Rise and Shine

 We dive deep into the emotional labour often required of Black women in workplaces, discussing the weight of conforming and masking one’s struggles. The episode promotes the radical idea of saying no—an act of self-love and preservation—and invites listeners to prioritise their mental wellness above all.

Listeners will also gain insights into the importance of financial literacy, debunking misconceptions surrounding personal tax responsibilities and empowering individuals to take control of their financial narratives. As AI continues to reshape the job landscape, this episode highlights the caliber of adaptability needed in today’s workforce.

Create your personal tax account: 

https://www.access.service.gov.uk/login/signin/creds

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Music (Intro and Outro) Written and created by Nomadic Star

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Setting the Stage
• 3:01 The Importance of Affirmation for Black Women
• 12:27 The Cost of Emotional Labor in Marginalised Spaces
• 35:53 Empowering Yourself to RSVP No
• 54:55 Introduction to Financial Literacy and Tax Accounts
• 1:07:26 Navigating the Complex World of Self
• 6:58:58 The Role of AI and Future Job Markets
• 7:58:10 The Impact of AI on Careers and Work Dynamics
• 17:39:29 Social Responsibility and the Power of Choice

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

To my fellow black women. I hope you occupy spaces where the fullness of who you are is celebrated and amplified as a necessity. We, as black women, have developed a high tolerance for suffering, but the emotional labour of hiding behind a smile in response to tokenism or marginalisation is too great a cost. I don't want that for us anymore. I know I'm no longer clamouring to sit at tables where my sanity, safety and soul are on the menu. I hope that you give yourself permission to RSVP no to tables that no longer serve you. And that was a quote from Amira Bagger. Hey, everyone Don't ask me where I've been Like. The only response I will have for you is HMRC self-assessment. Welcome to the Toya Talks podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:57

Toya Talks Council estates, a corporate space, first gen Nigerian setting the pace From Goldman Sachs to PwC, building legacies for all to see. Dyslexia couldn I speak about this? On the contractor masterclass.

Speaker 1: 1:30

I talk about personal tax account. I don't actually think I've actually spoken about it on an episode. However, you all should be signed up to hmrc to ensure that you have your personal tax account, and it's an opportunity for you to see your tax code. The projection for your tax code for the next financial year whatever that financial year is how much tax you've paid, whether you are on the right tax code, being able to communicate with HMRC because some of those phone lines are crazy and also, if you have a business account, you can link it to your personal account as well and if you're owed any money, you can see it there. You can request the money be paid to you by Bax Transfer. Sometimes, when they HMRC owe you money, it'll just sit on your tax account, especially if you've got business account as well business tax account It'll just sit on there and you have to actually manually go in there and request that money back. They don't always send you a check because back in the day they just automatically send you a check. Some of them they will say oh, you can leave it on account for the next financial year in case your next self-assessment you owe us money. Then you'll have money on account. No, no, ma'am, and no, sir, thank you. I don't need your financial plan in HMRC. Over the last five years. Hmrc has owed me between four to 12,000 each year for the last five years and much of that has come about through self-assessment, being on the wrong tax code, overpaying on tax. And I'm going to be completely honest with you, hmrc.

Speaker 1: 3:02

My dad always said to me if HMRC owe you money, you always get it back. He always used to say that to me. If HMRC owe you money, you always get it back. You always used to say that to me. And I've got an accountant, I've got my own businesses and I've often felt like HMRC. They don't actually know what they're doing. They projected my financial earnings for the next financial year and they're not basing it on anything other than what I earn at the moment, but they're anticipating all these bonuses and all these other things that they think I'm gonna get.

Speaker 1: 3:25

And I had to call them up and bad them up on the phone. I was like you changed my tax code for the next financial year. Why have you done that? Oh, yeah, well, um, you know, we were just projecting. We did some estimates. What have you based? Have you been speaking to my company and I don't know about it because the last time I checked, bonuses were not an obligation on an organisation to provide. And even if they do provide you with a bonus, you don't know how much it is. You don't know if I'm going to get that bonus in stocks, shares. You don't know. You're assuming I'm going to get that cash duela. So it's not actually based on anything tentative. Change that tax code because I'm tired. And I said listen, I'm tired.

Speaker 1: 4:05

For the last five years you guys have owed me money. That means your estimations haven't been great. If you are now owing me, the man said oh, it's rather we owe you than you owe us. I said who said? Who said Run me my money, run me my blood clot? And the crazy thing is they said it would take between six to 12 weeks to refund me my money. But if I owed them money, they would be giving me seven days to give them the money back or do a payment plan.

Speaker 1: 4:34

Please sign up to a tax account. I will put the link in the show notes. I'll try and hyperlink it so it could take you directly to the page. Sign up. It takes you what? 10 minutes. And it's the difference between having to call them up, ask them all these questions, waiting on the line of premium rate number, versus actually seeing how much tax you've paid since you actually started working, what your current tax code is, what your anticipated tax code is, how much you've paid into your state pension, if there's any gaps in your tax file.

Speaker 1: 4:59

From a business perspective, those of us who have businesses, we know, and I'd like to think, that you have a tax account. If you don't, then you need to get one. It's really, really important. You need to see what HMRC sees and sometimes it's not always the case that you owe them money. They one of my friends. They owe her 24,000 pounds. She didn't have a tax account. I said you better get a tax account. She called me up 24,000. I said I don't want you to keep it on account. My idea if you don't get your money back me, I'll get it for you. Ah, anyway. Um, so I've been dealing with self-assessment and those of us who do self-assessment, we already know that stress. My accountant is already getting on my nerves and that's a story for another day. Um, I'm just at that point where I feel like I can confirm my own taxes.

Speaker 1: 5:44

I think we're just in an era now whereby I think that this is a great opportunity to be as self-sufficient as possible the introduction of AI and its capabilities and access to information. I'm not necessarily saying that I'm a Google accountant, but what I am saying if you have an efficient bookkeeping tool tool, you should be able to automatically use your bookkeeping tool to file your accounts. And if your accounts are straightforward which I believe mine is, because it's the tool and my bookkeeping tool works out itself I feel like I can cut the middle man which is my accountant. So definitely think I'm going to be having that conversation this week save myself some money and file my own accounts. And it does mean that during account season, I'm going to be having that conversation this week save myself some money and file my own accounts. And it does mean that during account season, I'm going to disappear, because T plus two is four, but during tax season that could be six and my calculator is as big as my head because I need to work out them motherfucking numbers. So just know that if it's tax season, you will not be getting a podcast. If you do, then it means I've been able to file my taxes using AI Because listen Keir Starmer I recently announced that he wants to make the UK the centre of excellence for artificial intelligence and I have previously said that I am going to.

Speaker 1: 6:58

I'm planning to do an episode dedicated to artificial intelligence because I think it affects every single one of us, every single one of our lives. People talk about chat gbt and I feel like people don't know how to use it very well, because somebody tried to use it, instead of getting um contractual legal advice from me, ended up getting sued and then come to me to to sweep it up. I said where did you? Why did you write all of this? Well, I put into chat gbt and the money doubled. The fee that I was charging had to double because I'm now having to educate you, I have to untangle ChatGPT and, on top of it, I'm at a deadline to respond on your behalf. Honey, you're going to pay me extra. Yeah, now, ai for me is.

Speaker 1: 7:40

I think it's amazing how it's developed. I think the access to AI and the tool and what it's supposed to do is great. I feel like people underestimate the power of artificial intelligence and the fact that in a few years' time and I'm saying in the not-too-distant future I'm talking between five to ten years a lot of jobs will be eroded because of artificial intelligence. Now I recently read a report and it said that roles like project management, admin roles, pa roles will be near non-existent if AI reaches the capability that it needs to. And I'm not particularly surprised, because I've always told everybody that listens to this podcast episode on so many different episodes you need to be able to pivot in whatever career path you choose. There has to be some transferable skills. You have to be able to kind of look further ahead in your career and where you see your career going, and we talk about career planning a lot on the podcast. And these are the things that I'm trying to encourage, so that things like AI and technology and the advancement of artificial intelligence doesn't have as big an impact as those of you who bury your head and hope that it won't affect you. Ai is here. It's not even coming. It's here, it's developing, and these people are using us to program these tools. I was reading an article talking about how they're going to allow their tool to study and have master's degrees and all of this, all of this and effectively what you're doing is trying to erode what humans do. That's why it's artificial intelligence. I mean, go do the work Now.

Speaker 1: 9:16

Keir Starmer's wanting to make the UK the centre of excellence is bullshit. This country is a mess is bullshit. This country is a mess, and I don't necessarily think that this could ever be considered as a centre of excellence for artificial intelligence. I think it's America. I think America has some of the most elite and financially healthy tech companies who are well invested and are developing AI, and I just don't think that the UK has any baseline to be the centre of excellence. You have entrepreneurs leaving this country expeditiously. The tax we pay in this country listen, I could do a whole podcast on tax in this country.

Speaker 1: 10:00

We are also funding part funding a war in Ukraine, which I have an issue with. I do and I think there should be some type of referendum, something where you, they basically you know it's like a temperature check of society who we are the ones that are paying for this war. Do you want to be paying for this war? That's the question needs to be asked. Do you want to be paying for this war? That's the question that needs to be asked, keir Starmer and I know I'm opening a new tab now, but when we talk about the centre of excellence, we're talking about the investment and the financial investment.

