistic because I’m seeing it what is possible – it is becoming wider, e.g., Bridgerton, Married at First Sight Australia etc. The more we share our stories and narratives in a public space, the easier it becomes to tell people that those stories need to be told.”

I could relate to that last sentence. Some of you may have noticed that I have been sharing a lot of my own personal story recently. I haven’t had the backlash I thought I would. If anything, it may have opened up more doors for me. It is my hope that more doors will open, not just for me, but for every person who may have had challenges ‘making it’ in the industry.

How to Overcome Your Childhood

This is a book that you need to be ready to read if you experienced trauma during childhood. You may not be ready to open that pandora’s box yet. It’s written by The School Of Life and I came across it as it was recommended by the author, Catherine Gray, on her Instagram page. Incidentally, I read her brilliant book, The Unexpected Joy Of Being Single, which I will write about in a future blog post.

How to Overcome Your Childhood explores just how much your parents have an impact on the person you are – which is a narrative that we hear time and time again these days. However, what this book does, is explain in layman’s terms how exactly that happens in all possible situations/examples. It doesn’t just discuss trauma. You may have had a very happy non-eventful type of childhood, but you’ve turned out to be a ‘people pleaser’ or an ‘over achiever’ (which the book points out aren’t necessarily good things) and this will be a direct result of the way your parents behaved with or around you.

I have recently come across an amazing Instagram account the.holistic.psychologist owned by Dr. Nicole LePera. I’d encourage everyone to follow her account as she also discusses the issues of childhood traumas. And like The School of Life, she explains that when it comes to trauma, “it’s not so much about the event [so does not necessarily have to be catastrophic]; it’s about how the event impacts us based on the support system of those closest to us. How it impacts our nervous system. And, how it disconnects us from our true authentic self. This is why few adults even know what their own needs are. It’s also why so few adults have boundaries or even know how to set them.”

Dr. Nicole has also written a book: How to do the Work – this is going to be my next book purchase! After I’ve read all the books I bought in lockdown 1.0 😅

Going back to the book this blog post is about – How to Overcome Your Childhood – it’s split into three parts; Introduction, Childhood-derived Challenges, Ways Forward

An absolutely fascinating read and it won’t take you long either – it took me around half a day. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop.

MY ONE TAKEAWAY

In the introduction there is a section titled ‘Emotional Inheritance,’ which features a table that lists all the possible ‘childhood difficulties’ one may have encountered and beside each difficulty listed is an ‘adult consequence.’ This simple yet brilliant table is a bit of context setting to help you understand the rest of the topics explored throughout the book. Directly after this table, there is a chapter called Attraction to Difficult Partners – which features another table outlining certain behaviours displayed by a partner, our ‘child’ response to those behaviours and what our ‘adult’ response should be. I used to be quite sceptical when I heard sentences like ‘it’s your inner child coming out.’ However, this book combined with the counselling I received, changed my mind and now I realise the importance of understanding our past (every facet of it, down into the depth of the corners of our minds) in order to live a more fulfilled future. Once you’ve got it all out there and truly come to terms with it all… then that’s it. The world’s your lobster! 🌍🦞

Diversity & Equal Opportunities Stats in TV & Radio 2019/20

Over the course of 2020 I had read every white paper and report under the sun about diversity, equality and inclusion in the creative industries, with a particular focus on TV and Radio.

In November 2020, Ofcom (the appointed regulator of the broadcast industry), published their latest report. It made for an interesting read given everything that has happened in the last year. Here’s the lowdown from the report:

There are x3 key areas where Ofcom wants to see tangible progress during 2021

  1. Critical Under-representation – greater progress in the representation of disabled people on all levels and a faster increase in the diversity of crucial decision-makers (senior management, as well as employees in commissioning, content and creative roles), specifically addressing the under-representation of colleagues from an African or Caribbean heritage.
  2. Understanding class and geographic diversity – Ofcom have acknowledged that a person’s socio-economic background and where they live has a massive effect on their opportunities in broadcasting. This particular area, is something close to my heart given my own background.
  3. Accountability – Ofcom expects broadcasters – in particular those in leadership roles – to be accountable for delivering not just diversity initiatives but real change by:
  • setting clear measurable workforce targets and diversity and inclusion targets, with tangible outcomes
  • undertaking better, more transparent, evaluation of work designed to produce change, so that efforts can be focused and results accelerated
  • holding production partners to account for meeting diversity requirements

Update on Progress of Protected Characteristics

The stats on the progress of each protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act are insightful. I’ll share the key ones where infographics were produced.

