THE COMPOUND EFFECT

A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of “Changing the narrative”, and finding the strength to walk away from situations that no longer honour you. I received so much positive feedback from that post, and with it being one year since I started blogging I wanted to thank all of you who read my blog and support my work. It means a lot to know that your voice is not only heard but positively affects those who come across it. 

DREAM NATION| I HAVE A DREAM CONFERENCE

“Being a Practical dreamer is a choice, the choice you make when you start to create your dream life rather than being a victim of your circumstances” 

- Claud Williams; Managing Director of Dream Nation 

Earlier this week I attended the Dream Nation “I have a dream” conference in Clapham Junctions' “The Grand”. The topics included, Personal finance, Branding and the importance of Resilience. I learnt so much that evening and decided to quickly put together this post to share with you guys the lessons I picked up that day. I began this blog because I wanted to create a space where I could share an honest insight into journeys, my own as well as other creatives, something I do with my “Convos With Chi” Series (look out for Volume 2 coming soon!) and what I loved most about the talk was how honest the speakers were about their journeys and the ongoing battles they face amidst all their successes. 

Below are some of my take away points & visuals from the night. 

1. Success is not Linear; people who are “successful” aren't immune to failure, they take L’s just as much as the next person, the difference is they choose to get up and be better each time. Similarly, just because we're struggling at one point in our lives doesn't mean that success is not for us or that we'll be struggling forever. In these times its important to practice resilience and know that our time is coming.
2.“Finding yourself” doesn't (always) happen over night, just because its taking a little longer to find your identity and your career path doesn't mean that its never going to happen. Coming into your true self is a life long task.
  3.  Perfection is overrated, unrealistic and can become a huge problem factor within our lives. The pursuit of "perfection" can make us undervalue ourselves as well as our work.
  4. Failure is ok! The more we fail the more we learn.
5. Leadership isn't always about the positive effects you have on people, its also about dealing with the negative side of things, having the strength to make difficult decisions that might effect other people for the good of your company/start up.

PIPPA JAMIESON; CEO & Founder of the Dots. 

On her start up: "I've made so many mistakes, when it comes to business its all about persevering." 

LORRAINE  WRIGHT; UBS Director & Founder of UGCY. 

On personal finance: "Give some, Save some, Invest some, Spend some...in that order. The biggest mistake that people can make when it comes to money is not saving early enough." 

 WILL VANDER HART; Director of Mind and Soul Foundation. 

On perfectionism and creativity: "Perfectionism is a serious challenge to your ability to get anything done. Perfectionism is self abuse in the highest order- Gratitude is the antidote to perfectionism."

 The Panellists; RENAY TAYLOR, ELAINE POWELL & CHARLES SEKWALOR. 

 [To their 21 Year old self] "I would say, I am whole, perfect and complete. That I am great, to step into your greatness. You were born to make a difference in someone else's life." - Elaine Powell  

Cheeky bathroom pic- unfortunately the only picture

I got of my outfit the whole night! 

Outfit Details: 

DRESS//ZARA

*All pictures were taken on my iPhone 6s 

More info on Dream Nation can be found here, thanks for reading. 

Love & Light 

Chi 

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s talk “The danger of a single story” is hands down one of my favourite Ted talks ever. If you’ve ever come across it you’ll know that she speaks about the negative effects of a single story. How words and misinformed narratives can lead to poor representations; a disconnection between the way something is portrayed and it’s truth. Particularly how this has affected Africa, its people and the way it’s often portrayed in the western world. 

“That is how you create a single story, show a people as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become” 

- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

LEMONADE

When I first experienced (yes, it was an experience!) Lemonade I fell in love. Not only was it an ode to black women everywhere but it was a perfect representation of strength, resilience and the things only achievable when you decide to take control over your mindset in the face of difficulty and disappointment. 

WHAT WILL BE YOUR LEGACY?

  Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about choices; the ones I’ve made and the ones I'm still yet to. Sometimes, it can be easy to avoid making big lifestyle or career decisions simply because we’re uncomfortable with the idea of dedicating our time to something that may or may not work out. Not making a decision can seem like the easy way out, however not deciding is a decision within itself. A decision to stay put rather than fight for the lifestyle you deserve. 

TRAVELS WITH CHI- MY ROME JOURNAL

One of my biggest joys in life is travelling. Before I left for Rome I was feeling increasingly overwhelmed with a lot of the things I had going on and I desperately needed some time off. Living in London can often make you feel like you’re constantly running on autopilot, so sometimes its necessary to take a break from everything and just reconnect with yourself.

Rome was definitely the perfect getaway, It was my first time going and although I had heard so much about it, I didn't really know what to expect but it was absolutely breathtaking. Whenever I travel I always like to research what the vibe is like towards people of colour. It's just one of the unfortunate necessities of "Travelling while Black." and its something I thought I'd touch upon for those of you who due to this can be a little apprehensive about travelling. To be honest my sister and I did get a few stares and there was this one mad incident in the Vatican involving my sister catching a woman playing with one of my braids.... 

