The Change You Never Realised You Could Make

In this episode of The Student Guide, Jeffrey speaks with Priscilla Toko (host/presenter, content creator, chef, painter, musician, and youth worker) about balancing multiple “hats,” staying resilient when projects flop, and grounding her work in faith and courage.

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I know that I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I know that God calls me to be strong and courageous. And so both of those things I think have enabled me to be like, I can try something and it can flop, and that's fine. We'll try something else. And if it doesn't flop, woo, and if it does, it's fine. But the things that have worked are the things that I have continued doing.

Oh, uh, hello everyone. Hope you're doing well. Hope you're looking after yourselves. Welcome to another episode of The Student Guide, where we dive into incredible topics with incredible people doing incredible things. Uh, as you know, uh, we are past the halfway point. We are slowly heading towards the end of season nine, which is wild to think.

But, uh, we're also recording this literally just before the end of June, which is also wild to think. 'cause we're, we're, we're past halfway point. We're, we're moving quickly towards the end of the year. Um, and what better way to bring in an incredible person who's doing incredible things, uh, to tell us how we can think about the future the rest of the year.

Uh, as you know, I don't like doing introductions, so instead I'm gonna hand over to today's guest speaker, uh, Priscilla, thank you for coming on. Could we know a bit more about you and what you do? 

I mean, I guess so. I don't have much choice today. Uh, my name is Priscilla Doko. I am a host and presenter, social media content creator.

Um, I'm a chef. I am a painter. I'm a musician and a youth worker. So I work in secondary schools and we facilitate music workshops. 

Oh, that's wonderful. Um, okay. I have two things. This is not, not the questions I have listed here, but two things I'd I'd like to say from that. Um, you, you are multihyphenate.

Yes. 

Do you have a favourite hat that you like to wear? I have three questions actually. Do you have a favourite hat that you like to wear? 

Yeah. 

Period. Do you have a favourite hat? Is there a favourite hat that is dependent on the day of the week that you are like, oh, Monday I feel like Chef Tuesday.

Musician. Uh, and then three, as a chef, what, what is your favourite dish to make actually is Ooh. 

Is it gonna become four questions? I can feel it. 

Oh no. 'cause I was gonna say, I feel like what your favourite dish make is too, too, too easy. Wow. I was gonna say. Okay, this is it. What is a dish as a chef you would recommend me to make?

Okay. Oh wow. Okay. Where do I start 

actually? 

Okay. 

I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm, I'm gonna change this up a bit. Uh, and uh, I have, I have, uh, you can't see on the camera, but I've got Khima here to remind me. I'm actually gonna change things up and say at the end of the episode. Yeah. Based off our conversation, uh, and how, 'cause we've never met, we've, we've only met briefly before.

Yeah. So Priscilla has no context to who I am. Absolutely not. She, I'm hoping all of you think that I'm a great person, but you never know. Um, but based on the conversation and how you view or think of me as a person Yeah. Recommended a dish to me and why, so that's something to just put in the back of your mind, but let's do the, the first two.

So do you have a favourite hat that you'd like to, that you'd like to wear? And are there certain days that you prefer certain hats than others? 

Yeah. I think it's, weirdly, it's quite seasonal, but at the same time, I think it's more based on my discipline. Mm-hmm. So with content creation, it's not often my favourite hat.

Mm. Um, yeah. But it's one that I'm used to wearing. 

Mm. 

So like, I actually practically don't like wearing hats. I'll Europe makes my head sweat. Let's not do that. But with content, I think it's become like a muscle. Like it's just, I'm very used to making it. So I'm like, cool. I'm a content creator with, um, youth work.

Same thing. Some days I'm like, these guys want me dead. Do you know what I mean? They need to chill out. Yeah. Like, I'm just a girl, but I'm not a girl. I'm a lady 'cause I'm over 20. Um, and I think that's another hat that's kind of seasonal, but cooking. I love cooking. Mm. I've always loved cooking. I think there are some experiences I've had that have made me not enjoy, uh, to being a chef.

You know, there's a certain place I worked at for just two weeks because I said, I can't, I can't do this long time, um, because it doesn't allow me to wear my other hats. Mm. So I had to quit that job. Um, apart from that, recently, actually one of my favourite hats has been working in special educational needs environments.

Okay. I really enjoyed, um, working in that kind of primary setting with kids that are autistic and nonverbal and just being able to like, facilitate that space with them. 

Wow. That's incredible. Um, we will actually be diving into that very shortly, but before we go into that, uh, we go into our first segment of the episode, which is 44 questions, uh, but done by man from 44 words and her question to you.

It's a, it's a tough one. 

Is it? 

It's a tough one. Oh 

God. Um, 

how can we be happier as humans? 

How can we be happier? That is a brilliant question. I think that question itself just highlights how like, horrible the world can be. Mm-hmm. I think my thing is like, if there is one thing, there's the other, like, ecclesias, there's a time for everything.

Mm-hmm. I'm like, if there's a time to be sad, there's a time to be happy. Mm-hmm. Um, and I think happiness can't really be quantified because everyone, you know, finds joy in different things. For example, I find joy in cheesecake. Mm. You might not find joy in cheesecake. You know, you might be allergic, you might be lactose intolerance.

So, you know, there might be different foods that make you happy. 

Hmm. 

But, um, I don't even wanna simplify it, but for me, ultimately I think being able to acknowledge all aspects of life and being able to accept duality makes me a happier person. So sometimes I can be angry at 4:00 PM and I can be really excited at 4 0 2 because something has changed in my environment or even in my mood, or even in my perception.

So it's like finding more moments of happiness I think will make you think that you are generally happy are 

mm-hmm. 

But it's just, you know, domino effect. 

Mm-hmm. I love that. 

I love that. Thank you. 

Um, 

that was scary. 

No, no. You did an amazing job. You did an amazing job. Thank you. Um, we're gonna head on to the first official question.

Yeah. Uh, which funnily enough links to what I asked you about before. Okay. Which is that essentially you, you do a lot as you mentioned. 

Yeah. 

But my question to you is, what connects all of these different worlds for you? So, you know, presenting content creation, um, youth work, music, to just name a few. So what can, there's two parter.

So what connects all of these 

Yeah. 

For you. And when did you realise your voice could be used to make people feel seen and heard? 

Oh, that is all of their question. Wow. Okay. So what connects these? I think in the least corny way, it's literally just being myself. 

Mm-hmm. 

Um, and I think being yourself is not a thing that you just turn on one day.

Like you, you step into things that feel comfortable to you and it's like, okay, this, this is fulfilling. This is something that I feel like aligns with who I am, where I wanna be. Um, but I think the core of all the things I do is primarily my faith as a child of the Lord. Um, I know that I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.

I know that God calls me to be strong and courageous. And so both of those things I think have enabled me to be like, I can try something and it can flop and that's fine. We'll try something else. And if it doesn't flop, woo. And if it does, it's fine. 

Mm-hmm. 

But the things that have worked are the things that I have continued doing.

Mm-hmm. 

Um, of course not all at the same time in their season. Um, but yeah, I think the core of them really is, is my faith and just being like bold enough to be like, okay, if this is something that comes natural to me mm-hmm. I'm gonna lean into it and see where it takes me. And that's kind of how I've manoeuvred among all those kind of different job roles and things like that.

Yeah. No, that's really incredible. 'cause I think, like you said there, um, I've got it up on my, uh, my role and I would say when, when I, we say if, when we get an office for pick up the mic, um, it will go up there too. But I've got, uh, Jeremiah 29 11. Mm-hmm. Which says that, you know, um, that God basically to paraphrase before people say I'm, I'm not quite happy, there's 

paths, so don't worry guys.

But it says, you know, that, um, God's plans for you, they're good for Yeah. I'm not for evil. Um, to give you a hope and a future. Yeah. Uh, and I have that as a reminder that like you said, like sometimes you'll try something, it doesn't work out sometimes, like, even like this or pick up the mic, I say it only exists because I wasn't, I went to be the BME officer at Bruno and I didn't get it.

But through that conversation with people and through campaigning Yeah. This is where this has come out. And, uh, if you told me when I didn't get it, yeah. But this would be like the future five years, five or six years later Yeah. I would've been like, ah, dunno. Exactly. Like, it's not been an, it's not been a, it's not been an easy journey.

It's not been a short journey, but it's been an incredible journey. And like you said, sometimes it's just really like reflecting back on that and thinking on it a hundred percent. Yeah. 

And I think even just tapping into that, 'cause I know what I said might kind of brush the kind of need to be persistent and diligent.

Mm-hmm. 

It's not to say that if something flops once like run away and be like, it is done. I'm never doing it again. Mm. But I think when you find that the same kind of opportunity keeps rising or the same kind of passion keeps burning in you, like, don't give up on that and keep going until you are at a place where it's like, you know, come into this room, this is where you'll flourish and grow or create the room.

You know, as they say, if you can't find a seat at the table, you gotta make it. 