Speaker 1: 10:37

If entrepreneurs and people that would develop AI and make here like the hub of AI are leaving this country, you've got companies that are no longer having their UK, having UK headquarters. They will go to where they can save on tax. So people call them tax havens, but I call them tax liberated companies, whereby companies are able to flourish, pay tax. That is reasonable. I cannot wrap my head around living in a country that you pay into the system but you don't have access to the things you pay into. We're taxed at source. Now I will also go on record to say that the UK does not promote success for individuals. This is not a country that allows you to be financially free or financially successful, because the level of tax that we pay is shocking. So then, when Keir Starmer talks about excellence and the centre of in the UK, where is that going to come from when everybody is leaving? There is a problem here. The taxes are too high. Earning six figures in this country is painful. Oh, first world problems or third world problems? Is this the sarcastic thing people say? But just hear me out a moment.

Speaker 1: 11:54

You tend to think that the more you earn, the more you earn. You would like to think that you get to enjoy your money more, the more that you have to spend on yourself or holidays or whatever it is because you work hard enough to be able to afford certain things. But the reality is for some people, the more they earn, the more they're taxed and the more issues they have from a HMRC perspective. If you earn six figures in this country over 100,000, the overage you are taxed at 40%. That's fucking crazy. But you're not getting the benefit of being a high tax earner. You're still having to line up to get access to NHS. You're still having to double up on on on health care by going private. Your bins are collected once a week.

Speaker 1: 12:51

And when I talk about tax, I'm talking about all taxes here, but I'm talking about for high earners. Let's, let's be real. If you are a high earner and you've managed to work hard, or whatever it is, to get the salary that you'll get in, the fact is that you've worked hard for it. You've done something. I genuinely think that we should then get access to certain things because you're paying more into the system. Now, if I was getting something back, I would be less likely to be sitting here and saying what do I get for being a high tax payer? What do I get? Get nothing.

Speaker 1: 13:24

The worst part of it in this country, I think, is that if you are earning over 100,000, so you've got a couple right and one of them, couple A and B. A is earning 80,000. B is earning 80,000. So together they take home 160,000. Together and you have a separate individual whose earnings are 160,000. Do you know that the couple will bring home more money after tax than the individual that earns 160,000?

Speaker 1: 14:00

Did you know that? How much salary sacrifice am I going to have to make? Because I'm not making no more. I don't make no more salary sacrifice. I'm done with the whole salary sacrifice shit, because the reality is what I'm sacrificing in comparison to what I get, it's not worth it anymore. So I'm talking about child tax credits. So you get three hours for your child, but you have to be earning under 100k. So what you do is, if you're earning, say, 150k, you make a salary sacrifice of 51 000, for example. That goes into your pension pot.

Speaker 1: 14:37

Now some, some people say, well, at least it's going into your pension. But you do realize that the value of your pension depends on how it is vested, and you have to hope that your pension is doing well, so there's a risk and people say, well, it's better than it going to the taxman. I don't, at this point, I don't fucking know what's better, but we're living in a country whereby Keir Starmer, as far as I'm concerned, is running this country down to the ground and he will blame the Conservatives who were in power in previous terms before him. But the reality is I've not seen it any better with Labour. I don't know what the answer is in terms of the government and in terms of citizens that live here, but for me I think I've said this many times, I don't know if I've said it on the podcast, I've definitely said it on my social media this is not the country for me.

Speaker 1: 15:25

I'm making plans because I'm done. I'm done with paying tax into a system that don't benefit, and then, on top of that, you want to penalise me for saving my money, my husband for saving his money to put our child into private education. You now want to hit us with VAT on top of it because you believe that, number one, we can afford it and, number two, that you will then force parents, who are now slapped with VAT on top of the tuition fee for private education, into mainstream schools that you can't cope with the kids in there anyway because oversubscribed. It doesn't make any fucking sense. So there's actually no benefit to being a high earner in this country. So success is limited.

Speaker 1: 16:09

In fact, I've got a friend and she said to me you know what, toyal, I don't want to earn over a hundred thousand, I'm happy to earn eighty thousand a year, because if I earn a hundred thousand I'm gonna have too many problems. My tax code's gonna change. Um, I'm gonna have to start thinking about salary sacrifices and I don't want to have to deal with that. And in fact, as long as collectively me and my partner can earn under 100k, we'll be okay because our take home will be good. That's what she said. So what you do is you have a limiting mindset. You don't see more money as having disposable income to do the things that you want to do. You don't actually get the ability to enjoy your money because you think, oh, I want a bonus, I want to stay under. So the ability to earn more is capped. That's the society we live in, that's the centre of excellence that they want to make. It's not going to happen, sorry. And and also, if you want to talk about center of excellence, there's a there's a massive overhaul that needs to happen in the public sector, but I'm going to get onto that in a minute because we need to talk about elon musk in america. So, digressing slightly, because you know how we do here, metro newspaper you know metro in the UK.

Speaker 1: 17:23

They tested the screens. You know the customer screens in McDonald's where you go and order your food. They tested the screens. They found traces of excrement Poo, poo, shit, yeah, poo. They found bacteria, additional bacteria as well as the poo on every single screen where they tested, and other bacterias too. So the next time you're going into McDonald's and you're touching the screen, just know that you're sliding up and down, that you're selecting this, your Big Mac meal, and you're selecting your cheeseburger, that that screen has shit in it. So if you don't wash your hand before you eat your mcdonald's, you're eating shit. I definitely feel every time I pay tax I'm eating shit.

Speaker 1: 18:10

But honey, I'm not gonna go to mcdonald's and use that. And one thing you need to know about me I'm a reformed fat babe. I'm I'm going, I'm in recovery at the moment because I've got a pt. I do yoga, I'm on my weight loss journey, but I love me some McDonald's, don't get it twisted.

Speaker 1: 18:25

Yeah, large fries, double cheeseburger. Um, yeah, let me give you my order. Actually, you know what we're gonna do that large fries, double cheeseburger, chicken sandwich with cheese, apple pie, six nuggets and a sweet and sour sauce. Uh, yeah, and maybe a vanilla milkshake, if you're feeling fruity. Oh, actually, no, banana milkshake. That that is, that is me. Fresh chips as well. Just tell them, please, I'll give you fresh chips. But yeah, after I read that report, I figured that maybe I'll just give mcdonald's a miss for a while.

Speaker 1: 19:01

Um, I feel like, anyway, everyone's forgotten covid, as if it doesn't happen. It didn't happen, so this one that they were cleaning screens every five customers they hardly ever happens. Now, the fact that a metro could go and run tests on and they found in mcdonald's. Every single screen they tested had feces, feces, feces. They found feces, excrement, shit, doo-doo, poo-poo. They found it on the screen. That's crazy. Just, anytime you go to McDonald's, just close your eyes and just remember that. Make sure you wash your hand, disinfect that hand, because everybody that's touching that screen is not doing it with clean hands.

Speaker 1: 19:41

So so where should we start? Mr musk, I, you know what I who? Who is the vice president of the united states? What's that guy's name anyway? As far as I'm concerned, it's elon musk vance. That's it, jd vance, but I remember it just because of the acronym of JD, do you understand? It's not because he's actually a polarised character in the way that Elon Musk is Now.

Speaker 1: 20:12

Elon Musk for those of you who do not know, he co-leads the Department for Government Efficiency in America and basically he's been tasked at finding out, like revamping, investigating, looking at how government, federal and they call it federal government, but us in the UK will call it government or public sector, it's the equivalent of public sector how they spend money, where the wastage and the leakage, and to plug the gaps and the leakage. And to plug the gaps, they want to save money and they want the ability to be able to slimline federal government because they think it's oversubscribed with too many employees. So on Saturday, the 22nd of February, elon Musk sent an email to federal workers and he basically said I would like you to tell me what you have, what you've done over the last seven days in your job. Yeah, now I don't know about the law in America, I don't know how it works in terms of employment law. I'm just going to apply logic here based on the UK law. Now you have an employment contract, so I know that the jurisdiction it depends on which state you're in governs your contract. So you have to check the jurisdiction right. So it might be the court. I mean, it depends where you're situated and where the jurisdiction is made clear in your employment contract. But the fact is that your employment contract must offer you some form of protection. I find it really hard that you have an employment contract there's no protection. Now the UK, we have a lot of protections. In fact, the employment law regulations and legal expectations, if you like, have been overhauled and revamped with this Labour government, and I have said before I will come onamped with this labor government, and I have said before I will come on here with an episode and give you some of those updates and and they will be replicated on the masterclass on toyotalkscom website.

Speaker 1: 22:12

However, elon musk then followed up with another email and he says to certain amount of workers he says listen, I need you to tell me over the last five years how you've spent how many hours? Like 500 hours, 600 hours over the last five years. Now, some of you may think it's crazy. If your mission is to slimline a federal government, you're going about it the right way, because the consequence that he's made clear is, if you do not answer any of these questions, you do not follow through, you're going to be made to resign. You're not going to have a job anymore. Now, how effective that is, I do not know, because some of the department heads where this email was sent to have told their employees to not respond that this is not the way that things are done. This is not like legal what he's asking you to do. In fact, hr should know better and this does not comply with employment law regulations in that particular state. So there is a war.

