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 G Spot
The astronomical cost of living in the UK creates a bleak reality for citizens as April brings increased prices for essentials while personal tax allowances remain frozen. Black women face unique challenges navigating workplaces where excellence is met with discrimination and career sabotage from colleagues threatened by our success.
• The weight loss journey after childbirth requires discipline and sustainable lifestyle changes rather than quick fixes
• Natalie B Fitness's women-only gym controversy highlights tensions between biological women's spaces and inclusivity
• Biological womanhood encompasses experiences that deserve recognition without being labeled transphobic
• Google's $28 million racial discrimination settlement specifically excluded Black employees, revealing deeper systemic issues
• Corporate DEI initiatives often remain performative rather than creating meaningful change
• Working remotely faces increasing resistance from companies despite proven effectiveness
• UK taxation system aggressively penalizes success while the personal tax allowance remains frozen
• Many taxpayers feel forced to pay twice for healthcare when NHS services are inaccessible
Share the podcast to help others understand alternative perspectives and find wisdom in navigating today's challenging social landscape.
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Music (Intro and Outro) Written and created by Nomadic Star
I am recording this episode on the 1st of April 2025. It is not an April Fool's joke, however. Here in the UK, april is dubbed Awful April, and it's because it's a new financial year. We're entering a new financial year and effectively all the prices increase because we are in a new financial year, new financial year and it's increased on the things that basically allow us to function and live our life in society. So you're talking about council tax, you're talking about gas, electricity, food even things that we need to survive on a day-to-day basis then increases and it's not great.
Speaker 1:So for those of you who have friends and family here in the UK checking on us because it's it's really expensive, um, it's becoming quite difficult to be able to financially function here in the UK. The country is being run by I. I don't even know what to call them. They're just puppets. Um, I don't even know, it's just painful. Yeah, just checking on us here in the UK because you know it's not great, but I'm hoping through the podcast, at least for the next hour, hour and a half, I'll be able to give you a ray of sunshine, dose of reality and some wisdom. Yep, you've got a brand new episode.
Speaker 2:Toya Talks, council of States, a corporate space, first gen Nigerian setting the pace From Goldman Sachs to PwC, building legacies for all to see. Dyslexia couldn't stop this flow. Law degree just watch me grow. 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. Black people fell collectively. That's what we do.
Speaker 1:Black Queen energy growing. Black people fell collectively because we falsely believe that the same people who kept us in bondage are going to gladly provide us with the resources for our liberation. And that was posted on Just Nesh on Instagram. Hey everyone, how are you all doing? First and foremost, I need to just, I need to give myself some flowers. Yeah, because we need to normalise celebrating ourselves. We need to definitely do that. As black women, I feel like society tells us a lot of things, a lot of untruths, so we need to do these not only positive affirmations, but we need to collectively agree something here that black women are amazing and we are doing amazing and we are great, great people, great women.
Speaker 1:I made a commitment to myself that I wanted to lose some weight. In December, at my highest weight, I weighed 93.1 kg. I gave birth to my daughter in 2023 and, to be fair, it kind of my wanting to lose weight has also coincided with, you know, getting feeling a bit more like myself. They say, medically, it takes about two years to kind of start feeling like yourself again. I don't know if you guys have heard about flamingos and effectively, when a flamingo gives birth, a flamingo loses its pink and it effectively takes about two years after childbirth for a flamingo to start being pink again, and the same can be said for women. Obviously, it's different for different women. I definitely feel like I'm becoming more like myself. My daughter is going to be two in May and I don't know how we've kind of galloped all the way to two years, because it just seems like I gave birth yesterday. But I'm starting to feel more like myself again.
Speaker 1:Things have changed, like my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be. It's still sharp, but not as it used to be and I've noticed that, from a physical perspective, being older it's harder to lose the weight number one as you get older, but also when you give birth it's also harder. Number one, it's finding the discipline and the time, and you don't have a lot of time. So what you tend to do, or what I've tended to do, is I snack a lot. I've created some really bad habits and I'm just trying to get through the day. I'm tired. I don't always. I haven't always felt the passion to want to go and cook. I love cooking, but I got to a space where I didn't like what was looking back at me in the mirror.
Speaker 1:I wasn't proud of my body. I began wearing more baggier and baggier clothes to conceal how fat I was, and I think we just need to normalise, just using simplistic words to express exactly how we feel. People are like, oh, you can't use the word fat, it offends Everything's fucking offensive and I'm fucking tired of it. Ok, I was a fat pig? Yeah, I would have. Like K is six foot one and he's, you know, built. He goes to the gym and I was eating the same portions as him, if not more. To be honest, I would have snacks in every drawer.
Speaker 1:I just had a really unhealthy relationship with food and I'm an eat your feelings type of babe. I was eating my feelings. I was eating the feelings of the woman next door, the woman across the street, everybody's feelings were being eaten by Toya. It was mad. So I just got to a point. I got to a stage. I was like you know what? I need to lose some weight.
Speaker 1:So I've been on my weight loss journey and it's been a journey. I can't lie. It's particularly difficult on my periods, during my menstrual cycle. I do have PCOS and I have fibroids. So when I'm going for my period it's tools down, no gym, all I want is sugar, and I've just learned to just give myself what I need during those times. But I make it back up.
Speaker 1:I have a walking pad and I invested in a really well-constructed walking pad. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against TikTok. I believe I buy a lot of things from TikTok. But I wanted to buy a walking pad that was well-built, because, number one, I wanted something to last and number two, I needed to kind of incorporate what I like doing. So I like watching reality shows, I like watching series. So I've got one with a bar so I can put my iPad on it and it's in my office space. So I've really kind of focused on making gym comfortable and making weight loss as comfortable enough as I can. I changed my portion sizes, I've changed what I eat and what I shop.
Speaker 1:Um, and I had a PT up until recently. I had to sack her because she was you know, she's 23 year old babe. I thought she took this business seriously. But I'm then hearing that you can become a personal trainer on Groupon, so I think she got her course in Groupon. Flipping, tried to kill me twice at the gym like literally a disregard for health and safety. So I've ended up getting rid of her amicably, by the way, but I was just, I'm just done with her unprofessionalism. But what I did do was, during the course of having a PT, I mastered everything she was teaching me. So now when I go to the gym, I still do, I still.
Speaker 1:I go to the gym twice a week, actually, no, well, twice, twice a week, but there was an option for me to go three times a week because I do yoga. I do leg day on a Tuesday. On a Thursday I do arms. This week I've done legs on a Tuesday. Um, thursday I'm actually going to do reformer pilates and Friday I'm doing arms. So I'm really building kind of like my gym routine and being healthy and everything as part of a lifestyle, because I realized that it's a lifestyle change.
Speaker 1:It's really easy to be fat. It's easy and it's comfortable. But long term, when I think of my health, when I think about my daughter and when I think about just having that discipline, like I have nothing against anyone who is fat, like you be fat, you live your life. But the way I look at it for myself is when I look at myself fat, I think there's a lack of discipline there and the lack of discipline to regulate what I consume. And I have to be really honest with you I've never met a healthy fat person before in my life and anyone that tries to push that narrative is lying and hates you, because the reality is being the whole BMI and being clinically obese, I believe, is a very racist scale. It doesn't account for the diversity in cultural, the cultural diversity in terms of black people typically have heavier bones, things like that. Bone density is very important when you're considering BMI, so I don't take it from a BMI perspective. You know, if you're fat, do you know what I mean? And yeah, so I've.
Speaker 1:I've made that lifestyle change and I'm. I'm actually I feel a lot happier, my skin is a lot better because obviously the food I'm consuming is not as greasy, it's not as fatty. I I still cook, I love cooking, I've got a husband and a daughter. Of course I cook, but I don't pick at food as much and I'm hoping that I have the discipline to continue this lifestyle on and it not just be oh, I get to my goal weight and I stop, because that's not what I'm trying to do here. I'm trying to make it a lifestyle and also, as well, I feel like gym really helps me out with stress with work. I've got to be honest, there's like a big boxing um thing in the gym and I need to find my boxing gloves or just buy a new pair and I definitely would be incorporating that as part of my cardio. But it also helps with dealing with workplace stress. I I can't lie. So, yeah, that's kind of like my journey.