Mm, no, a hundred percent. And it's incredible. 'cause like you, um, like you were saying, there was a event, uh, through a friend of the, the podcast, um, and she was running this like, uh, it's called The Art of Connection Evening. And it was all around this idea that like, you know, networking is seen.

Is this very much like everyone, I mean, everyone's got mixed opinions. Ah, I'm a, well I'm on a pod, I have a run a podcast network. I'm clearly a yapper, but Yeah. Um, some people hate networking because they're just like, it feels very much like formal, official. Yeah. It doesn't seem like friendly. Um, and it was really incredible 'cause like the founders there were talking about like how they essentially network and uh, one of them was Emmanuel, who's the founder of, uh, soft Life Ski.

Nice. And he was talking about how like he started off the trip with like seven people. Wow. Um, and it was just, you know, like imagine he was like, we did it with seven people. It went well. And then we were just like, cool, we're gonna just like, continue to just slowly build this. And then year, like he said, the second year they got 200 people that applied to basically go on the trip with them.

Yeah. Um, and then they had to sort out accommodation. They reached out to all of this stuff. Um, but yeah, it was kind of like the key takeaway from that was literally like what you said there, that like, you don't need to just 'cause something doesn't work out. Yeah. Doesn't mean that like, it's, it's, it's an opportunity to just let it go and forget.

Yeah. 

Absolutely. 

A hundred percent. We, we are gonna go on to the next question, which is all about, um, your background as a psychology graduate. Okay. Um, but you're not only just a psychology graduate, uh, you also have a lot of experience with youth work as well. So my question to you would be, what have young people taught you about wellbeing?

That textbooks alone could never teach. 

Wow. You know what? I feel like, um, the young people that I've worked with have showed me how much simpler communication can be. I think the older we get, the more we feel the need to like articulate ourselves perfectly. Like, oh, you know, I didn't get my point across the way I wanted to.

Like, people can be very adamant about making sure that they get exactly what's in their mind out on paper or out verbally. Um, but with children, like, they just don't give a heck. Like they will say things to you and I'm like, I've never heard that in my life, but I understand what you mean. 

Mm-hmm. 

And I think being able to be flexible and adaptable to the way that children communicate is really important because they're growing up in a different time to us.

Mm-hmm. You know, like we've experienced the world one way. They're experiencing it a very different way. Mm-hmm. You know, my little sister's 15 and she's only known the world of social media. Mm-hmm. I haven't, so that's already quite a big difference in us that she can't see herself off her phone, off Instagram, off TikTok.

And I'm like, girl, I would throw my phone in the river aisle and walk away. Like, I would be fine to do that, but she's like, what would I do with my life? Mm. If I did that? Um, but I think, yeah, just being patient, um, and don't believe that people can have great communication skills until they've had the patience to work with children.

Mm. 

Um, because they communicate from like the most pure place, even when they are angry, even when they're being mean, even when they're being loving, everything is very unfiltered. Um, so yeah. I think that's one thing. Textbooks can't teach because textbooks gives you a lot of definitions, labels, explanations.

While children don't do that mm-hmm. They just yap because they feel like yapping. And then you start questioning them and they're like, why are you asking me? I already explained what I'm saying. Um. So, yeah, that's definitely been a big thing is um, being more understanding of different ways of communicating and just being more patient because, um, their brains are still developing.

Mm-hmm. And so I can't expect them to be on the same wave as me. 

Mm-hmm. No, a hundred percent. And I think, like you said there, there's something really beautiful about it because, um, I feel like to my sister, uh, like basically runs the Sunday school at my church. And it's very funny because like she'll tell me, and she also, in addition to doing that, she volunteers, um, at Great Ormond Street as well.

And it's funny because like she tells me about interesting, uh, like situations or circumstances she sees experiencing with both of their children. And like you said, sometimes it is just like interesting to see how as like the older you get, like you said, like you, you just overcomplicate things. You're just like trying to, like you said, whether it's communication, whether it's trying to get your point across whatever it is, you just like overcomplicate the process.

Absolutely. But children, they, they, they wear their emotions on their sleeve. They're just 

like, listen, if you want advice, talk to my sister, that girl. Yeah. She's my, we describe her as like the meanie, but I don't think she's mean, I just think she doesn't care about our feelings. Mm-hmm. Like, not in a way of like, she doesn't care that of our wellbeing.

Yeah. But like, if you ask her a question, she'll give you the answer. 

Mm. 

That she believes is the simplest 

Mm. 

And then as soon as she tells me, I'm like, oh, actually, I, I hear what you're saying and that makes sense. I'm gonna take your advice. No one knows. I'm taking advice from a 15-year-old, by the way, and I'm finding out now.

Sorry. Okay. Um, but yeah, no, she definitely like inspires me to just be like less, um, prideful, I think is what it is. I think as we become adults, we become very prideful about the way that we appear. Mm. And I don't kids, that's a different story, but I think for us it's a lot of pride. Mm. So she teaches me to be humble.

Mm. 

Yeah. 

Mm. No, I love that. Um, we're now gonna go into treasure talks, which is where Priscilla will talk about an item of treasure. Uh, now we don't have the item with us today. 

I might actually, 

you you might have it. Yeah. Okay. I spoke, I spoke to early, um, Priscilla. Could we know about your item of significance and why you chose her?

Okay. I'm not a material girl. Okay. But as you can see, I wear a lot of rings. Um, but I don't just wear them 'cause they're pretty, I wear them because they mean something to me. So I'm gonna take one of them off if it will come off. This ring. I don't know if you guys can see it, you probably can't, but it's cute.

It's like a little, uh, wire ring that I got from Marrakesh when I went on holiday, like maybe two years ago. Been on holiday since, but I bought rings from different places. Um, and I bought it and I remember haggling for it. And I feel like it's significant to me because as someone who communicates and yaps a whole lot, Marrakesh was so much fun because I got to like have a new persona.

Mm-hmm. People didn't know who I was. Um, and so I told them all that I was a rich businesswoman from Congo and they believed me. And I even put on a little bit of French accent. I said, yes, me, I'm from Congo. I do business there. They said, oh, we are family. I said, yes, we are family. Um, and so I got everything really cheap because I was like, you are not, you're not scamming me.

Mm. I got a business. Mm. Um, it wasn't a light, it was just the truth with a bit of seasoning on it. Um, so yeah, whenever I see this ring, I remember that I'm actually that girl. Mm. Like I can convince you, not manipulate, convince it is acting. 

No, no. But I love that because I think there is an element of that, um, that everyone should incorporate into what they do.

Yeah. Uh, in the same way that some people are saying, like, I'm not saying for anyone watching or listening, uh, you should walk into your job interview and like, lie on your CV type thing. Like no, please don't. Uh, don't, uh, I used to work in the placements team, uh, at Brune. Yeah. And, um, yeah, no, the matter of when I tell you people had like chat, GPT written cvs.

Wow. And someone left the, it was just still basic last state. Someone left the like, insert question. No, no, not even that. It was like, you know, when you're supposed to like input the like bus where it says like, oh, input like business name or like input name. My god. Yeah. The cover letter and TV had that.

Uh, and then, uh, me and the placement advisor were just like, 

no, 

yeah, no, we, we are not sending these c cvs off. Um, no, this is, this is not Okay. So I'm not saying do that. Um, but I do say, especially in, like you say, when it comes to like a business aspect, like sometimes you just need to walk on like an air of confidence that doesn't, like people would say it doesn't make sense, but to you, you're like, oh, I know what the, the vision is.

I know what I'm doing. Um, and people say, you know, you see it in, um, I don't even watch it, but like, you see it in like Shark Tank or Dragons Den. Like there are some people that are just like, oh yeah, you don't get my business idea. And that's okay. Like, I'm not upset, I'm not like angry. Like, you might squander it or you might try to take loads of like, equity in my business, but I'm, I'm not desperate for money.

Like I, someone else will get onto it. Um, and 

instead Reserve, reserve reverse like college 

in there as 

well. 

No, a hundred. I'm like, 

wait, I should care. What do you mean? 

And it was interesting 'cause uh, the founder of, uh, like the Ring doorbell. So I think the story goes that he pitched it on, I think it was Shark Tank.

He pitched it. 

Yeah. 

No interest. Oh no. So the, so three, I think three of the judges were just like, it doesn't make sense. Yeah. And they left. And then I think one of them was just like, I want loads of equity for your business. I'll give you loads of money. He was like, no. And then they were just like, well.

Sorry. Like, you gonna go then? What was funny is he, so I don't know how Richard Branson found out about it, was like, oh, this sounds kind of interesting. Yeah, I'd love to like, look into this and get involved. So he did. And like we were saying about being humble before, so he then maybe a couple of years later, got invited back onto Shark Tank Yeah.

As a judge. 

Amazing. 

And then there, this literally the same thing happened. So a different business won't necessarily linked to like doorbells and stuff like that, but another business pitched and he saw the judges were just like, no, I like, I don't get it. Do it. I'm out, I'm out, I'm out. And he was like, you know what?

