Creative Director at Google

I found myself in an industry with little-to-no role models that looked like me, talked like me or walked like me. Then the ones I did come across, the amazing female talent I did have the pleasure of working with, they would eventually change industries, drop out, or they wouldn't return after having children. So lonely! I realised that it wasn't that they didn't want to do the job, it wasn't that they didn't want to be creative or come up with ideas. It was because they felt different, they were treated differently and it didn't feel that good.

A dominant culture is a cultural practice that is dominant in a particular political, social or economic entity in which multiple cultures are present. What I realised is that I was working in what's called a dominant culture. These exist in all industries. In advertising, the dominant culture happens to historically be white, male, straight, middle to upper class, which meant I was on the outer, but so were a lot of others. It was this realisation that led me to think: "it's not just women facing bias, marginalisation, under-promotion, under-mentoring and under-payment. This is a much wider issue. One that spans race, religion, sexuality, class, ability and neurodiversity." That was my motivator and turning point that helped me co-found the programme Rare.

The argument for more inclusive cultures in our industry is more than just ethical... there is a business need; a need to relate to our customers and to continue to evolve as an industry. That's not just my theory. The consequences of allowing dominant cultures to exist are playing out right now: 72% of people feel most advertising does not reflect the world around them, 63% claim they don't see themselves represented in most advertising, and 60% say they don't see their community of friends, family and acquaintances accurately represented in the work we are creating for them.

It's human to make what you know... When you have a rich cross-section of perspectives at play, it results in work we can all be proud of.

Diversity is 2-dimensional. There's inherent diversity, which is what you're born with, and then there's acquired diversity. Acquired diversity are the things you pick up throughout your life that shape and shift your perspective on the world.

What's interesting about the LGBTQ+ community is that we out-earn and we out-spend out straight counterparts by more than double. It's massive! So it's pretty important to have the rainbow dollar perspective in the room I'd say!

What makes you different? Think about it, bring it to work, share it with others, celebrate it. Don't suppress it, don't hide it, don't conform.