The Toya Talks Podcast
The education system teaches us to learn and recall information and at the end of it we are tested and expected to then pass exams. After all said and done the reality is, we are supposed to get a job at the end of it. I was unaware of the difficulties I would encounter at work especially as a Black Woman. How do I navigate work and how do I keep a job? Education institutions do not prepare you for work, racism, bullying, and oppressive managers in the workplace. Where the education system has not prepared you, I will. Toya Talks is a platform birthed on my day to day uploads on Snapchat. I discuss the realities of work from the perspective of a Black Woman and how I have successfully navigated work using my experiences. Toya Talks Podcast covers the world of work and not just the corporate world. Black Women for too long have been overlooked and underrepresented in the workplace. Toya Talks is a safe place and a platform to share, grow and learn, more importantly, educate ourselves and everyone else so we can navigate and grow in the world of work more smoothly. This Podcast contains my opinions and feelings based on my lived experiences, my opinions and my Black experience. My views and experiences are in no way intended to cause offence. Lets put the sensitivity to one side, prepare to laugh, learn & grow!!!!
The Toya Talks Podcast
The Glass Cliff
The insidious nature of the glass cliff phenomenon stands as a stark reality for Black women in professional spaces, creating a precarious balancing act between opportunity and setup. While many understand the concept of the glass ceiling, fewer recognize how Black women are strategically positioned at the edge of organizational precipices, handed leadership roles specifically during times of crisis when the probability of failure looms large.
This episode dissects how organizations conveniently embrace diversity when facing turbulence—appointing Black women to firefight situations they didn't create, with inadequate resources and impossible timelines. Through compelling examples like Kemi Badenoch's leadership of the struggling Conservative Party and Kamala Harris's eleventh-hour presidential candidacy, we examine the calculated pattern that reinforces harmful stereotypes when inevitable challenges arise.
Beyond career implications, we explore the geopolitical landscape of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, examining how NATO expansion, natural gas pipelines, and global politics affect everyday taxpayers. This connects to our central theme by highlighting how power structures function on both micro and macro levels. The conversation extends to corporate developments at Deloitte and Goldman Sachs, alongside Pat McGrath's groundbreaking appointment at Louis Vuitton—demonstrating both challenges and breakthroughs for Black representation.
Remember that true progress isn't measured by token appointments during crises but by equitable opportunities across all conditions. As you navigate your professional journey, recognise these patterns and position yourself strategically.
True representation means Black Women being promoted in all circumstances, not just when an organisation needs saving. Be the architect of your own career and recognise when you're being set up to fail.
Your career deserves architecture that builds toward sustainable success rather than precarious positioning at the edge of someone else's crisis. Take time to rest, as we acknowledge the National Day of Rest for Black Women, because the path to authentic leadership begins with caring for yourself.
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Music (Intro and Outro) Written and created by Nomadic Star
Happy National Day of Rest for Black Women. The 10th of March is a day that recognises that black women deserve to rest. It's not just a day, it's just a marked day. Black women, we need a break. We need to afford ourselves the opportunity to rest, because we don't do that. Society depicts us as women who have to carry everything on our shoulders, void of emotion that is constantly laboured, and as a black woman myself, I recognise that I don't always recognise when I need to rest. So I'm down in tools, I'm resting, and if you can't rest for the whole day, apportion some time just to rest and relax.
Speaker 2:Happy National Day of Rest for Black women. Masters of the game, we show every sister how to own their throne. T-o-i-a, let me show you how to navigate and elevate. That's what we do. Black Queen energy growing.
Speaker 1:The biggest scam in life is paying taxes on the money you make, paying taxes on the money you spend and paying taxes on the things you own that you already paid taxes on with already taxed money. That was posted on instagram by forever wealth solutions. Listen, don't even get me started on the whole conversation about tax and how we benefit from taxes and kia starmer's commitment to wage and support the war in Ukraine between Ukraine and Russia with our tax money and the interest on frozen Russian assets as well. Don't even let me get started on that. Our ability to access healthcare that we already pay taxes on and then go through our private healthcare with our tax money that we pay for through insurance. Are we having that conversation? No, we're not.
Speaker 1:I'm recovering from an illness that I don't understand. To be fair, one of my friends said to me since COVID, every illness, every sickness, every cold and flu seems a lot worse and it takes a lot longer to recover from and honestly, I never thought of it like that. But it's true. And besides, the fact that my daughter is in nursery and collects and brings colds and viruses home every five to seven business days on average, when I'm looking at illnesses and having conversations, doing my own research. Something's happening in the world right now. No one wants to talk about neurovirus. No one wants to talk about the pressures on the NHS at the moment with the bugs, the colds, the flus and the pressure on the health service because people are really sick. The media don't want to talk about it because they don't want us to revisit, even conceive, the possibility of another pandemic or the possibility of one ever happening ever again. This government is so terrified of a pandemic because they need us to continue to fund the economy so they can fund support wars and spend our money and our taxes willy-nilly. Anyway, listen, in the time that I've been away which is like what? Two weeks, because it seems like you guys are getting twice a month podcast episodes. That's what it appears, and now and again I increase that depending on what's happening. And you know me, I have to do my research. I just don't come in here and just be talking for talking sake.
Speaker 1:I like to highlight certain key topics and those of you who are new here, please start from the beginning. Start from the beginning. Someone sent me a message recently and said you know what, toya, to fully embrace, learn and benefit from your podcast. You have to start from the beginning. You have to start from the genesis, because once you're able to do that, that, all the present stuff that you talk about resonates more, because the foundation and the nucleus of what the podcast is and stands for is very clear. If you're not willing to go on the journey, listening to present day podcasts won't mean nothing. You have to commit to yourself, your career, your growth, your mentality and the things that you are able to make decisions on, like your career, and the only way to fully get the best out of your podcast is to start from the beginning. Know that when you get to the present day episodes, it makes sense why this would then be one of your favorite episodes and one of your favorite podcasts.
Speaker 1:And when I read the email, I honestly I've got a couple of emails in there, one that I'm going to read today. But when I read that particular one, I was like she gets it. And then she shared with me kind of how her career started, where she is now, and I was like yeah, you're a Toy Talks babe for real, because you know her trajectory, where she's been. She's now emigrated to Qatar, which I'm so proud of. She asked me a career question, um, off the back of her email, and I just felt so blessed to even be able to be in a position where I could advise her and her fully embrace the advice, because she understand the toy talks platform. She's a toy talks babe, um. So, yeah, if you're new here, make sure you start from the beginning. You can start from here, but just commit to the process of the podcast and allowing episodes to resonate, episodes to resonate with you and for you to be able to explore a level of vulnerability when it comes to your career, especially as a black woman.
Speaker 1:Um, before we get into the meat potatoes, the beans of the chicken of this episode we're going to be talking, by the way, all things Ukraine and Russia. I need you all as, as taxpayers, we need to have a conversation because I feel like, unless you understand the genesis of this war with Russia and Ukraine, uk's involvement, the USA's position, you understand the weight of voting for party leaders. So when we are voting for the next prime minister, you understand the weight of that. I personally think there needs to be a threshold of education before people start voting in who they want to represent them and lead the country, because if you fully understand how geopolitics works, understand how the economic situation and the positioning of the UK, you fully then embrace and understand, as a taxpayer, the rights that we should have versus the rights we don't, and then the little power we do have over the elections, the weight of that. You can't have skid marks voting, because skid marks is the reason we've got Keir Starmer. Skid marks are the reason we had Rishi Sunak. Personally, I do not like Tony Blair. I struggle with a lot of his tenure as prime minister, but I'm telling you this right now the only time, in my view, that we've had actual politics that works for the people and understanding how we stand on a socio-economic level was during the Blair days. That's all I'm going to say on that, but we can revisit that.