I really like it. Um, so I'm in. And he was just like, I'm just gonna like, go ahead. Like, he was like, I'm gonna invest. Like, I really appreciate you. Um, let's continue the conversation. And like you said, like if like he had the humility to come back Yeah. And not necessarily be like, oh, well you all said like, I couldn't make it, but like, yeah.

Now look, we're all on the same side of the table. Yeah. But he was also just like, no. Like if there's someone who I can see, they've got the passion and the drive. Yeah. I'm gonna support them. Absolutely. Um, and like you said, even being true to like your, your character as well. Yeah. Um, there are like, I won't list all of them, but like there were two that I always see on like Instagram, which is one of that was this farmer that was running a business.

Mm-hmm. And they were just like, oh, you know, if you increase your like prices by this much, you can make this amount of money. And he was just like, why? Like, I don't need it. Like people, it's just hard times. I don't need to basically invest and get more money. I'm happy with my means of living. Um, and yeah, some of them were just like, I don't really understand, like, I'm out because you're not really thinking businessman.

And he's just like, no, I am. I I understand like how much money my workers need. Yeah. And I'm not trying to be like a millionaire. Yeah. I just want to run a business that survives. Yeah. Um, and then the other one, which is really nice was, um, the, I don't remember what the business was, but uh, there was this, uh, black woman in America.

She was pitching a business and then I think his name is Mark. Mark, uh, I don't remember, I think I've forgotten her surname, but one of the judges called Mark. He was just like, oh, I really love what your, your, I love your story. And he was like, look, I have two like add-ons. He was just like, I want your, I want this much of equity in your business.

I'll give you this much money. And the second thing is he was just like, you are like you are, I think it was related to stem. So he was just like, you're doing really incredible work within stem. Like within stem you're an inspiration to like so many people. I would love for you to meet my daughters so they can see like how, 'cause she was in like her twenties and she was like, had this incredible business idea and he was like, I would love for them to come and see like if they just like could learn from someone like you.

Yeah. Their lives would change. Like, he was just like, I, I'm their dad, so they, they don't see me. No. With an entrepreneur hat. They just see dad because like you if they see you. Um, so yeah, so like you said, like just being authentic to who you are is, um, is incredible. And then one final thing I will say about this, uh, like you said about having the, um, the audacity to sometimes like be, be bigger than what society may put on you.

Let's, let's call it that. Um. Which is actually, well, I guess, uh, uh, is a trade secret. So you now know if you've been emailed this, uh, you know, um, David Tenet was saying that before he got an agent, he basically would change his email signature Yeah. And pretend to have an agent. Yeah. So he would be like, oh, like, oh, we'd like to book David TenneT for this.

And he was like, he was trying to find work. He couldn't, and he basically pretended to have an agent. So it added a level of like, oh, like, you know, to get him, you need a bit of time for that. Absolutely. Um, and yeah, I was just like, that's true. So sometimes I'll send people emails and I'll send it and it will seem like a generic pickup that Mike email, but I'm like, I'm the one writing the email, but I just want you to know this is, this is a proper, there's levels, there's levels to this.

Yeah. 

Yeah. Absolutely. And even on that, I know a lot of creatives that were their own manager before they actually got a manager. And it works because you get to be another side of yourself. You know, like I think one struggle that I've had as a, a freelancer is being business, like being direct and like my business talk, but also being kind.

Mm. 'cause I'm like, I wanna be respectful to people. And obviously you never know who might bring you your next opportunity, but also I don't want you to think that we're mates, so you can't pay me. You know? But I think when it's strangers approaching you, you don't even need to think about, oh, let me just be nice, let be polite.

It's like, hi, nice to meet you. This is the race. How can I help you? And you just kind of go off that wave. But yeah, I think having a definitive like management persona and then like just your business, you, whatever your brand is, is important to separate those things. 

No, a hundred percent. I agree. And I'd say even if you're not even business minded, um, yeah.

You as a, like whether it's job or whatever, like it's the same thing. Um, because, uh, I think the best managers that I've had, literally, like you said, like they wear both hats. Yeah. They're like, okay, when I need to be a manager with you. Yeah. I'm, I'm in manager mode. Yeah. And when I need to, you know, like we are friendly, like, uh, I will, I I can be friends with you outside of work or even at work.

Yeah. Um, and I know that there are like, I know from like different people, but also from previous managers that I've had as well, that like, those are the managers that people like, will make someone stick in an organisation longer. Yeah. Because they're the ones that will be like, Hey, like the way you're going, I just want to give you a flag.

Like, it's cool for now, but this could lead to something like later. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, where like, I'm your friend now, but I may need to step on like, and I may need to put like manager mode on change gear. Exactly. Um, so yeah. So no, I definitely agree. I think that's, uh, that's incredible. And thank you for sharing your item.

Uh, we're now gonna go onto the next question, which is. Looking at creativity, but when it comes to care and connection. So you use art, music, hosting and digital content to create meaningful conversa Yeah. Meaningful conversations. Yeah. Um, how do you balance being creative while being emotionally present for the people and communities that you serve?

Wow, that's Seth. Good stuff. That is, um, I'm gonna start like near uni time 'cause I think that's where like things had to shift. At uni I was very good at, um, being. What's the word? I was, I was functioning like I could be on very little sleep, very little food, or even loads of food and loads of sleep, all extremes.

But like, I was able to show up everywhere, like do everything I needed to do. Um, almost to the point where like my own wellbeing was at risk. It's like I'm not resting properly, I don't have routine. Like I'm very much like, way you need me. I'll be there. I got this, I'll be there, I'll do this, I'll do that.

Um, and after uni, obviously a lot of responsibilities now drop because the people that you lived nearby do not live nearby you. They live in Leicester and Birmingham and Harlem and all these places that are not familiar to me. Um, and so you now have to carve out what being present looks like because now you're back home.

Mm-hmm. So your family and your friends, and you still have your friends from uni. 

Mm-hmm. 

Um, and so on this path of like carving out my career and trying not to be so like dog eat dog, like I'm just, you know, tunnel vision. I just gotta do my thing because people have told me in the past that I'll don't forget me.

And I'm like, why would you say that? Like that? That's not gonna happen. 

Mm. 

And it's not that you actually forget people, but in your actions, if you are not as present as they've experienced you before, it is gonna come off like you've forgotten that. 

Mm-hmm. A hundred percent. 

Um, but I think being, the one thing I've learned to do a lot more lately, and I think I'll continue to learn to do it, is to verbalise my thought process.

Mm-hmm. And be like, look, I am struggling to do this, that and the other, and I want to show up for you more. I want to do this, I want to do that. It has been uncomfortable conversations. 

Mm-hmm. 

But I think that's what's deepened my friendships is that they are not presented with just like the Priscilla that can show up everywhere.

Mm. 

But it's more so can Priscilla show up in this friendship like authentically? Mm. Like, can she really tell me, not just tell me what's happening in life and we can have a catch up, but like, how is she feeling Mm. In this period of time? Does she feel like she is showing up as a good friend or not? And vice versa?

Mm. 

Um, 

because obviously you, you don't want the situation to be that someone sees you in a way that is completely disproportionate to how you can actually show up for them. Mm. Because then if you can't, it's like, oh, she didn't like me. She doesn't care about me, da da da da. Um, so yeah, it's definitely been a lesson to, to communicate openly and also just to, um, to give myself more grace as well, because I'm wary that everyone is growing and changing and you know, all of our paths are different.

God has a plan for each of us, and there's gonna be seasons where I may be closer to some people and further from some, closer to some further to some. And it might just be like that kind of, um, thing with particular friendships and relationships. Sometimes you do have to prioritise your work. Mm.

Sometimes you don't. Mm. Um, but yeah, I think it's very seasonal. I can't, um, stay the exact same with my practise. Otherwise, I think. Life would look very different for me, right? 

Mm-hmm. But I also think you, like you said there, you don't have to because as a person naturally you ju you're always evolving.

Yeah. You're learning new things. Um, but I think it's interesting you spoke about friendships, because I feel like, uh, especially when it comes to uni friends, 'cause uh, we, well, uh, uh, I'll mention it. Um, we need to go back to that podcast. Uh, so, uh, I am saying this on there so I can be quoted later. Um, we ha we have a podcast I wanna say had, uh, which is called, so No One Told You, and it was all around the idea that like when you go to university, you have all these preconceptions of what things will be like.

So like the classic ones are like jobs after graduation, should you do a master's? Like, oh 

Lord. 

Uh, we even, we were just like, we'll talk about like social stuff as well. So people are just like, oh, you make your lifelong friends, or like, you find your ma like your wife at or husband at uni. And we were just like, yes, let's talk about the reality of that.

Absolutely. Because, um, there's a huge misconception on that. And it was in massive honestly. And we were just like, it's interesting when it was like the friendship one came up and we were just like, oh, it's interesting that there's this assumption that like, you will make your lifelong friends at uni. Um, and we were just like, the, the reality is you, you probably won't, like, you'll make friends, you'll meet really incredible people, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll meet your lifelong friends.

