Creatives Like Us Podcast - Ep:19 Yolanda Sissing
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From journalism to redefining networking and social media with Yolanda Sissing
In this engaging conversation, Yolanda Sissing, founder of Pinkleaf Social and co-founder of the Anti-Social Socialites, shares her journey from a conventional career to becoming a social media consultant for purpose-driven brands.
She discusses the catalyst that led her to pursue her passion, the importance of redefining networking and her diverse clientele focused on social impact.
Yolanda also shares her aspirations for future projects, advice for marketers and personal reflections on life and career.
Connect with Yolanda
Yolanda is an Ethical Social Media Marketing Strategist, the founder of purpose-driven storytelling company PinkLeaf Social & the co-founder of a growing global community of antisocial networkers.
She is an advocate for ethical marketing, equality, social conscience and ripping up the rule book!
Her personalised training and bespoke workshops empowers purpose-driven business owners, particularly Black-owned businesses and female founders, to be braver as they leverage strategic social media to make a big impact.
As co-founder of the Antisocial Socialites, she's rewriting the networking rulebook for thousands of professionals who hate traditional networking and the 60 second pitch.
In her spare time she's an active blogger, public speaker, serial volunteer, vocal feminist, conscious parent and storyteller.
Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram and via her website
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Transcript
Angela: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to creatives like Us, where I speak with creatives of color, who share journeys and stories and ideas and how they can inspire and open up avenues in creative industries. I'm your host graphic designer Angela Ly, and with the help of my guests, I will bring you insightful interviews and compelling stories that can inspire you to think about things differently or shape your next move.
Angela: Being a creative of color can bring its challenges. Highs and lows and inbetweens, but this podcast is about amplifying our voices and celebrating together. So are you ready? Let's get started with creatives like us. Hello and welcome to creatives like Us, and my guest today is Yolanda. Yolanda, thank you for joining me.
Angela: Thank you for having me. Me. Brilliant, brilliant. Can you tell us who you are and what you do?
Yolanda: Yes, so I am Yolanda Sing. I am the founder of Pinkley Social, which is a social media consultancy for purpose driven brands [00:01:00] who want to rise above the noise and make an impact that's good for people and the planet.
Yolanda: My other passion is also as the co-founder of the Antisocial socialites. Which is a networking community for people who hate traditional forms of networking. So it's a growing global community where we have people who come on board and learn new strategies to embrace different styles of
Angela: networking that suits them.
Angela: How did you actually come to be where you are now? You don't have to gimme a full breakdown, but if there's like something that, like the catalyst change that made you go, I'm gonna do this right now. Yes. So how did you start?
Yolanda: So, you know, I never, ever envisioned myself as being a business owner. Like I come from a, a family of educators or people who worked in like the medical field and obviously growing in, growing up in South Africa doing apartheid.
Yolanda: There were very limited route for people to go to go into work. If you're a person of color. So I was expected to either go into law or do something quite conventional, so just to follow a proper corporate, um, job. Um, and then I, I worked as a journalist in South Africa for a number [00:02:00] of years. Came over, did and then started working full-time in the charity sector, and I absolutely loved it.
Yolanda: I fell in love with London. I found out all the war and all details about, you know, where people live, what makes the city tick, and I absolutely loved it. Um, but there was a glass ceiling, particularly for my role 'cause I managed volunteering programs and I was the only person in the company doing it. It was a continuation of other roles that I had gone through at other organizations and I was like, I don't know what to do next daily.
Yolanda: And I sat in it for a while 'cause I still loved what I was doing. And then we went on a trip, uh, to Spain. And we got caught up in a tedious stack and it was the most scary experience that I've ever endured in my life at. And we saw the truck going past as the people were being knocked. We were about to cross the streets and we had to run for our lives.
Yolanda: And it was, oh my God, so scary. It was, it was frightening. [00:03:00] We didn't know how we were gonna eat back. I can't
Angela: remember seeing that on the news. That was on the, that's massive. Yeah. A few years ago. Yeah.
Yolanda: And our kids were quite small, so it's like I was carrying Max in my, my, um, my husband at the time was running in another direction with my daughter.
Yolanda: It was really scary. And we managed to get back home on the Sunday and I went into work on the Monday and I was at my desk busy filling in like a KPI report and Excel spreadsheets. And I just sat there going, what the hell am I doing? Like, this is not almost what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. I can't be going back to normal.