Speaker 1:Another episode, this episode, we're going to, like I said, be talking about all things russia, ukraine and also pipelines, gas pipelines, because this is what this, this war, is about. Actually, well, part of the war well, actually no part of the war in our involvement in the war is about those natural gas pipelines, but we're going to get into that. We're also going to be talking about Goldman Sachs and their position on Project Voyage, deloitte and the Lincoln annual bonuses to staff attendance in the offices. Yeah, that conversation. Focus of the episode it's about the glass cliff, um, and we talk about the glass ceiling a lot and, but this episode I want to focus on the glass cliff and what that means for black women because, remember, this podcast is two black women for black women, about black women. Because I am a black woman and therefore the world of work, navigating career life, is from the lens of a black woman, my experiences, and then I share that the I hope it's wisdom anyway my experiences, my advice and my viewpoint.
Speaker 1:This is not a podcast to talk about sex. Sometimes we talk about sex, but few and far between. This is about career. This is about focus. This is about investing in yourself, being the architect of your career. This is about you forward thinking and forward planning about your life and not being a victim to what society is trying to do. Society has tried to erode the middle class and they just want a two system approach to society, where you have the poor and the rich and nothing in between. But are you ready for that conversation? I don't know. We're also going to be talking about Pat McGrath and her extended stay with Louis Vuitton.
Speaker 1:But before we get into all of that, all of that real good stuff, about two episodes ago I came on here and I shared with you that a colleague in a meeting basically said that I was a prostitute. I work at a red light district, or at least my home is a red light district, because the lights in my room, the pink light on my when I was having a team's call, I have one of my lights is pink and it's it's actually the toy talk sign in my, in my office, right, but obviously I don't show the sign, you can just see the light reflecting. And he basically called me prostitute. Like I said, um, and that, um, I'm a madam, and all this, and I shared this here on the podcast. Go listen to that episode. I'll go into detail.
Speaker 1:And I had a lot of dms from people and they were like there was a couple of people who were like from people and they were like there was a couple of people who were like Toya, I was really surprised you didn't go to HR. And I was like, yeah, you're probably a new listener, toya, you should have taken it to HR, made a complaint. Oh, you really don't understand navigating the world of work, you don't get it. You haven't been on this journey for long. The people that have been on this journey for a long time, the people that have taken the time to start from the genesis of these episodes, understand strategy, understand how I think, how I navigate. Let me be really honest with you about something Every step I take at work, every decision I make, is strategic. I'm always listen. I stay ready. Yeah, call me Muhammad Ali. Yeah, call me Rocky. I stay ready for these people, then, because I understand the setup as well.
Speaker 1:I also understand that if we were to report everything that happened and go straight to HR, we'd be in the HR. We might as well just get a job in HR, but you've got to pick your battles. I've spoken about this in other episodes. Just get a job in HR, but you've got to pick your battles. I've spoken about this in other episodes. You've got to be strategic and you've got to understand when, how. So yeah, I had a couple of people that and those type of people.
Speaker 1:I don't explain myself. I don't have to. I just send you a podcast episode. I just send you a link, because I can't if I, if I feel to others got ignored, because what I'm not going to do is convince you of my position. I'm 40 years old. I'm at that point and stage in my life and my career where I am the architect of my career. I'm not trying to convince myself of it, I'm not trying to convince anybody else of it. I understand how I'm navigating. So remember that colleague that said those things and I told you guys had the conversation with him, burn folder, you know, canvas the opinion of the people that were on the call as evidence. Because you know they start forgetting, people start forgetting. I can't remember Toya was on that call, sent those team's messages. Oh my god, I can't believe. He said that get that, yeah, screenshot. I'm that person.
Speaker 1:Now when, when this happened, I remember saying to my husband I said to him I'm so. I said I'm having to hold my temper because if I'm to deal with him the way he deserves to be dealt with, it will send a message to everybody. But am I ready to use him as the example to others or am I going to allow him to die on his own sword? Because I know he will, he's going to fuck up. So I said to Kay I was like I've reported him to my ancestors and Kay was laughing because he knows once I report it to my ancestors, you're fucking done for mate. But one thing I was sure of is either he's going to do it again, in which case we would be going to HR, but now we have a pattern of behaviour. We have evidence. I have the policies in which he's breached that. You know he would be literally he'd be on a final warning out of his job by the time I'm done with him.
Speaker 1:But I had to think about it. I was like okay, but what am I trying to get to Like? Has his comments made my work untenable? Has it made the environment untenable? Has it made the environment untenable? It hadn't done that at all, because I have a strong enough character. I've navigated in such a way that I have a reputation. My reputation at work and I've heard this from other colleagues is I just get stuff done. I'm a really nice person. I get on with everybody. Everyone has great things to say about me, but I just get things done. Some people have referred to me as stoic. These are all great things to be about me, but I just get things done. Some people have referred to me as stoic. These are all great things to be referred to as, because one thing I know I have been is progressive.
Speaker 1:I've hit my delivery. You know, when you're working in a consultancy environment, it's delivery and outcome based. So for me, I'm delivering how I'm delivering. If I'm delivering with a smile, or if I've got a red light, a pink light, a blue light, I'm delivering how I'm delivering. If I'm delivering with a smile or if I've got a red light, a pink light, a blue light, I'm delivering. But what you're not going to do is try to come for me and think that I'm not going to get. I'm coming for you, I'm just. I'm just not coming when you expect me to.
Speaker 1:So last week we had a call and it was the same meeting. It's a reoccurring meeting that happens every week, and that colleague that made those comments to me was on that call. And one thing I've got some new lights, by the way, but we'll get into that in a minute. But, um, I sat on the call and he says oh, everyone, I've, I've got an announcement to make. He says, um, I just want to let everybody know I'm returning to my home country and I'm leaving the organisation. So I said I don't know if he was expecting everyone to be like, oh my God, oh my God, oh, I don't know.
Speaker 1:But there was just a pause. It was like such an awkward pause where I feel like he was waiting for people to make a fuss about the announcement. And I have a very stoic facial expression, very placid. There, there's nothing, there's no emotion on my face at all and it's her word. And then, after a brief pause, people start asking questions. Whatever. I said nothing. When I came off that call, I literally said to myself this is the ancestors, this is the ancestors. He looked almost shocked that he was leaving. It was like he was telling himself it for the first time verbally.
Speaker 1:Some of you will be like oh my god, you know, toya, you're quite superstitious, I'm very spiritual, I am extremely spiritual. If you come for me and I decide I'm coming for you, it's a wrap for you. So when I'm going to HR, there's one or two outcomes I'm seeking. It's the final warning or you're out. That's why, for me, it takes strategy for me to get to a point. It takes a lot for me to get to a point where I've decided I go to HR. It takes a lot. My environment has to be affected. My mental health has to be well. My mental health doesn't necessarily have to be affected, but there has to be a risk of it being affected. And equally, how am I able to do my job If I'm in an environment where I'm not able to do my job? I don't feel comfortable, I have anxiety or whatever it is. That's when I make that decision.
Speaker 1:If there is a pattern of behaviour, if other people are adopting that behaviour because of what this person has done, these are things that would motivate me. But I'm patient because I believe in patterns of behaviour that evidence a pattern of behaviour, that evidence a propensity for somebody to behave in a certain way, that gives a certain reaction. And sometimes you have to, you have to enforce that patience to get to that point. It's not always the case, but I always have said to all of you build your case, build your burn folder, build that feedback folder. You know, and I feel like I've gotten to that stage in my career now where I know, I know where I'm going, I'm focused and I understand the hurdles and the and people who place themselves deliberately in my way to eat, who are either threatened or want to affect my career. I'm very aware of it and I will act accordingly. But my first reaction isn't straight to HR, it's gathering my evidence.