Speaker 1:So I started off at 93.1 kg. I recently weighed myself and I weighed 86.4 kg. That was like two days ago when I weighed myself. I need to get some weight speeds as well. Like I'm going all in. I'm taking pictures as well so everybody can see Like I'm dedicated and committed to this weight loss journey. And I also want to say like I don't judge anyone for whatever weight they want to be, but I judge myself because I know how I used to look, I know how I want to look and I know how I know how I looked before I committed to this weight loss journey Um a health perspective and just from a general wanting to live a better life and set a good example for my daughter. I'm on this journey, so that's the silver lining for me in what you know, I just find the UK really difficult, but we could talk about that later.
Speaker 1:But just on the topic of gyms, natalie B Fitness and all the controversy that happened with her um, I did on my Instagram, you know, briefly mentioned stuff, but I wanted to come in here and really have that conversation. Natalie B Fitness is the owner, ceo, the boss, babe, black queen, um, and she has opened, or she is about to open, a gym called the g spot gym, the girls spot gym, and I'm not going to keep calling her natalie b fitness. We can call her natalie for the purposes of just getting through this segment, but effectively, the controversy is that she, when she was um crowdfunding or what would you call this now go fund me, but it's crowdfunding, isn't it? Um, she was very clear about what the objective was, and her objective was it will be female only, trans inclusive gym. She was very clear about it. Um, she went ahead and and this was in 2021, I believe and she went ahead on Twitter, which is now known as X she was really clear about trans women, her seeing trans women as females, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So on that premise, she crowdfunded and people donated and she made a lot of money. I know that Gymshark contributed I want to say 20,000, don't quote me, but I know it was a significant amount of money.
Speaker 1:I know there was a lot of controversy as well and backlash on whether she had spent the money on the gym. Where is the gym? And I think that she was measured on the standard in which people dealt with her is very different in comparison to if she was a white woman. That I truly believe, because we understand how black women are treated in society. So I feel like a black woman doing this and being very clear about her objective has contributed. Her being a black woman has contributed to what I believe is racial discrimination that she's endured racial discrimination that she's endured and I have read it on some of the comment sections and what people have have said and teetering on the race discussion, it's got nothing to do about race. But whenever that us as black women want to do something and we want to go ahead and be clear about what our objective is, black women are held to a different standard and in fact, it's the teardown of the black women and it's disgusting and it's it's it's vile vitriol.
Speaker 1:She then backtracked um this year and she says listen, I've experienced sexual assault, um, in a gym, and there's many women that have experienced harassment, sexual assault and just poor treatment at the hands of men. So her view was then that she is creating this gym for biological women and it would be exclusive of the trans community. And that is where the backlash started, like the real backlash, and everybody was up in arms TikTok, instagram, twitter X, which is now known as X everyone's going crazy. And it was a two point argument. The first point is well, you deceived us because you said it was trans inclusive. On the basis of that, many of us have contributed and contributed to your crowdfund, and now you're telling us the objective has changed. This is not what you said in the beginning. And the second part of it, um in, in my view, is her wanting to make this for biological women, and I'm very clear about how I'm using what I'm saying. You're born a woman and I'm going to provide you guys, whether you ask or not, with my opinion.
Speaker 1:I think Natalie handled this wrong and I think she's allowed to make a mistake because she's a human being and I think, initially, the objective of the the girl's spot gym or the g-spot gym was that it would be trans-inclusive. I think upon her reflecting, listening and also knowing the experience she's had as a biological woman. She changed the objective. She thought you know what? This is not going to work. In order for this to be a woman-centric gym, it has to be for biological women. And she changed her stance. When she changed her stance, she should have at that point offered a refund to those people who contributed, based on the fact that it was trans inclusive. She should have said that. That should have been part of her speech she's very articulate and her speech I say her speech, but you know it was very well put together Her explaining that the objective has changed. But she should have said this is what I'm giving you, because what she would have done is curtailed those who now are demanding their money back, like it was thousands of pounds anyway, but I guess collectively it probably is. But the point is what she would have done is kind of dealt with that, then and there, rather than receive the backlash, receive the threats and then get that. But the point is what she would have done is kind of dealt with that, then and there, rather than receive the backlash, receive the threats and then get that. But she would have gotten the threats anyway. I think anyway. But the point is, I just think from a PR perspective she didn't handle it correctly.
Speaker 1:Now I've seen a lot of opinions, a lot of think tanks or think pieces, and my view is this I don't care how you live your life, I don't care who you choose to be, I don't care the television and trying to push this narrative to children, I've got a problem with it. Things about trans, things about let children just be children, let children just be children the need to, um, the need to include children in the conversation is dangerous, is diabolical, and, to be quite honest with you, it turns my stomach that there is a conceited effort to erode the innocence of children in society. Let children be children, leave the kids alone, and I'm very clear about it. So if, if, by having that view, people think I'm transphobic, then you're ignorant. There's nothing transphobic about me. I don't care how you live your life, I'm not. I have no opinion. Whatever you want to do, you do. I don't judge anybody because at the end of the day, honey, you know when it's judgment day, we're all in the same queue. So do your damn thing, leave the kids alone, leave them out of it.
Speaker 1:Why can't children just be able just to live in their innocence? They're going to have years and years, and years, and years, and years, and years, and years, and years, and years and years to be adults that are thrown so many different messages and different virtue signaling. Let children be children. I'm very passionate about that and I mention it first because I'm more passionate about that than anything else. The innocence of children needs to be preserved and this need to push a narrative to these kids Rainbows aren't rainbows anymore to these children. Why can't children just be allowed to just be children? Why can't they bask in their innocence for as long as they're children? Why do you need to confuse the minds of children? What is it about their innocence mind that attracts you to push a narrative that they are not in the emotional ability to receive? What is that? That, to me, is a conceited effort to damage children and not allow them just to live in their innocence and just bask in whoever they are ordained to be. That's my view.
Speaker 1:The second thing is is this conceited effort to erode biological women, our rights, our viewpoints, our stances? I'm going to tell you this as a biological woman I have periods, I have period pains. I have been given the opportunity to carry a child and give birth as a woman, as a biological woman, I know what I go through in my womanhood and therefore you may be a trans woman, but there is a difference between you being a trans woman and me being a biological woman. It's different, it can never be the same. And the fact that, as a biological woman, I cannot stand and speak in my truth without being accused of being transphobic is dangerous and, to be quite honest, it's violent. It's that violence against biological women that needs to be discussed and it needs to be addressed, because, as a biological woman, I don't care if you're a trans woman. I'm not, I'm not. That is your choice. It has nothing to do with me whatsoever. But what I do have a problem with is when I talk about oh, I'm, you know, not even me. I'm, you know, not even me. When Adele says I am the first woman to have won X Y Z award in this category as a woman, everybody dogpiled on her. Oh, she's transphobic.
Speaker 1:What about the trans? It's not always about the trans community. It's not always about you guys. I'm sorry it isn't. It's not always about you guys. Sometimes it's just about being a biological woman and being able to sit in our truth and say I'm a biological woman, these are my experiences, these are my viewpoints and this is my perspective as a biological woman. And that's it. End of conversation. There doesn't need to be what about us? It's not always what about us. This is not struggle Olympics here. This is about, as biological women, us being able to sit in our truth and and say, actually, I want a female owned own gym for biological women, for biological women, and I want to feel safe working out and doing the things that I enjoy being educated in health and fitness in a safe space.
Speaker 1:And I don't think there is anything wrong with Natalie B Fitness changing her position, because who? Who? Who says who? Who has said that you cannot change your, your, your view or your position? Who says that she's got every right to do it now? Did she handle the comms and the and the PR around it very well? No, no, she didn't. But she's not a PR guru. She's not a communications CEO.
Speaker 1:What she is is an entrepreneur that saw a gap in the market and, based on her experience, decided that she wants to open a gym, which would have been inclusive had she not experienced some of the experience that she has done and probably canvassed opinion and now, upon reflection, she's decided it's going to be biological women only. Now there is a dilemma here, because I don't know how she's going to police this, because I say the word police it and we're going to inverted commas because I don't want anyone to go oh, is there going to be police? Because some people they deflect from the topic at hand and try and make it into something. Not everything is something. How are you going to police it?
Speaker 1:Now, what I am going to suggest that she does is in the contracts people sign up to this gym, there's going to be a contract and in the contract I think she just needs to tackle this head on and say this gym is for biological women only, and this is interpreted as women who are born women. This is not inclusive of people who are not biological women. So if you are asked the question, please do not be offended. It's part of our ability to maintain the objective and ethos of this gym. So, if you are asked or if this is something that is queried, this is part of our ability to ensure that we keep to the premise of what this gym is and what it stands for. She's going to have to be as blunt as that she's going to have to. Now, I'm under no illusion. People are going to see this as discriminatory, but at the end of the day, she is allowed to have a gym that's for biological women only. She is allowed.