Uh, there. But what was really interesting that, um, a friend, like I've, like one of my closest friends, to be fair, two of my closest friends I both know through Brune. Mm-hmm. Uh, didn't study my course and it was just through doing other stuff that I then met them. Um. But like, we don't see each other like every, like everyone's got this misconception of like, you know, when you're at uni you're seeing your friends all this time.

Yeah. You can go out, do whatever you want. But then when you graduate, obviously like reality of life happens, like you said, you either move back home or you are dealing with like paying mortgages and trying to find out employment and all that stuff. But what's really interesting is that those two friends, I don't see regular, but I would say they are probably one of my like most closest friends.

And it's this whole idea of like, I might not see you every day. Yeah. But I know like a, if I need you, I can call you. Yeah. And BI know when we do meet up, we're gonna have a good time. Yeah. And I, I like, and like you said about like deepening friendships, they know like, we both know all, well they don't know each other, but essentially I'll say both my friends know that like whate, like how busy the three of us are.

Yeah. And they're just like cool. Like we'll set aside time. Even if it's like a month in advance. Yeah. Or a couple of weeks in advance, like we know on this date, unless something urgent comes up Yeah. We're gonna meet up. Um, and I like that. I'm like, that's the reality of what friendship is. I shouldn't need to see you every day for us to call each other friends.

Even if we are seeing each other every day and we're not working together, I don't necessarily know if we are good friends. Yeah. Um, and I think, like you said, like really evaluating like the type of friendships in your life is never a bad thing. It's always good. Absolutely. 

And I think because we are always growing and changing, like you do have to reevaluate friendships often.

Um, and not in like a selfish way of like, oh, just does this friendships of me, am I serving them also? Mm-hmm. Like it could be a thing where someone is beneficial to your life, but if you've now noticed that you are not to them, maybe you are either detrimental to them. I think people don't wanna acknowledge when they're actually, you know, causing someone harm just 'cause the person's not said it to you.

Mm. 

But, um, I think, yeah, sometimes it is just literally just being frank of each other. Because university, like you can meet your husband, you can meet your wife, you can meet your lifelong friends. 

Mm. 

But it is more so like, first of all, are you coming from a place where you don't have. Those lifelong friends already.

Mm-hmm. Some people are in search of that and so they go to uni and they find it, some are not in search and they bump into someone and it's like, wow. Like you are basically my twin. 

Mm-hmm. 

Um, and I think because of the intensity of uni 

mm-hmm. 

The, the kinds of friendships you make are really intimate.

And so they can survive the, I'm seeing you once in a while, rather than I'm seeing you every single day. Um, because it kind of mirrors that kind of school relationships that you have and you know, where it's Monday to Friday, I see you eight to three 

Mm. 

But then now it's uni it's like I see you every day.

Like I walk out my accommodation, you are there. Go to the library, you're there. Go to the club, you're there. Like, I'm just, I'm seeing you're basically my family now. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I think it can be, um, it's a very unique journey. I think, um, the, the core of it is just being honest to yourself and not feeling guilty for not coming out with like 10 friends and, and a 

boyfriend and a 

children and 

a marriage and all 

this stuff.

So yeah. Come out with your degree and if you don't, that's fine. Come out with whatever you needed to come out with. So, 

no, I definitely agree. Yeah. And it's interesting 'cause um, yeah. One final thing I say on this before, uh, we go to the last official question is, um, the, like I've seen people talk about like their university experiences.

Yeah. And like you said, um, some people just like, I might not have necessarily made like good friends from uni or I might not have necessarily even still stuck with whatever I studied with my degree. Yeah. But what's really interesting now is I've learned, like someone was saying basically they recommend uni to people because they're just like, there's something about being in that environment where like ideas can just thrive and do, like, you can just basically, if you're like, literally like you said, you know, with yourself, you know, if you're like, I wanna get into content creation and you're at uni, um, most of the time, like you, you may or may not be living at home, but you have the option to for most people.

Um, and yeah, there's just like a lot of, especially in your first year, there's a lot of time on your hand. Oh 

listen. 

Yeah. Like you 

listen, I had too much time on my hands to the point, sorry, to all my lecturers. I was barely at lectures. Like I had so many things to do in uni that were not my lectures. I was like, wait a minute.

Like how many things have I signed up for? Like, what's actually going on here? But I was, my skills were developing. And I will say that is where I found my love for cooking. Mm-hmm. Because it was a great financial means to an end. 

Mm-hmm. 

Uh, when you dip into your overdraft, because you kind of overextended your finances on P-L-T-P-L-T is pretty little things for those, you dunno, you can buy outfits there, 

but No, a hundred percent.

And I feel like there is something that, like, there's a, there's a mindset that you and need to, to be fair, even if you don't go to university's, not to say that you're missing out on anything. I mean, if some may argued that you are not paying back student loans and that's a better, better thing. Um, but I would say like there is something about just being in that, like, like you said, it's an incubator of space.

Yeah. But it's different to uni because you're like an adult. Mm-hmm. And you are, you are around people who are dealing with similar things. You're going through the same thing together. And it's not like school where it's so much like. Handholding and things like that. Yeah. Um, it really is focused on like who you are as an individual and finding that out.

Yeah. Um, but yeah, no, I just feel like there's something incredible about it, and I know we've spoken a lot about university, but I would also say to some degree it relates to your workplace as well. Like if you have a good workplace, a good work team. Yeah. Uh, like some of my, um, like another one of my closest friends, um, we met through when I was working at the placement team at Brune.

Yeah. Um, and to this point, like we are, we're still in touch. We still see each other. Um, he comes to my events, uh, I go to his events that he hosts with, uh, his organ, like within his role. Um, and yeah, it's just nice. Like it's, to me it's just like, why wouldn't you want to, to like celebrate the people that you, you are around and you're with.

Yeah. Um, yeah. You might not necessarily find 'em at uni. You might not even find 'em in your workplace, but I think, like you said, um, it's really about like being intentional and where you show up and what the spaces that you are in. Definitely. Thank you. We've now come to the last question before we go onto passing the mic, uh, which is looking at heritage advocacy and purpose.

Wow. Um, and I have now realised that I actually have forgotten a segment, so Okay. I'm going to go back Yeah. And fill this question in with something else. So before I go into the last question, we're going to do the mic check, which has a facts and figure that's related to the topic that we're talking about.

Uh, and in, in 2023 around, uh, one in five children and young people age eight to 25 had a probable mental, uh, health issue, which makes youth work safe conversations and creative wellbeing spaces more important than ever. Uh, so I want to put that out there as a, as our mic, as our mic check. Uh, so you're aware of that, and it kind of does lead to this question, uh, because you know, you are, your heritage is very much important to your work and everything that you do.

Uh, so you are Congolese and Koda. 

Yeah. 

Um, and it shapes your passion for humanitarian advocacy. Yeah. My question to you is, how has your identity influenced the stories you choose to tell and the causes you feel called to amplify? Uh. 

Yeah. So as a Congolese Angolan person, born in, oh, not born in where I was born actually, 'cause people might come for the postcode, but I was born in an area of London and now I live in a different area of London that I prefer, not a lot of people prefer this area, but it's a great area.

Okay, okay. We're all very calm, they're very, um, chill South London. Um, so yeah, I, I find that my immediate surrounding is actually not a lot of people from my own culture. 

Mm-hmm. 

So my mom found it really funny growing up, seeing that. I was like, oh, my friends from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra in Zambia. Mm-hmm. In Baab.

She's like, why don't you have Congolese Lango friends? I'm like, show me where they are, show where they are and I'll make friends with them. How about that? Um, and I know they live in different areas, but that's besides the point. Um, it kind of forced me to take more time to actually learn about my own culture because I was learning about other people's cultures, but it's like the only person that could teach me was my dad because he's always reading the news and talking about politics.

And since I was little, all I've heard him say is, Congo is very bad place. Congo is very bad, things are very bad politics, very bad government, very bad. And I'm like. They've, they wonder you're not there right now. Mm-hmm. Do you know what I mean? But I've also thought, but why, like surely for the politics in that country to be so bad, something must have caused it.

Mm-hmm. And so it got me digging and reading, especially during lockdown into like Leopold Belgium and reparations and Patrice Lumumba and his golden tooth and like reparations and the fact that, you know, some African countries still pay tax European countries. And I'm like, why? Why do I not know about that?

Why do I know a lot more about like Nazi Germany? 

Mm-hmm. 

Um, but not Congolese lango culture. So I really dug into that, um, and ended up finding like-minded people got involved in charity work. Um, and because of the nature of my content, I'm very much like I learned something, I wanna share it. I learned something, I wanna share it.

Even if I haven't refined what I've learned completely yet, I don't mind people correcting me or bringing up more conversation. And so I started to make videos about what was happening in Congo and La God, I was not ready. Mm-hmm. Because I thought everyone was an activist. I didn't know that it was a special thing.