Speaker 1:I have a podcast episode about positioning and framing. Go and listen to it, because I live by what I teach. It's not like I'm teaching you guys something that I don't live by. Listen as a black woman surviving in the working world, the corporate world. If you don't understand framing and're, if you don't understand framing and positioning, if you don't understand how to navigate, if you don't develop those skills, you will not survive the working world. And if you do happen to, you will always be junior Because as you climb up that career ladder, the higher the level, the more conniving the devil. The higher the level, the more conniving the devil, and it's a fact. So you better, you have to decide. If you want to tap in, you've got to decide.
Speaker 1:And when he made the announcement that he was leaving, there was a satisfaction I felt. Let me come and confess it here. It's that I didn't have to deal with him. All the anticipation of the next blunder that I'm gonna have to now deal with with impunity. And add it to this one of the light prostitution yeah, that's what I called his folder light prostitution. Don't fuck with me, so I'm not coming for you.
Speaker 1:Why is it, as black women were always seen as a target for specifically white men sees as a target? I'm not going to sit him and say to you that my negative experiences have only come from black men. They've also come from Asian men as well. I've got to be honest, and this is why I struggle and wrestle with that whole BAME melting pot, because there are some Asian men that their view of black women is very clear by how they treat us, especially in the workplace, and I've had my experiences. But again, this is why I say to you be the best at what you do. Be the best, because whether they want to see us or not, they want the best. We're 10 times as qualified, 10 times as experienced. We're coming correct. So when they're having certain conversations with us, no matter how much what they do or how, they know that if you want us to work in tandem, you have to learn to work with us. But what you're not going to do is affect the environment we work in, to bully us, oppress us. That that can't happen. That can't happen for the.
Speaker 1:For the first time in many, many, many, many years. I've just felt fully liberated, fully free, and it coincided with qualifying, the qualifying experience and the qualifying academics that placed me in a position where I get choices, choices, options, options, freedom. And I had a a conversation with my husband today and I said to him I said listen, I think it's really important for the younger generation, especially the ones that have come straight from university. You need to be in an office to develop the understanding and the social skills to understand how non-black people move around, black people in the working environment. So these young people that are working from home or are remote hybrid, the hybrid where it's two days a week in the office is not enough for the young people. Because I feel like a lot of what I have learned and developed has come from, of course, trauma and experience. I, you know, I take that, but a lot of that was in office environment. A lot of it was in an office environment Because also, the office environment is meant to be a controlled environment.
Speaker 1:So what you see is how non-black people operate in a seemingly controlled environment and they are out of control. The non-verbal cues you develop an understanding of the non-verbal. You read body language in a way that's so unique because you're dealing with it as it happens, live and direct in a way that's so unique because you're dealing with it as it happens, live and direct. There you know a screen in between you and this person before you develop those skills is detrimental to your development in your career. And that's the truth, because people think developing in development in your career is just about climbing that ladder. It's just about the experience, it's just about but it's it's also the social element of understanding human beings and the way they operate in pressurized environments, controlled environments, is really important.
Speaker 1:Dealing with your colleague that stinks, that comes in the office and smells of bo and poo, because you know that man or that woman has not washed themselves in one week. That person washes every sunday, bi-weekly, because they want to save water. How do you navigate that type of person in the workplace when you've got to sit next to them? Or that boss that demeans you, makes comments underneath their breath that you happen to hear because you're in the office how do you navigate that? Or how people plot and plan in an office, the dynamics of how people interact, you see it in HD when you're in the office.
Speaker 1:So I think the younger generation, the ones that haven't had the experience of working in an office, the ones that are straight from university. You shouldn't be looking at remote roles. I personally don't think it works, because I think it ties your hand behind your back when you, in terms of social skills and I'm talking to you as somebody who is dyslexic undiagnosed ADHD hopefully, by the grace of God, I'm having my assessment soon. I've had a preliminary assessment and I have a full assessment, um, soon by the grace of God. But this is what I'm talking to you about, that those of us who like discover that we have ADHD behavioural. I discover it now, later in life. I'm sure I grew up with it, but the reality is it never manifests itself on very high functioning.
Speaker 1:But my experiences came. I mean, toya, your talk started from me going to and from work on Snapchat, talking about my day, talking about my experience, being very candid about my experiences. This is how we arrived at Toya Talks. Oh, do you want a live event? Yeah, we want a live event 2018, did a live event? Do you want a podcast? Yep, I'll do a podcast. This is why we're here. But this platform wouldn't even exist if I didn't have those experiences, and those experiences mainly came in an office setting.
Speaker 1:Let's talk Russia and Ukraine. So, remember, we had the episode where I spoke about Bukhina Faso. I spoke about everything that's happening there, but did it in a way that I felt that was understandable, without giving you guys an overload of information, but giving you enough information for you to understand what's happening, and I think there's certain topics that we can do it like that. Um, I do want people to walk away informed. Remember, I'm this. This podcast is about the world of work, navigating as black women, but you can't talk about the world of work without talking about politics, the geopolitical, political landscape, the social economic environment in which we live in. We need to have those conversations, especially as taxpayers. Especially as taxpayers.
Speaker 1:One of my biggest issues with Keir Starmer is, besides the fact that I don't think he has the ability to run this country and make this country what it was under Tony Blair. And bear in mind, keir Starmer is a Labour Party leader and I've always said he's a Labour Party leader draped in conservative clothing, because I just don't, you know, we could do an episode about him when I'm bothered to actually research him. I just I'm so fed up with him. But I think it's important that we recognise something here Whenever Keir Starmer talks about Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, there's such vitriol, there's such anger. In fact, he's so dismissive of him that any time the press ask him a question, he almost scoffs at the thought that he's going to even have to say Russia or Putin. He's very negative, he's very angry.
Speaker 1:So, in order for you to understand what happened and let me be clear about something never allow your boss to feel or be comfortable to talk to you. The way Trump spoke to Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, that was mad. It was so crazy that I had to pause, walk away and come back. I couldn't watch that thing live. Are you joking? But before we even get into that part, let us start by understanding how we got here. The UK are fully in support of Ukraine and support Ukraine's. What they say is defending themselves against an invasion by Russia. But how did we get here? So, in order to understand Ukraine's history, you have to also understand that between the 18th and 19th century, ukraine was actually part of Russia. They were one country. They have a shared history. Bear in mind, in 1917, there was a Russian Revolution. Now pause Digest that Now, in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed so that's what they call NATO and it was formed of.
Speaker 1:The following countries was formed so that's what they call NATO and it was formed of the following countries the United States of America, canada, iceland, Norway, uk, denmark, belgium, luxembourg, france, italy and Portugal. And this was in 1949, when NATO was first formed. Now that quickly followed by the Soviet side Because, remember I said, russia and Ukraine were one country. It was actually called the USSR. So almost as a response to that, what we're going to call, the Soviet side decided to develop the Warsaw Pact.
Speaker 1:Now I want to explain why NATO was created. Nato effectively was created. If they were ever invaded, all those countries that are part of NATO would defend each other. So the view was, if they were invaded, attacked, infiltrated by the USSR, the countries who were part, those member state countries in NATO, would defend each other, each other. So, for example, if the USSR at the time decided that it wanted to invade Norway, then Iceland, uk, denmark, belgium, luxembourg, france, italy, portugal, us and Canada would go to Norway's defence and that defence would be providing troops, it would be backing them in a war, whatever would be required to defend that country that was under attack. That was a NATO member each country would defend.
Speaker 1:So in response to that, the Soviet side decided to develop the Warsaw Pact, so the Warsaw Pact. The following member countries were part of that Warsaw Pact. That was the German Democratic Republic, as it was once known, poland, czechoslovakia, hungary, romania, bulgaria and Albania sorry, they were called the Warsaw Pact. Now the Warsaw Pact collapsed as the Soviet Union was dissolved. So there was a war Listen, a lot happened. But once the Soviet Union was dissolved, all these countries kind of then broke away. So the countries that were part of that Warsaw Pact, the pact didn't exist anymore. But what did continue was NATO, so effectively Ukraine. So a lot of things happen in between.