Disability: only 7% of TV employees and 6% of Radio employees are disabled compared with 19% of the working age population in the UK.

Ethnically Diverse Groups: Ofcom refers to this group as Minority Ethnic Groups (MEG). Since reading the #BAMEOver Statement for the UK, written by Inc Arts – details of which are in my #BAMEOver article – I will never refer to myself or any other ethnically diverse person as being within a ‘minority’. I plan to write to Ofcom to share this statement with a view that they change the language used in future reports. This group – and particularly those from an African or Caribbean heritage – are under-represented in senior management. There are 8% of those who are ethnically diverse working in senior management in TV, compared with a national workforce average of 12%. Only 1% of this group are from an African or Caribbean heritage, compared with 3% of the working population.

And below you can see a detailed breakdown of people working in the industry by ethnicity:

Gender: This focuses on the representation of women. It shows that that the proportion of women closely reflects the UK working age population (47% of which is female). However, they remain under-represented at senior levels.

It’d be good to see Ofcom obtaining stats on other genders, e.g., those who identify as being transgender or non binary etc.

Social Mobility: Last year’s report was the first time that socio-economic backgrounds/ class were reported on. The volume of data submitted was limited however, and it’s the same for this year. That said, it formally shows what was thought to be the case; that those working in TV are twice as likely to have attended private school as people in the working age population more generally and that twice as many TV workers come from ‘professional’ family backgrounds.

Data, data and more data!

I cannot stress the importance of data collection like this. The industry has to understand where they are now to then figure out how to address where we need to be. That process has to include creating a long term strategy with clear, tangible, measurable and actionable objectives. Not just with broadcasters but also with independent production companies. I would caveat this by stating that indies need the support of the big broadcasters generally and more specifically by the commissioners. Because once a commission is green-lit, it’s all systems go and productions simply do not have the time or resources needed to nurture diverse talent. That’s why in the past, they’ve generally picked up the phone to people they know, and the people they know look like them and that generally tends to be people of European ancestral heritage. I know it’s easier said than done when the deadlines loom and the pressure increases to deliver a production in a really short space of time. The whole process needs time, money and most of all commitment to ‘do the right thing’. However, things are changing for the better, or at least there has been some momentum. There is a lot to do but the intention for change is there like never before.

What are the broadcasters doing?

Channel 4 announced Babita Bahal as Head of Creative Diversity in November 2019. She started her role in early 2020 having previously been the Diversity and Inclusion Lead for BBC Content. Channel 4 have shown great commitment to the diversity cause by opening new Headquarters in Leeds and also opening Creative Hubs in Glasgow and Bristol. They have also set a target of having 50% of its production spend in the Nations and Regions by 2023. In the summer of 2020, they announced the launch of their Indie Accelerator in a two year partnership with The TV Collective. This will focus on matching commissioning heads of department for unscripted genres with independent production companies led by ethnically diverse people. They have also launched The Black Takeover – an ambitious day of programming for Autumn 2021 which will see Channel 4’s entire programming schedule fronted by Black talent as part of the Channel’s ongoing commitment to improve Black representation both on and off screen. And applications are open right now until 29th January 2021 for their Production Training Scheme, with opportunities available right across the UK in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff, North Wales and Glasgow.