Speaker 1: 23:13

There is a silent war happening between federal employees and Elon Musk, and, bear in mind, he's been tasked to slim down federal government workers' departments by Donald Trump, and people can say what they want about Donald Trump. Right, I've got my own opinions about him and bear in mind as well, I do respect his business acumen I always respect business acumen and he's not doing what he he said he wasn't going to do. He's doing exactly what he said he was going to do. We had um, and you know I don't like the term ethnic minorities and I always caveat it when by saying that, because I don't want people to think that I use it without knowing the full implications of what I'm saying. When I say ethnic minorities, but the for the purposes of conversation and what we're talking about, a lot of ethnic minorities voted for Trump. They truly believed that Trump would protect them, but there is nothing in Trump's actions and the things that he has said that offers any protections to ethnic minorities, especially what he calls illegal aliens.

Speaker 1: 24:23

Trump has removed funding for people who have come into the country illegally and are displaced. I can't remember the name of the funding that he removed, but the reality of it is is everything he said he was going to do in his manifesto in terms of immigration is exactly what he's doing. He said he's going to slimline government. He's going to look for government efficiencies through cost savings, and that's exactly what he's doing. He said he's going to slimline government, he's going to look for government efficiencies through cost savings, and that's exactly what he's done. Now, what Yarl didn't realise is that he's going to use Elon Musk to do it. But you should have known it, because when Elon Musk bought Twitter and aligned himself with Trump, he knew exactly what he was going to do. He knew exactly what he was doing. He needed to safeguard his businesses and he needed to insert himself into government to access YAL data. The data grab is a separate topic altogether. However, elon Musk is doing what his boss is telling him to do and, as it stands at the moment, the Vice President of the United States, as far as I'm concerned, is Elon Musk.

Speaker 1: 25:26

Something they're not talking about at the moment. New tab something they're not talking about at the moment is the price of eggs. I've got a few people that I know that live in the States and I thought it was just a running joke, but the cost of eggs is mad. One of my friends was telling me that 12 eggs cost no. 6 eggs cost her almost $15. Cost no. Six eggs cost almost $15.

Speaker 1: 25:51

Now what is not coming out in the States over here is the rise in bird flu in the US. So what's happened is they're having to kill the birds. They're having to kill them. So what happens is when they. The demand for eggs and poultry is high. Therefore, they're having to now raise the cost of it, because, actually, access to poultry is more difficult with the rise of bird flu. But they're not. They're not bringing that to the forefront of conversation, um, because everybody's being distracted by Elon Musk and the puppet show between him and Donald Trump.

Speaker 1: 26:26

Um, and I'm going to be doing some more research about that and I need, I need the information, I need to understand what's happening, because you know, when it starts in the US, it'll come over here to the UK and we've got enough problems here as it is, I mean, between Keir Starmer and his in his cabinet that can't write honest CVs. We're going for a lot over here. You know. We're going into a new tax year, everyone's tax code is changing, self-assessment, everything. We're busy. We are fucking busy. And, if I blink, ukraine and Russia it's a lot going on. You understand, I went to bed, woke up, keir Starmer offered to send troops into Ukraine as peacekeeping efforts and Russia was like don't you even try it? I don't know why, starmer? Why does Keir Starmer feel the need to get involved in business that don't fucking concern him, at the cost of the taxpayer? Anyway, that's another topic, anyway.

Speaker 1: 27:23

So I wanted to bring that to the forefront, in case your girl didn't know, or you were aware but didn't know, the finer details of Elon Musk's email on Saturday, which is crazy that he even sent it on a Saturday, and again, the protections offered in employment law in the UK. I need to see if it's passed whereby, um, your boss or colleagues or whatever can't contact you on the weekend. I mean they could just send emails but obviously you won't access them until the morning. But yeah, I need to check that that legislation out. That was kind of interesting but yeah, it's, it's. It's a weird one and we need to pay attention to what happens to our cousins over across the pond.

Speaker 1: 27:59

Because let me tell you something controversial, sorry, because I have friends that work for the government here in the UK in the public sector. Sorry, if there is any, any place that needs an overhaul is the public sector in the UK. I'm so sorry. We have a lot of fossils there. No, we do. I have, as a contractor, I work several contracts in the public sector and during the pandemic what's his name?

Speaker 1: 28:29

Dominic Cummings was really really clear about a lot of the issues that the public sector had. In fact, the response to COVID could not be done using government staff in the UK. They had to get private contractors in, and I'm talking also consultancies like EY, deloitte, kpmg. They had to get them in because they needed specialist skills that the UK public sector did not have, and they, you know, once you get external consultancy and you're paying over the odds. Yes, you are.

Speaker 1: 29:04

My bill was high. If I so much as blinked, my day rate was going up every month. I was talking to them. When are you going to increase my money? Because what we said at the beginning is not what it is now.

Speaker 1: 29:17

So I definitely feel that there's a lack of skill set to be able to do complex things in the government, and the amount that is spent on private consultants in the public sector here in the government and the amount that is spent on private consultants in the public sector here in the UK is because the skill set is not met by permanent employees in the public sector, and that is the truth. So when Keir Starmer is talking about making the UK the centre of excellence of anything, there needs to be a public sector overhaul. You've got people, listen, you've got people, and don't get me wrong, I have no issue if you are able to actually execute your job, but there's a lot of people that are in public sector that can't do their job and they terrorise people who can do their job because they have to exert themselves and make themselves feel like they're doing something. So what they do then is terrorise people who know how to do their job. Do you understand? Public sector have a lot of people that are unwilling to move with the times. If you're unwilling to move with the times, how can you be the center of anything, in fact, if anything?

Speaker 1: 30:16

Covid highlighted the overhaul that needs to happen in the public sector and the lack of skill set. Now, I'm saying this also as somebody who the recruitment process in public sector and the lack of skill set. Now, I'm saying this also as somebody who the recruitment process in public sector is a shambles. It's a motherfucking mess. So, and when I say recruitment process, I mean, like for permanent employees. Now, as a contractor, it's not. It's not great, because you're also dealing with people who, I mean, I've had the experience of being recruited as a contractor or hired as a contractor, being interviewed by perm employees, and some of them, they know the value of the consultant or the contractor they're hiring them.

Speaker 1: 31:07

They know the value of the consultant or or the contractor they're hiring, there's clearly something's on fire. They need someone quickly to come and assess the situation, put out the fire and put certain things in place. Um, and they need a skill set that's missing within a team. So I've often gone in as a contractor and they then expect me to train them or train their staff or do workshops and I'm like, okay, I don't mind doing this, but you're going to pay me more because this is not what you've asked me to do at interview station. If you're going to need me to do this, I have no issue, but it's a short-term fix. People still actually have to do the work. It's not about getting a contractor in to do the patch work and then quickly do a workshop and then you can't skill up from a workshop. Not not for the gaps that need to be plugged in this department type thing, and those are honest conversations I've had. It hasn't always gone down well, but going through an interview process as a contractor, especially when a perm employee's got a chip on their shoulder, is mad.

Speaker 1: 32:01

Like I was interviewed for a public sector contractor role. They needed someone to come in and they were literally about to do a procurement exercise and they needed someone with my skill set not to necessarily do the procurement but all the contracts that would sit behind this procurement Right, and this lady there were two of them that interviewed me and the lady she was very like cold lady. She was very like cold. She was very like I felt like the interview kind of felt like she expected me to like, do the most to impress her and I wasn't doing it. I don't need to do the most, I'm actually fucking good at my job. I actually do my job and I'm actually good at it and I'm learning every day to be better because, at the end of the day, we don't know everything you know and I was very honest about things I've delivered, how I've delivered it, and my, my experience spoke for itself. She was like, oh.

Speaker 1: 32:53

And then her colleague who, who has, like he had similar experience to me. He had come from the private sector, gone there as a contractor and went perm, so he was able to relate to some of the projects I've worked on and there was rapport and for me in an interview, I'm looking for rapport. If there's no rapport, if my spirit doesn't feel at ease, I'll walk away from an offer I don't care, like for me, I need to see something. Now. The reason I wanted to work in this particular department I was interested in the project that we're doing. The woman was like oh, you know, we've got people to interview. There's going to be a three-stage process. As soon as she said that to me, I was like yeah, I don't want this job. Three stages this is not an emergency, this is your ego.

Speaker 1: 33:33

Literally within 24 hours, the agency called me and said that they'd like to offer me the role. I said but what happened to the two stages? They were like oh, two stages. She said there was only one. I said no, go back to her and ask her about the two stages, because she mentioned it. She made a point of mentioning it several times. So the recruiter went back and she said that, oh, she felt like because they found the right person, they don't have to do all the other stages. I said so why did she tell me that? Because clearly she knew I was the right person. Hence why the offer that? And the recruiter's like I can't tell you. I said she's problematic, she's going to be a problem and I don't want the role Because there's no point in putting out a fire, for there to be a rod on my back as well.