Speaker 1:But Ukraine then became a an independent country, independent of Russia. It was called Ukraine. Now I can't talk about Ukraine without pointing out that Ukraine has its own history. It's important to recognise that Ukraine suffered a genocide. They suffered several wars, families lost generations. Ukraine has a very painful history. So to just discuss the current war with Russia wouldn't be giving the respect to Ukraine and Ukraine's history and it's really important that I mention that. So Ukraine obviously they're independent. They have their own culture, their own language, their own teachings everything. They're just an independent country.
Speaker 1:But they then decide do you know what? I think we want to join nato. We know that russia you know, especially from the history books, russia's quite a volatile country. Now I'm not giving you my opinion, I'm just giving you what it is okay, in a way that you will understand. I have my opinion. I'll share that later. So then nato, just um. So then uk Ukraine decides that it wants to be a NATO partner, and it was only. It was a NATO partner only. So it wasn't a part of NATO, it was just a partner to NATO. In 2013, ukraine signed an associate. Well, they didn't sign. They agreed an association agreement and it was just agreed. So like a formal handshake, if you like, but it was not signed.
Speaker 1:In November 2021, putin demands, he makes a demand. So Putin is the president of Russia. He demands, he says NATO needs to stop expanding and moving its military borders. They need to move it back to where it was in 1997, away from Russia. Now, ukraine borders Russia. They have borders, they're shared borders. So you can imagine then, if Ukraine joins NATO, nato edges closer to Russia and Russia does not want that. Yeah, russia does not like. Usa doesn't trust them and doesn't want US and I say US, but I mean NATO. But let's be honest, right, us pays the most money into the NATO fund. Now, as part of NATO all the countries who are part of NATO they pay into a fund and the US pays the majority of the money. And Donald Trump ain't happy about that, but we can get into that. February 24th 2022, putin invades Ukraine. The US sends troops to Eastern Europe to support Ukraine's efforts against defending itself of the invasion of Russia.
Speaker 1:I want to caveat this by saying Russia controls the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Because of their invasion of Ukraine, they suffered the harshest economic sanctions against Russia. So you can imagine Russia has a lot of assets all over the world. You have very wealthy Russian natives who have relationship or allegiance with the president of Russia. They had a lot of their assets frozen and we're talking billions, we're not talking millions billions money, assets, homes frozen because this is part of the sanctions because of the of russia's invasion of ukraine. So it's almost like well, since your president has decided that he wants to do that, then we're going to hit russia where it hurts. We're going to go after your rich oligarchs. We're going to go after russian assets that you have here in the uk and around the world. So this wasn't just um uk, it was most nato countries, who, those member states where russia has assets, money, whatever was we're talking about, accounts, billions of pounds here.
Speaker 1:Now, to fully understand Russia's reason for invading Ukraine, there's a couple of things that you have to consider here. So remember I said Russia controls the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Ukraine at one stage had nuclear weapons. However, the control devices of those nuclear weapons were held by Russia. So NATO said to Ukraine you've got to get rid of those nuclear weapons that you have. Ukraine. So Ukraine, in a controlled environment, got rid of the nuclear weapons, which they couldn't particularly use anyway, because Russia had kind of like the controls for those nuclear weapons. Then Ukraine decided to get rid of those nuclear weapons, rid of those nuclear weapons.
Speaker 1:Now, when Ukraine was part of Russia, there were natural gas pipelines. So these were the pipelines in which they would extract the natural gases from Russia through Ukraine and then obviously sell it to Europe, the rest of Europe, those natural gases and I'm saying this in its most simplest form here Now obviously Ukraine and Russia are no longer getting on. They're at war now. So those pipelines are completely closed and Ukraine has natural gases as well, but nowhere near as much as Russia. So when you are hearing currently in the news about a deal between Ukraine and the US about the natural gases, it's the natural gases that originally just exist in Ukraine. But bear in mind that Russia's power and its power source comes from the natural gases and the revenue that it makes. They make billions of pounds. So when you are hearing issues with like gas and gas prices and stuff, we're talking about the tariffs paid and the ability for us to access those natural gases from certain countries in Europe and we're talking about Ukraine, who are players in that space.
Speaker 1:Okay, so yeah, obviously now Russia has a problem, because the closer NATO gets to Russia, the more problematic it will be for Russia, for the reasons I've just described and explained. For the reasons I've just described and explained, equally as well, russia wants to protect itself. It has the nuclear weapons. They refuse to destroy those nuclear weapons Because, the way they see it, nato is a threat to them. And Putin irrespective of what your views are on Putin, when you talk about make America great again, he has made Russia great again.
Speaker 1:It depends, obviously, the articles that you read, but the reality is Russia is a rich power source. Russia has a lot of money and if you understand how pipelines and natural gases operate, you can understand, or at least try to reason, as to the issues that Russia would have with Ukraine joining NATO. And remember as well if Ukraine joins NATO, then Russia attacks Ukraineraine. As part of nato, ukraine has the protection of all the member states. They will attack russia. Russia is not getting rid of those nuclear weapons. Russia has gas, natural gases. And remember as well, russia have partnered up with china. Now china is its own superpower. With those countries coming together, you can imagine that the wealth, the breadth of experience and wealth between those two countries.
Speaker 1:Remember, I'm keeping it in its most simplest form, hoping that you're following, not trying to overcomplicate things. Okay, so what you would have seen is the press conference between Trump and Zelensky, who is the president, prime minister of Ukraine. Now you've got to also remember that the US funds I think they've spent $350 billion in support of Ukraine, and when I say in support, I'm talking about weapons, armory soldiers They've funded Ukraine's ability to defend itself against its invasion, the Russian invasion into Ukraine. That being said, trump made it really clear and has made it really clear. He is running the US like a business and he doesn't want any leakages. The amount of money that is spent on the Ukraine war is more than any other country has invested in supporting Ukraine in that war. Bear in mind, uk is also funding that war, but never to the degree of the US.
Speaker 1:But enough for you know us to have a conversation about whether we as a country want to participate in this war. Where our taxes are going to support the war, where we've opened the borders to Ukraine. Is it any refugees come over? That's a separate discussion. We're going to have that discussion on this podcast episode because, honestly, as a taxpayer, we deserve a voice at the table. So that meeting, that press conference, trump has come in and said listen, I'm ending this war. Yeah, I've had enough of this war. I don't want to fund this war anymore. We need to find peace because we as a country, as USA, in order to make USA great again, we cannot continue to fund a war that has no end. Where does this end? So Trump decides that he's going to have a conversation with Zelensky, he's going to have a conversation with Putin. That has to have peace talks with the view and the objective of ending the war.
Speaker 1:So when they had that press conference, that press conference was solely about Ukraine and Trump signing a natural gases deal. The US want access to Ukraine's natural gases at a rate that's reasonable, and the way Trump has positioned this is the amount of money we have paid you, we have given you in the support and the armoury, everything we've done to support you defending yourself against Russia. You owe us. So this natural gas deal needs to be a tariff and a contract that works for us. We want to extract your natural gases. We want access to your natural gases because the money we've used to fund the war was and Zelensky said it was a loan or it wasn't a grant. Therefore, if it's a loan, you can't afford to pay us back, but what we will do is enter some type of deal in agreement extract, use, utilise your natural gases. That's what Trump thought that press conference was about.