ITV also launched their Diversity Acceleration Plan in the summer of 2020. This includes an initiative called ITV Step Up 60, designed to increase Diversity at senior levels of decision making in TV production, both within ITV Studios and independent producers. The ITV apprenticeship programme also has a remit to attract diverse talent. In the summer they announced the appointment of Ade Rawcliffe as Group Director of Diversity and Inclusion. Just before this they had appointed Nana Hughes as Head of Scripted Comedy. You can find out a little more about Nana in this Facebook Video where she talks about what she is looking to commission. She is joined by BBC 3 Comedy Commissioner, Sarah Asante.

The BBC appointed June Sarpong as Director of Creative Diversity, also in November 2019. It’s clear that through her leadership, many great events and initiatives have been delivered under the BBC Creative Diversity banner. She also led the creation of a Blueprint for Belonging which has received much praise in the industry. In December 2020, the BBC announced their Creative Diversity Plan to accelerate diverse representation on and off screen. Click here to find out more. On the BBC Creative Diversity page (link above) June shares a story about a nineteenth century abolitionist, Frederick Douglass – he was a man of African heritage who challenged the status quo. A former slave, he rose to be a trusted advisor to the US president Abraham Lincoln. Douglass argued that art and imagery provided a mechanism for societal self-refection, critique and progress. Through this story, June has reiterated the importance of diversity in the broadcast industry in such a poignant way.

If like me, you love reading a report, because I mean, who doesn’t?! 🤪😅 …then you can read the Ofcom Report in full here.

There’s a Reservoir of Resilience in your Brilliance!

This week’s blog was going to be about Ofcom’s report on Diversity and Equal Opportunities in TV and Radio, which was published back in November and a Screen Skills survey to understand current skills gaps and shortages, the impact of bloody Covid-19 (I now can’t just say Covid-19, the word ‘bloody’ always precedes it) on working practices and what the media and entertainment industry will look like in the future. BUT… then this week started with lockdown 3.0.

Instead I have decided to share my thoughts on resilience. At some point I will write a blueprint mapping out what I do to maintain ‘the reservoir of resilience in my brilliance’ which I will make available for free on my website soon. Some may say it’s a little cocky to describe oneself as possessing brilliance. I say it’s being self assured with a healthy dose of self confidence to boot. And yes, of course there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. No one likes a smart arse. But I can tell you, I ain’t no smart arse! 🤓🍑

So… where did this ‘reservoir of resilience’ I have come from? If you’ve read my #BAMEOver article (which was recently published on Thrive Global) you’ll know that I didn’t have the best of childhood’s… it could have been better, but then it could have been worse. Yet, those shitty experiences (and the few more that came after it) are the very things that have built this ‘reservoir of resilience’ in me. It laid solid foundations of my inner core and the subsequent building blocks to just… keep going. 2018 was the toughest year of my life, and it was that summer where the husband of one of my dearest friend’s said to me: “You’re always smiling,” in a kind of bemused way, as if he couldn’t believe it given everything that was going on. I will admit that for some time that was more ‘for show.’ It was my coping mechanism. That said, I’ve always had a naturally sunny disposition. You could say it’s innate. What is also innate in me is ‘Being More Kid.’ It’s true, I am a big kid. A responsible big kid I hasten to add… but nonetheless, I have always embraced a child like quality where my mission in life is to radiate joy… that’s my ‘superpower.’

Over the last year ‘Being More Kid’ and ‘Radiating Joy’ have been my two staple mantra’s. And when one lives on one’s own, the ability to ‘Be More Kid’ increases because no one else is around to watch! It’s bloody brilliant. Although I have to say, I know now that if I ever live with anyone else again, this is the kind of crazy shit they’ll have to put up with, because nothing or no-one is ever going to stop me from ‘Being More Kid’ and ‘Radiating Joy’!

So what does ‘Being More Kid’ mean exactly? Whatever you want it to! For me, it’s indulging in my two of my passions… Music and Dance. I pretend I am a combination of Madhuri Dixit (my favourite Bollywood actress… watch this dance number and you’ll realise why. I mean first off, she is proper beautiful, second off just look at how she moves!) and Beyonce (one of my favourite female singers…I mean, she is also proper beautiful and she also knows how to move to the groove baby!) I whack on my tunes, I move my coffee table over to make more room in my tiny living room and then I let go of my inhibitions, imagining I’m dancing on stage in front of a packed audience. I do all this completely sober by the way! But I can tell you it’s so much fun! I forget about the shit show going on out there and just pretend I’m the world’s biggest superstar and let rip, singing at the top of my voice. Malcolm (my 80 year old neighbour) hasn’t complained – he says he can’t hear me!