Speaker 1:If you feel that you're not included, open up a gym that is inclusive of whatever your beliefs are or whatever your viewpoint is, or for all, open that gym. But what you don't get to do is get to tell her what she should do, why she should do it and who she should include. That's not for you to do. Do and if you want your money back, ask her for your money back and leave that woman alone. And I'm going to be supporting her 100% when that gym is up and running, when that gym is in full flow, I'll be going to that gym just to show support. I'll go to one or two sessions over there and I don't even live in London, but I would do that and I'm going to do it because, number one, I believe in biological women's rights. I believe that there is a conceited, committed agenda to erode the rights of biological women.
Speaker 1:I think that the ability, as biological women, to speak on things that affect us is seen as transphobic, and I actually think it's biological phobic or biophobic for biological women to not speak up about what we want, our, our viewpoints, our desires and our experiences, without being accused of being something other than who we are, and I think there needs to be a conversation that needs to be had about why is there this aggressive vitriol against biological women? Now, what I don't understand is you want to be a woman, but you hate me for being born a woman. That's how it feels to me. That's my experience. That's how it feels. You want to be a woman, you have made the decision that that's what you're going to be, but then you hate me for being a woman, because when I'm talking about being a woman, you feel excluded from that conversation. That hasn't got nothing to do with me. That's all about you and what you perceive and what you believe. How you choose to live your life is completely up to you, but, as a biological woman, this is my reality. These, I feel, are conversations that need to be had, and this cancel call you can't cancel me. I cancel you before you cancel me. Return to sender. You can't cancel me. I cancel you before you cancel me. Return to sender.
Speaker 1:Why is it that whenever it's time to have difficult conversations, people just want to cancel other people? I think it's crazy. It doesn't make sense to me, especially because being pro-biological woman doesn't make me anti anyone else. It just makes me pro-biological woman. Because I'm a biological woman, I feel like as a woman, I'm under attack constantly through the media, through conversations on social media, through conversations face to face, where I have to pick and choose what I say. God forbid, god forbid, I get your pronouns wrong. Oh my God, burn me at the stake. I don't want a pronoun. I don't have a pronoun. Oh my God. That's a problem, because if you don't have a pronoun, it means that you're anti those who has a pronoun. That's bullshit. I don't go by a pronoun, I don't need a. My pronoun is Mrs, thank you.
Speaker 1:It's funny because I remember saying to a friend of mine I was like, wait until JK Rowling gets a load of this. She is going to defend Natalie. And that's exactly what happened. She came to her defence on social media. And one thing I love about JK Rowling she is going to speak the things because her money is long, her pockets are deep, do you understand? So you can't even try it with her, and I love the fact that she is unashamedly and unapologetically a biological woman that stands for biological women's rights and she refuses to allow the media, society and the rhetoric that is being pushed to try and silence her. She's not allowing it to happen and I don't see anything transphobic about what she's saying. Listen, I would be the first person to say, oh, this is wrong. I would, but you have people like Bob Risky, for example.
Speaker 1:I find Bob Risky absolutely hilarious when I don't even know his pronouns. I don't know, I don't know his pronouns, so I'm just going to call him. I don't even know. Can you see, look at this now. I don't know, I don't know his pronouns, so I'm just going to call him. I don't even know. Can you see, look at this now. I don't even know. Anyway, I have a problem with Bob Risky and he will say things and he will disrespect biological women, but he has spent thousands of pounds and risked his life to be a woman and I accept him or her for whoever him or her is like. If you, if you believe you're a woman, you want to be a woman. I support you, live your life, but why has it got to be at the expense of degrading a biological woman so that you can feel more like a woman? What's that about? Why I'm going to steal your man. I'm going to do this. Oh my God, I'm having a period.
Speaker 1:There was a point where Bob Risky was telling everybody he was having periods, and I'm not going to lie to you. I felt quite offended. Having periods and I'm not going to lie to you. I felt quite offended. I felt quite offended because, as somebody who has fibroids and PCOS, my periods are hell on earth. They are hell. I dread a period. The anxiousness I feel a week before my period is due is like no other, and what I physically go through before the period arrives is just unbelievable. And those of us who suffer from endometriosis, pcos, fibroids, cysts, you name it we know that periods are not the best.
Speaker 1:I'm sitting here as a biological woman and I'm 40 years old and I'm thinking about having a hysterectomy. Although I know that it will bring on an early onset of menopause. I have to weigh up whether that is probably better for me than going through 10 days of hell, of heavy periods, wearing nappy-like sanitary pads, fearful of leaking, the pain, the cold sweats, the shaking, the vomiting. I have to balance that with okay, should I just have a hysterectomy? And when do I have this hysterectomy? Do I wait to see if I have another child by a certain age, and if I don't, then I have a hysterectomy.
Speaker 1:What does that entail? It's an operation. Oh, can my body withstand an operation? Like? I have a family, I have a child, like like, can I go through that? These are.
Speaker 1:This is just probably 10% of my experience as a biological woman, but it's the most heaviest 10% of my life. And I say 10%, I'm just equating a figure to it. But what I'm trying to say is, as a biological woman. We go through so much. I know what I go through, so I'll be damned if I'm watching Bob Risky ridicule women and then ridicule and take the piss out of periods, when in fact the ability to have a period is such a sensitive topic.
Speaker 1:Anyway, our femininity, our womanhood, is not tied into periods. Our womanhood is not tied into whether we can have children. But society tells us that that's what makes us women. But that's not what makes us women. There's so many different facets of being a woman. That makes us women and I truly believe that. But being a woman If you believe being a woman is making the decision to go through operations or go through those lifestyle changes to be a woman, then I challenge your viewpoint of womanhood, because being a woman is more than dressing feminine or having feminine attributes.
Speaker 1:Being a woman for me, as a biological woman, is deeper than that. It goes deeper, and I'm not sitting here judging anyone for transitioning or going through the process of becoming a woman, but I'm just letting you know I was born a biological woman. You can't compare the two, and not everything as a biological woman is going to include anyone else. It's just biological women. There is a conversation that biological women can have that no one else who is trying to transition into a woman can have with us biological women, and that's just the fact. But society will then tell you, or those who have this anger towards biological women will tell you we're transphobic by not including them in the conversation. No, we can't include you in the conversation because this conversation is for biological women who are living in what we were born in and some people say, well, I was born to be a woman. Okay, fine, but that's not the conversation that we're having.
Speaker 1:I don't care how you live your life. If you are a trans woman, a trans man, whatever you decide to live your life to be is your decision to make. I respect your decision. But you need to respect biological women too. It's a mutual exchange of respect.
Speaker 1:But women, specifically biological women, are heavily disrespected in society, heavily. The fact that we're in a country where we have to pay for sanitary pads is crazy to me. It's actually fucking crazy. It's madness. But the fact that I have to sit here and explain different facets of my womanhood is even more crazy, because society has set it up to where I no longer feel safe as a biological woman, to even call myself a biological woman and I have to tiptoe and be careful about what I say. And I'm done with that shit. I'm done with it. I'm going to say what it is. I feel as a biological woman. I'm not ashamed to be a biological woman. I'm not going to be made to feel ashamed to be a biological woman. I'm not going to be silenced because I'm a biological woman. I am who I am. So if there is an award or in a category and someone says I'm the first woman, she is the first woman and if you've got a problem with that, I think you just need to check your sensitivity. I think you need to actually have conversation with yourself and ask yourself what is it about being a biological woman? That make about biological women that makes you so angry that you have to label, degrade and and have an opinion about our womanhood? What is that about?
Speaker 1:H&m, the clothing brand, recently had a partnership, um, with nikki poacher, and the partnership was for her company called buy From A Black Woman. Now, h&m offered her $100,000 in exchange for ending the partnership quietly and also allowing H&M to continue using the brand name and associated programs, so anything associated with Buy From A Black Woman. Now, another thing that H&M had asked for from her was the right to retain the name and the logo for DEI reporting. So hear what I'm saying to you. You enter into a partnership for buy from a black woman. Then you decide right, I'm going to end this partnership and I'm going to. I value this partnership at $100,000. But in exchange for the $100,000 and as part of ending this partnership, you're going to go quietly, you're not going to make any disparaging comments about H&M're not going to speak about the partnership why it ended nothing. And, on top of that, you're not going to say anything defamatory, but on top of it, you're going to allow us the rights to use your brand name, your logo and anything associated with buy it from a black woman for the purposes of deiI reporting. So it's like you're not actually being transparent about what you're reporting from a DEI perspective. So this partnership ended on the 12th of March 2025.