Speaker 1:Zelensky, on the other hand, used that press conference not to talk about the natural gases deal but to talk about Trump's pursuit of peace, zelensky's position and, to be quite honest, I was a little taken aback when you watch the press conference from the beginning to end. Zelensky used it as an opportunity to basically drag Putin, and I'm not listen if that's what he, if that's what Zelensky wants to do. That's what Zelensky chose to do. But Zelensky was like here are some pictures of like people who have been imprisoned in Russia people, kids, mothers, they're dying. You know Putin's a war criminal. This is something other. And Trump Trump's getting agitated because he's like this is not what we're fucking here for, mate. Like, stick to the motherfucking script.
Speaker 1:Jd Vance is the vice president of the US and JD Vance then launches, launches into Zelensky. Zelensky is the president of Ukraine. The man is in an active war. Now, before I get into JD Vance, I don't understand. Your country is at war, but this man is on a press tour. This man has been on a press tour since the start of the war, the war between Ukraine and Russia. Zelensky has been on tour. Zelensky takes Zelensky's air miles.
Speaker 1:I'm so. I'm just surprised that he's so confident in his response to the war that he's able to leave his country and literally go on tour of every country with his begging bowl. This man is. He has no shame. He's coming with his begging bowl. He doesn't care how many thousands or millions and billions he's gotten from USA. He will go to Paris, he will go to UK and he's begging and honestly I feel like Zelensky obviously is a prime minister. We don't expect him to be on the front line, but I expect you to be in your own country Getting busy or allowing us to see that you're. You know, like other countries, when the countries are at war, the president is in the country. They're not flipping, taking Concord to flipping US and going to every other country but their own. But Zelensky, I've never seen anything like it. It's quite interesting actually, actually, how confident he clearly feels.
Speaker 1:Jd Vance, during that press conference, launches into Zelensky and says you know, you've not once thanked the US people for our support of Ukraine. Like you know, he really rips into him and between him JD VanceD, vance, trump and the other Associated Press of the US. At that press conference they rip Zelensky into smithereens. The press conference comes to an unscheduled end and effectively Zelensky is thrown out of the White House. He's strewn out and it's a tough watch and I'll see if I can find a link and I'll put it into the show notes. Zelensky then goes to a news outlet in the US, does an interview, then he jumps on a plane to the UK to meet Keir Starmer. It's just madness, it's so weird. And then from there, I think he went to Paris to meet Macron, who is the president of France, and I don't know where he is now. I'm going to name him Carmen Sandiego, because you don't know which country Zelensky will pop up in, but effectively that's what happens.
Speaker 1:In my opinion, the UK and Keir Starmer's response to kind of peace talks hasn't been progressive. He has attacked Russia, he's attacked Putin. The justification is the thousands of people, millions of people, dying as a result of the war with Ukraine. Ultimately, I think that they fear Putin because of the nuclear weapons, the power that he wields, the confidence that he wields. He is not at the mercy of the UK. In fact, he has wielded power and he's demonstrated his power by going to war with Ukraine and not really considering what the possible consequences could be, because, as far as he's concerned, like Russia's, self-sufficient. They have money, they have natural gas, they have power and they have nuclear weapons. And I think that putin, russia, poses a threat to the world and that has to be acknowledged here first and foremost.
Speaker 1:However, let's be clear it's trump that is pursuing a ceasefire, um, an everlasting one, because they don't want to continue as as in the US, don't want to continue to fund this war. That's number one. Number two it's in the US interest for the war to end so that they can concentrate on extracting that natural gas. And it is been Trump that's gotten on a call to Putin to try and find where the middle ground is between Ukraine and Russia. Uk did not initiate talks. They've never had any. They've made no reference to initiate in a ceasefire. They've not been involved in wanting to find where peace sits. They've only got involved insofar as now Trump is seeking peace.
Speaker 1:Now bear in mind, before this whole showdown happened, this press conference, there was a meeting between, I think in Saudi Arabia, where Trump had a conversation. I don't know if Putin was there face to face, I'd like to think he was there actually about peace talks, actually, um, about peace talks. As a response, ukraine was pissed off. Ukraine was like how can you speak to russia about peace talks, but you haven't involved us in the conversation, like? Ukraine was like how could you do? That made no sense. There's two countries at war here, it's russia and ukraine. You can't just be speaking to russia. You need to speak and you can't make concessions on our behalf. We need to be at the table making decisions and I need to be a part of this conversation as a president of Ukraine, which is completely understandable.
Speaker 1:But as a response to that, do you know what UK did? Uk organized a meeting in Paris with European member states yeah, and UK, because UK is not part of the EU anymore, but they inserted themselves went to Paris, invited Ukraine didn't include Russia to have conversations about a ceasefire. That meeting that happened in Paris did not include the US, by the way, who are the majority who are funding the war, by the way. They weren't involved. It was European member states, the UK and Russia and Ukraine. So Ukraine, france, of course, other European member states and the UK were in Paris to talk about ceasefire, peace talks, but Russia wasn't there, madness. And then, a week or two later, then you have this press conference that happens in the US. This was always going to happen Because, really and truly, the UK don't know their place.
Speaker 1:I've got to be honest. I don't understand the UK's position. I'm really, really confused about it. I'm confused about why they're funding and supporting a war. When I say funding and supporting, well, ukraine's response to the war and now they want to take some type of credit for peace talks, but they don't want to speak to Putin, or at least they haven't initiated it.
Speaker 1:And I have to ask the question that if UK was so invested in a ceasefire between the Ukraine and Russia, why has it taken Trump to get into office to be proactive in initiating it, for the UK to get involved only to discredit and drag Russia, like you can't find peace that way, and this is kind of what Trump was saying at the press conference with with Ukraine. We can sit here and we can talk about Russia and Russia. Their hands are dirty in all of this. Right, I don't support Russia. I don't support anybody. The reality is people are dying here and we need to find where we can make concessions on either side to find peace. Putin's position is the only concession I'm giving you is Ukraine will not sign up to NATO. He doesn't want it.
Speaker 1:I'm sure there's other things as well, but that is the main thing now how this, how this piece is found, if peace is found, the signing of the natural gases, deal with with with um, ukraine and russia. Understanding how russia will come to the table is all yet to be seen. But as a uk taxpayer, I would like to request that kia starmer does a referendum and does a pulse check on the citizens of the UK that pay tax and ask us if we as a country want to continue to fund, support Ukraine's war response and efforts to Russia. I think Keir Starmer owes us that. Now. Keir Starmer will turn around and say, well, it's not taxpayers money, it's the interest on frozen Russian assets that we're now using to fund the Ukraine war with Russia. But I would turn around and say, well, it's only part of the money is from the interest of frozen Russian assets. The rest of the money is from UK taxpayers. Is from the interests of frozen Russian assets. The rest of the money is from UK taxpayers.
Speaker 1:The fact that you've completely opened the borders and say if you're a Ukrainian refugee, come here to the UK. But yet your UK citizens I was on the train a few weeks ago and there was a guy begging for food. You're living in a country that has record numbers of homelessness. You talk about immigration in this country being oversaturated, oversubscribed. The NHS is at its knees and yet, rather than making Britain great again by investing in your people, by respecting the taxpayers and allowing us to enjoy the fruits of our labour. Instead of investing in developing the NHS, so it's not on its knees instead of you to understand and look at homelessness in this country, while the average person hasn't even got £100 in their savings, investing in your citizens, who are taxpayers, you would rather fund the support of Ukraine's war against Russia. War against Russia that's crazy to me. We're not involved. The UK is not involved. We've just injected ourselves there because we've joined NATO, bearing in mind Ukraine is not part of NATO. This is all about the natural grasses. This is what this is about.