When it comes to ‘Radiating Joy’… I’ve done it more with the aim of affecting others in a positive way. Back in the day it was more face to face. Now it’s more online, through my LinkedIn and Instagram posts. I write without holding back. Maybe I do overshare, maybe it’ll put off future boyfriends, maybe it’ll put off future employers! But I do it all with a pure sincerity and joyfulness in a way where people respect me for ‘Keeping It Real.’ I know some people think I’m a bit deep or a bit ‘extra’. But this is me 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’ve let go of the fear of what people think about me now. I’m happy and I like to spread the joy I’ve found in myself and in my life. And when you ‘spread the joy,’ you get what you give. And I get back loads. I’ve had a few people say to me recently that they love reading my updates. I love that. I never write with the intent of getting people to ‘double tap.’ I write in the hopes it will make people smile. They don’t need to tell me it does, but when they do, it’s a lovely feeling.

So that’s it, that’s two of the ways I stay resilient (more to follow in that blueprint I’m going to write!) Is it a bit bonkers? Yes absolutely. Do I care? No I bloody well don’t. And if you ever get in touch or see me you better watch out because I will zap you with my joy radiation superpowers! 😁💥🔫 🦸🏻‍♀️

Visualising Your Goals

Just over 6 months ago, I joined a membership group called The Money Lounge – set up by The Money Whisperer. It’s a group for women to build ‘wealthy mindsets’ with a view to becoming financially resilient. Two weeks ago I booked a 1:1 coaching session and Emma – The Money Whisperer herself – walked me through a visualisation exercise. It was pretty powerful.

Joining this membership group has transformed my life in the same way that journaling has. {Read the About section of my website that outlines my ‘journaling journey!’}. Well, actually it’s transformed my approach with money more so my life, but things have changed for the better already as a result and I have no doubt those little changes will turn into big transformations.

If you’ve heard about the book The Secret, then you’ll be aware of The Law Of Attraction. I have been applying this in the last year or so and without delving into too much detail, it has been working for me. Basically – the premise is you attract whatever ‘energy’ you give out to the world. It may seem a bit ‘mystical’ and bit ‘woo woo’ – all I’d say is keep an open mind. There’s a film on YouTube about it – which is grating, well I found it grating – but work past the ‘fluff’, the dramatic music and the dramatic editing and be just be open. I’d encourage you to also watch The Secret: Dare To Dream which is available to watch on Netflix. Whilst it’s considered a ‘chick flick’ it outlines the theory of The Law Of Attraction in the form of a romantic film in a more ‘palatable’ fashion. And yes, I do like romantic films, so sue me.

A couple of days ago, one of my dearest friends and I had been messaging one another – catching up on all the goss! She suggested that I write a letter to myself on New Year’s Eve, outlining what I want to achieve and learn in the year 2021, what I’ll be most proud of and how I will feel at the time of opening this letter next New Year’s Eve. As you can see, I wrote the letter a day late! That aside, as I was writing this letter to my future self this New Year’s Day, I visualised what it would be like to achieve what I plan to set out to do. I have set myself three goals which I’m going to share because ‘putting it out there’ will make me accountable! There are tonnes of other things I want to do. But these are the main ones.

1: Sort out my broadcast career: to keep working in TV production in Bristol and to continue to advocate diversity in broadcast

2: Buy my home: I really want somewhere to call my own in the city of Bristol. I have grown to love this city more and more each day

3: I’m not going to share this one because I can either take it or leave it. I’ll be ready for it once I’ve achieved the first two goals – but – if this happens sooner then great…gotta keep myself open to new possibilities!