Yolanda: I almost lost my family. And I just thought then, and there, I'm gonna leave. It was, it was that clear as daylight that that's what I was gonna do really. And um, so yeah, so again, I sat on it for a while, chatted to my family, spoke about it to my husband. 'cause obviously financially it's a big decision to leave.
Yolanda: And start on your own. And so I did. So we both decided, okay, we'll get ourselves a year. And uh, and during that time, I spent a [00:04:00] lot of time on social media as you do. Um, I was reluctant and my friends call me like the reluctant social media marketer because I was like, I don't like following chains. It's just a natural disaster that I've got.
Yolanda: Did not follow the crowd, but I really started enjoying what I saw on Instagram. I loved connecting with people on LinkedIn and I started thinking, there must be something else. What's happening with this system? So I suppose the journalist in me was like starting to pick up on things like why some people are connected to some influences, what is sitting behind this?
Yolanda: And then I found a course which was done by digital moms at the time, uh, which is an advanced social media management course, and then co completed. Then I thought, this is it, this is what I'm gonna do. So pick the name, set up the business, and here we are six years later.
Angela: It sounds like you do it quite analytical.
Angela: You were like working out every process. Like even when you said you came to London, I worked out who was in what borough, what were they about? What made them tick? Social media, why are they doing that influence, why are they connected to that person? I'm gonna work all these [00:05:00] things out quite analytical,
Yolanda: you know?
Yolanda: It's true actually. I, I, I'm, I'm quite creative, but analytically creative.
Angela: Yeah. I, because it's funny because, because I think, um, but I, but as soon as you said that, I thought, gosh, that's quite a lot of analytics going on there, so Yeah. That's brilliant. Um. So,
Yolanda: uh, what is the name of your company? So it's Pink Leaf Social, probably a combination of wanting to channel sort of feminine energy and women's empowerment.
Yolanda: And then, um, leaf, because you know, in Africa we've got like an abundance of plant life and, um, I just align myself to sort of growth and being around nature and feeling quite and natural. Um, so that's where the name came from. So yeah, think social is what it's called. That's brilliant. And how many years have you been in business now?
Yolanda: So it's six years this year. Which is unbelievable to think about. Yeah,
Angela: that's brilliant. Well done. Congratulations. Thank you. It's no easy task sleeping in business and keeping it going for so many years, so well done. Yes,
Yolanda: that's true. That's true. But I've, I've [00:06:00] enjoyed it. I think I've, you know, I made the conscious decision as well to work specifically with.
Yolanda: Sort of heart lead brands and sort of charity founders who want to make a difference. So I feel even though it's marketing and sometimes they can feel like a dirty word, I think like it's helping to elevate people who are doing really good things around the world. So that feels good.
Angela: Mm-hmm. That's interesting.
Angela: Why do you say marketing is a dirty word? Is it so people just think that trying to sell, sell, sell all the time, or is it
Yolanda: Exactly, exactly. Yeah. So it's having to kind of a reframe. Even people feel too exhausted to do it. Or they put it as like the last thing on their planning because, you know, they're focusing obviously on what their, their business needs to do to do, to be successful.
Yolanda: And then I think because there's been a bit of a shift between, you know, conventional advertising, paid ads, some, you know, campaigns that haven't quite hit the mark, which feel quite performative. It's not, it doesn't always get a good, but I think if it's done well. It will help you to kind of build a really strong community and loyal [00:07:00] fans and customers.
Angela: It's interesting because Mark, I just talk about marketing because, um, a lot of people think that, um, as you said, it's the last thing on the list, but if you don't do it, how are you gonna get new business in or tell people what you do? I remember during COVID, just the beginning of COVID, um, one of the first things departments that went was marketing.
Angela: And that was just the most craziest thing because you still have to tell people that you're still going sticking or something. Yeah. And it doesn't matter what size business you're in, it's just you've got to tell people small. If you're a one man band or one person bad, or you know, bigger company, you've gotta tell people you've gotta keep that marketing going, so.
Angela: Exactly. You have to keep going on that. Yeah. Yeah. So. We always come across people in our paths that keep us, like keep us connected and our catalyst connection. Is there anyone in your life that, of few people that in your life that have. Made you go, I'm gonna change and I'm gonna switch up directions.