Speaker 1:And, of course, nikki Pocha has gone public a black woman with a black brand and a message that is so important, and it was recently found that they actually paid her I believe it's $83,000 and that was money that was owed to her for unpaid invoices, and I'm so glad that she's kind of gone public about this. Because, number one, I mean H&M. We've had a couple of problems with H&M, haven't we? In terms of like messaging and imagery and how they've treated um. I remember a black model who was a young boy and they put him in a jumper that I believe I'm trying to recall here, but it was the inference that he was a monkey, allegedly. And then sorry, my phone is going to go off because my daughter's sleeping and the baby monitor is on, but the point here is that it's interesting, isn't it how they remove DEI, but those who.
Speaker 1:There are those who keep DEI um so that they can have this um illusion to the public that they're in support of what DEI actually means and I've said this before support of what DEI actually means, and I've said this before. Dei is not about black people, but there are companies and other people who make it about us because they want to put everything on our neck to carry and that is not our weight. But they want to be able to say oh, we're doing stuff for black people in the black community. This is our reporting. Oh, my god, we've got this partnership as well. Buy, buy from a black woman. So we, in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion, we tickle three boxes, because for a lot of companies it's a box ticking exercise. So those companies who have kept DEI as part of their company ethos and policy great, but it's not if you really read into what DEI is.
Speaker 1:They people try to make it into a black issue about a black rhetoric, but it really has not benefited us at all and I think what's happened with H&M and Nikki Pocha is a classic example of where DEI is just for show it's. It doesn't actually mean what you think it means. If you want to hire talent from diverse and equitable parts of society, you want to be inclusive, then it starts at the hiring process, it starts at advertising for roles, it starts at being transparent about pay disparities, gender disparity and racial disparity in pay. That's what it means, and until we get to a point in society where we really recognise what diversity, equity and inclusion actually really means, we're always going to be in situations where it's just going to be performative. H&m, amongst many other companies, are very performative.
Speaker 1:It was like the black squares and they make it about black people and it doesn't benefit us in any type of way what it represents in the grand scheme of an organisation's ability to kind of like hoodwink and pull the wool over everybody's eyes that they are pro something, their date. The data proves that, in fact, the discrimination comes from the inability to do certain things rather than have a token. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? So if you really want to like, shed a light and be inclusive and and remove, um the lack of diversity that exists in organizations, you've got to be willing to be happy, uncomfortable about what some of the practices are that are discriminatory. Do you know what I mean? So for me, it goes deeper than the pay disparity between men and women. When I hear all of that, I just roll my eyes because it's bullshit. We know what the pay disparity is.
Speaker 1:I want to know about the racial pay disparity. That's what I'm interested in. The racial pay disparity, the racial pay gap, I want to understand. As black people in certain organisations, how are we being recruited? How much are we being offered? And, in comparison to our non-black counterparts, what is their disparities in pay? Where does that come from? Are they, are these organizations, endemically racist? Let that's how you get to the root. But until there are laws, rules and regulations where reporting is on a public stage, whereby it's in the public domain, you can't name and shame and find change. You're not going to find change where you can't name and shame and that's the truth and just keeping on that whole name shame and looking for change.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about Google. Google recently settled a $28 million racial discrimination claim. In pounds that would be 21.6 million. An ex-employee, anna Cantu, bought a claim in California, usa, of racial discrimination in terms of the racial disparity in pay and career progression. She claimed as part of her application that there was a lower pay, lower pay, lower paid positions and job opportunities for ethnic minorities, and she basically said there were systematic racial experiences that has led to racial discrimination and the pay disparity gaps between ethnic minorities, and she drew comparisons between white people, asian people and the ability to be able to grow and be afforded job opportunities. But she focused her claim more on the disparity of pay and career progression. Google settled the claim.
Speaker 1:Google settled the claim, but a caveat to the claim is that they would exclude all black employees. So they did not admit liability. So they did not admit liability. They did not admit that they had done these things in terms of the racial discrimination and disparity between pay and career progression with ethnic minorities. They hadn't admitted any of it. But what they did say is we're going to settle your claim.
Speaker 1:Hispanics, indigenous Native Americans, native Hawaiians, pacific Islanders, alaska Native employees and yes, you've brought this class action, but in order for us to settle it, it has to exclude black employees. Where do we even start that conversation? Why settle the claim but exclude the claim for black employees? Now some people can argue well, black people, the black community, we suffer differently, like the discrimination in which we suffer is layered, but the point is, black people were part of this class action, but in order to settle it, it has to exclude black people. Google.
Speaker 1:This is why your mates are doing very well when it comes to AI and technology transformation and y'all are lagging. Can you see your karma, can you? Your mates are having proper AI. Your mates are having proper technology. Your mates, as an apple, are having an ecosystem of technology which, to be honest with you, isn't always great, but it's better than yours. You're lagging behind. Can you see? This is nonsense, but I know the laws in america in in terms of, like, employee rights, employment rights are very different to the uk.
Speaker 1:That's one thing I'll say about the UK Employment rights. Although we suffer from systematic racism as part of the judicial system, that already is a conversation but when it comes to employer rights, employee rights, I would say we have better rights in the UK than our American counterparts. I will say that the problem here in the UK is proof. The micro macroaggressions that lead to certain things is often hard to prove. Yeah, but we're wising it up here in the UK. Better believe. We have case law, and not only case law, but we have instances where it's undeniable. We have burn folders, we have evidence, we have stacks of evidence whereby we understand collectively how the system works and we know what we need to do to enforce our rights here in the UK. So I will say that but employment rights are better here in the UK.
Speaker 1:I've got to say, I've got to be honest. You know, I don't even know what to say because, yes, google settled. They did not admit liability, but they settled anyway and I think had it gone to court and we understood the full scale, I don't think Google probably would have recovered. So in fact, it's probably smart for them to settle. But what is very notable and what needs to be highlighted is the exclusion of black employees Me, if that was me, part of that class action they said exclude black. I'll be leaving that company because that's mad. And the thing is they accepted the settlement. Of course they're going to. That's what I'm saying. Dear black people, they will happily use us, they will happily allow us to break our backs for them, but they will not break their backs for us. That's the fucking truth of it. They will use us to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, fearing no evil. I'm telling you this now, when it's for us they put they will dash you in the bin quicker than you can say bin collection. That is the fucking truth. That is crazy.
Speaker 1:When I read the case, my blood was boiling, boiling to rast. It was my blood, it was bubbling. But then I then I had to say to myself Toya, at the end of the day, as a community, whether here or in the UK or in the US, we have, as black people, have to understand the greatness that we possess. Until we understand the power and the greatness we possess as a community, these things are always going to happen. They will use our backs to get what they want. They will try to rest DEI on our shoulders to get what they want, but none of this benefits us as a community, as individuals, as people, as a collective. It doesn't. And until we understand the power as black people that we hold, we will always be oppressed, we will always be used, we will always be dashed, we will always be othered. And it's important, as black people, that we read cases like this to fully understand what is going on in society.
Speaker 1:This is why I say to you guys I talk about what happens in American politics. I talk about what happens in America, because what happens in America will truly find its way here. What happens here will truly find its way in America. We're very, very interlinked, very interlinked. I mean, ok, take for example in the US, make America great again.
Speaker 1:Trump has decided that he's waging war effectively on public sector workers. What do you think is happening here in the UK, please? But they just do it here in the UK. They just don't make it blatantly obvious, right? But it's happening. It's happening, and the sooner you wake up and understand what is happening is the sooner you get to a point where you understand how to strategically move. That's all I'm gonna say, just keeping on the the whole work thing.
Speaker 1:Remember, I came on here and I told you guys about a colleague that I work with, and I think I told you guys but if I didn't, I'm telling you now. And this particular colleague, I don't know what his problem is with me. I think he feels threatened by me. I think that he doesn't. He has not been exposed to black people and he is working in an organization that is ethnically diverse and I am the only black woman on this particular project and I'm one of these people at work. I can tell you now I know my stuff, but I never, ever think I know everything. There's always a space to learn. I always tell people all the time if you, if you stop learning, you don't need to be there no more. It's time to move on. I'm adding to my skills. I'm learning from everybody.