Speaker 1:I feel like UK feels like I'd be interested to see how UK benefits from Ukraine's natural gases, and once the deal has been signed between US and Ukraine, I want to understand where UK features in that. Do you understand? Uk features in that? Do you understand? Would we be having this conversation if Ukraine didn't have natural gases? Would we be having this conversation about why UK are involving themselves? Because, really and truly as well, I don't understand. Ukraine is not part of NATO. So how is two and two four in this situation? I don't want to labour the point, but I wanted to just come here and deliver this to you guys, because I feel like it's really important for us to have an opinion about what's happening in the world, for us to understand where our taxes are going, to understand why your gas prices keep increasing is to understand what's happening between Russia and Ukraine. You've got to understand it.
Speaker 1:When you look at how Trump spoke to Zelensky, how JD Vance spoke to Zelensky, let it be an example to you of when you do not move properly and correct, when you don't lead from the front, when you don't set boundaries, when you don't put respect on yourself, that's how your manager will treat you like a football kicking you from pillar to post. Do you know that press conference was so degrading that somebody from the Associated US Press actually had the audacity and the confidence to criticize Zelensky's attire? Why are you not wearing a suit? How come every time you dress like this? To be honest, zelensky wasn't dressed in any type of way. I think he was dressed in what represented his country and the current status of war, but they had completely distressed. This is a person that you need something from.
Speaker 1:The uk, the us, let me, let me put it, put it to you the us are bullying and strong-arming ukraine, because the future of ukraine sits in the us hands. That's the truth. Truth, that's the truth. And the UK just kisses US's ass. They're just kissing us. Oh, our relationship, our relationship.
Speaker 1:Trump doesn't care about the historical relationship between the US and the UK. He doesn't give a shit. His manifesto, his objective, is to make the US great, and part of making the US great is those people that he thinks that doesn't add to the US greatness. He'll drop them. He will drop UK are terrified about any tariffs that US will levy against the UK. The UK keeps saying, oh, he wants to increase the tariffs with the EU. We're not part of the EU. But the point is, does he respect the UK enough to understand that we stand alone?
Speaker 1:Let me put this to you the biggest economic downfall, bad decision, stinker that the UK did was depart from the EU. The fact that we're not part of the EU was the biggest mistake of UK that the UK could have done in the last 10 years. It's the biggest mistake and we are seeing that mistake. Over the last 10 years we've been seeing the mistake. It's just a big shame, isn't it really?
Speaker 1:The craziness is this country is called Great Britain. There's nothing great, and the UK operates in the notion that it's still Great Britain. It's not. It's just Britain. There's nothing great about here. There's nothing standalone about here. It's not a leader. The UK are not leaders. If you look in terms of country, leading country, leading economic, socially, it's not the UK. They're holding onto the history of what the UK was, but nobody gives a shit about that. No one gives a flying fuck. If you look at the contribution that UK makes to NATO, it's a joke. If UK was so great, it would be leading in its investment in NATO.
Speaker 1:It's the US. When you look at the economy, people talk about oh, the strength of the pound, the strength of the pound. At one point the dollar was stronger and I'm going to tell you this, I'm going to put it here it wouldn't surprise me, by the end of Trump's tenure, that the dollar will be stronger than the pound. That wouldn't surprise me. I do not like Trump's. I do not like Trump's. I don't like how Trump moves. I don't like how Trump treats his citizens. I don't like trying to show is that US is a business. First, before it is anything else, it's a business and that you've got to respect. Because if the UK was run like a business great will then come in front of Britain. It will be known as Great Britain. This is no grids. So there's your history lesson.
Speaker 1:There is, like it's very high level, by the way, you need to go and do your own research. I've had to kind of like cut stuff out, water it down, keep it simple, just so that we can really understand when people are talking. When you hear stuff on LBC, if you hear stuff on ITV, whatever it is, you're able to two and two equals four, because some of you will say I don't want to support Ukraine, I don't support this immigration. It's more than immigration, babes. It's about natural gases, about pipelines. Yeah, it's about energy prices. Yeah, it's not just about immigration and border control. Let's develop our IQ, allow our frontal lobe to develop so we can understand. It's very important.
Speaker 1:Moving on to Deloitte, you know why I talk about some of these corporate organisations, because usually what happens in corporate finds its way into the public sector and other sectors that we see here in the UK and the world. So I think it's really important that we talk about what happens in corporate, at least touch upon it. Um, so obviously Deloitte's employees are expected to go into the office at least 50% of the week and it's US tax division of Deloitte, the employees there. They're having their annual bonuses linked to staff attendance. So, effectively, if you are supposed to be in the office 50% of the week so three days a week then your performance is going to be linked to. How will you do at bonus stage, right, if you come in twice a week? Effectively, what they're saying is your bonus will be affected if you do not meet the mandatory requirement to be in person in the office. Now, given that it's mandatory that you're in the office three days a week, I don't see how anyone will be negatively affected for bonus. But to actually go on record and say that that particular US tax division they're linking their annual bonuses to their staff attenders Effectively, it says that those of you who do not adhere to what is mandatory, you're going to be affected financially and the worst part of it is they're affected financially anyway because of the amount they have to spend on transportation to get into the office.
Speaker 1:That is fucking crazy. Listen, no offence, right? I know Deloitte was one of the big four, isn't it? Firstly, for me, I think Deloitte have amazing accounts that they work on and stuff like that. But I feel like if I was in that tax division, I'd be looking at one of the other big fours to move to and I'd be negotiating at interview staff like attendants in the office if that was something that was important to me. But equally, you don't live and die in consultancy if it doesn't work for you. You don't live and die in any organisation if it doesn't work for you. You don't live and die in any organisation if it doesn't work for you. I'm just going to put that out there. That being said, have you heard of Project Voyage?
Speaker 1:Project Voyage, goldman Sachs. They want to trim 1.3 billion in operating costs and the way they want to do that is shed managers. They want to move employees, specifically managers, but employees. They want to move them from their headquarters in London and New York and give managers a choice and I say choice, inverted commas, more like an ultimator to move, to, say, the Dallas office, salt Lake City, which is in Utah, or, in fact, just leave. They want to. One of their aims at Goldman Sachs is to tap into emerging talent in one of the regions of Dallas, salt Lake City and Utah and also they recognize that there is a lower cost of commercial renting commercial buildings in those, those states, so effectively they want to cut between three to five percent of its staff, which equates to 46,500 employees. They want to cut them down and one of the ways in which they want to do it is through this project which is named Project Voyage.
Speaker 1:So, in a nutshell, what they're effectively saying is, in order for us to kind of meet our target to reduce our operating costs, we need to remove, get rid of staff, and it starts at managers, because managers cost them more. Remember, when you talk about operating costs, people is very, very expensive for organizations. So if you could start trimming that before you start looking at everywhere else, you save yourself a lot of money Now, recognising that real estate in New York is very expensive, as is in London as well. So when you've got other states, like Salt Lake City, like Dallas, the cost of operating, so the cost of living, is cheaper. Therefore the salaries of those employees would be cheaper if. But if they're moving, obviously they would probably maintain the same um salary, but the reality is they would then recruit talent from those, those those cities, which would be cheaper for them, and the building, the rates that they pay rent would be cheaper. So I think that we're going to be looking at Goldman Sachs downsizing. It's not just its staff but even its buildings. It wouldn't surprise me. Maybe the move is to completely remove the headquartered buildings in the UK and New York, maybe I don't know. But in reality, if you're looking to trim staff and you want to look at emerging talent, you would look at emerging talent in in regions within the US which would be cheaper to operate. So that's Project Voyage and Goldman Sachs.
Speaker 1:If I, if you know if there is anyone that listens to podcasts from Goldman Sachs, could you speak on that anonymously? Send me an email. Hello at toytoolscom. I am a Goldman Sachs alumni. I was in Goldman Sachs many, many, many years ago and I'm just so happy, number one, that I'm not there. I recognize what I learned and the growth from Goldman Sachs. It was career transforming for me, having worked there. But I know that it has changed and it has evolved, especially with the numbers of staff. They have 46,500 staff. That's mad off, that's mad um. But yeah, I think it's important to mention kind of what's happening in the corporate world, the working world, because there are people who are not in corporate and I say this all the time.