Yolanda: I'd probably say the first person that helped me to consider journalism as a career. I remember I was watching the news when Nelson men was released from jail and the whole world was immersed watching [00:08:00] him and everybody, oh, moment. Oh, you've made me get
Angela: goosebumps. It's true. I remember I watched, everybody remembers that moment.
Yolanda: I, I just thought to myself, I wanna be a part of this. Like, this is what I wanna do. I want to be able to spread some good news. And I want to be part of that conversation, not on the. In the heart of what's what, what's happening. And um, I remember speaking to my dad about it and he was like, oh, you sure you know, what do you, how do you know if you'll be good at that?
Yolanda: I was like, I don't care. I'm gonna do it. Gonna try. And yeah. And once I made the decision, they were like fully supported me. Very happy to be involved. And I think that was the catalyst for me to get into journalism and I absolutely loved. I also then had the chance to meet him, which felt quite full circle after a press conference when he was still president at the time.
Yolanda: So that was just amazing. Oh my gosh.
Angela: Wow. What a moment that is just like a moment that can never be repeat. Yes.
Yolanda: What is it like he, he is everything that you would imagine when they [00:09:00] talk about God-like energy He had that he had that order about him that just felt. Pretty tangible. And I remember just before he walked into the press conference, the room just been quiet.
Yolanda: It's almost like you knew something, you know, I don't wanna call it spiritual, but it did feel spiritual was happening. He walked in, he did his speech 'cause they were launching some policy, which I can't, and everybody's asking questions and when not supposed to go up and sort of fan go with people. But I was like, when am I ever gonna have this moment to do this again?
Yolanda: Never. And I went up afterwards and, you know, uh, yeah, they're just about to leave and taking pictures and he said, oh, young journalist, nice to meet you. And he took my man. I was like, nice to meet. My gosh, what a moment. Yeah, it was, it was amazing. It was amazing. So, so, yeah. So that was, that was quite important.
Yolanda: And then. I think, uh, another catalyst, uh, probably [00:10:00] has been my mom. She is quite a, was quite a fearless woman. Like I just feel like she, she did things regardless of what people thought or felt and just she wore what she liked. She did her hair the way that she liked. She married who she liked, she loved the music that she liked, and she's.
Yolanda: A force to be with. And I think I've, I've channeled a lot of her energy when it came to making sort of big decisions. Interesting.
Angela: That's lovely. Moms are really important, aren't they? Just like, just like, yeah. That's really nice. Really nice. I always say, um, when people ask role models like my mom, 'cause like, you know, she's the one that I always just look up to.
Angela: She's, yeah. So, yeah. Oh, that's really nice. That's really cool. That's really cool. What about. Liz, because I see Liz is one of your, um, people that Catalyst connections like, so Liz Hamlet, you wanna tell me a bit like about Liz and what you guys do together? Absolutely.
Yolanda: So Liz and I met while we were still working in the corporate world, and then we lost touch with each other.
Yolanda: And then reconnected on LinkedIn, um, [00:11:00] and met up for lunch. It must have been lunch or breakfast. I think just after COVID was finishing, we were both just really frustrated because we had found, we hadn't quite found networking opportunities that didn't feel like quite stale. Um, everybody was so formal, it's just lots of, you know, transactional interactions.
Yolanda: And I was like, oh, this, she, so we just sat there and thought, should we just do our own thing? And so. That's how the antisocial socialites, uh, came about. But so people, ourselves, and so we've been doing, um, sort of monthly LinkedIn audio rooms, uh, where we talk about, uh, what it. What you can tap into to make network personally feel more aligned to who you are as a person.
Yolanda: So, mm-hmm. If you're somebody who's introverted or you're neurodivergent or you're changing careers, or you are someone who might be the last, one of the ones that we had this year, which is quite an interesting conversation, but I think still relevant, was about how hormones could have been affected. The way that you approach networking is something that people don't often think about, but [00:12:00] it can, um, things around confidence and mindset and all of this stuff, which you've absolutely loved.
Yolanda: So we've had. More than 2000 plus people coming along to our audio rooms, which has been fantastic. That's great. And we've had lots of guests coming along and we've had some in-person events, but what we wanted to do was not have traditional, um, meet and greets. We wanted something that felt a bit.
Yolanda: Interactive and quite entertaining, particularly for people might not feel comfortable with small talk. Mm-hmm. You know, if there's something to do or like a common topic that people can bond over. Um, so that's been amazing, Liz. To her credit, her credit is a force to be reckoned with because like you said, I can analyze for the hills, you know, I can sit and read all the reports and I can write all the data.