Speaker 1:This man works in finance. He's got nothing to do with me. He's just dedicated to the particular project that I'm dedicated on. Now, whenever I've had to work with finance, I've always had a really good relationship with finance, because we kind of work hand in hand in a way, and I've always been able to trust the finance person with the numbers. I've never had to question them. I just trust them.
Speaker 1:This guy, I don't understand what's going on with him. His numbers change every day and I have to always catch him. So I take screenshots of things, because he'll go into shared spaces and change things and tell somebody that they didn't see what they saw, when in fact there is an audit trail and I can see when he went into the folder. So I don't even I don't see with somebody like that. When you have a slippery customer, you have to know how to work this person, how to get this person, because this person will standardly set you up, allow you to take the fall and move like their hands are clean. You have to know how to deal with people like this. These are the type of people that they don't want to have to admit when they're wrong, but they would rather push you in front of a bus.
Speaker 1:He's one of those people. He's one of those people. He is the type of person that can't admit when he is wrong. And I've got a problem with people like that because you see me at work me, I'll tell you I made a mistake. I'll tell you straight, because I need you to know I'm not perfect. I need you to know I'm open to learning and I need you to understand that accidents happen and it happens. It can happen on my watch. I will always come with my best, but sometimes my best is not going to be good enough and we're going to work collaboratively to get me to good enough. Simple.
Speaker 1:So he has been a problem to work with. He's been very difficult because I can't trust his figures. This man cannot count to the penny Honey. He is a problem. He's a motherfucking problem. But I've also recognised some of the flaws in his character. So he has this need to kiss the arse of senior management, but I mean, his whole nose is up their rectum.
Speaker 1:It's weird, especially because he's not a permanent member of staff, he's a contractor. I just being a, having been a contractor myself, I just know how we move. So I'm not understanding this. How he moves. It's just very bizarre, very odd. He's an older guy so I already know that he's a bit stuck in his ways and he's from South Africa. He, he makes a point of telling me periodically he's South African. It's like telling me oh, I'm African too. Honey, you're African and my African is very different, mr white man, it's different. He uses his white privilege constantly in the workplace. It him reminding me South African in a way. I feel like it's like that. It's like him telling me I'm a white man. It's like we, we understand what we're saying here. You get me right.
Speaker 1:So recently we had an offsite, and that offsite is more. It's like an away day. Oh God, look at me just poking my mic. Sorry, it is an away day and I had every intention of going to this away day. I had every intention of going to this away day. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend. So the morning of sorry I need to double back when we knew we were going to have this away day, I was told that myself and the finance guy would have five minutes to just give a brief overview of what's been happening on the project. Now I would obviously give the overview as managing the contract and negotiating some of the contracts and all the other stuff I've done as part of my role, and he would talk about the finances. I can't talk about the finances because that's not my role.
Speaker 1:So, when the meeting invite for the away day was sent on the Sunday. I saw it on the Sunday, but I didn't do anything until Monday, where I confirmed that I'd attend. By midday on Monday I got an email from this finance guy telling me oh, please find attached some agenda points for us to discuss at the team away day. I was thinking why are you sending me a fucking agenda? What the fuck is that? I said to myself you know what, toya? This is where he just wants to show off. This is where he, for the first time in his life, he's gonna have the stage and he just wants to show off. So I read this. I was why is he writing my points? Why is he trying to tell me what to say? I couldn't understand it. So I sent him a message on Zoom. I said could you just clarify to me why you've done this? He said oh, he just thought that he will put it together because obviously we'll have to share the five minutes and therefore he's just giving me some talking points. So I said to him why are you giving me talking points? He said oh, he just wanted to be helpful. I said what would be helpful is you can provide me the numbers I asked you for two weeks ago. I wrote it there. What would be helpful is if you could provide me the numbers that I requested two weeks ago.
Speaker 1:The next day he calls me. He said, oh, have I had an opportunity to go through his agenda? I said, listen, I've gone through your agenda. There's nothing there that concerns me. He said so what am I going to talk about on on the day? I says you will find out on the day when I talk about it. I said, listen, I've got to go because I've actually got work to do. And I put the phone down. So come the day now I emailed the director. No, two days before the away day I emailed the director and say I'm gonna be there, I'm happy to do the um. You know, speak about the contract. He's like great toy art. I know the team would be happy to hear from you. You know you've worked with quite a lot of people, but we're interested to. I know people will be interested to hear like how did we get to here contractually? What have you been doing, how you've supported us, what, what other things you can do to support us? I was like cool.
Speaker 1:So come the day of the away day. Unfortunately I could not attend, but I would attend remotely. So I send a message to the directors to say I can't attend in person. I will be remote, um, and I will still adhere to my slot. The finance guy was part of the group that I messaged, so then he messaged me privately and he says oh, um, he's not going to be there in person either. I said fine, we'll just, we'll log in remotely. He says, oh, I'll let um, I'll let other people like he named these people that I don't know that you won't be able to attend. I was like it's fine, I've already let the directors know, I don't need you to do that, so come now. I haven't seen the agenda for the day but I know that when it's time for me to talk somebody will just say toy talk and I will talk the tings.
Speaker 1:So this away day remotely happens at 10. It starts at 10. 12pm comes no one's asking me to talk. 1pm comes no one's asking me to talk. 3pm comes nothing. 4, 4.30, 5.
Speaker 1:As we draw this away day to a close, I just want to thank everybody for joining. I want to thank everybody who contributed to the program um here today and those who have joined us remotely. Thank you so much for your input. So I'm sitting there thinking I've just wasted my fucking time Because, you see, there's a way that I didn't have to be remote for the whole day, but I was there in anticipation of contributing as part of the agenda. So I messaged the director. I've got a really good relationship with one of the directors. I messaged her.
Speaker 1:I was a bit surprised because I thought I had to give an update and no one told me that the agenda had changed. He says oh, but the finance guy messaged us in the morning and said that you won't be able to provide an update because you're going to be working remotely. He goes, toya. I did think that was a bit strange, but this is what he said. I said so why did he ask me? He goes oh, toya, I didn't want to bother you because I already knew that you'd be feeling bad, that you couldn't join us in person, so I just didn't want to stress you out. I know you've got a lot going on anyway. My mouth dropped to the floor. So this little rast dirty piece of shit. Because he was sorry, the director also told me that they'd already told him two days before, that they don't need him to do a finance update, that they just want to hear the contract stuff. So because of that, this man decided to spite me and he thought well, if I'm not going to talk, neither is Toya. That's exactly what he did. This is what I'm telling you this conceited effort.
Speaker 1:I don't know what it is about some white people that hate black women and I say the word hate and I know how I'm saying it, because it's a fucking fact. My experience in the workplace a lot of the vitriol, a lot of the violence, a lot of the verbal violence, a lot of the aggression, a lot of the intimidation, a lot of the bullying has come from white men. In my experience, and I'm going to say this, there's some white men that I've worked with that I genuinely believe. They just are just so respectful of me and I've had great experiences, I've had great working relationships. But the majority of my experiences with white men has not been good and I find myself in a lot of white dominated industries, a lot of white dominated organizations. So ultimately, my experience is going to reflect that right, and I'm not saying I haven't had any other experiences but what I, and I've shared them on the podcast. But what I am going to say is my experience of white males is very much this. You see one thing with me I will never act in anger, but you better believe I'm strategically thinking about my next move.
Speaker 1:So the following day, we had like we have like a standup that we have biweekly, and in this standup it's the one that I told you where the other white guy tried to basically call me a prostitute. That's the stand-up. Can you see the pattern here? This is what I'm telling you about white men and my experiences, by the way. So we had the stand-up and at the stand-up, everybody's like giving an update. Then I was like, right, I'm going to use this opportunity now. I've got the directors on the call, we've got the finance on the call, we've got the key leads and players on this call who would have been on the away day and I'm going to address the finance guy on this call. So when it came to my turn to speak, I was like this is literally what I said. I said, hey, everybody, before I get into my update, I actually would like to issue an apology on behalf of the finance guy and I said his name because he took it upon himself to advise XYZ that I would not be providing a contractual update and I was on that call. I was on the away day call. Unfortunately I couldn't be there in person, but I was on the call waiting for the opportunity to provide this update. So you can understand my disappointment when Finance Guy went out of his way to ensure that that update didn't happen, for whatever reason. I can only assume it's because his numbers are not ready and has not been ready for the past two weeks. But I want to apologize, um, and I want to provide my update in the full understanding that I was very happy to provide an update, an overview, at the away day. I just was not given the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Everyone went quiet and you know what happens. He went red. He went a bright color, red, the type of red that he went. Even my tomato was shocked because the tomato didn't realize the tomato in my fridge didn't realize there was a redder, something could be redder than it's. That man was red. Just shame the devil, just shame the devil.