I thought we all do it because we're cool to speak up. Like it's even biblical that we're supposed to help the poor, like speak up for those who can't speak for themselves. So I'm here like talking about Congo. All of a sudden my dms are filled, likes, comments, followings going up. I'm getting mentioned on like political pages of Oh, there's Congolese journalist.

And I'm like, I'm literally not a Congolese journalist. That's why I'm Congolese and Angolan. But I have never labelled myself as a journalist. So it showed me, first of all, that there is a need to be educated. Um, people want to be informed. Um, people are also ready and quick to critique you, um, or to critique your country and to say, here's the reason for fault, here's the reason for fault.

Um, but yeah, I think it taught me to be, um, very careful about the things I do say and what I do share, but to make sure that I'm coming from like an impartial educational standpoint. Um, because I know that when you are very emotional about what you do, it's a lot harder to do it once someone like chips at you, basically.

'cause people will chip at you. They will come for you personally, not just what 

you're saying, but you. Mm-hmm. 

Um, and so, yeah, I think my, my desire was to kind of fulfil scripturally that okay, I will speak for those who can't. Mm-hmm. Um, but also I want to enable other people to also feel like they can do the same.

And it's not just me that I don't wanna feel special. I don't want to feel like, ah, I'm just one of few activists. 'cause I shouldn't be, you know, all my friends should be activists. Mm-hmm. You know, and I know that we're all in different points in life. But, um, I think once you learn something and see someone's real is a lot more difficult than yours, why would you not want to help?

You know. 

Can I ask a follow up? 

Yes, you can. 

Um, what would you say, do you, what would you say? Do you have an inspiring story from that? Yeah, so like someone that has seen your con content and that's been like, wow, Priscilla shared this. It's encouraging me now to like act and step forward and think about things differently.

Oh, that's good. It is. Okay. So there is a page when we are the piece, okay. And they just post about things happening or like, countries that are suffering from humanitarian crisis. So whether that be like Sudan, Palestine, et cetera. So when I posted one of my videos on Instagram, they ended up like writing on their story or wherever it was somewhere and reposting my content on their page.

They have like over a million followers. So I was scared 'cause I was like, that's gonna be a lot of people that see this. Um, and from that, I, like thousands of people started following me and talking about like, thank you so much for sharing this, thank you so much. Started getting invitations to like charity events and stuff.

And I was like, okay, so people are doing things, it's just not very loud and let's not blame the algorithm, but sometimes we need to blame the algorithm because we know the people behind it. Um, but I noticed that my friends, especially not just when it was building more traction, but they started to have more questions about what was going on.

And um, you know, I've got a, a very good friend of mine who is Ugandan and she was surprised to find out that her country was involved in, in things going on. I have a friend that's Rwandan and he wanted to basically explain his political view and say, look, I mean no harm to your people, this is just, this is just what it is.

So I don't, I wouldn't say there's like one particular person, but I would say that there's been a multitude of conversations that have made me realise that people are just very quiet about how they feel because they don't want to be targeted. Mm. They don't wanna get in trouble. 

Mm. 

Um, but there are, you know, a hefty amount of people that are very passionate about these causes.

And so it's really connected me to them. 

Yeah. No, uh, yeah, we're gonna do a round of applause because Yeah, I guess it really kind of showcases, um, the importance it showcases like the importance of like what you're doing. Uh, and I hope you understand the importance of what you're doing because Yeah, seeing the impact like.

Sometimes it's very easy to see, to not see the impact of the work that you're doing and to kind of like, just be like, yeah, okay. Like I'm focusing on the next step and always the next thing forward. But I do hope in between all the busys of everything that you're doing and the many hats that you wear, that you take a moment to realise, like the impact of all the individual things you're doing.

Listen, 

and I hope it's impactful. 'cause sometimes I chat a lot of rubbish on internet, so I'm like, amidst that, it's like politics. And then, oh, so like the uptake, someone really irritated me and it's like politics, kids. So yeah, it's a, we're a pick and mix, but I do take what you're saying to heart. I think it is important and for anyone to make sure that they really sit in the things they do and they don't take it for granted because it may come easy to them.

Mm. 

I think that is a, um, an issue that people are probably kind of disregarding their talent because they just find it so easy to do. 

No, a hundred percent. Um, yeah, we're now gonna go into passing the mic. Woo. Uh, so Priscilla gets to ask me as many questions as you want on anything. Um, so yes, over to you.

Let me know your questions. 

First question is, what is your favourite flavour of cheesecake? If you don't have one, you have to leave. I'm joking.

I'm not like, so, so I will preface by saying Right cheesecake isn't my, like, 

no one asked if it was your favourite, by 

the way. No, no. I didn't say it was it, it's not my top dessert. You know what I mean? I'm just saying. So that's why I'm like, this is a, this is a, this is a bit of a harder, harder question to answer.

Um, I will say, I think of the cheesecakes that have been bought, I think m and s do a nice one. I don't know. I think it's, I don't know what's in it. My sisters buy it. I like their cheesecake. That would be my answer. Um, but I can do cakes, I can 

do Right. I didn't ask about cakes. Um, and clearly your sisters have good taste, so if we got your sisters, can we get an applause for your sisters?

Yeah. Thank you girls. God bless you. Um, speaking of sisters, actually 

yes. 

I, I don't assume, are you the younger? 

I'm the youngest of four, so I have a brother and two sisters. 

That's brilliant. That's what I wanted to ask. What would you say that you have learned from, um, your older sisters? 

Ooh, uh, I let, let me, let me, let me do all three so my brother doesn't feel like I'm, I'm, no, 

he's not in this.

I'm sorry. Wow. Wow. 

It's about 

the sisters today. Wow. Okay. Fair enough. Um, well, Josh, you, you know, you know, you know I love you. We 

love you, Josh. It's all right. Okay. 

Um, what have I learned from my sisters? Um, hmm. That's a good question. I've got, I've got it. So, with my oldest sister, um, I think I've learned like the.

I think I would, it's like, I'm trying to figure out the best way to word it without it sounding like harsh, but it's more like she knows, she knows the importance of boundaries. Yeah. So she's the type of person that's like, and I'm, and not even just like a, oh, you know, if something's bad, like she's also the type of person that's just like, look like I'm at work tomorrow.

This is when things need to cut off. Like, if she goes to an event, she's like, cool, I'm here from these times. I'm out. I'm in the office tomorrow. Um, whereas like myself, and I would say my older sister are the exact same, where we very much are more like, ah, like we're having a good time. What's another 30 minutes?

Yeah. And then it's like, cool, but we're in the office tomorrow and we've gotta wake up early. So we're just like balancing that. Um, but yeah, she also does that in the sense of like, she's very much like, you know, uh, my older sister Will has like, you know, she's got budget sheets to figure, like, to track finances.

She, she knows like, you know, if I'm going to spend this much this month and I need to be aware that like, so like, she's taught me like the importance of organisation, which I say as a creative, um, and a business owner, both are very much important. Yeah. And I would say in total transparency is something that I'm definitely investing more time into, uh, this year.

Um, and my older sister, I think she kinda shows me the, the like the power of like not caring, um, because she just like, she just does what she wants. Um, and like, she's like, I'm gonna have a good time. Yeah. And like, and I'm, I'm gonna enjoy myself. Um, and I find that like funny because I don't think there's necessarily a bad thing, but I feel like it's funny because like, she like people when people see her and my brother and the three of us in an interaction.

So people never assume, people always assume that I'm the youngest from the way that I act with any of my siblings. Yeah. But with, when my brother is in the mix, people always assume he's the oldest or he's like older than her. Um, but he's not. So it's very much funny. And like she's, she's just like, oh, like it's because like, I do what I like, not, not what I do what I want, but she's like, I'm very much just like, oh, I'll go with the flow.

Like, you know, not like, no one's gonna stop me if I wanna do this. I'm gonna do this. Like, oh. And I'm just like, that's a level of confidence that, um. I would say I aspire to and yeah, would love to follow. But also she's like the, to be fair, like I would say between me, like as a family, we'll get it from our dad.

Yeah. Because my dad is the type of person that, like this, this my, like everyone says talk to a wall. Like he's, he could, he could have a, like he's talking to everyone. Like he's making everyone feel at home. He knows how to make people joke. Um, but yeah, my sister, I would say like, has, that's something she's got really strong to her.

Yeah. That she can just like, speak to anyone. Like usually that's what I like. If you go to pick up the mic event, you've probably bumped into her and spoken to her because like, whereas I'm like trying to make sure everything's running smoothly and running around. She's the person that's like intro, introducing people.

She's speaking to people. Yeah. She's networking. Um, so yeah, so that would be from my sisters, I would say. 

Well, I guess you could throw Josh in a mix. 

Fine. Um, from my brother, I think it's just like, so he, so there's, there's, I would say the, I, well, how do I phrase this? I would say. My parents have instilled like an entrepreneurial spirit in like, all four of us.

Yeah. To like not feel like you're nine to five is your whole identity. Yeah. You can explore different things too. But I would say, uh, Josh is the type of person that, like, he has the, like, he has the courage to do it. So like when he, I don't know the age, but he started like his own like independent record label.