Speaker 1: 34:16

I told them, I walked away. But from a perm perspective, I've obviously worked in public sector for several years as a contractor and HR. I've obviously worked in public sector for several years as a contractor and HR kept telling me to go for the perm role and part of it is because they really needed people from the private sector with my skill set to come in as a perm. And there was a point where I actually considered it and I think it was more because I was worried about kind of the direction of contracting, especially with the erasure of outside roles, and I was concerned. I was I was concerned about whether I could make the money I was making or continue to make the money I was making without actually having to consider going perm. And they had a test center. There were like three test centres and an interview, a face-to-face interview, and I, just when they were telling me about these three stages and one of them was like psychometric testing, another one is like another type of test where it's to test your decision making I was like, yeah, that's not for me, free test centres, you're fucking joking. And then after the third one, I still have to do a face-to-face interview. These hurdles, this is a public sector role. I'm sorry, but there's nothing in this role that justifies this barrier to entry.

Speaker 1: 35:39

And during the pandemic, dominic Cummings and those of you who do not know who Dominic Cummings was or is he was a special advisor advising um Boris Johnson, um during the pandemic, um, and he's very well educated and you know he played a quite a crucial, critical role during the pandemic and that we all know what happened there because I spoke about it on the podcast. But the point is he was able to come in and see where the problems lay and he he basically said in a nutshell that the barrier to entry into public sector is the reason why it needs a complete overhaul. And there is the skill set that is needed to deal with the pandemic is not met there to spend extra money to kind of paper the big hole and the big crack and the vacancy of skill sets that is needed to be able to fully respond to the global pandemic, and I think that's critical. So when I think about what Elon Musk is doing in the US, it doesn't go above my head that the way he's doing it is disgusting and in breach of, I'm sure, sure, very many employment law rules and regulations. However, they're running, or attempting to run, federal government like a business, and even though it's public sector and it's public money and it's not about profit, it's about making sure that you're you're spending public funds appropriately and there's checks and balances.

Speaker 1: 37:04

The reality is the public sector does hold does high, does does have people in it that actually cannot respond to critical incidents when they happen. And, obviously, federal roles there's all different types of roles. It's not just about critical incidents, and I know that, um, some people go to public sector to retire and, again, I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with that, but I think the problem we have is, if you really want to move with the times, then the people that are in those roles need to keep up with the change of pace in terms of what is required from an educational and a progressive standpoint. You need to upskill, and sometimes, if you you can't upskill, then you need to make way for those people that are willing, who have done the work, um, and not when they come in to kind of support and help you rather than learn from them, you make their life a living hell. The barrier to entry within public sector in the UK is archaic, and I'm being polite here. So I definitely think that that kind of mentality in terms of what Trump is trying to do needs to be done in the public sector here in the UK.

Speaker 1: 38:09

Do I think Elon Musk is being aggressive? Yes, I do. I would have had more respect for Elon Musk, as if he kind of had conversations with employment lawyers albeit I know there's different jurisdictions, different states, I get that but have a general employment lawyer talk about how they can adequately do whatever the agenda is to do and still respect people's employment rights. I think that he could have done it in that way, but I think he's using a sledgehammer to crack a rock here and I don't think it's the right approach. And what will end up happening? The approach will backfire and we know that. But the premise of what they're doing, I think, definitely needs to be adopted here in the UK, and many people will be listening to this and don't agree, think it's a harsh approach. But the reality is, I've worked several years in the public sector as a contractor. I've worked several years as a contractor in the private sector and I'm telling you right now the public sector have a very, very long way to go, like extremely long way to go. So kind of changing directions slightly.

Speaker 1: 39:13

Salesforce so I don't know if any of you are aware of Salesforce, use Salesforce, but Salesforce is a software company. It's worth about $300 billion and recently a lady called Robin Washington, who is a black sister, was promoted, if you like, or recruited, into a new executive role that combines the chief financial officer and the chief operating officer into one role. So you're combining two quite critical strategic roles into one role, and this was offered and accepted by Robin Washington. Now I do want to caveat this by saying that Robin Washington is a long-term board member of Salesforce Software Company. However, in giving her these two combined roles, she will lead the sales force's operational and financial strategy. And bear in mind these these used to be two individual jobs held by two individual people, so there was a lot of debate online about whether she's getting two salaries. Effectively, it's a CFO role and a COO role, and many of our organizations that we work in these are two separate roles held by two separate people.

Speaker 1: 40:27

And remember how we opened up the podcast episode about black women, tokenism, feeling marginalized, actually RSVPing and say, actually I don't want to sit at this table, but this black woman has very happily and gladly taken on these, these two roles. So I feel like, in as much as the conversation is, is she getting two salaries? Look at how they're laboring black women. This is a black woman that wants to be labored. It's not like she's going in there with her eyes closed. She used to be one of the executive board members, so she knows exactly kind of the role that she's walking into. What I think is sad is she's definitely not getting two salaries. Now, the salary she's getting may be over and above what one you know would probably think that she's getting, but she's definitely not getting two salaries.

Speaker 1: 41:10

And I always wonder, in terms of like, as black women and as somebody who's suffered from burnout, how does that work for her?

Speaker 1: 41:16

Do you understand? Is it a case that she just hires really like good subject matter experts, really good people who are able to deliver and execute and she knows how to hire well, therefore she's able to easily execute her role or is this a case of setting up a black woman to fail what? You're basically combining two heavy hitting roles into one role and expecting her to deliver, and when you're talking about kind of like the operational and the strategic and financial strategy, what we're saying here is that she's carrying the business on her head. Bearing in mind that if the company's worth 300 billion, you know, if she doesn't deliver in those two roles that are combined into one role, how does that affect the overall valuation of that company? Because we're talking about her executing a strategy here and ultimately is to make more money for the board, for the stakeholders. So I'm definitely going to be paying attention to Salesforce as a company and how well Robin Washington does in her role.

Speaker 1: 42:13

Now, I always wonder, as well as you know, we talk about not seeing a lot of, like senior leaders and executives, black women. We're not seeing enough of them. The critique is actually, now we're seeing it and as a community, we should get behind and support her. Actually, now we're seeing it and as a community, we should get behind and support her. But what we're actually really saying is, as a black woman, why is it that we have to have two roles on our heads to be recognized? Why is it that we can't have like you know, I'm not seeing a COO and a CFO combined role for a white woman? Understand, and I'm not saying I need to see it, but what I'm saying is sometimes I feel like the expectation of black women are over and above what would be expected of anyone else, and that sometimes sets us up to fail, because it's almost like we're not superhuman. We are human beings. We're allowed a work-life balance. We're allowed a life being marginalised as we are. As black women, I feel like sometimes we are in a tight corner to accept these roles or to accept a role that we know ultimately we can't deliver because we don't want to be the ones to turn down the opportunity. And some people enjoy being the token, but just remember that tokenism comes at a price. That's what I'm going to say about that. Congratulations to Robin Washington. I'll be keeping a healthy interest in how she develops in that role and how she delivers and hope that she, you know, is able to share very honestly how she has dealt with both roles and how she's delivering both roles. So, yeah, let's, let's keep an ear out for, for kind of how that that she develops in that role, and I wish her all the success in the world. So let's just change the direction a little bit.

Speaker 1: 43:55

I want to talk about coercive behavior in the workplace and I think it's really important that we have this conversation because you know, in previous episodes I talk about workplace bullying. I have an episode called the closet racist. I have so many examples throughout my career where I've been treated less favorable, where I've experienced bullying and I've had to deal with it. I'm very practical in the advice I provide here and often use my situations and have to revisit some of the traumatic experiences from my career to better advise you. I always say the premise of this podcast is to teach, advise and guide black women how to navigate the world of work safely. But it's also recognising that a lot of us are working in white, male-dominated spaces or just white-dominated spaces where there is not very many of us. And I've often spoken about BAME and how it's a melting pot and that even though we talk about ethnic minorities, the experiences of ethnic minorities is different. So putting us in a BAME melting pot is disadvantageous to us as a community and especially for black women. And I've often spoken about kind of I've given you guys tips, tricks, tools, but I've never actually really spoken about coercive behaviour in the workplace and coercion office often used when talking about like relationships and things like that. And there's a lot of legislation here in the UK that deals with coercive behaviour in relationships but we don't actually really talk about it much in the workplace, actually really talk about it much in the workplace.

Speaker 1: 45:30

I was working on a really important project and it was really tough over the last few months. I found it really really tough just because I'm also still finding my feet in an organisation and I'm still adjusting to being a per member of staff. Remember, I've been a contractor for almost 10 years and I'm having to kind of use all the skill sets that I have from being a contractor and, you know, learn, build and grow within this organisation and as a permanent employee, but also as well, just ensuring that I'm still developing and meeting my own personal job objectives as well and understanding the lay of the land. And I recognize that I work predominantly in a I would say it's a mixed environment, but it's still heavily white dominated, especially male white dominated, and for the most part my experiences have been fine. But you will always I feel like there's no such thing as a perfect employer, perfect role. You are going to encounter dickheads. It's going to be about how you deal with those dickheads and ultimately it's a test of character, a test of resilience, but also a test of your ability to know how to deal in difficult situations.