Speaker 1:And one thing with me is I'm not gonna come out. I don't need to cross the word with you. The same audience that you're so desperate to impress is the same audience. I'm gonna go there and take your pants off, since you want to show your bum. I'll help you show your bum. The director. Come on the line. He's like Toya. I apologize, because I wasn't aware of this and everybody was so eager to hear from you. You work with so many different people on this project and you've your input has been second to none. I appreciate everything you've done on this project and this program and when you move on to a next project, we will be so sad to see you go. So we just want to utilize and use all the knowledge that you've provided us and continue to support us, and we want you to know that you're appreciated on this program. That's what you said. Do you know? The finance guy switched his camera off. Switch your fucking camera off, you fucking maniac. Switch your motherfucking camera off, you fucking maniac. What the fuck is wrong with you.
Speaker 1:What is it about the excellence of a black woman that will always, always, trouble those who, deep deep down inside, racially discriminate against us because of the colour of our skin? What the fuck is that? If I was a white woman, do you think he would do that to me? No, he wouldn't do it because he'd be scared of my fragilities, so he wouldn't do that shit. But because I'm a black woman, he can't understand. Number one, why I have this position. Number two, why I'm respected. Number three, that I can do my job. Well, he can't understand it.
Speaker 1:So his thing is well, I'm going to dim your light. Let me be really clear to you about something If your light shines, the only person that can dim it and the only person that has the power to dim it is you. If you give your power to somebody else, don't expect to shine in somebody else's garden. That's not going to fucking happen. You need to shine in your garden, you need to shine in your house and you need to shine as you walk. And let me be very clear to you about something I don't sit here and think, oh, I'm the best thing before sliced bread. No, I just think I'm very good at my job and I think what continues to make me good at my job is my ability to be a student of life and learning.
Speaker 1:Even this finance guy that's a fucking toss pot. I learned from him. You know, I do learn from him, and I learn not just the strategic side or the faults in certain things that he's done and wanted to do, but even the finance side. There's certain finance things I learned from because I'm not I'm not um comfortable with finance. I don't like numbers. I only the numbers in my bank account. I don't like numbers. But I say to myself, even with the worst person, there's still something that you have to learn from them, even if it's a warning to stay away from something. I definitely think there's something to learn and I've learned certain things about reporting that I didn't know before. I learned certain things about how he forecast his numbers that I actually didn't know before, and those things add to your knowledge and you never know when you're going to have to tap in. Need it, use it, suggest it. So for me I'm open, but he's so closed minded to me that he's incapable of learning anything, even on a social level. So he's always going to find himself in a problem with me? Because he continues to underestimate me and he's leading from a space of ignorance, aggression and disrespect. And because he's leading from those spaces of negativity, he's never going to win. And because he's leading from those spaces of negativity, he's never going to win. And I don't think he understands that. God don't like ugly and unclean hands will never win. You have to win with clean hands.
Speaker 1:I don't know what it is about me speaking. I didn't volunteer, I was asked to. But because you were told last minute that they don't need the finances. And why would they need the finances on a public scale? I say public scale, but on a project scale. They don't really want to show all the finances. I completely understand it.
Speaker 1:If this man wasn't mad, I would have actually given him an opportunity to talk. I would have maybe said something that would have included him in the conversation within those five minutes. You know, because with me I don't need to shine alone, we can all shine together. But because he wants to be a dickhead, then you must take centre stage of dickhead. The award for dickhead goes to Mr Finance Guy. You cannot win when your heart is black. You cannot win when your heart is damaged. You cannot win when your heart is doused in negativity. You can't win like that and you cannot win at the expense of somebody, of causing somebody else to lose. That's not winning. So he may have won that day, but, honey, I'm running this marathon and that's the difference between me and him. I'm playing the long game, he's playing the short game and losing. What a motherfucker UBS.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about UBS. You finance people are really going through it. Well, I say you finance people, but I mean, like the JP Morgans and those type of spaces, but UPS, an internal memo was sent on the 13th of March 2025, which basically, in UBS, they have to work three days a week in person in the office. Yes, you have to work three days a week in person in the office, but you're no longer able to work from home on Friday and then work from home on the following Monday. Listen, listen, just tell the people them to work five days a week from the office. Stop this bullshit. This is bullshit. Um, a UBS spokesperson and I'm just a preview of what they said but basically said that working from the office promotes collaboration, allows people to share and nurture and foster relationships, and that working um from home limits their ability to be able to network and all that. But what he doesn't talk about is why are you then limiting the limiting people's ability to choose which three days they work from home? It doesn't make sense. So if you tell me that I can't work, I can't work from home, um, on friday and monday, I can only work from home on a friday and any other two days, like at this point, you better prescribe the days for people, because that don't make sense and this war against work from home and remote working.
Speaker 1:I'm going to say a couple of things. There are they are remote roles, especially my in in my industry, in in the tech space and in the financial um, finance, fintech, sorry, um, in the fintech space, and there are other spaces. So my one of my friends works in the public sector. She's a contractor or two of them are one's perm and in various different industries you are able to find remote work, like, like even me. Recently I saw a couple of roles that were fully remote. They exist. They exist, but you do have some organisations, like some of the big banks, some of the big investment banks, and I get it because of the culture of working in the office. I get all of that. But the ones that are saying, okay, we're moving to three days in person, but the ones that are saying, okay, we're moving to three days in person.
Speaker 1:I don't think you can police people in that way, and I think a lot of people have to make decisions about whether certain organizations work for them anymore. Some organizations may not work for you and for me, I feel like having that. You know that balance of work, being a working mum, being a career mum, being a wife there needs to be balance in my life. I'm working mum, being a career mum, being a wife there needs to be balance in my life. I'm not going to work a job where I don't see my child. I'm not going to work a job where, if something happened, I can't get to my child in less than an hour. It's not going to work for me. And I'm remote, I work from home. I do go to the office and I do go on site if and when I need to, and I'm quite happy to do it, because it's not obligated, it's not made to feel like a task that must be accomplished. So, like the other week, I went to a working space, um, I've gone into the office. I've gone in onto client site several times and I've willingly done it because it's like, okay, why not? You know, I don't mind, I'm not being forced to do it and I think you just need.
Speaker 1:Organisations need to start treating people like adults, and I think the problem is we have, especially in the UK, a culture of managers thinking managing people is staring at them in their eyeballs. We have a very archaic culture of what work is, a very archaic culture of what work is. But also as well, I think the government have an agenda whereby we have the most expensive transport system in the world, like when I say the transport system, I mean we pay the most money to be able to use the transport. It's the most expensive transport in the world that we have to pay for. But there is a conceited effort to get people into the office because I think with all the rising prices, the cost of travel, they want us to pay for that. They want to use their money for what they want to use it for, so they need us in the offices. So the more they push this agenda of working for the office, it's more likely that you are then to use the transport system and pay these astronomical prices. But when these organizations are telling we need you in person in the office, they're not having the further conversation that needs to be had about. Are you going to meet the difference in money for me to come in Because it's far too expensive to travel? If you're travelling before 9.30, you're fucked. You're royally fucked. Where I live before 9.30, you're fucked. You're royally fucked when I live. If you're travelling before 9.30 or is it 9.45, you're paying over £50. Over £50. Don't get me started please, because it just makes me mad. I'm tired of the uk. I'm absolutely tired.
Speaker 1:To be honest with you, primark, the ceo of primark, paul marchant, resigned. He resigned with immediate effect. There was an independent investigation done by internal lawyers hired by Primark to investigate what Paul Merchant has described as an error of judgment. There was an incident that involved a female colleague in a social setting. As a result of the investigation that was held by internal lawyers hired by Primark, he resigned with immediate effect and shares fell by 4% after his resignation. Now Primark has not gone into detail about what the allegations are that were made against the now former CEO of Primark.