'cause he was like, oh, um, I like making music. I wanna make a thing out of it. And he was like, cool, I'm gonna do this. And then asked me like, do you wanna be involved? And I was like, yeah, sure. Um, now obviously I have no context. I barely, I wouldn't call myself a musician. I've made a couple of songs for him.

I wouldn't, I've left him to run all of that, but I would say he's taught me like he, he, he like taught himself everything he know. Amazing. So when people, yeah, when people see, like, because I tell the same thing with pick up the mic. I don't have a audio visual background. I literally only got into video editing because I liked, um, like I basically wanted to create the chord.

Like, so this is like the most, anyways, I would say I am a glorified nerd, but, um, they're called animated music videos. So you basically use, uh, like a, whether it's an anime or an animated film or whatever, and then you put your own music track to whatever is, whether it's a fight scene or whatever, you make a recap video, stuff like that.

So I just was like dipping my toes into that. And then I got into video editing and then just built it up from there. Yeah. Uh, but he does it like, he studied mechanical and engineering. Oh wow. He just loves music as something that he's interested in. And he read books, he like learned watch YouTube videos, went on courses, did like masterclass.

Yeah. All of this stuff. So for him it shows me, I would say I just learned like you can, like there's nothing that you can't learn. Yeah. You might not necessarily master it in like, you're not gonna master it in a day, let's be honest. But it was like, yeah. If you give yourself like time, like yeah. You can learn and do anything and then you'll get to a point where like it's super easy and you now know how to like, do it much quicker than when you started.

Yeah. Um, yeah, that's what I said I learned from him. 

Oh, I love that. It seems like you've been learning a lot. You've got some characters in the family. 

Yes. Yes. 

Yes. Fair. What would you say, so outside of your, your interest mm-hmm. At the moment, what would you say is something that you, um, maybe have like had as a passing thought that you'd want to try and haven't yet tried?

Uh, this is good 'cause I'm pretty sure it's on my, so basically after my 26th birthday, it's also funny 'cause my birthday's the end of this week, but Ooh. Yeah. Which is, uh, I'll do the, the round applause. Uh, why not? It's for, it's for my own birthday. Um, but yeah, uh, it was, um, after my 26th birthday, I was like, cool, I'll do, uh, I think it was like 26th things while I'm 26th.

I did not finish that list. I will preference. Yeah. No, no, no. To be fair, I'll be so real. I generally forgot about that list until like a week or two ago. Okay. Um, and I was like, oh yeah, that list I made. So it shows you the importance of once you set some goals, keep tracking them. Yeah. Um, but one of the things that was at the top of my list, which to be fair, I think, uh, I've always told people like I'm a massive overthinker and I just need to actually like book it and do it is, um, I liked dodgeball and I wanted to go to a dodgeball club for the long.

Like I see, I know there's, there's an actual organisation called the Dodgeball Club and they host dodgeball events, but there's loads of other ones. I wanted to go to a dodge ball event. Um, so that would be the thing that I've, like, I, I reviewed this list. I was like, yeah, I definitely wanna, like, I gotta book it in.

But I think it's just like, yo, first of all, I'm not even talking about like, I would take part first. I think the first Well, 

you wouldn't take part. 

Nah, not immediately. 'cause I'm like, I don't wanna embarrass myself, you know, let me like, no, 

there's no such thing as embarrassment. 

You know, I was, it was, it was So to be fair, I will preface, and this isn't a bad thing on them.

This is the importance of health and safety for anyone watching. Okay. They, so I saw one and I was like, cool, I'm free this weekend. I'll go like, it's 11 to one, that's fine. And then I was looking and it was like, play a, play a registration, read the health and safety form if you like, you know, injure yourself.

If you break something, you are liable. I was like, I was like, break something. I don't remember dodge being this violent. I was like, I swear I break something. I know you dodging like jump and Yeah, I was like break. I was like, am I, am I, am I, am I ready for this? 

Did you play sports at uni? 

So the reason why I pause, I didn't do it at Bruno, but I used to do ADEs at the same time.

So I used to do like athletics. Ah, okay. Um, so I did a hundred, 200 and high jump. Nice. Um, I would do football as well. We did rounders. Um, we did, so the reason why I love I want to do dodge ball is 'cause I love dodge ball. Like, yeah. I, no, not too much. I was about to say, do I have what? Wait, 

I remember like, yeah.

I was like. 

Yeah, I've got the air horn here. Um, so to do my own horn, um, like times when I do like really cool dodgers and it was just fun and all like funny stuff. Yeah. And I just love the comical nature of dodge ball. 

Wow. 

Um, 

I've never heard someone say that before. 

Yeah. Oh no. Trust me. 

The comical nature of dodge 

ball.

Yeah. There was someone that I knew, um, we were doing dodge ball at adit. He, so it, to this day, it makes me, my brother and my sister laugh, so dodgeball throwing is him. But two people ended up throwing like these, and to be fair, it was to give preference. It was one of those like soft footballs, like the, like the foam ones rather than like a, like the harder ones.

Yeah. Um, someone threw it at him but like lobbed it him in the chest and it's one of those ones where it hit him and he kind of like moved, like he got shot, so he was just like him in the shoulder here and he was like, ah. And then someone followed up by throwing a, another one straight at his face and he's got glasses on.

So all you just see is he goes, he gets it first time. Ja at the same time when he tries to turn back, gets smacked in the face, his glasses fall off. His glasses didn't break, but it was the funniest thing that ever happened. 

God, glass are expensive. Glasses 

are honestly, um, this, 

you played that back in like slow motion in your head?

Oh yeah. No, generally like I, I can see, I can visualise the moment and I, to this day it always makes me just like smile and chuckle a little bit. Um, 

does you know this, you know, you're laughing at him in your like passing hours. I 

feel like he may not know actively, but to be fair he knows now. Oh, he knows now.

And 

yeah, 

I would say as someone, um, who has, ma has had many when it comes to sports, has had many an, an embarrassing moment. It's okay. It's okay. Yeah. It's okay. It's the fun parts of sports. 

That's what I mean. There's not really embarrassment. It's more so like a little mishap. It's true, 

it's true. 

I got winded once at netball match.

Ah, no. 

You know, I just, I kept running when I shouldn't have because the girl that was also running was double my size. You know, but 

that's, but I felt like that's fair. You know? 

No, I should've stopped running. I should have calculated and said, no, I'm not making this one alive. 

But I feel like, yeah, I feel like I, so that's why I say like, overthinking.

So I would probably say of all the things on my list that I want to do it is to go to a dodge ball event in some capacity. Um, 

can you like book it in July and go in July? Like what, what's stopping you from doing it in July? I need 

to check if they, it, it depends on when they've got 

masks. They're available.

There's always dodge ball available. Okay. Whether it's them, the Dodge Ball Club, somewhere else. You will find it if you look for it. 

So this is you saying you're keeping me accountable 

too. There are more than 8 billion people on this planet. And you wanna tell me that there's no dodge ball available in July?

That's crazy. 

Uh, 

fine. So we'll be waiting for a selfie at Dodgeball Club. 

Ah, don't worry, don't worry. You've heard it here first. And I've said if it's heard on the podcast, uh, actually I realised there's one thing I need to actually to do, which was on the podcast, which I didn't do for our five years. Um, that's a, that's, that's what I say it.

Yeah. Maybe I'll very quickly say it from when you're talking about like sports stuff. Um, the long story short, I agree. I won't talk into the full context, but basically someone there is, when I say embarrassing moments, it's not sports related one, but this was, um, back when I was in sixth form, uh, and basically long 

time ago.

Yeah. I mean, to be fair, I was just like, even looking at, I was just like, I was in sixth form 10 years ago, and the world looks completely different. Um, which I still, anyway, still don't get to this day. Um, but yeah, funnily enough, probably it was, it would've been 10 years ago last year, actually. Wow. Uh, which I get what, what?

Um, but yeah, long story short, I, we went to this, like, it was all about safe driving. It was three other schools. And long story short, I thought, I, I, to this day thought I was called on stage. Some people argue from my secondary school that that wasn't true. But, um, I went on stage and basically, uh, they played like, I don't even remember what music they played, but it wasn't to me something like, I can do afrobeats anything that's like, 

oh, you're a dancer?

No. Oh. Like, I wouldn't call myself a dancer. I couldn't, I, I can dance. I wouldn't call myself a dancer in time. Oh, yeah. I can dance in time. Okay, you're saying? Yeah. But, but the music, I think it was like, you know, like EDM or like something, like something like 

something like, 

yeah. 

You know, 

like it's, it's, and I was just like, I a I was like, this isn't gonna work, and BI, this is why you don't judge a book by its cover.

Right. 'cause I, I was sizing up the other person and I was like, in my head, this guy can't dance. This guy can't dance. When I tell you the, the guy could break. So I like did, I was just like, I can't this way, easiest way you can win a dance battle as if you can do a front flip or a back flip or splits. I can't do any of those.