Speaker 1:The podcast is not just for people in the corporate world. If you're working and paying taxes, you're in the working world. This podcast is for you. Um, have you heard of a concept it's not a concept, it it's real Called the glass cliff. We'll talk about the glass ceiling. Remember. The glass ceiling talks about, you know, reaching a certain point in your career, not able to break that glass ceiling because of race and discrimination, the intersectionality between being a woman and being a black woman. But the glass cliff speaks to something else. It it speaks to women and, um, women from unrepresented uh groups.
Speaker 1:So, for the purpose of the podcast, I'm talking about black women who are promoted in leadership roles. So they're promoted into these leadership roles in times of crisis. So it's not like they're promoted into these leadership roles in times of crisis. So it's not like they're promoted when everything is smooth sailing. It's when there is a crisis, when there is a problem. Then we are recruiting women, specifically black women, into these roles and you're setting them up to fail then provides a justification as to why then you would promote a man into that leadership position to then replace that woman because she's failed to deliver, because of the crisis in which she. She found herself in. Um.
Speaker 1:The glass cliff talks about women who are pointed in times of a crisis. They they then have less support, less resources, less time, because there's a crisis, you're firefighting, and they don't have the money to necessarily employ the staff that they would need to support them in basically putting out the fire or the crisis. You find that when you have women or black women appointed in those conditions, they're more likely to take on more risks and they're more likely to be kind of left solo to save the day. It also gives this illusion of diversity. So on the flip side, you've got people that will turn around and say well, you complain that women and or women of colour are not represented in leadership roles. The crisis happens, it doesn't matter about the crisis. The fact is, women and black women or women in underrepresented groups are then promoted into these roles. You should just be happy with it, but I think that and the concept of the glass cliff is that actually, that type of promotion into those leadership roles during a time of crisis actually creates the illusion of diversity. Um, but it's just an illusion because it doesn't speak to the bias and the risk that women and black women are placed and the position that they're in which is the savior position. Come and save the day, and it's either you save the day that they're in, which is the saviour position. Come and save the day, and it's either you save the day or you don't. And if you don't, then you fail.
Speaker 1:A really clear example of this kind of glass cliff is Kemi Badenoch. So Kemi Badenoch is the leader of the Conservative Party, bearing in mind, when she became the leader of the Conservative Party, the Conservatives had lost the election and the Conservative Party, Bearing in mind, when she became the leader of the Conservative Party, the Conservatives had lost the election and lost public confidence. They were regularly roasted in the media of being incapable of basically leading the country, hence why they lost. There was a lot of infighting within the Conservatives as well. You know. We went through that whole thing where Liz Trust was like prime minister for all but a week or two. She left, then the default de facto, rishi Sunak, and then there's just so much that's happened within the Conservatives, and they needed something punchy, they needed something transformative. They needed something transformative, they needed something radical, and then they were like right, we're going to hire, we're going to appoint Kemi Badenoch. Kemi Badenoch is a black Nigerian woman to lead the Conservatives.
Speaker 1:I've said this in past episodes she's never going to lead this country. By the way, I believe that she's been hired as part of this glass cliff concept to save the day, and it's a shame that. You know, when she had ran previously to be the leader of the Conservatives, she she wasn't even elected. She was nowhere near that. But that wasn't the time of crisis. The crisis actually was when Conservatives lost lost the race to lead the country. That crisis, that turmoil, led to her being appointed as the leader of the Conservative Party. That's a classic case of the glass cliff effect.
Speaker 1:Another example would be Kamala Harris. Remember, biden dropped out of the presidential race in 2024, leaving a few weeks before the actual presidential election. That is the crisis in which Kamala Harris was then appointed to lead the Democrats. And the reality is, was she ever going to win the presidency? She didn't have enough time to be able to campaign. People didn't get to know her. There was a sporadic chaotic, you know, running around to kind of see if they can recoup or resurrect the debris that was left by Biden, in the hope that Kamala Harris would then be the saviour of the Democratic Party. That fell flat on its face, didn't it? Because look at it now, the lead, leading the Republicans and leading the US, is President Donald Trump. So that could be, you know, a lot could be said there.
Speaker 1:But in terms of that whole glass cliff effect, I'm hoping that those examples give you an example of what the glass cliff is. Is the idea that you only appoint a woman in our case a black woman in times of crisis, and then you expect her to save the day with one hand tied behind her back, and then, when she falls flat on her face or when you place her in a position where she's unable to deliver, then you send a man in to go and save the day, and then you hide behind oh, we're diverse, we are inclusive when, in fact, you've set this woman, this black woman, up to fail. They were never going to be able to come out of this. The shiny hero and superstar, the glass cliff effect. Well, representation, let's be clear. It's needed and we need to be able to be inclusive. We need to be in a society where representation doesn't just happen in a crisis or in turbulence, but it happens as part of a cycle of progression, as part of a cycle, of what would be expected in any organisation or any situation, whereby our white counterparts easily and readily are promoted in situations that aren't necessarily chaotic or full of chaos. There isn't a saviour expectation.
Speaker 1:Women and women of colour are necessary to the success of any organisation and there needs to be a mindset change. So when we talk about the glass cliff effect, we need to talk about okay, how, like, how can we change things? What would be needed in order for us to be treated the same as our white or non-black counterparts? And whilst you may think that chaos and crisis would be a great situation to promote a woman or a black woman into a leadership role, the reality is they're really not leading. Are they Really? What they are is firefighting and it's unfair review of succession plans. There needs to be a process set up primarily to understand how women and black women are supported, are encouraged and are promoted into leadership roles, and black women and women we need to be brought in when things are also going well, not when there's a crisis. It's still shouldering the stereotype of the saviour and we, as black women, then develop the saviour complex as a result of these situations.
Speaker 1:Firefighting doesn't promote growth, it promotes survival and, while some people may thrive in such environments, it's not conducive to growth. It doesn't send the right messaging or the right signaling to women who aspire to be in leadership roles. It creates stress, and remember how we opened up this podcast episode about the National Day of Rest for Black women. Like rest and relaxation and enjoyment of circumstance and environment should be something that we get to enjoy as part and parcel of the benefit of being in leadership roles. We talk about representation matters. It's also the conditions in which that representation occurs, and this is where the glass cliff effect needs to be understood stood, and we need to recognise that. The glass cliff effect is also laced in prejudice. By setting the rules on a different level for women and women of colour that you would do for men or non-black women who would take up leadership roles in completely different circumstances and be given the opportunity to flourish, and actually what you then do is place black women in a position where they don't want to be in leadership roles, or, if they are in leadership roles, it's almost like we know that we're going to fail at it anyway. It shouldn't be a tick box exercise. There needs to be a level playing field of opportunity to be able to flourish in leadership roles, and whilst we recognise that there is going to be turbulence, there is going to be stress and crisis, it needs to be an equal measure to what is presented to our white or non-black counterparts.
Speaker 1:Louis Vuitton, or, as my husband would say, louis Vuitton, a luxury brand. They are actually venturing into a makeup line which will be led by none other than the amazing Pat McGrath, a black woman, who is now the creative director of La Boutée. Am I pronounced that right? La Boutée? Le Vuitton at Louis Vuitton? Um, bearing in mind as well, like Pat McGrath is not new to this. Y'all know Pat McGrath has her own makeup line and whilst I don't necessarily like her foundation, I love her concealer. She's amazing, she's a powerhouse. Um, bear in mind that Pat McGrath has been working with Louis Vuitton behind the scenes of their you know, their runways, doing their makeup, for over 20 years, so it's a natural progression for her to then lead as a creative director as they launch their makeup brand. Now, louis Vuitton have said that this has been four years in the making, and what would be included in the makeup launch and the makeup brand that is Louis Vuitton? They will be launching 55 new lipsticks, 10 lip balms, 8 eye palettes, and they will also be designing leather accessories to go with the makeup brands and that will house these products as well as lipstick cases.