Speaker 1:Ceo of Primark, but what needs to also happen? Um, what they have sorry. What they have said is that they're going to support this, this woman, and you know they're going to educate and learn from what's happened. But what also needs to happen and I think it's important that happens is an investigation into how deep this actually runs within their organisation. I say that off the back of what happened at McDonald's, where there was an investigation done and it found that young people were being mistreated. There were incidents that happened like sexual incidents. That happened where a lot of people were on zero-hour contracts, for example, in McDonald's, and they were made to trade sex for hours, and that investigation, I believe, was done by the BBC.
Speaker 1:So I think whenever there is an incident that happens involving a female colleague, and obviously without knowing the detail of it, I think there needs to be an investigation as to how endemic this is within the organisation and actually how women are treated within the organisation in regards to inappropriate incidents that have taken place, albeit in the workplace or other social settings created by Primark as an organisation, and I think there needs to be further conversations that are had about these things. I think we're living in a society now whereby I think it's really important that, as women and the rising crime against women and the statistics are speaking for itself that we need to start looking into these organisations and these employers about how women are treated within their organisation and the experiences of women, and we can't pretend like certain things are not happening. I mean, look at Harrods and the investigation into Dodi Al-Fayed in terms of sexual misconduct, alleged sexual misconduct towards members of staff. So when we're talking about, you know, the Primark CEO stepping down in what he calls an error of judgment, an incident involving a woman, a female colleague, within a social setting that was in Primark, the point is here is we don't have the detail, but we're allowed to infer and the inference here speaks to as a woman something happening that was very, very, very serious enough for Primark to bring in external lawyers to do the investigation, enough for Primark to bring in external lawyers to do the investigation. And I want to draw your attention to something With the external lawyers coming in to do an investigation, it's twofold it's to find out whether whatever is being alleged happened, but it's also about whether there's a case here.
Speaker 1:So if she was to go to the employment tribunal or she was to take civil action, would she have merit, would her case have merit and the fact that he has resigned shows that her case would have merit. So, in as much as they're supporting her, we need to know how far that support goes. Is it financial support as well, like what are we saying here? We may never know, we may never know, we may never know. But the fact that he a CEO of his calibre and he's been CEO for a very long time of Primark I believe I want to say 2021, but it may even be longer than that but the fact is he's a very well known. He's gone through the ebbs and flows of Primark very well respected. It's massive. I mean, for shares to fall by 4% will show the significance of his resignation and I believe it's within the public interest to know what the accusation is. What is this woman alleging? How they've managed to keep this out of the press is interesting as well, because for me it's in the public interest and I really hope this brave woman that was able to speak out and be heard is getting the support also outside of Primark, because there will be a conceited effort to keep this in-house. But when we're talking about this woman and her ability to deal with whatever's happened, I hope that she's getting the external help and support that she needs. She is brave, she is bold and I, for one, um really hope that she is being looked after in the way in which she needs to be be.
Speaker 1:The UK is having a trade deal negotiation with the US, and it's really important that we understand the significance of this, given that the US has levied trade levies against Canada I believe it's 25% China, amongst other countries. Now, bear in mind whatever this trade deal is, whatever the levy is, whatever it is that is agreed, it's going to really affect steel manufacturing and the manufacturing of cars. So everybody, including myself, are crying about the price increases and all of the increases that we're having to pay, but the tariffs that we could receive from the USA will flow down to us, whether you want to think it includes you or not. So it's really important that we pay attention to whatever these tariffs are going to be, but there will be tariffs. These tariffs are going to be, but there will be tariffs.
Speaker 1:And as much as the UK is not part of the EU and tries to distance itself from its association, we don't have the bidding power that we would have if we were part of the EU, and I think that leaving the EU was the single biggest failure of the UK that has happened since the beginning of time. It makes no fucking sense, and I'm going to say this. I think that the UK still thinks it's Great Britain. You're just Britain. There's nothing great about this country anymore. I think Trump's quest to make America great again is because America financially has dominance and presence in the greater world. I mean the amount that it contributes towards being a member of NATO for one speaks to the financial viability of the country.
Speaker 1:The UK has lost its dominance when it left the EU. It lost its power because it couldn't sustain itself from a Great Britain society. We can't sustain ourselves in that way. It's crazy, isn't it? All those people that were pro-brexit there are nowhere to be seen, and the people who are dealing with the fallout of that rhetoric and that decision are us, the citizens. We're paying the price for it. So things are a little bit more expensive. From a socio-economic perspective, we're at a disadvantage by not being part of the EU. There are now trade barriers that the UK don't want to discuss. There are financial barriers, and financial implications of not being part of the EU is making the UK very, very, very, very expensive.
Speaker 1:The conceited quest to erode the working class sorry, to erode the middle class is very clear. They want to separate. They want there just to be two classes in this society the poor and the rich. That's the truth, the poor and the rich. And it becomes very dangerous because some of us listen. I'm sitting here telling you that I believe that I'm working class, as most of us are, but I believe that I've become middle class. I've become middle class, but the way the tax system works, I'm not considered middle class. I'm not because if there is a conceited effort to remove it, I'd just become poor. That's the truth. Unfortunately, we're in a classist society. That's the society that we live in. When our parents came over to the UK, a lot of them believed in this great British dream, this great British dream. It's now become our nightmare.
Speaker 1:The cost of living in the UK is astronomical, and all you have to do is go to the shop and see the price of a loaf of bread, the price of six eggs. That's what you have to do. Now they're talking about, obviously, april. They call it awful Aprilil, where taxes are raised. The cost of life itself is just that much more expensive. And then they'll say, oh yeah, but the thing is, um, minimum wage has increased, but that doesn't make sense. The national rate wage will increase and I think it's increased by.
Speaker 1:I want, want to actually, you know what, I'll get the figures, because I've got the figures. I've got the figures here because I just, you know, for me, I want to quote properly minimum wage is up 77p. It's now £12.21 per hour. So let's get this right. If we average this out and this is from Simple Politics on Instagram so if council tax has risen by 5% and this is the average, because mine's risen by more than 5%, by the way and the energy bills the price cap is up to 6.4%. Water bills have risen by 26%. I think mine's higher than that. Then you've got car tax, tv licence and broadband has increased, and then you've increased the minimum wage by 77p. Does it even make sense to you? But I'll hit you with something else that's not going to make sense to you.
Speaker 1:So your personal tax allowance. So you get this personal tax allowance up to £100,000, right? So personal tax allowance is currently £12,570. That hasn't increased. It's been frozen and will remain frozen until April 2026. Before then, so that personal tax allowance came into effect between 2021 and 2022. Before then, in 2020 to 2021, the personal tax allowance was £12,500. So between 2021 to 2022, it rose by £70.
Speaker 1:How are we in society supposed to enjoy the fruits of our labour if the personal tax allowance has remained transfixed for several years and has not increased with inflation? It doesn't make sense. And the worst part of this is the worst part is, if you earn over 100k, you're taxed at 40 percent, and then you have the introduction of an increase in national insurance for employers, which has a domino effect, because if your employers are paying more national insurance for employers which has a domino effect, because if your employers are paying more national insurance, what is the likelihood of you getting a bonus? Staff retention they have to get the money from somewhere. So if they have to lay off and make people redundant, some organisations are doing it. I've got friends that are contractors and they're now having to pay that increase in national insurance through their not the limited company, because they're inside through their.
Speaker 1:Oh god, I can't remember it now, if it comes to me, I'll say it. That is mad. That is crazy. That is crazy. It just feels like the UK government hates the citizens. They hate people that work. There is a complete overhaul of the benefits system. They're cutting benefits, but there's a reality here. If you keep increasing things and salaries are not increasing to the level in which you're increasing with any increase that you get in a salary would just be to pay all the other bills and all the other things that have increased it's. It's actually bonkers. This is why I keep saying kia starmer is a conservative leader in labour clothing, because I don't understand this. I don't. I'll tell you something.