But what I can do is a cartwheel. So I did a cartwheel on stage. 

Right. 

My school, everyone in my bear in mind, I'm also wearing like, this is six, sorry, this is six wheel not secondary. So I'm in like a suit. So that's the context you need that I'm doing a cartwheel where like things could have ripped and thank God they didn't.

Um, but yeah, basically I did it and then I was like, cool. I did the cartwheel. Everyone's screaming, everyone's like, this is great. I was like, I've, I've gotta send it back. 

Yeah. 

But guy break dance. I didn't know this. Okay. I ized him up. Guy starts break dancing, you can see in the vid. And I will preface by saying I probably will release this at some point this year if I can find the footage.

But I find it, uh, if you connect connected me with Facebook, it's on my Facebook page. I can definitely say that. Um, it is, uh, you can see the moment in the video where like, I, I, I see he can break dance. Yeah. And I don't know what to do to top that. And I'm genuinely just like, when people ask me like, what did you do?

Like, why did you like try the, the most randomist of dance moves on stage? I was just like, my mind went blank. And, uh, all I just know is I was just like, instincts alone is gonna get us through this. You 

gave it all, you became primal. You said, 

you 

know what? 

I, I was like, whatever comes to me, whoever comes to me, I was like, it's, it's giving it to God.

'cause I don't know what I'm doing here. Um, but yeah, that video, I'm, I'm still yet to release. Uh, so, uh, hopefully, well, if I can find it before the end of the, 

he will find it on. You said it's on Facebook. 

It's on Facebook, but it's 

not hard to find. 

It's not hard to find. 

Yeah. So it's actually already available for you to view right now.

It's, you said 2020. 2015. 2015. 

Have 

2016. Go there. Yeah. You're welcome. 

Um, any other question? 

What would you say is a common misconception that people have about you? 

Hmm.

A common misconception people have about me. 

You tell 'em, they're like, what? Really? You crazy? 

I mean.

Okay. One that people, while I think about one people I wouldn't know by, or, well, there's one that people wouldn't know about from just like if one, sometimes one-to-one reactions. Yeah. And it's happened many a times in different jobs is people assume that I'm naturally like a quite shy person. 

Yeah. 

Um, and I, or like, I'm introverted and I say no.

It's more that like, I just like know, like if, if I find people that match my energy, then like I, I go with my group. Yeah. But like, if I don't, then usually you just like, I'll just, it's like a, you know, I'm sociable, I'm friendly, but like, I'm not gonna like. Have a, like, go into a full deep conversation about something if there's no level of connection there.

Okay. So in the job that I'm currently in, in my previous, well, to be fair, they knew me, but in my previous job, uh, and in some other places, they've always assumed like, oh, I thought he was like a bit timid or a bit like quiet. Uh, so even with this job, um, we host a showcase event where we get all the businesses on the programme that I support to showcase their business and like what they do to the general public.

And, um, my manager, so I asked her like, oh, like I'm looking to host more stuff. Like I would love to host, you know, host this event. She was just like, oh, I think that should be okay, but like, are you sure? Like, you know, would you be okay with that? And I was like, oh yeah. Like, um, that'd be perfectly fine. I was like, I literally did a speech on my graduation.

And she was like, what do you mean? I was like, oh yeah. My graduation, like two months ago, um, I did a speech on stage, like, I can send you a video. I recorded, I, I got my brother to get a recording of it and, and put it on YouTube. Um, so yeah, even the partner of the programme, he's like an external person. He was like, oh, he wants to host, like, I don't know, hey.

Um, and I was like, well, I've got a podcast that I do, I can send you some episodes. But I was like, well, you're probably like, is this five minute speech that I did at graduation? Yeah. Um, and yeah, it was funny 'cause other people, like when I, so when I did it, people just like, wow, he's really funny. You know, it's crack jokes.

He know. I was like, yeah, I like when I host, I know how to host I how to make things funny. Um, even like, I remember I made like, and this, I mean, I don't know if I'd do this in like a future job, but all I know is we had that showcase event was literally the week before my probation ended. Right. So I was like, at the prob at the showcase, I was like, look guys, it's been great.

It's been ly pleasure, you know, thank you to all of these people. I was like, if you enjoyed yourselves, you gotta tell someone, uh, from my organisation because if you don't see me afterwards or the next one, I didn't make it. I didn't make it. And it's because of all of you. So if you don't, if you don't find her, I was like, it's anw 

on y'all.

It's not me. It's not me and my, it, 

it's, it's not me. It's 

you guys. 

I've, I've, you've been laughing so clearly I've been making having a good time. Um, but I just liked, I liked toasting. Um, so yeah, I would say sometimes people feel like I'm very much like a quiet person. Yeah. But, um, when they get to know me, they don't know that's not the case.

Um, but an assumption that people would definitely be surprised about. I think sometimes people think I am, this probably sounds bad, but it's an honest truth. Yeah. I think sometimes people think that I'm more organised than I am. 

Okay. 

So people, so people will, will like, see whether it's like the recording setup or stuff like that.

And that's not to say I'm not, I'm in organised. I am the guy that like, over, like I said, I'm an overthinker. Yeah. So, uh, you can probably see maybe three or four cameras. But I'm also the guy that like sometimes would have an, a third microphone in the room that is basically recording audio just in case like the audio doesn't work.

Yeah. 'cause it's happened in the past, or I have two wide shots because I've had it where the wide shot's not worked. Yeah. Um, so I'm like overly cautious, but sometimes I, I won't lie, sometimes I'll forget things. There have been there, there were a few, uh, in the early days of pick up the mic. Yeah. Where like.

I would forget, I had a recording, so I was like, cool. Um, I'm coming up with questions on the spot. Yeah, we're gonna roll with it. Um, so yeah, I feel like I've gotten a lot better, but I think that would surprise people. Round of rules, round of applauses. Oh, thank you. 

A progress. 

Uh, 'cause honestly, like I, I would say like it's one of those things where before I, I would think, oh, you know, I have to, you know.

That like the, the, the, the vision of being organised was something that I, I could admire and others, but I was like, to take the time to sit down and do stuff. And I think it's just like the thing of being a creative, you're like, yes, you want to like, organise like your, your posts and you wanna plan out content and do this.

Um, or even like with podcasting, you know, I wanna come up with all the questions, write everything out. Um, but I tell people like, the reason why I just have like a starting point, but I don't focus on specific things to ask people. Like, I don't plan out the episode should be like 20 minutes long is because I just like the freedom of Yeah.

If I'm really enjoying the conversation, absolutely. We can then speak for another 20 minutes. Um, so yeah, that would be my thing. I I'm very much an improvised, I'd literally tell people, um, the only thing that I probably would say had a like formalised process was that graduation speech. Most of the time if I'm doing speeches for stuff and you're just like, sounds great on a whim, on a whim on the spot, I might have like three talking points.

But I don't, I don't, I don't do stuff in advance. I'm very much like on the go. I love having those types of conversations. Yeah. 

I think that's cool. I think that's a talent you learn as you go and I think, I think even as creatives, like you don't wanna appear disorganised anyway. Mm. So I feel like there's an element of, um, appearing put together.

Mm. That is not always reflective of exactly what's happening up here. Oh, a hundred percent. Otherwise you wouldn't get booked. Exactly. 'cause who's gonna book someone that's like, Hey guys, dunno what I'm doing at all, but, you know, book me. I might be good. Um, thank 

hundred percent. Um, any other questions? 

Um, will you book Dodgeball Club for July?

Wow. Wow. Uh, uh, yeah. 

It's a yes or no answer. 

It's a yes or I couldn't even get more than one word in. Um, yes. Yes I will. 

Great. And will you buy a strawberry or toffee cheesecake before the end of the year? I'm giving you more time. 

You've giving me more time. Straw. It'll be a, definitely be a strawberry one, 

but not your sister's buying it.

You 

have buy. But I got 

for them 

for, for, 

and they'll say thank you. 

Uh, I can, I can. Yes. Thanks. I I can. 

That's what I wanted to do. 

That's what, uh, well thank you very much for that. Um, and yes, uh, I will get my sisters to, uh, to either post the themselves holding it. Yeah. Um, but yes, you, you will, you will know that they've got it.

Thank you. Um, but yes, we're gonna go on to our mc of the month organisational individual, doing incredible work. Uh, and we're today highlighting the Congolese Action Youth Platform. So they're a community organisation using advocacy, remembrance, education, and cultural programming to raise awareness around justice, um, dignity and the Congolese experience.

And we think this really connects with Priscilla's work that she's doing across heritage storytelling, humanitarian advocacy, and kind of like summarises the importance of like. Understanding where you come from. And I think kind of like you mentioned with your, when you were talking about like how you were learning more about like your own, like heritage.

Yeah. I feel like especially when you don't, 'cause someone said it and I was just, and I probably should have mentioned this when you said this, someone mentioned that like if you're not born in your country of origin is funny because you are in the country that you are born in, you're seen as an outsider.