Speaker 1:I think this is brilliant for black creatives. I spoke about the new creative director for Ralph Lauren, who's the new creative director, but also now we have the new creative director for Ralph Lauren, who's the new creative director, but also now we have a new creative director that is a black woman, pat McGrath for Louis Vuitton. I think this is amazing. It's really nice to see black women, black people, advancing in the creative industry, leading the charge for all that is creative. I think and maybe I am biased because I am a black woman, but I think that when it comes to creativity, black people as a community, we are just so advanced and I think a lot of it comes from our culture, our history, and it's actually really nice to see brands recognising the power of black creatives. I hope that this transcends into respecting how much, as a community, black people spend in the creative industry, especially the beauty industry. The beauty industry has been revolutionized as far as I'm concerned the expansion of color ranges in foundations. We have to put some respect on Rihanna, and while she has a whole powerhouse behind her, the reality is she's also been instrumental in leading the charge in expanding colour ranges in makeup and I think it has led to other brands following suit. But when you place Black women, black people, as creative directors, what you're also doing is acknowledging the black community in how we spend our money, but also how we expand creatively within these industries where we spend a lot um, and I think there's other brands that would do well to to, to recognize and respect the black pound. Yeah, I said it um talking about brands and things like that now also as well.
Speaker 1:Before I continue, louis Vuitton I used to love Louis Vuitton as a brand and I don't know how I feel about them since their leather has changed. I haven't bought anything from Louis Vuitton in many years just because I've seen the change in leather and it's not been great. I feel like they've compromised um on longevity and when you talk about luxury, it's about how long the leather lasts and I feel like over the last 10 years, there's been a shift in in in luxury from Louis Vuitton. If I'm being completely honest, I'm not inspired by their handbags. I'm a handbags and honest, I'm not inspired by their handbags. I'm a handbags and trainer babe. I'm not inspired by their bags at all or their purses. So I will be interested in following the makeup brands, the makeup line, and seeing you know how Pat McGrath can put a stamp on it, because I feel like Louis Vuitton needs a resurgence of an injection of something. Do you know what I mean? I don't know what it is, but they do. Um, but yeah, I just wanted to say that because I used to really love Louis Vuitton. I don't actually have a favorite designer at the moment, but I used to love Louis Vuitton, just not as much anymore.
Speaker 1:Stockx so StockX is a. They get exclusive trainers. I know they're a reseller site as well and they have been found liable in the US for selling fake Nike shoes or fake Nike trainers. Stockx has never sat well with me. You see some of these resellers. If I be careful, you've got to be careful. But now that StockX has been found liable for selling fake Nike trainers, it has you questioning everything else they resell. Now I remember during Kanye West's Yeezy heyday, stockx was selling or reselling some of his Yeezy trainers for astronomical prices. You have to question did they come? Did their trainers come off a boat in China? Because, I don't know, it was given very, very much AliExpress and it has you now questioning. You know and this is just my opinion it's all alleged, you know, I don't know, but the fact is what isn't alleged is what they've been found liable for. So I would just encourage an employee to just really be critical about where you're purchasing from. If you're purchasing from reseller sites, that means that stock x say they authenticate a lot of their trainers. I have to question is it just nike that are they're now liable for fake goods? Like how does this reflect on their other goods that they have? Um, but I'm just talking as a fashion girly who likes my trainers and I find that very, very troubling. So just be careful where you're spending your coins, because we work hard for those coins.
Speaker 1:So I want to end the podcast episode on an email that I got recently. I will be responding to this person personally because, number one, I am just so touched that somebody took the time out to send me this. I respect anyone that takes a time out to send me this. I respect anyone that takes the time out to send an email to me and I really appreciate it. So here goes this is called. The subject line is thank you, thank you. Thank you, toya, I hope you're well. I've emailed you a few times in the past and you've always given solid advice.
Speaker 1:When I first started listening to your podcast, I had no direction and felt lost. Today I have a solid career and completed on my flat a week ago. I was going to email you on completion day, but you know how that goes. When I first started listening to you four years ago, I would have never believed that I would be able to create the life that I have made for myself. I've re-listened to your episodes countless times and took so much of the learning lessons. I, too, lived at home with a parent who treated me poorly, which was my main catalyst for saving. There were so many times I wanted to give up. Depression tried to defeat me, but I persevered, and now I own my own flat in London. Your platform means more than you know. God bless you and take care.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it has been hard in the past to continue to recognise the why, and I've had to really embrace how the podcast has evolved. There was a point in time where I thought maybe the podcast needs to come to an end, and sometimes I do tap dance around it, but then it takes people like this young lady who has written in to remind me that the messages that I provide through the podcast are needed, wanted and required, and I just want to thank you so much for remembering me. I believe that I am a small cog in a wheel of anybody who wants to be strategic and be successful in their career. Sometimes it just takes somebody to awaken something that's already existing inside of you, somebody to awaken something that's already existing inside of you, or it just takes someone to remind you of your greatness and how to use your greatness to navigate your path to success. I am so proud of you. Well done. I know how hard it is, especially as a black woman navigating work life and difficult home life as well, to be able to focus on creating a life for yourself and knowing that you deserve that life. Working hard in environments that doesn't allow you to be free and breathe, and then going home to an environment that's equally as toxic. I get it. I'm so proud of you. To own a flat in London nowadays is not beans. Winner, winner, winner, winner. We black women are winners. Come again now Winner, winner, winner, winner. We black women are winners, and those of you who've been following the podcast for a long time, y'all know that. That tune, honey, so proud of you. Well done and congratulations. I will be replying to you personally, but I just want to read that on the podcast and I want to thank you again for remembering me.
Speaker 1:If you want to follow me on social media, my um handle on Instagram, my personal handle, is Toya underscore Washington. If you want to follow the Toya Talks podcast on Instagram I'm not great on Instagram, I'm going to be honest. You know I like those 24-hour stories, but you can still follow me on there. Sometimes I do post some stuff on there Toya underscore talks. If you want to follow me on TikTok, where I'm probably a bit more active, it's Toya Washington all one word. I'm on Snapchat as well, but not very active on Snapchat Toya Washington, all one word.
Speaker 1:And again, if you want to send a life related dilemma or you want to share something and you want to be anonymous and you want us to advise you here on the podcast, email, hello at toytalkscom. Of course, as I've said before, we have a website, toytalkscom. We do have some masterclasses on there. If you're interested, make sure you go and have a look. If you want to follow me on social media, go ahead. If you want to send me an email, go ahead. Thank to follow me on social media, go ahead. If you want to send me an email, go ahead. Thank you for listening.
Speaker 1:I appreciate each and every one of you for listening, for never giving up on yourselves and for always wanting more for yourself. No one's going to want more for you than you want for yourself, and no one should want more for you than you want for yourself. The path to success is never clear, but the want for success should be clear. You, you are the architect of your career, not your manager, not your parents, not your family, no one else, but you. You are the architect and whilst progress and success may be slow to you, the honey will last forever. As my cousin used to say to me, make sure you focus on yourself, look after yourself, look after your health, remember to rest, take care of yourself, and I'll see you in the next episode of the Toy Talks podcast. My name is Toya Washington and you have been listening to the Toy Talks podcast.
Speaker 2:That's what we do. Black Queen Energy Group no fantasy, just real talk. From classroom dreams to boardroom 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, toya Talks. Black queens to the top. And we're still going.