Yolanda: Liz doing it tomorrow. She's, she is just amazing. So yeah, we both have got like big ideas. And really good different ways of approaching, um, business [00:13:00] of what we are doing. I think of her with a strategy mindset and, you know, her dream big philosophies and, and me with my very sort of like analytical processes and stuff.
Yolanda: But it just seems to be working really well. Good, good, good teamwork
Angela: together. Yeah, exactly. It's good to have different, um, qualities. Yeah, totally. Oh, brilliant. I put the link in the show notes for your, um, LinkedIn lives too, and, uh. Where people can find you online on, on LinkedIn. Because I think, yeah, as you said, if you're not, you don't really like networking or you don't wanna go to any of those, you know, those, those big ones like BNI and all those kind of networking events, I think yours are just like, even just being online and networking is a, a, a false.
Angela: Absolutely. Because absolutely. I think a lot of people, especially, you know, we're working by ourselves. Some got our own businesses, meeting other people or just listening to other people and like if they know there's a space that they can be comfortable with you. That's great.
Yolanda: Yes. And we, and we've also tried to make sure that it's not.
Yolanda: Quite non-committal for now, because for some people also the process of networking can feel quite overwhelming. So, you know, we've got, um, a mailing list and we've got a quiz out to just help people think [00:14:00] about how they, which kind of style of networker they're, and then we've got some additional master classes that, and the side of people want to have some more, um.
Yolanda: Uh, you know, strategic approaches to, to what it's that they're doing. But yeah, it's, it's been, it's been going really, really well and I'm, I'm excited to see what this year brings. We've done, and as you know, some in person. Public speaking events and uh, we've got potential sponsors lined up for the next quarter.
Yolanda: That's great. Of the year. So that's gonna be really exciting. Yeah,
Angela: that's brilliant. That's great. And I do like your, um, in-person events because you do have the last one I went to. It had some games evolved that were quite really good icebreakers. Yes. I think, as you said, if you're like really nervous about.
Angela: Talking to people, you know, you could just play a game of Jane. Yeah, that would always get some, you know, you'll always have a laugh by the end of it and just get talking, so. Exactly. Yeah. Well you guys are doing great, so keep it up. It's brilliant. Thank so thank you. And you know, I like networking, so I like, I like all types of networking.
Angela: It's
Yolanda: not stiff, not an issue for you. You are fine. But what I do like though is that when I've seen you, it's like you are [00:15:00] very selective about the networking events that you go along to as well. That shows your, your energy and sort of the kind of people that you are attracting to yourself. So it's, it's a still in itself to be able to do that.
Yolanda: So I, I've enjoyed you in the wild, as they say.
Angela: Thanks. So tell me about Pink Leaf Social. What projects are you working on?
Yolanda: Yeah, so today, um, I've got two client calls. I try to sort of split my week up, so I'm doing client calls and work on Mondays and Tuesdays. I've got what I, what I love also about what I do is that it's clients in different fields, so you don't have to be in a specific industry.
Yolanda: So I've got an environmental list. Environmental charity, but then I'm working, not charity startup, so that I'm working with, I've got, um. Charity that supports journalists and press freedom, which is really interesting. I've got a, an organization that works sort of mentoring young people out in India and yeah, just a danger [00:16:00] of different interesting pieces of work.
Yolanda: And then I've also been doing some work with the local charity organization who I think I was telling about the service. Started up a hub for people of African and Caribbean heritage, and that's been going really, really well. So like helping people to find out and rediscover how stories and histories lead to the battle where I live in London, so we've got a book festival coming up on Thursday, which I'm going to go along to.
Yolanda: Oh, what's it called? Do you know? Has it got a name yet that The Hub? Yes. So it's called very predictable, but effective when it comes to word searches. The Caribbean and African collective comma healing, so it's easy enough for people to find. Yeah, yeah. I'll put that in the show notes too. So it's quite a varied, uh, week that I have.
Yolanda: So I normally spend the first part sort of, um, catching up with my clients and make sure that, you know, any content and stuff to use and, um, sort of planning is done this end of the week. And then the delivery and the [00:17:00] creation and editing and writing and stuff is done at the latter part of the week. And then I'll spend, uh, Fridays or my off days.