Yeah. 

And in the country that you are from, you're an outsider. You're an outsider. 

Yeah. 

And it's like, how do you, how do you balance it that it's, you say 

abundant. Okay. I'm not an outsider, just shut up. That's all you say. I'm Jake. I obviously, I understand why they see us in that light, but at the same time, that's what makes us, us.

Oh no, a hundred percent. You've gotta accept that people live in different countries, but we still share the same blood. So what now? Huh? 

Yeah. I really appreciate that. 

Yeah. 

Um, but yeah, we're not actually, 

but actually, sorry. Yes. I have something to add link before you move on. Yes. 

Yeah, go ahead. Um, 

and I don Dunno, I probably didn't explain this at any point.

Okay. But I am actually a part of Congolese action. You fell 

for Really? No, I, well, uh, well we have it. I, I've, I've only gone and done it. Um, okay. '

cause when you reached I was like, yeah. I work with them. 

Well, in that case, I, I'll let you explain a bit more about, about what you, what you guys do. Um, I, I'm, I'm gonna step to the side.

Okay. 

Come 

to you. 

Um, I'm gonna shout out three people. Okay. The founders, um, mommy, me, Papa, and Yaki. They are incredible. Mm-hmm. They're like my aunties and uncles. Like I met, I started working with them two years ago. Okay. Um, they've been doing this for 10 plus years. They've been going to the protest, they've been sending letters to the government in Congo.

Mm-hmm. 

They've been raising money, they've been liaising on the ground. They've been going to Congo even when it's dangerous. 

Mm-hmm. 

Um, they truly inspire me. And I, I also work with, um, a young lady called Mel Ve um, we are like on the younger side, they're on the older side. There are a lot of us. There's Joanne, I don't wanna forget names.

There's Joanne. There's, um, oh, I'm gonna forget, but it's okay because I love you. Um, but yeah, ultimately like. Especially mommy, me, I met her at a, uh, protest outside the Arsenal Stadium. Okay. When the whole visit Rwanda thing was happening. Mm-hmm. 

Mm-hmm. 

I went there, you know, naively like, okay, cool, I'm gonna go stand for my country.

Whatever happens, happens, I get there. There's barely anyone there. And I'm like, there's literally less than 200 people here. 

Mm-hmm. 

But during the bl m protest and like 20, 2010s of thousands, like how, what is, what's going on? Um, and because of my frustration and curiosity, that is actually how I ended up bumping into one of the founders, mommy me.

And she was like, Hey, gimme your number. Let's connect. We connected. And from that, she explained what they do. Um, and I said, yeah, like, I'd love to be a part of this. And I think the best thing about it is, um, they're very graceful to the fact that life happens and that being a part of a humanitarian charity is tough.

Mm-hmm. Like, it's tough on your wellbeing, physically, mentally, financially, all the sorts, because no one is funding you. You are doing it out of desire to see your country be better. Um, and Papa La and Yaki and mommy, Mimi are very, very, very educated on what's happening. And so over these, this is now the second year I think I've been with them, they've been teaching me a lot, um, in their character, in the way that they present themselves.

They've spoken in Parliament, they've done a lot of things. Um, and they're just trying to kind of equip us as young people to be able to kind of, I guess, take that, that poll and keep going like a little relay race. 

Mm-hmm. 

Um, but yeah, it's everything. Congo, everything. Um, even Palestine, Sudan. Mm-hmm. Like we support other causes too.

Mm-hmm. We show up to their protests. 

Mm-hmm. 

And they show up for us as well. Probably sometimes more than Congolese people do, which is quite heartbreaking. Um, but yeah, shout out to them. They're, they're doing a great thing. 

That's incredible. Um, before we go to the last section of the episode, uh, I'm actually going to go back to one of the original questions I asked you because I don't need the reminder.

I have remembered. Okay. I, we had a conversation. I would like you.

That's okay. Um, okay. So. What, like, trying, trying to figure out how, the best way to phrase this, but, um, I'm literally sounding like a DJ with my remixes. So, um, but, uh, my question to you would be, okay, so what is a dish that you would recommend to me that describes the conversation and how you feel about, I guess, myself based on this conversation?

Can I describe you as a dish rather than 

like, Ooh, okay. I like that. Go 

ahead. Okay. It's me or like sourdough? Toasted sourdough. Ooh, okay. If you like avocado over or not. You like it, it doesn't matter actually with, um, guacamole. 

Okay. 

I say like some crispy bacon. 

Okay. 

And two poached eggs and like a sprinkle of like, um, what's that thing called?

Onions, but like the crispy onions. Oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. Bit of chilli flakes as well, if you're into that. 

Oh, yeah. 

And then maybe a little garnish on the side. I don't know, like some sweet potato puree to make it look fancy. 

Can I ask why? 

Yeah. I just feel like there's lots of layers. 'cause I, I feel like onion is so basic.

Mm-hmm. Like everyone calls people onions when they talk about personalities, but I feel like that there's like lots of textures and flavours and like colours. Yeah. You know, and you're wearing a colourful top, you know? Thank 

you. 

Um, you surprise people and I'm sure that that kind of meal would surprise people.

Mm. Okay. Well you've heard it here. When, when's the cookbook coming out? 

Never. Never.

I dunno. We'll see. See I see. Don't think I have enough. Uh, what's the word? Um, I follow other people's recipes. Okay. I'm not a recipe creator. Okay. Unless I'm really hungry and there's like, I dunno what to eat. Okay. But I'll just put stuff together and hope it works. 

Okay. 

And it usually does. 

Okay. Um, I was gonna say, is there anywhere people could, you'd recommend that from, like, any of the chefs or like, uh, anyone creating cooking content that, you know, that would makes like a really good version of this?

No. But, um, Justin Arthur is a, um, content creator that makes food and he is really funny as well as just being a good cook. So shouldn't learn from someone. And grubs, I think it's Grubs Works Kitchen or Grubs Kitchen. 

Mm. 

Keith Good as well. 

Okay. 

Um, that's all I can think of for now. 

That's okay. 

Yeah. 

Um, alright, we've come to the takeaway section, uh, which kind of links in that nicely, uh, with a bit of food.

Um, you've spoken, we've spoken about a lot. Yeah. Um, we've spoken about a lot of really interesting topics and really interesting things, but one message, if you could give our audience one message to take home with them, what would it, 

um, oh, I didn't even think about this actually. What would I say? Okay.

My takeaway would be. Don't overlook the skills and talents that you have. And, um, yeah, don't take no for an answer. The things that you have within you will be acceptable and even favourable to someone in some organisation and something. Um, so yeah, just keep pushing, keep creating, keep putting yourself outside your comfort zone because you never know what you're capable of until you push yourself, I guess.

Yeah. Well, 

that's enough from me. Uh, so thank you very much, Priscilla. Uh, it's been incredible having you on the podcast. Thank you for having 

me. 

We always give this end part for you to share how people can connect, um, yeah. Basically how people are. Yeah. How it's been a long day. That's all 

right. 

Thank you.

Is image your first language? 

Yeah, it is. Then 

shame because I was gonna say if it wasn't, it's fine, but it's so, you need to do better. 

Well, um, you know, you know, as, as, as a host, I always love the, um, as the, the pure, you know, just warmth are our guests, our guests give us, uh, yeah, both as an audience and as me as a host.

Um, you know, I, I truly appreciate feeling welcomed in my own space. I'm glad. Um, and if I cry afterwards, you now know why, but, uh, how can people connect with you? Do you have anything coming up that people should keep an eye out, whether it's content, um, events? Uh, I will say we, we are currently at this moment of recording, we've got a bit of a backlog.

So, uh, think forward a couple of months. Um, but yes, this is your opportunity to share. 

Um, you can connect with me on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube. My, literally, my government name is my social, so Priscilla, DIN, oh, I can't even spell my own name. Priscilla. D-I-N-A-T-O-K-O. That's my whole name. I have no criminal convictions.

That's why I'm not afraid to put my whole name up. Um, you can find me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and I'm not really like consistent on YouTube yet. We'll get consistent on YouTube one day. Um, but yeah, I don't know. With me, whatever's coming up is coming up like, just keep your eyes peel because I'd be doing stuff and then forgetting to tell people before I do it, and then I share it after, like, oh, I had a great time here.

And it's like, oh. But from now on, I will do better in informing, uh, people in advance if it's hosting, if it's music. Mm-hmm. If it's things, I will share it on my pages. 

Okay. 

And DM me. I'm, I won't, I won't bite you. I'm actually really nice. 

Um, they may have a difference of opinion the way you just treated me, but feel free to reach out.

Um, had your, I was about to your own peril, but I feel like that's too extreme. Um, no, no, no. I was, it's been, it's been a good episode. It's been a good episode. 

That's why I grab all these matches 

you run. 

I'm 

joking. I I'm not a feat. 

But thank you to you wonderful audience for coming back. If you like, this episode, like comments described, is always appreciated.

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See you. Have a wonderful day. 

Have.