If you follow me on SC you would have heard all about it, honestly the only thing that stopped me from reacting was the fact that I was in the Vatican. However, it wasn't as bad as some of the places I've been to and I would definitely go again! The beautiful thing about Rome is that its filled with so much culture and history, its so easy to get caught up in its beauty.

Something I've been meaning to discuss for a little while now is the idea of Legacies. Surrounded by the work of artists such as Michelangelo and Giacomo really drove home the importance of leaving a lasting impact and the ways in which we can go about doing this. Look out for that post coming soon to the blog. For now though here are a few of my pictures from my trip below.

The Colosseum

St. Peters Basilica 

 

The Vatican 

P.s for those of you wondering we stayed at the Roma Times hotel & you can find their website here.

Peace, Love & Positive Vibes

Chi x 

CONVO'S WITH CHI | VOL 1: KEMI OLOYEDE

A few weeks ago I caught up with Kemi Oloyede aka KayRiley, the force behind #ThatWoman, the movement thats gone global, inspiring & empowering women one post at a time. We spoke about the story behind the hashtag, self love, beauty standards & how she went about turning her pain into purpose... 

EMPOWERING WOMEN INTO LEADERSHIP

So a few weeks ago I was invited back down to my university to be a guest speaker at the Hair Societies 'Empowering women into leadership' event to speak about my journey since leaving university and to discuss some of the things I’ve learnt along the way. I genuinely love opportunities like this, and it was such an honour to have been invited to be apart of it.

BAE WATCH

I swear being single on valentines day can feel like such a joke at times. Especially, when you go on social media and your whole timeline/feed is filled with “Bae” and “#Relationship goals” posts and you’re just left feeling like… 

POWER CIRCLES

Me and my BFF (aka my headscarf) 

As this is my first post of the year I just wanted to wish you all a happy new year and to ask how things are going? 

The great thing about new years is that it can bring excitement and the promise of a new beginning. However, as we move into the new year the novelty can quickly start to wear off and we can fall into old habits. The little bits of ourselves that we would have preferred to have left in the previous year can start to resurface. Its times like these where our “Power Circles” can save us from falling off our game and loosing sight of our goals. 

NEW YEAR, NEW ME?

Towards the end of 2014 I, like most people began reflecting upon the year and how I felt it had gone. While most people were talking about how live the year had been for them, I was there like. 

Truthfully, I was a little bit salty because I couldn't say the same. It’s at times like these where we

THE RISE AND FALL ~ A VISUAL ARCHIVE

Inspired by my previous post I decided to create a “Visual Archive. ”

Pictures, reviews and links to material all below.. 

and If you've come here through my social media heres the link to my  interview with London Live, where my co-star and I Spoke about the play, what intermission means to us and the importance of using the theatre to inspire and create change within the lives of young people.

As always let me know your thoughts

and enjoy! 

@chiomacezeh

x 

COMFORT ZONING

They say ignorance is bliss. Yeah, well so are comfort zones! They are the spaces in which  we feel most at ease, spaces in which we are often masters of because we can and know exactly how to operate well within them. They make us feel secure and because of this they naturally flatter our egos. 

THE ART OF LIVING PURPOSEFULLY

“You were put on this earth to achieve your greatest self, to live out your purpose, and to do it courageously.”

 - Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free. 

Lately I've been thinking a lot about purpose and how it is that we find out what we want and where we want to go with our lives. With the explosion of social media and its ability to allow us an insight into people’s lives it seems that these days so many more people are living theirs. 

However, this can be quite difficult if we’re still trying to find out exactly what our purpose is. 

AN INTERVIEW WITH VOL.1: BISOYE BABALOLA

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Bisoye Babalola, the face behind Re~Angle(formally known as BloTV) the team who brought us Screened Nights and Runner a branding, PR and management consultancy. At just 23 years old she has worked with brands including Westfields, Box Park, Proppercorn and more. We caught up to discuss branding, being your own boss and what advice she'd give to those struggling to find their own path...

The Blacker The Berry.

Experimented with a different locations for this look. Couldn't decided which one I liked better so I went with both! 

I used to believe that self acceptance was a privilege, only found amongst those who were lucky enough to possess certain physical features or personal qualities. For sometime I struggled with my appearance because I felt that I couldn't assimilate into this standard of beauty. Something that can be a particular issue amongst women of colour (Hence the title of this post).

I struggled to find ways in which my dark skin and features were represented and celebrated as being beautiful in ways that these other features at that time were. Finally, it got to the point were I realised that I really couldn't do much about my physical appearance. I was forced to re define my definition of beauty so that I was able to accept myself whilst learning to own my flaws.