Yolanda: So I try and use that as an opportunity to meet up with people. 'cause as you know, others, you are working on your own. It's just you on your laptop, which.
Yolanda: Yeah, exactly. And then dotted in between those. I might have some co-working days or online networking groups that I, that I go along to. So I've got one tomorrow with Loda Bunns group called the Super Connector. And um, I'm just becoming more familiar with what's happening within the being freelance community some more, showing up some more.
Yolanda: Um, after the holiday not seen you
Angela: in the being freelance.
Yolanda: Yes, exactly. Yeah. Uh, so, so yeah, a little bit of that. I mean, I, I, I, I tend to spend my time, um, in between things like delivering training. So a lot of my clients are based on LinkedIn. Um, so what I want them to do effectively [00:18:00] is feel empowered enough to start running.
Yolanda: Their social media programs, um, profiles themselves. So we kind of split our time between some training and then some delivery and then some reporting and analytics during that time. But yeah, I love it. I've got one new client potentially that I'm taking on. It's gonna be aist, which I'm quite keen to do some work.
Yolanda: It's like, Ooh, it's spring. I could do so many things at this pretty. Um, so yeah. So that be, yeah, that's gonna be starting next week.
Angela: Your clients sound so diverse, like it's brilliant. I love it. But all around, uh, social impact, social change, and it feels like you empower people and make people happy.
Yolanda: Exactly. Yeah. That's the common thread. Yeah. Yeah. I think I, I made the mistake when I first started to take on everybody and I was like, oh, I just, I dunno if this is quite the mechanics that I like. So yeah. I've been a bit more intentional about yeah, who I work with. Yeah.
Angela: Brilliant. So what's, what's next?
Angela: Who would you like to work with in the future? Or tell me a dream project. This is your chance to manifest. [00:19:00] Ooh, dream project. I think
Yolanda: I would love. To, because I kind of realized that I'm definitely into sort of slow moving content. So long form stuff I feel really curious about. So in an ideal world, I would either be working side by side, a creative, someone who is an author or an artist as in like an artist.
Yolanda: Artist. Mm-hmm. Or someone who is. Really good at uncovering sort of undiscovered places in the world or something like that, and then documenting their journey and Oh wow. Bringing it to the world so everybody can see what it's that they do and how they do what they're doing. I'm also really, really keen on exploring, um.
Yolanda: I think public speaking, but from a perspective where you are sort of challenging [00:20:00] people's perceptions of what success looks like, particularly in things like marketing. And I had a long chat with somebody a few weeks ago at a networking event actually. And she was like, oh, but what would you talk about, you know, because most people understand social media, blah, blah, blah.
Yolanda: I said, yeah, you can. It's not necessarily about social media, it's about your approach to social media. Mm-hmm. And I think, you know, reading through the headlines and you know, all these companies that are scaling back on DEI and going against what so many people have worked for. I think probably I'm standing on the side of history where the conversations that I want to have on the stage to talk about being brave and standing by your principles and your values, because you will bring other people with you on that journey.
Yolanda: Um, you know, if you are a brand who, um, does work for the greater good, you know, live that, live those values, write those policies, employ those people. You know, train individuals, give back, plow back. Mm-hmm. And celebrate that because you will [00:21:00] attract people for the longer term, not the ones who are just taking for.
Yolanda: So that's sort of my, my dream for what I'd love to do next. And then I've got a book that I'm working on, not necessarily about me. Um, I did a ghost project Excellent with an author year and loved it. Next year is going to be, no, it's this year, actually, this year is gonna be five years, five years since my mom passed away.
Yolanda: And I thought, oh, you know what? I'm gonna do a recipe for her, of all of her, the recipes that she's done, because I, I'm not very good at cooking, but she was really good at cooking. I've started speaking to all the aunties and uncles and cousins and like, send me the recipes, blah, blah. So my dream is that by the end of this year, I'll have that published and I can circulate.
Yolanda: You become like a, a proper family, you know? That's the dream. That'd
Angela: be amazing. Yeah. So lots of south a African dishes. Yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Oh, wow. That's, I what an honor to your mum. That's a tribute. Yeah.
Yolanda: Beautiful. [00:22:00] Yeah, because you know, I think there's something that you, that you realize the older you get, I dunno if it's the same with you, Andrew.