Speaker 1: 46:44

Um, so, as I said, I was working on this project and I did the hard trenches on this project and now that I'm able to deliver and I'm seeing it to the end, there was a meeting that was had and in that meeting it was the final things in that meeting concluded, negotiated everything. I'd done all of the work and I'd worked with my stakeholders to be able to get to that point. It was a joint effort, but the home run was me okay and it, you know, it's widely accepted and it's fine, like for me, it's just getting to the end. So for me, the glory is at the end, you understand, and the glory is at bonus when we're having those bonus discussions. I don't want any lip service. I've got my feedback folder and we've spoken about feedback folders before, so you, you should know what that is.

Speaker 1: 47:31

So one day I get an email from somebody randomly, from a different part of the business and they say to me listen, this project you're working on, this client is important to us for a different part of the business, and they've basically told me me that we're unable to sign for another four weeks and I need this done before four weeks. So I messaged this person. I said sorry, I don't understand. What is your relationship with the client? And I asked them are you a relationship manager? He said no and he gave me his title. Every alphabet, every word and every letter in the alphabet was in his title. I didn't even understand it. I was like, okay, what the fuck is this? Where have you been for the last how many months? So I've been fucking doing the hard slog and now you're coming to me telling me you want it. Who the fuck are you? So then he said to me, he told me who he was and he said oh.

Speaker 1: 48:28

The client said I said listen, we are going through a formal governance process and this governance process you can't bypass it and I'm adhering to the policies within our organisation. I've done all the hard work and I literally wrote that I've done all the hard work. This final stretch is part of the governance and checks and balances of what we do. He messages me back. He says okay, fine, but I need you to make this a priority and I need you to. And he was telling me what he needs me to do. I don't know who the fuck this is, and I need you to, and he was telling me what he needs me to do and I don't know who the fuck this is and I'd literally done my mandatory training.

Speaker 1: 49:08

And that mandatory training dealt with kind of doing things the right way, following protocol, and it also dealt with conflicts of interest, the declaration of a conflict of interest, how you identify a conflict of interest. A mandatory training also spake about and this you know periodic mandatory training that all of us do, but it just so happened that I'd literally just finished my mandatory training on this topic, on these topics that I've just mentioned, and it spoke about kind of treating your colleagues with respect when dealing with clients and dealing with each other on a cross-sectional um project. So, as he's writing this and I'm like, yeah, this is like teetering on the edge now of him, kind of he's trying to get me to see how I can bypass our processes so he can keep the client happy. So he's now trying to engage in a back and forth with me. My answers are not changing. I thought you know what, toya, you need to change the frequency of this conversation. So I sent him a link to the mandatory training there was like six of them and and I wrote it word for word and I'm gonna tell you what I wrote. So we're just gonna call him Stephen. Hi, stephen.

Speaker 1: 50:18

I have reiterated on several occasions during this conversation that this is the process. I will not bypass this process. I will not circumvent this process. I will not find a way round this process. The process is the process. Governance within our organisation is to ensure that we are following correct protocol and we're following policies accurately. It's also to safeguard our interest in that of the company. What you are asking me to do, or implying that I do, is find a way to keep the client happy by cheating our own processes, so you and the client can maintain a healthy and happy relationship. Those were your words.

Speaker 1: 51:01

I'm sending you the links to our mandatory training that deals with conflict of interest, how to interact with your internal staff and stakeholders, and also how to better develop relationships with our clients. But, more importantly, the conflict of interest is what I find interesting and how to identify it. I'm not implying or insinuating that you have a conflict of interest, but what I am saying is your interest in safeguarding our organisation and keeping the client happy are in conflict. You are trying to coerce me into bypassing our processes, and not only does this make me uncomfortable, but it has me considering whether I need to report this. What I will ask you to do is adhere to our processes, respect that I have developed a relationship with this client and that I'm going through the processes in the correct way. If you have any issue, please contact my senior senior leadership, or you could speak to my line manager, who'll be able to better advise you. If you have any other concerns, I would also ask you to contact the Conflict of Interest Department. That's what I wrote there.

Speaker 1: 52:07

I've worked for so many different organisations whereby senior managers will put pressure on you to do things that you wouldn't necessarily do or that you know that isn't necessarily the right thing to do, and I think it becomes dangerous when you think that somebody or not think, when somebody is senior than you or more senior than you, and they may be from a different department or even the same department, but they want you to kind of cheat the system to keep them happy, and I've had more experience like that when working in sales environments. So you're working with salespeople, you're trying to contractualise some of their deals and all they're interested really is in their commission and their bonus and it's a really dangerous situation to be in for those of you who maybe are not comfortable in your job, suffering imposter syndrome, or you're trying to kind of, you know be accepted and liked by people that you work with. You don't want to be seen as somebody who is a blocker, but I'm going to really say this to you you need to be loyal to yourself because at any given situation or opportunity these people can throw you under the bus. They'll do it. I have never placed myself in a situation where my integrity has been called into question or where I've bypassed rules that I know that I can't stand behind. I wouldn't say I'm a stickler for rules, but I respect the rules in terms of a governance process and policy and protocol, because what you're not going to do is use me as a scapegoat and then I then lose my job and you keep yours and keep the client happy. It's not going to happen. Sometimes it's important to use the policies to kind of reinforce your situation and, sorry, to reinforce your position in any given situation, because what I think is some people forget that these policies are in place for a reason and me adhering to those policies it's not me being difficult. It's me telling you that I'm not willing to compromise my job so that you can be happy, maintain your bonus and keep a healthy relationship with the client.

Speaker 1: 54:07

That's not my job. This is what I always say to people. It's really important that you have you. You start to go on the road of developing self-confidence if you haven't already and don't get it. Don't get me wrong you may have be a confident person, or you may have self-confidence, but just don't have confidence in your role. That comes with time, first of all, but there has to be an. There has to be. There has to be, I think, a committed ability to have your own back, and I definitely feel as though people forget that it's. People forget that it's important to have your own back, and I definitely feel as though people forget that it's important. People forget that it's important to have your own back, and the expectation that other people are going to have your back is a bonus, it's not a promise.

Speaker 1: 54:50

And I think we forget how vulnerable we often are in organizations, especially when we're just trying to do our job. We are, especially as black women. We're very vulnerable because there are so many things at play at the same time the dynamic of being a black woman, especially where you are a minority, is really really hard. So you have high levels of wanting to be accepted. My question is what are you willing to trade to be accepted? Because that, to me, is more scary. I've gotten to a point in my life where I don't care about acceptance and for some people who are people pleasers, acceptance is really critical to their self-esteem, critical to the survival within an organisation and critical to them just being able to feel as though they belong. And that's a really sad place to be when you kind of bury your identity in wanting to be accepted by people. And you've got to understand something as a black woman, being accepted is relative. Woman being accepted is relative. For me, the fact that I'm here means that you understand that you've had to accept that I have a skill set that you need and I'm able to deliver in this job. And whether you like the colour of my skin or not, and whether you recognise that I'm a black woman or whether you respect black women or not, that's not my problem, that is a you problem. I'm not willing to compromise myself and I'm not willing to place myself in a situation just so you will like me and I'm speaking as an ex people pleaser.

Speaker 1: 56:31

I spent several years being a people pleaser because of my my destructive, flawed relationship with my mum and dealing with that rejection. It kind of seeped into every part of my life. It seeps into every single part of my life of wanting to be accepted and I think I just got I don't know what it was. I just got to a point where I just became fed up and I was like you know what, if my own mum can't accept me for who I am and won't accept that I'm not unwilling to be a robot and accept her bad behavior and I'm able to just walk away from that situation for years, then anyone else can get it. That's my, that's my attitude.

Speaker 1: 57:08

I'm past that stage in my life whereby I need you to like me so I know I can hold on to my job. I'm past that stage and I don't take it for granted that I'm a subject matter expert. So for me, I place myself in a situation whereby if you take this job away from me, I'm employable enough, I've got enough developed contacts and I trust in my skillset and I trust in the fact that I know my shit and I trust in who I am, that I'll be able to get another job. You need to be in that situation. That needs to be the aim, because that's that's true freedom. Choice is true freedom. So when you're in these organizations and now that I've gone perm, it's not changed actually it hasn't changed I'm just very highly alert to the fact that I need to develop relationships. Um, because obviously you invest. When you're a perm, you're investing time. Whether you accept that or not, you're investing time. But it's about investing it in the right spaces, in the right places.

Speaker 1: 58:12

Once I've achieved my objectives in this role, in this organization, I'm quite happy to move on. By the way, I'm quite happy to move on. So for me, I definitely felt in the situation with this guy, with this, with this guy I I remember saying to Kay like if this was Toya in her 20s, I could have. I could see how I would have compromised myself so that he would like me or that to keep him happy. And I realise it's not about keeping other people happy, it's about being able to deliver the job in the way that I have agreed to deliver it and adhere to policy and maintain my integrity.

