It’s a rare thing to come across Paula Hemmings, a British photographer who happens to be a black woman. According to stereotypes, black British women don’t do photography. And that’s a function of stereotypes; they iron out complexity by simplifying yet distorting our expectations of certain groups, so that when we meet someone who defies [...]
It’s a joy living in London and no, not everyone would agree. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny the wealth of history the city offers. Not only does it have the power to thrill but it has the power to surprise too. One thing that often leads to surprises are the blue plaques [...]
What do you think when you see a panel of 14 male ‘Inspiring Achievers’ speaking at the 2011 ‘National Achievers Congress‘? Are you keen to learn more? Do you leave the page, bored? Or do you notice the glaring gap? Who’s been made redundant here? I noticed. And I mind! Not a woman in sight! [...]
When you meet women with fascinating lives that they seem to have fallen into rather than crafted how do you explain it? Born under a lucky star? Always being in the right place at the right time? To Alexandra Agboke, life coach and colour coach, the winning pathway she has travelled until now is due [...]
What do you think ‘colour coaching’ means? A multi-coloured bus speeding up the motorway? A one-to-one on the delights of the rainbow? Or coaching on your skin colour? Well, it’s none of these. Colour coaching is simply a way of assessing you for your best colours – those that emphasise the beauty in your appearance, [...]
It’s a given that our first professional qualification usually relates to our first professional work, though increasingly with a twist, nowadays. Kate Nightingale, the memorable English equivalent of her Polish name, Kasia Slowikowska, combined her two different interests, personal styling and psychology and formed her eponymous ‘style psychology’ business. Such is the stuff that business [...]
Are you a positive thinker, laughing while you wait for that break in the rain? If you said ‘yes’, you would be an optimist – someone who looks for good in most situations and sees the brighter side of life. Studies such as those of Martin Seligman, researcher and psychologist, have shown that the advantages [...]
So what’s the furore over Sky Sports’ ousting of Andy Gray and Richard Keys resigning? Any man being sexist should be given his marching orders, and maybe receive coaching to raise his awareness, at least. But have you noticed the reactions, women, (such as Katie Hopkins, The Apprentice contestant), included? ‘We love Andy-it’ s only [...]
When Arabella Weir’s Insecure Woman character in the ‘Fast Show’ said her ‘Does my bum look big in this?’ catchphrase it worked because it was a meaningful trope which many women ask themselves. It’s that nagging daily background music orchestrated by a misogynistic media continually propelling the ‘perfect’ woman as a flawless beauty in a [...]