Yolanda: Life is so fleeting, like, you know, the kids grow up so quickly and. Even the fact now I'm like, oh my gosh, it's been five years and there's nothing tangible these days that you can hold onto with your fingers and look at and go, this is a representation of life because everything that we have is. In the cloud or on social media?
Angela: Oh my gosh, I'm not even joking. Right. Literally I went from my morning walk this morning and um, on my road we have, um, you know, those, um, book cuts? I dunno if you've seen them. Yes. Where people drop books in, but this guy actually had a bookshelf and he's like been covering it up every night. There's an old guy and he's lovely.
Angela: He's really sweet. He always stands outside and says, mornings everyone the morning. And he goes, look at this. And he, um, flipped like a blanket of this bookshelf and he had hundreds of books there. And I was like, wow. He was like, do you want a book? I was like, I've got load of books already. And he goes, I've got photo albums too.
Angela: And he, no one has photo albums anymore. I'm like, I. Print out my photos. They're all on my phone. But I said to him, I'll take the cookbook. Yeah, [00:23:00] I'll take the cookbook. Because I said it's almost nice to flick through the cookbook. I literally picked it up this morning and I said, also, my son's going uni, maybe he'll cook some things for this cookbook.
Angela: Yeah, that's a good idea. So yeah, so, um, we, we just had a little chat and a laugh about that, but he was, you know, I think, I dunno how old he's, but he was, you know, you know, he was quite old and he was saying, no one looks at books anymore. We're just all on their phones. I
Yolanda: had, I know. I had a lecture from someone like that.
Yolanda: I was walking, it was my mistake. I was walking with my phone in my hand on my way to collect my, and he literally stood in front of the door waiting to see how long I'd before I'd look up, and then he's like. Nobody's paying attention. I said, listen, I honestly, I was just responding to an email. I was actually paying attention to where I was going.
Yolanda: I never to this whole long conversation about how we've lost the art of making eye contact and small talk, and also one of the, like an older guy as well, and I just thought, yeah. It should probably be good. Yeah.
Angela: Well, at least you didn't trip up. I did that once. I was [00:24:00] on my phone when I was walking with my, I don't do this anymore.
Angela: I was looking at my phone and texting, and then I just tripped and I went, oh, no. Splattered on the floor. Bust my lip open, graze my knee, and I was like, I'm never walking with my phone
Yolanda: again. Yeah. To listen. I'm, I'm listening, Lynn. I'm listening. I'm listening.
Angela: You're listening. Listen, listening. Don't do it again.
Angela: So. Was as this, um, season two. And I want to make it more of a kind of educational tips too. I love hearing people's stories, but is there a tip that you could share to our listeners around if they're in a, if they're in a team of marketers or in a big business or a small business, um, on social media, what would be maybe one tip that you would give people?
Angela: I know it's a big, yeah. What would I, what would
Yolanda: I, um, I'd probably say that it's important to pay attention. I think what people. Have come to doctors. A strategy is to follow what other people are doing. I think a, a strategy that that is sustainable. An approach to [00:25:00] social media that is sustainable is to really tap into and understand what it is that your audience wants and enjoys and reads because no two profiles are the same.
Yolanda: And I know this 'cause I work with the danger different clients and what might work for one client doesn't work for the other. So. Paying attention to analytics if you're able to use sort of social listening tools to understand what people are talking about in your industry. I know people say don't use ai, but I think AI has been great for understanding what sort of pain points they are for audiences in your specific field in the real time.
Yolanda: And those sort of, um, techniques really help you to generate social media that's aligned to what people are talking about. Key people coming back for more to your audience so that you having a conversation. Because that's what social media is, it's about being social and that you're able to carry through very personalized responses to the kind customer queries and things that are coming through via dms or your inbox, um, or your mainly the subscribers.
Yolanda: Yeah. We need, we need to be more attentive to what [00:26:00] people want and need. The brands that don't do well are the ones that are not tapped into what works for the audiences. I think about companies like Aldi, for instance. They never do anything that's the same as anybody else. They're always coming up with their own quirky, mm-hmm.
Yolanda: Hilarious responses and campaigns. And so I think it's important to, to kind of stick to what you know you're good at, where you've envisioned yourself as a business and how you can bring your audience along with you and whatever platform that is, you know, make sure that you understand what. Help do that.
Yolanda: Thank you. Thank you.
Angela: That's great. Um, so few more questions, but one of them is ending on a personal note yourself. What advice would you tell your teenage.
