“My education was stolen from me because I was gay.”

That statement is exactly why we’ve always needed Pride Month - since it began through to today.

In this episode of ‘Pause. And Rewind…’ I’m over the moon to be joined by Nicola Fenton (she/her). Nicola makes up one half of the wonderful humans of the Older Queer Voices Podcast alongside her wife Raga D’Silva (my first ever podcast guest & dear friend). She’s also a self-described ‘professional event-going queer’ and it’s always a joy to bump into them at various events! Nicola and Raga come as a team in every sense of the word and we chat about the incredible work they’re doing to bring visibility & a platform for LGBTQ+ elders.

Whilst Raga’s story is very much out there, as she does more public speaking, I was really keen to learn about Nicola’s origin story…

Little Nicola was born in Auckland, New Zealand and she was always out & about playing. She despised wearing dresses and after a doctor advised her mother to ‘buy her a pair of shorts’, she suddenly found freedom. It’s a glorious anecdote that has shaped her outlook today.

Nicola was a bright student yet a conversation with her Head Teacher after coming out led to Nicola being kicked out of school. She soon found herself standing outside a book store which led to her finding her people though reading lesbians romance novels and attending protests & marches. She suddenly found a place where she belonged. Community was and has always been fundamental to Nicola and this is evident today.

We talk through Nicola’s career from her first role as postie through to working for a creative agency & the world of events.

Nicola shares how her inclusion mindset began early through learning about Apartheid, indigenous communities & HIV, how experiencing a stroke amongst other health conditions has instilled in her a passion for her health & life and her pride in raising two children to be beautiful human beings.

Have a listen to find out about Older Queer Voices & their work, challenging the young-centric culture in the LGBTQ+ community and why Nicola calls me ‘Glitter Neil’. ENJOY!

“I am in all the circles that make me feel seen and there's nowhere really in my life that I feel like I need to hide anymore. Little me would be so happy.”

I’m kicking off my Pride mini-season of ‘Pause. And Rewind…’ chatting to the adorable, hilarious & multi-talented Ki Griffin (he/they). Ki is an actor, comedian, community advocate, educator & facilitator, public speaker & more. They co-facilitate Not-A-Phase’s Trans+ Connect Enby Edition, a peer support group, alongside the equally brilliant Ben Pechey, former ‘Pause. And Rewind…’ guest & Ki’s “work-wife” and Ki has also just joined the team at Voda, everyone’s favourite LGBTQIA+ Mental Health App. It’s a busy time for Ki and even more so as Pride season begins…

Little Ki grew up in London in a loving home and was full of curiosity and describes their younger self as “the sweetest & loveliest” who was simply trying to be the best human they could be. Ki recalls being a happy kid until they started secondary school - an intergenerational experience for many of us in LGBTQ+ community which we discuss.

At 14 years old, Ki began to grapple with being Intersex & their sexuality after being outed which led to struggles with their mental health. Thankfully they share how their family were “the best support network” and they were able to retreat to the safety of their home & the internet.

We chat about Ki’s career journey. They wanted to be a paramedic growing up as they knew they wanted to help people - something still very prominent in the Ki we know & love today. They refer to their journey into inclusion as a ‘stumble’ and similarly, becoming an actor was never planned. Ki shares the story of their audition for Hollyoaks and how they went on to become the first Non-Binary character in a British soap. We also discuss Ki’s foray into comedy - having just performed a cracking set during Trans+ History Week - with them ramping this up. Watch this space!

Confidence & authenticity, blending self expression with professional roles, joy as an act of rebellion and navigating a world on fire are topics that come up and Ki uttered one of my favourite statements ever… “Be a feral little gremlin.” If you say so! Go have a listen…

Please note | Conversations around mental health, depression & anxiety come up so please take care of yourself whilst listening.

“We really focus on providing access, supporting predominantly black women, into the events industry where predominantly we are on the stage being the entertainers and the performers, but we're not seen behind the scenes. It’s really important for me to support many who look like me to come through into the industry and so they see there's actually people who look like us doing all the hard work behind the scenes.”

Having been in the events industry for almost 20 years, I still find the lack of representation shocking, particularly at leadership level. So it was brilliant to welcome Nadu Placca Rodriguez (she/her), a fellow events professional and all-round badass businesswoman, to ‘Pause. And Rewind…’ and a fantastic guest as Lesbian Visibility Week comes to an end. Nadu is the Founder of The Zoo XYZ - a global creative & purpose-driven events agency which centres operational excellence, expertise & collaboration - and Co-Founder of The Association of Black Event Professionals.

A highly accomplished International Event Architect, Nadu has set up offices for The Zoo XYZ in London, New York & Ghana and we explore how the current landscape differs between them (there’s a fair bit of events focused chat in here for all you event profs!).

Little Nadu grew up in SouthEast London and had a fun & adventurous childhood. She recalls how she would build relationships with older kids so they’d have her back and understood hierarchy from a young age. A year of schooling in Africa gave her a real appreciation for the richness of culture which has shaped her today.

At 19 years old, Nadu had a baby and was ‘thrown into the reality of being a young mum’ and decided that as she was responsible for a small being, she should probably do something with her life. She was soon working three jobs and threw herself into exploring opportunities to figure out what she wanted to do.

She soon found herself in the world of events and she recalls the moment she realised it has shifted from simply a job to a lifelong career. And listen, it’s certainly not one without stress! When I ask Nadu what keeps her going when things gets tough, she hilarious responds “Babe I ain’t got no choice!! I've tried to quit many times. I've just resided to the fact that you try to quit enough times. The universe has not let you. So just continue.” I know this feeling well.

Right now is an exciting time for Nadu as she was recently appointed to the EVCOM board and has just joined the Community Advice Group (CAG) for Black on the Square - PLUS there's other stuff in the pipeline too so STAY TUNED for that!

We chat about Nadu’s pride in her daughter, the joy of yoga & driving around listening to loud music in her pink Mini Cooper and career failures.

If you’re interested in working with The Zoo XYZ, Nadu says ‘come to the experts!’ and she’s all about picking up the phone & having a conversation so get in touch!