I took the letter with me to the beach for my New Year’s Day walk, as you can see 👆🏼(I was once given the name Glam Tan at a previous workplace…it’s one of my favourite nicknames!)

Whilst I was walking along I focused in on all the things I want to happen for me in 2021 and I daydreamed, i.e., visualised what it would be like when those things happen and how I would feel. Essentially I pretended that the things I want are not just ‘wants’ but are a reality. Let’s see what my energy brings back for me!

2021 better watch out!

Happy

I guess this is a weird post to share on Christmas Day but given how 2020 has turned out, I thought it would be good to share something useful that may help you as we head into 2021 with continued uncertainty – albeit a Covid-19 vaccine is in sight. So here it goes…

I first spotted this book on a bookshelf at Cheltenham Literature Festival 2016. The cover and title instantly got my attention. It was in my favourite colour (blue) and the title ‘Happy’ was a state I desperately wanted to be in. I appeared happy to many but the reality was the opposite. Turned out that this was the book that changed everything for me…

Incidentally, I did meet Derren Brown as he was doing a talk at the festival to promote the book and to do a book signing. I was co-managing the welcome desk at The Writers’ Room and as I was talking him through everything he needed to know, I was putting on his festival wristband. It’s one of those typical plastic festival type of wristbands, or as some of the guests/authors would say: “it’s like a hospital band!” I was trying to press the pin in to secure it on and as I did so, I caught the hairs from his arm into the pin bit. I was mortified 😱 I knew I had done it and I could see him wince, but I never said sorry. I just pretended it didn’t happen 🙈 Bless him, he did not say a thing to me about it and was so lovely. He also left a second part of his ticket for another show on one of the tables that had his full address on it… needless to say I made sure I got rid of it sharpish!

Anyway, I digress! I did find this book a hard read initially because Derren walks you through the timeline of humanity, with a specific focus on Stoicism. It was one of those books where I really needed to think and contemplate everything that was written in order to fully understand it. Stoicism stems from Greek Philosophy and the dictionary definition of it is: “the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint.” Turns out I was naturally very good at this without the prior understanding of Stoicism! However, whilst I was good at not displaying feelings publically, when alone, I often ‘turned into a bit of a mess’.

This book helped me enormously as it explains, quite eloquently, how we can effectively manage our emotions and the impacts of trauma by understanding that it is not a ‘birth right’ to be happy. Happiness is a choice and you have to ‘work at it.’

MY ONE TAKEAWAY

There was a phrase that Derren wrote about extensively in the book: “You can only control your own thoughts and actions.” This notion is so simple and was the game changer for me. I suddenly realised how much time I had spent being upset by other people in my life. I never moaned about it, I’ve never been a moaner. I’m a ‘get on with it’ type of woman. On the flipside however, because I used to bottle ‘stuff’ up, there would come a point where I would ‘go off like a bottle of pop.’ Not in an angry way but in a ‘Oh no, I really can’t stop crying my eyes out and oh god, now I’m snotting everywhere’ kind of way (attractive). BUT when it dawned on me that actually, regardless of whatever s**t life throws at me, I can determine how I feel about it and how I react to it, then I suddenly found myself to be much calmer. That’s not to say that everything was OK because I ‘made’ it OK. What happened as a result of being calmer, was that it gave me more clarity, and having more clarity opened my eyes to the world I was living in. Clarity, combined with certain ‘catalytic situations,’ gave me the strength to make the changes I needed to live a fulfilled life.

Derren doesn’t dismiss the fact that one can’t help feeling emotional, whether that’s sadness, anger or frustration about the loss of the loved one for example, or experiencing trauma such as abuse or losing a limb in an accident. But what he goes on to explain is that you have the power to change what that means to you.

If I’ve learnt anything over the last few years, it’s that the best person who can help you overcome hardship or trauma, is yourself. I would add to this to say that I am a big advocate for seeking help from others, such as friends and family and even a counsellor – actually especially a counsellor. That said, whilst they can listen to you and offer all the best advice in the world… it’s down to you to turn it into action. No one else can make it better but you.

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