Speaker 1:A few weeks ago we had to take our daughter to hospital and where possible I try and go private and that boils my blood because I'm paying twice. I'm paying taxes at source and contributing to the NHS, but because I can't access the NHS, I'm having to pay privately for healthcare. And part of paying privately for healthcare is that any prescriptions I will have to pay for, whereas my daughter is not even two years old. I've paid into the system since I was 15 years old and I've not got anything back out of this system at all. And anything I have got I've had to beg to get, and even when I've begged to get, it's always been one hand behind my back to set up to fail.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, went to the hospital. So we get to the hospital and I must say the nurses, the doctors, were absolutely fantastic. They were great. They were fantastic. So we're sitting in the waiting room but when we got there, my daughter's under observation. So, bearing in mind that when they're triaging in pediatrics they also consider the age of the children, so my chart so if it's a newborn baby with that came in with something similar to my daughter who's almost two the newborn baby will take um, you know, would be seen first. But in any case, I've understood this, because part of being a parent is also being in a continuous state of learning as well. So I've come to understand. So we get there now and we are triaged quickly for observation, because it was to do with a head injury that my daughter has sustained in nursery. She's all good now.
Speaker 1:But the point of the point that I'm making here is so we sit, we sit there and there's this man. And now, bearing in mind, I know in the UK I am an ethnic minority, I understand all of that, but I'm sitting there and there is a man in there and he's huffing and puffing, he's being quite aggressive and his English is quite broken, like he's speaking broken English, but I understand what he's saying, right. So then he says you know, there's a, there's a few people that have come in here before me and I haven't been seen. So I'm looking at him and I'm like, okay, he's referring clearly to me and to the other lady here, but I ignore him. And then he says, oh, you know, to the doctor he goes oh, you know, I don't work, and are they seeing us according to if we work or not? He says you know, I came to this country because in my country I was having problems and now I'm trying to look for work, but I have to have to be here because my son is not ill and my son is ill and my son, my son, has learning difficulties and they and he's saying all of this and I'm sitting there now getting angry.
Speaker 1:And you know why I'm getting angry. I'm getting angry because, number one, why are you having this conversation in the corridor? So we can all hear it? Number two, we're in the corridor because there's no assessment rooms available. Your son has an assessment room. They have considered the fact that he has a learning disability and they've prioritised him by giving him a room where he will be safe and secure where they can assess him, but that's not good enough for you.
Speaker 1:I pay my taxes, I work, I'm paying into the system and you've admitted to the doctor that you don't work. You're not paying into the system, but you're being prioritised. I'm not raising an issue about it, but you're raising an issue because you're not being seen quicker than what you want, as quick as you want, and for the very first time in my life. The very first time, I sat there and I thought to myself I'm paying into a system at source and I'm being taxed through the nose. I'm telling you now I am a high taxpayer and have been a high taxpayer for several years, and yet I can't even get a room for my daughter to be assessed in. There's no priority for the fact I pay into the system. And I'm sitting here hearing this man spill his guts and say, oh, he doesn't work. Oh, is that the reason why he's not being seen? Because he truly believes that he should have priority.
Speaker 1:What type of a country is this? Why does the government hate success? This government hates success. They cap your success at £100,000. And I'm telling you this now After tax, £100,000 is about £60,000 a year. If that, and you couple that with all the expenses that come with living in this society, and I'm telling you your take home is not as much as you think it is. But the worst of it is the cap on £100,000. After £100,000, you're taxed 40%, 40%. You lose your personal tax allowance. That's £12,570. You lose it.
Speaker 1:Then, to further add to this, there has now been a financial raid on those who have side hustles. Because for some listen one thing I'm going to tell you I will forever be entrepreneur and a businesswoman, as well as having a career. But what pains me is being an entrepreneur, being a contractor, comes at a cost. They remove outside roles. They place contractors in a situation where organizations have completely removed outside roles. They're so few and far between. These outside roles barely exist. If you find one, there's about 100 to 200 applicants, so you erode that.
Speaker 1:And then you say people who have side hustles, they're now going to get banks to report on. Yeah, you got ebay account. You sell stuff on ebay. Vinted, there is now a reporting requirement to see how much is going into your account. Yeah, and to add to that, I have discovered that next year they want us to file self-assessments five times, so four times every quarter, then there'll be a big one at the end. So, effectively, you basically, every quarter, want to monitor how much we earn in side hustles. So if we're doing self-assessment, you do know those of us with accountants the accountancy fee goes up.
Speaker 1:This is why I'm saying to a lot of you get a really good bookkeeping system that has AI embedded in and start filing your own taxes. So I've decided to start filing my own taxes. I'm actually going to contact my accountant within the next few weeks and say I don't need you anymore, I can file through what I use is free agent and I can file directly to HMRC. I can ensure that my bank account, my business account, is speaking to the bookkeeping system and therefore it should be accurate enough for me to be able to file. That's where I'm sitting with this.
Speaker 1:So when I say that there's a committed um, there's a committed um, there's a committed effort to erode success in the UK. This is what I'm talking about. I could give you stats, I could give you facts. What's the answer? Well, the answer is to understand that our parents came over here and were constantly reminded that they're immigrants. So my thing is, since we're immigrants, we can emigrate. This country isn't it. This country isn't it, and I don't see it changing anytime soon. I see it getting a whole lot worse, changing anytime soon. I see it getting a whole lot worse.
Speaker 1:Keir Starmer was reported to say reportedly have said that it's going to be a little bit difficult before it gets better, but we're going to be better off under Labour government. You're fucking taking the piss, mate, when, in four years time, when you ask for re-election, is that when it gets better? Oh, no, no, no, no. During the campaign trial, we're not going to increase working taxes, working people's taxes. What's happening?
Speaker 1:Should we talk about first-time buyers and the increase of stamp duty, the lowering the tariff? So, basically, if you, from the 1st of April, for first-time buyers and for those who are buying houses, whether you're a first-time buyer or not, if you buy a property of 250k, you have to pay 2.5k in stamp duty. Pre-1st of April 2025, it was zero. If your house is 450K, you're now paying 12,500 pounds. Previously it was 10,000. If your house is 800,000, you're now paying 30,000. Previously it was 27,500.
Speaker 1:If you're buying an electric vehicle, registering it for the first time, you'll pay 10, I think it's 10 pounds. It for the first time, you'll pay 10 pounds. After the first year that increases significantly. So, all those people with electric cars you were doing Thunberg, what's their name? Greta Thunberg, saving the planet. Now, they're not saving your coins, they're causing you to spend coins just to have an electric vehicle. Do you know the upfront investment? To have an electric vehicle, you have to get the charging point and everything. Yep, everyone say yep, we're saving the planet. Saving the planet, not saving your wallet madness.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna leave it there. There's so many other things I could talk about. I know I have some dilemmas in the mailbox I need to discuss here on the podcast, anonymously. I will be doing that hopefully, if not next week, the week after, but I'm going to leave it there. Listen, hopefully you've learned something on this episode. Hopefully you can take something away. Hopefully you can, you know, really think about how this government really works for you and really open up your mind to the possibility of what the potential is in terms of growth in this country, because I don't see it. Um, hopefully also, as well, you're able to share the podcast. I've enjoyed recording this and hopefully we can speak about things a bit more positively. But there there are going to be peaks and troughs as part of the podcast and, more importantly, there's information that I feel like I have to share, and it's not always great information, but the awareness empowers us to make informed decisions.
Speaker 1:If you would like to follow me on social media, my Instagram is Toya underscore Washington. My Toya Talks Instagram page is Toya underscore Talks. I am on TikTok. I'm quite active on tiktok actually. Um, my handle is toy washington all one word. I am on snapchat, but not really committed to it as much as I used to be. Um, toy washington.
Speaker 1:If you want to send me a work related or life related dilemma, please, in the subject box, just write dilemma and you will. You'll be anonymous. Your anonymity will be protected. Email hello at toy talkscom and please be clear about what your utopia would be. So what's your intended outcome? What would your, your desired outcome be? And obviously I'd advise um as best I can to give you the outcome in which you desire. So email hello at toytalkscom.
Speaker 1:If you want to know a bit more about the Toy Talks podcast and platform, go on our website, toytalkscom. And yeah, I'm going to leave it there. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thanks for listening. Please share the podcast, allow people to open their minds, to consider an alternative school of thought but, more importantly, to be exposed to previous episodes of the podcast. You know what we do here we share, guide, educate and advise. For me, it's focusing on black women first and everybody else afterwards, because, as black women, we have a very unique experience of the world of work and life and it's important that there's a safe space for us to share experiences, advice, guidance and, hopefully, some wisdom. My name is Toy Washington and you have been listening to the Toy Talks podcast.
Speaker 2:T-O-Y-A. Let me show you how to Navigate and elevate. That's what we do. Black queen energy grown. 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. Black Queens to the top and we're still going.