Speaker 1: 58:56

But I feel like the generation coming up after my generation are a lot more forthright in who they are. My generation, we've adopted that, you understand. We've seen our parents suffer. We don't want to suffer like them. So it's different in my humble opinion. Anyway, and don't get me wrong, like I just want a peaceful life at work. I don't want no ag, but when situations arise I will. I'm happily happy to deal with them because I know that this is the difference between whether this, this, this is difference between whether I'm gonna have a good day or not, because this person, if I allowed him to to kind of exert his authority, he'll go around telling all his other colleagues and then he'll think it's a pathway to disrespect me and we all know that's not going to happen. I don't know whether he went to my boss, I don't know what he's done, but I know that he hasn't responded till today. It's been what? A week and a bit. He knows not to fuck with me. I'm not the person that you're going to do that with, especially a white man. It's impossible. You can't move like that with me Because I told you guys this before. I know some of you think I'm mad, but I feel like when I'm interacting with these people and they feel the need to exert their authority.

Speaker 1: 1:00:12

The first thing I think about is my ancestors, our forefathers, our distant relatives, fought for freedom. I then will not find myself in an oppressive situation or to be coerced into making decisions that are detrimental to my success or to my success in this organization. That's where we need to get to. I give you, guys, the blueprint in these podcast episodes. I give you the blueprint in the masterclasses. How you use them and how you adapt them to your work life is up to you. I recently got an email my assistant sent me, forwarded me an email, actually, and I'm going to say this first of all, if you buy the masterclasses but you don't listen to the podcast episodes, that's a waste of time. Don't buy the masterclasses if you're not committed to the podcast episodes and I mean the previous episodes, the historic episodes Just don't waste your time in the masterclasses. You cannot use the masterclasses in silo. It's impossible, it's not going to work for you.

Speaker 1: 1:01:23

You have to commit to the process of wanting to be successful in your career. You've got to commit to the process of wanting to be the best at what you do. You've got to commit to the process of understanding the strategies of surviving the world of work in spaces where we are a minority. You have to be committed to being strategic. If you're not willing to do that, the podcast and the masterclasses are not for you. Find another podcast, find another masterclasses. That's the truth. Depending on what success means to you, you've got to decide where you want to go in your career. Being an entrepreneur is not for everybody. We can't all be content creators, yeah, and we can't all sell hair, and I mean it respectfully.

Speaker 1: 1:02:15

Someone asked me recently can you be rich from your career? And I said yes, because your career can fund the things you actually want to do and the things you're passionate about and that will make you rich. So can you be rich from your career? Yes, you can use your career as a funnel to to financially pay for the things you you want you want to do. So the answer is yes, but I think looking at career like that is not the right way. Anyway, I think you need to look at your career as a means to an end and understand what the means are. What is your objective, what you're trying to achieve? And for me, I don't share my entire objective with my boss. I share my objective in the role but my actual career objectives. He doesn't know what my plans are. Why would I? I'm the architect of my career, not him. Why would I? I'm the architect of my career, not him? Don't listen to that episode. You are the. You are the architect of your career.

Speaker 1: 1:03:04

These earlier episodes there's only a few people that I know and obviously I know there's a lot of people that listen to the previous episode. There's a few people I know who kind of check in with me with their careers, get you know advice and kind of keep up. That I know are fully committed on the journey and they're seeing the benefits of it. They navigate like bosses. And I'm just saying it here and now if you want to be successful in your career and you want to use a toy talks podcast to do it and you, if you're not going to commit to the process and and commit to where and commit to the learning, it's not, it's not for you. Respectfully, moving slightly on new tab Stormzy.

Speaker 1: 1:03:54

So the uproar about Stormzy is that he previously has been very vocal about being pro-Palestine, being vocal about basically his support for Palestinians and condemning what's been and McDonald's have been pro-Israel, and therefore people were really confused, angry, disappointed, disgusted, whatever the word is you want to use to describe the emotion when Stormzy seemingly and I say Stormzy, but his team erased all the pro-Palestine information that he had on his social media platform and has now been sponsored or has a brand sponsorship deal with McDonald's. So the big uproar is oh my God, how can you stand for something and then fall for this? And where is your morals? Where's your integrity? I never actually shared my opinion and I'm going to do it here. I think it's really, really disappointing that anyone would stand for something and you would outwardly stand for it and then you, there is a price that you attach to your integrity and you sell that down the line.

Speaker 1: 1:05:16

And no one asked Stormzy where his allegiance lie. He willingly volunteered it as being pro-Palestine and I think it speaks more to his character and his integrity. It's for me. He chose money and I don't have an issue with people who chose, choose money, but no one asked you where your allegiance is, where you. You said you were pro-Palestine. So you need to lead and own that, and I feel like people put their hopes and dreams into celebrities when they're just human beings that fail, that fall down, that make mistakes, that, that, that, that, that that this wasn't a mistake.

Speaker 1: 1:05:58

This was a well thought through brand deal that he accepted. He would have had to sign a contract. They would have had to consider the offer, him and his team, and he knew what it meant. He would have done the research, his team would have done the research to find any conflicts in kind of his belief system or whatever the conflicts may be in in kind of his belief system or whatever the conflicts may be. But the fact that McDonald is, you know, supporters of the war, if you like, goes against his previous stance of being pro-Palestine.

Speaker 1: 1:06:29

Um, and honestly, I think for me Stormzy is not the brightest spark in in in. He's not the brightest spark in the fuse box. God forgive me, but I do respect a lot of the things he's done for our community. Unfortunately, I think our community or the people of the uk, specific more more specifically in the uk, but I mean in the world maybe a lot of the criticism he's receiving is because you had expectations of him, and I don't know why I have an expectations over a celebrity you don't even know, and this is who he is, and I think there's a lesson to be learned here. You know, um, personally, for me, if I was in Stormzy's position, I would not do a collaboration with McDonald's. If I especially with the views he had I wouldn't have, because I don't see, I don't see how you can come back from that. I don't see how you can stand for something that people would then respect. Do you know what I mean? So to me it boils down to integrity.

Speaker 1: 1:07:27

But I saw something similar that happened with Patricia Bright. Everybody was really pissed off when she shared that she had been under the knife and had cosmetic surgery to have the body that she had. And everyone's like, oh my god, like I remember speaking to them. They said they felt betrayed. I was like, do you fucking know her? You felt so what. You thought that she was going to the gym.

Speaker 1: 1:07:47

And I think the problem that people have with Patricia Bright is Patricia Bright is quite a confusing character for me. Personally, I can't really relate to her. But I respect Ibo Babe. You know I'm a fellow Ibo babe, so there's always going to be that. You know that love. But love is a strong word, l-u-v as opposed to L-O-V-E. But Patricia Bright, unfortunately, I feel like there's a lot going on with her and on one hand you're talking about the gym and kind of your body and da, da, da, and on one hand you're willing to go under the knife. So just fucking own it. Just say listen, I went under the knife, just own it.

Speaker 1: 1:08:23

I feel like she was shamed into admitting that she had gone under the knife and that she'd had all this cosmetic work done. Um, and people just weren't expecting of her. But then I was like why do you don't know her? She doesn't have to, like sense, check her decisions with you. But I think the common theme between her and maybe Stormzy is that a lot of people are placing their hopes and dreams in the celebrity when they're just human beings, and I feel like we need to start normalizing how normal these people are. And I keep saying to people all the time human beings are fucking letdowns, so what do you expect? You know it's unfortunate that it's people from our community that are publicly contradicting themselves, but the reality is they are making their decisions and they're the ones having to live with it. So for me, criticising Stormzy's decision ain't going to change it. He's still got the Stormzy burger in McDonald's Fucking hell. I saw it the other day when I was walking past McDonald's Because, remember, we don't eat in McDonald's anymore with the shit stained fucking screens, because, remember, we don't eat at McDonald's anymore with the shit-stained fucking screens. But the point is he's heard all the backlash and he still has the deal. So why are you wasting your time? You know what I mean. His integrity is up for sale.

Speaker 1: 1:09:38

Simple, did you know that Zambia, in 2015, have a day, uh, one day off in a month? It's called Mother's Day and it's basically to allow um women to have a day off during their menstrual cycle, and whilst my menstrual cycle and for more for many of us is more than a day, I just I read that and I was like you know what? That is really beautiful the acknowledgement that women need time during their period. Although it's a day, in my period I mean, I've got five boys my period lasts about seven, seven to ten days. I'm gonna need that. But it's funny, isn't it, how the UK talks about Africa as being very third world, when a lot of their policies, the rules and regulations and things that operate here in the western world it's quite third world, when a lot of their policies, the rules and regulations and things that operate here in the western world. It's quite a third world in its true essence of what a third world is. You know we talk about.

Speaker 1: 1:10:26

You know, being a woman in the uk and I'm sure in other parts of the world it's the same. Well, not everywhere being a woman, especially being a mother. Just being a woman in the uk is quite difficult, if you want me to be honest, it is. We're paying taxes on sanitary pads and tampons and if you are, if you take time off because you're having menstrual cycle, you've got endometriosis, fibroids or PCOS. They take it as your sick holiday, sick leave. I think women that have endometriosis, fibroids or pcos should qualify for disabled badge.