Yolanda: You know, I don't feel as old as I look. This is what I've realized. I Oh, bless you. You look, I do still feel like a teenager inside. Like, I'm still, I'm still running around in the [00:27:00] field and doing part fields with my kids and, you know, all of these things.
Yolanda: So I, I do feel like a teenager at heart. But I suppose what I would probably say is, um. Not to shy away from asking for help when you need it, because I am quite stubborn. I tend to just, you know, stick to what I think is best. Mm-hmm. But I've learned along the way that there are so many people who are willing to work with you, encourage you, champion you.
Yolanda: Um. And make sure that you get to where you wanna go, and that means you get there faster. So think, I think it's a great, yeah, I'll probably give myself that, that tip.
Angela: Brilliant. That's great. Thank you. I love hearing people say what they tell themselves. I just thought, I think I'm gonna make an amalgamation of them all just doing some sound bites.
Angela: I just love it. I love it. So they know the quick fire Five questions?
Yolanda: No. Okay. I'm gonna try.
Angela: Yes. Alright. Alright. I know because I did one the other day. They were very quick and I was [00:28:00] like, yeah, that's the point. Then sometimes people just like talk about, anyway, let's go with it. So the quick fire final five questions.
Angela: Crisp for Chocolates. Crisps Beach or Forest Beach book or Kindle book. Reggae or soul? Ooh, soul.
Yolanda: Uh, yeah. Soul. Yeah. Kinda so
Angela: cool. Yeah. A pat or pat or sandwich.
Angela: A patty.
Yolanda: Yeah. Yeah. I don't get the obsession sandwiches. I just, and this is toasted and cheese, I dunno.
Angela: Toaster cheese. Yeah. Brilliant. Is there anything else you'd love to, um, ask or talk about before we go?
Yolanda: No, I think, I think what you're doing is amazing. Um, and I think it's important to keep having these conversations, you know, in your in-person event that you had [00:29:00] hmm, a few months ago was such an eyeopening experience.
Yolanda: I think. Having people that look like you, that sound like you, that resonate on the same vibration as you, just helps people to feel, I think, um, unified, but also it gives you the kind of, um, assurance that you need that yeah, we are doing the right thing. You know, it's difficult to get that sometimes when you are.
Yolanda: Um, working on your own or you operating in an industry that, that isn't necessarily majority led by sort of black owned, um, business owners. So yeah, you're doing, you're doing the Lord's work, girl.
Angela: Oh, bless you. Bless you. Much out. So Yolanda's talking about the event creatives like us, so I'll put the links in the show notes.
Angela: So yeah, thank you so much. And tell people where they can find you. Yes, if they wanna connect with you or meet with you online.
Yolanda: So I am on LinkedIn mostly as Yolanda. Succinct, easy enough to find. I'm on Instagram as pinkly [00:30:00] social. And I've got my website, obviously, which is Pink Leaf social co uk. Yeah, come and say hi and if you wanna find us antisocial socialites.
Yolanda: The LinkedIn company page is the as the antisocial socialites, so you could take a look at what'll doing there as well. Brilliant.
Angela: Thank you so much, Yolanda. It's been a real pleasure talking to you. Thank you for taking time out your day. Yeah, so I just wanna give thanks for that. So thank you so much.
Angela: Thank you so much for having me. It was wonderful. Brilliant. See you soon. See you. Bye bye. Thank you for listening today. Really appreciate it. And you know, I'd even appreciate even more if you left me a review. If you like the show, you can find a review spot on Buzzsprout or you can leave on Apple Review.
Angela: I think you can even leave some on, um, Spotify. So if you leave a comment. They also count the review. So thank you so much. If you can do that, that'd be wonderful. I also like to tell you about the event creatives like us. It's happening on the 16th of October, 2025. It's US two. We still have a few tickets remaining, so if you'd like to join us, we'd love to have you.[00:31:00]
Angela: It's on the 16th of October, as I said, and it's for black brown creatives in business. And again, you don't have to be a creative in the traditional sense to be with us. If you have a business or you're a freelancer, or you've got a side hustle, whatever you want to call it, come join us. Work on yourself.
Angela: Work on your business. A network with other like-minded people like us. The tickets are on in Eventbrite, as I said, and you can search in Eventbrite for creatives like us and which will pop up. It's under ABAs marketing and I'd also leave the links in the show notes. So thanks again for listening and have a wonderful day and keep being creative us.
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