Speaker 1: 1:11:07

Because during my period is hell. It is literal hell. I dread my period. I have literally anxiety. A week before my period I go to shops, I load up norepinephrine the strongest norepinephrine I can get sanitary pad well, I say sanitary pads, but I use a sanitary nappies now from always, always. You need to sponsor me. You know the way I'm buying those pads. I feel like you aren't anyway. Maybe somebody should reach out to me, but you know what I'm trying to say. Like, as women, we go through so much and I feel like the government aren't doing enough for its citizens and doesn't do enough for women personally. Personally, I need seven days off. I need a week off or reduced hours during my period, especially women who are suffering from underlying health issues. So well done, zambia, for recognizing that women need that. One day off in a month, but we need to extend that because women do not have periods for one day.

Speaker 1: 1:12:00

New tab let's talk about the netherlands. So the netherlands are returning um the benin bronzes 119 benin bronzes which was looted by the british troops in 18 um 1897. It was actually stolen during the destruction of Benin City. A lot of the Benin bronzes were sold by private collectors and then it's made its way into the Netherlands museums. The Netherlands are now returning 119 of those Benin bronzes and returning them back to Nigeria, back to Benin City, where they belong. Now I wonder what's in it for them. Sorry, but I personally don't trust these countries that return our bronzes and I hope that we inspect them properly.

Speaker 1: 1:12:48

I'd like to think it's spiritual, because when you steal something, when they say, oh, they're going to return it, they're stolen goods. They're stolen goods. Do you know how mad that is? They looted. And there's a lot more benin bronzes in different parts of the world, by the way, but it's. The irony is that it's it's in in in europe, right? So neverland, and they say they were turning them like they're doing us a favor. You, it's been stolen and somehow it's made its way, through whatever means, into your museum. You're not even ashamed. You should be begging us to come and collect it. You know this spirit. Do you know this spiritual, the spiritual, the spiritualness of these Benin bronzes? Do you know what it's tied with? They're tying their destiny, the Netherlands, you're tying your destiny through these spiritual artefacts, so it's in your interest to return them.

Speaker 1: 1:13:46

But what pisses me off is when they say they're going to return it. I read somewhere where they say oh, cultural reparations, it's not fucking cultural reparations. They're not giving us something that doesn't belong to us. You know they're giving us something that belongs to us. It's not like they're giving us money to make up for what was stolen. Do you understand? They're not paying us for it being looted since 1897. Do you understand? They're giving Nigeria back, giving Benin City back what was unlawfully and illegally looted and stolen and bear in mind it's 2025.

Speaker 1: 1:14:30

It's taken since 1897 to get them back. So it's been how long has it been? I've got questions. How long has it been sitting in the Netherlands museum? For how long has it taken to negotiate to get them back? Because let me tell you, it wasn't like the Netherlands called Nigeria and be like guys, we've got your stone and Benin bronzes. It didn't go like that.

Speaker 1: 1:14:54

This has been conversation that's been going on for years to get this back. Because you know one thing about the colonizer they'll colonize and think it belongs to them. So we have to spend the time convincing them. It's not yours and the spiritual bondage that's tying you better release the tin. But anyway, I just thought I'd share that because I hope that this sets the precedent to other countries to return to Africa what belongs to Africa. Because I'm telling you now last episode we spoke about Burkina Faso, spoke about Mali, and I'm telling you there is an uprising happening in Africa and if Africa is to be great, if Africa is really to be great, it needs to liberate itself from its former colonizers. The former colonizers need, they need to be liberated and I'm telling you africa could do great things, whatever we see in our lifetime. I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:15:43

I do really appreciate a lot of the feedback that I got in the last episode about the explanation, um, about what's happening in burkina faso and echo ass and things like that. I think I I you know I talk about all the time I'm dyslexic and I have undiagnosed ADHD. So for me, I like to assimilate information in very clear, you know, understood, like clear, easy way. So in the way I explain things, I hope I do it in that same way, um, and there'll be other topics that we discuss and I'll be using the same format to discuss them so that it's easily understood, like, for example, the Russia and Ukraine war, like I want to get into that. I really want to get into the nuts and bolts of it, because reality is they're at war because Ukraine wants to join NATO and it's not in Russia's interest for that to happen.

Speaker 1: 1:16:33

There was an agreement that was agreed many, many years ago between Russia and Ukraine that Ukraine will not join NATO. Now what you need to understand is joining NATO, ukraine joining NATO places Russia in a very vulnerable position and it allows Ukraine to have the protection of NATO, and Russia doesn't want that for various reasons and Russia doesn't want that for various reasons. Bear in mind as well, ukraine has natural resources that the US want. And it leads me quickly on another topic about Russia and Ukraine and things like that. So I don't know if you're fully aware of what's been happening to date. So obviously Russia, ukraine, they've been at war for several years now, or several years, a couple of years, and obviously Trump said that he wants to solve this war. And you have to bear in mind that America's interest in resolving the war with Ukraine and Russia is because the UK is because Russia sorry is because US are funding this war, is because Russia sorry is because US are funding this war. To date, the US has spent $350 billion on this war.

Speaker 1: 1:17:42

Bearing in mind the war is between Russia and Ukraine, they have a vested interest. The US and the UK have a vested interest in this war Number one. Number two Ukraine has natural resources. They have minerals that the US want, or at least want access to, over and above other parts of the world. So, for example, at the height of the Ukraine war, there were certain parts in cars that car manufacturing on certain cars was really slowed because they were dependent on parts of natural resources from Ukraine. So what happened? Is it affected the production of new cars? So Ukraine does have what the US want and the UK want and need.

Speaker 1: 1:18:31

So, basically, trump was like you know what? I need to end this war? It's too expensive. I'm trying to make America great and this ain't great for us for the amount of money we're bleeding into this war. So, like right, trump was like right, I need to speak to Russia, I need to speak to Putin, who is the President of Russia. I need to speak to Putin and the Kremlin. We need to have a conversation. So we're going to have this conversation in Saudi Arabia Neutral territory conversation. So we're gonna have this conversation in Saudi Arabia neutral territory and we're gonna have this conversation. We're not gonna invite Europe and, um, we're actually not gonna invite Ukraine, it's just literally gonna be the, the US and Russia.

Speaker 1: 1:19:08

Then the UK was like what the fuck? So we're not invited. And Trump's like nah, you guys are not invited, because if you wanted to end the war, you should have ended it before I came into power. It was what Trump said. Now, come into power. You guys are not invited, because if you wanted to end the war, you should have ended it before I came into power. Is what Trump said. Now, coming to power, you want to be involved in the peace process, fuck off. So the UK was like are you fucking serious? No, we ain't having none of this UK. Get on the phone to the UK leaders and they're like listen, we need to have a meeting in Paris Because Trump is having a meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia. So we need to have our own meeting.

Speaker 1: 1:19:42

So Ukraine, uk and EU leaders meet in Paris, have this conversation. And Zelensky, who is the president, prime minister of Ukraine, is pissed because, like, how the fuck are you going to have a conversation with Putin about ending the war? You're not even going to have Ukraine at the table. I'm the, I'm the prime minister. What the fuck is this?

Speaker 1: 1:19:56

And then Ukraine went on um and said and accused Trump of listening to disinformation, um, from Russia about he, um, about, uh, ukraine and his presidency. Because Trump went and said listen, you're not even liked by your own country. Uh, zelensky, ukraine don't even want you and, by the way, you haven't even had an election. So, really and truly, how do we know that you're wanted as the president or the prime minister of Ukraine if you haven't even had a fair election? Trump, that's a bit of a mad thing, because the country's at war, they ain't got time for fucking elections. Listen, ukraine is not in a good space to be having elections in the middle of the war or a middle of a war.

Speaker 1: 1:20:45

But I think what Trump effectively is trying to say and I get where Trump's coming from he's like listen, you guys have had several years to resolve these issues and bring this war to an end, years to resolve these issues and bring this war to an end, but instead the US is funding the majority of this war and bleeding money, and in order for me to make America great, I can't be funding a war that actually we have no foot in the game here. However, you've got natural resources, and this is the only reason why we're supporting you against Putin, amongst other things as well, because obviously they're trying to control the power that Putin has and the dominance that Putin has, and you know I've spoken about Russia in a previous episode, but the reality of this situation is the UK have then said that they're willing to deploy UK soldiers to maintain any peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, and Russia's like fuck off, if we're gonna have a peace agreement, I don't want fucking UK troops surveying the borders and and basically maintaining peace. That's not what this is going to be about. Uk's need to insert themselves in this war has got nothing other than to do with the natural resources in Ukraine, because I don't understand why Keir Starmer would go ahead and offer that to Ukraine at the taxpayer's expense. We're paying for this war and it's not like he went to Parliament and said and I don't know whether he has to or not, but the reality is he hasn't even tested the pulse of the UK public to see if we actually want soldiers over there. Do you know what I mean? It's like inserting yourself in a war that you're not a party to. But the UK's need to beat up the US arse is unbelievable. But this war really is a testament of leadership, leadership, um, the prime minister of Ukraine, zelensky. He has basically said that if um Ukraine are able to join NATO, then he will resign as the prime minister of Ukraine. So he's basically trading his, his leadership so that Ukraine will be part of NATO. And it's not going to happen. Russia will not allow it. So in a nutshell, that's what happened last week.

Speaker 1: 1:23:00

But the depth and the breadth of the actual war is maybe something I can cover in a separate episode, because I think it's important that we know, especially in trying to understand why the UK are so involved and US have a vested interest to fund this war. But it's just getting to a point where it's becoming ridiculous. It's like a war with no end and it has to end somehow. So let's see what happens and how these peace talks develop and see if a truce can be found. Um, but what has come out of this is Putin seems to be the one that is has been like. He's not lost his head, you know, even though I mean, if you were to ask someone who do you think has won the war, putin will probably say it's him, because he's not the one initiating these peace treaties. I don't know, anyway, that's that.

Speaker 1: 1:23:48

So before I wrap up this episode, I want to talk about Cynthia Erivo, and Cynthia Erivo, if you don't know, was the lead character in Wicked. She played the witch, the green witch. I haven't even seen Wicked, you know, don't even test me. I'm a full-time mum, a full-time career mum and a full-time businesswoman. I ain't got no time to be watching anything from beginning to end, especially a movie. So I've got time for reality shows, though, anyway. So last week, like I don't know whether you know this theatre production. They have their own community. By the way, they went uproar Because Cynthia Erivo has accepted a role.

Speaker 1: 1:24:29

It's an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ and it's this summer at Hollywood Bowl and Cynthia Erivo will be playing Jesus Christ and theater, theater pundits and and the the British media were in absolute uproar and I'm sure this extended to the rest of the world and they said it was blasphemy. Effectively was it was the narrative that was being pushed that a black queer woman would be playing Jesus Christ. Now I think Christianity is the most disrespected religion in the world and I feel like if Christianity could have adopted some of the disciplines from other religions, then Christianity would be less played with, I think, cynthia Erivo playing Jesus Christ. To me personally, in the way I was raised and my belief system, I'm confused as to why a woman would be playing Jesus Christ. To me personally and the way I was raised and and my belief system, I'm confused as to why a woman would be playing Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1: 1:25:41

But then there's so so much misinformation in about the Bible, about Jesus Christ and the depiction of Jesus Christ that I feel like there's a lot of issues rooted within Christianity anyway and I feel like it's really easy to criticize Cynthia Erivo, but nobody wants to speak about some of the endemic problems and some of the sexual abuse cases that have been embedded into Christianity through certain organizations. Shall I say I feel like when we talk about blasphemy we need to be really, really, really careful. I can't help but think there's undertone of racism. Do I think, from my personal view, that it's right that Cynthia Erivo plays Jesus Christ? And my answer is no, but that's simply because I feel like, in respecting Christianity, I feel like there's certain things that should not be played with. But then there's been theatre productions done where they insinuate in a relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ and that, to me, is ultimate blasphemy.

Speaker 1: 1:26:55

Personally, I think it's very easy to critique Cynthia Erivo, but I do question whether her, being a queer and black and a queer black woman, how much of that plays into people's positions and stances against her playing this role. I think ultimately, um, she's taking this role because she believes she can play the role. She clearly doesn't care about the backlash and the critique, but I think there needs to be a wider discussion had about how people play in the face of Christianity and get away with it. There's so many scandals within the Vatican Church. No one wants to have those conversations and how blasphemous those conversations, those situations have been the abuse within the church, sexual abuse cases. There was even one recently where it was buried until it couldn't bury anymore and it came out. You know, those are things that need to be discussed and we need to be having those conversations.

Speaker 1: 1:27:58

And I definitely feel like if you want to get to the root of a lot of issues within Christianity, you've got to deal with a lot of the things that have come out. And it's really easy to now concentrate on a black woman who's playing Jesus Christ, which has its own issues, and I'm not saying it doesn't but I feel like there are wider conversations and situations that need to be talked about within Christianity before you now start talking about a musical which is an adaptation of. I mean personally, anyway, anyway, I've got my own views and I just feel like it's unfair to place a lot of responsibility on an actress who's playing who she believes is. You know, she's playing a role. If you think that that role should not be touched because it's blasphemous, it shouldn't be touched by anybody, then irrespective of the gender, irrespective of the race, like, like. It can't be one rule for one and one rule for another. Personally, for me, I ain't gonna go and see that production, but I don't believe that people are concentrating or focusing on the right things, having the right conversations. You know, I don't. I mean, there's some religions you can't even touch certain topics. It's so sacred. But I feel like when you remove or when you flex on what is sacred, you open the floodgates for people to do what they want, and that's what we're seeing here. So you know, there are bigger issues within the Christian face that need to be discussed and dealt with, in my opinion. Anyway, I'm going to leave it there.

Speaker 1: 1:29:38

I hope that you've enjoyed this podcast episode as much as I have enjoyed recording and delivering it to you. I have episodes in the pipeline. I've got another episode called the Friendship Renaissance and there's been a study done and everything. This is like my geek side. I also want to talk about certain things that are happening um, within politics as well.

Speaker 1: 1:29:59

Keir Starmer is a very problematic person and I think I've said this before he is a conservative. Uh, I believe he's a a conservative. He, I believe he is a conservative in sheep's clothing. That that's what I believe. I think he made very questionable decisions as head of the Crown Prosecution Service and I think that his party cabinet is a reflection of him personally. I'll give an example. The business secretary, jonathan Reynolds, fabricated on his CV that he was a solicitor, despite never qualifying as a solicitor or completing his training contract. He never finished his training contract. He actually quit in 2010 and never registered at the solicitor's regulatory authority, which regulates the legal practice of lawyers in England and Wales.

Speaker 1: 1:31:01

And obviously, rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, embellished and it's been alleged that made false claims of her work as working in the Bank of England. Now, if that was anyone else I'm sorry, if that was a black person, they would be asked to resign. In fact, they'd be sacked. They call it lies and fraud. But when it's a white person, especially a white man, oh, it's an embellishment. You understand, like there's different rules, but the fact is it's not about race. To an extent, it is about how Keir Starmer's government are a reflection of him. And that whole dishonesty, that embellishment, that ability to kind of like hide behind privilege to ascertain a role, it's all coming out. Do you know? What I mean and I still can't get over his treatment of um, diane Abbott is. That still bothers me and it talks to his integrity and him as a person.

Speaker 1: 1:32:01

I do not like Keir Starmer. I'm gonna put. I'm gonna say that I do not like him and, as the prime minister here of the UK, honestly I just think that this country's sinking further and further and further down the gutter. I'm going to leave it there. If you have a workplace dilemma I do have a couple of work dilemmas in the mailbox that I need to discuss Career ones, things that relate to decision making and experiences, and things that you're going through in the workplace I will dedicate an episode.

Speaker 1: 1:32:32

There's a couple of people that I've responded to personally and I've said to them. I am obviously going to discuss your, your dilemma on the podcast when once I get an opportunity to thank you so much for all your love and support. I do appreciate you all. Thank you for listening. I do see all the numbers. I do see all the comments that you leave.

Speaker 1: 1:32:48

Um, I don't know if you're aware that those of you who listen on Spotify can actually participate in polls that I have up on Spotify that relate to the podcast, and also you can leave comments on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts as well. You can leave comments as well. There's other podcast platforms that you can leave comments on, but I do see them. As much as possible I do respond. So if you want to leave a comment, I would appreciate it. Also, I really appreciate your ability to be able to just share the podcast. There's a lot of people who do not know this platform exists, which is scary to me because I know there's a lot of people that are going through a lot of work-based issues that they could get the support, the education, the advice from the podcast episode. So please, please, please, you know, keep keep sharing the podcast and sharing certain discussion points on your group chats. Again, if you have a workplace dilemma or life dilemma in the subject box, just put it's a dilemma, so we know it's a dilemma and email hello at toytalkscom.

Speaker 1: 1:33:44

I know there's a lot of people who have written in about brand sponsorships and I'm going to be honest. It has to align with the ethos of the podcast. If it doesn't align, I will not do a sponsorship. I'm not desperate for a sponsorship on the podcast. The podcast is, has done well and is doing well. So for me, any collaboration has to make sense and it needs to center black women first. That that, that that's what I require here.

Speaker 1: 1:34:10

Anyway, if you want to follow me on social media, hello, um, hello. Toy Washington is usually or toy underscorehington um. If you want to follow me on instagram, it's toyah underscore washington and, of course, the podcast instagram is toyah underscore talks. I do want to say I'm not great with the whole instagram. I'm not great with it in in terms of promoting the podcast. I'm not great.

Speaker 1: 1:34:31

However, it's there and I do post on there now and again, um, and for me, I I appreciate all the people that listen, subscribe, share. The podcast numbers speak for itself, but, more importantly, the fact that we can find community in a safe space within the Toy Talks podcast to share, to guide, to advise and to laugh fills my heart with complete joy. If you're interested in the masterclasses um toytalkscom, but remember what I said to you in the podcast if you do not listen to the podcast and use the masterclass in collaboration, the masterclass are of no use to you. I want to thank you for listening. Thank you for your support. I appreciate you all. My name is Toy Washington and you have been listening to the Toy Talks podcast room.

Speaker 2: 1:35:31

Walk black woman power, watch it shine. Breaking barriers, redesigning time from Tottenham roads to CEO. Every step, teaching what we know, not just surviving but thriving more, opening every closed door. Toya talks, toya talks, toya talks. Black queens to the top. And we're still going.