Come with me to Tedx Women London

“Don’t let anyone speak for you, and don’t rely on others to fight for you.” – Michelle Obama

Hey friends,

Welcome back to my blog.

This week I’m sharing my experience at the Tedx Women London event. On Sunday, the 5th of February 2023, the Tedx Event took place at the Saddlers Wells theatre in Angel. The day started at 11am and lasted until 5pm in the evening. I’ve always been an avid watcher of Ted Talks online. I adore hearing people from all backgrounds share their inspiring stories of hardships they’ve faced and how they’ve overcome them. I love that stories shared on this platform are always done in the most intriguing, captivating, and thought-provoking way. You can watch two of my favourite Ted Talks here by some great women.

The theme of this years Tedx Women event was Showing up. The majority of the talks were shared by women who were bold, brave, and confident enough to challenge society’s injustices and status quo.

The three acts that spoke to me the most and really stood out were:

Donna Patterson – Donna had worked for Morrisons as a buyer and has several years of experience within the customer service industry. Although she realised after giving birth to her second child and returning to work on a part-time basis that there was a significant amount of discrimination. As a result of not feeling heard by her employer, she defended herself in court and won £60,000.

Sahar Zand shared a really moving talk on the daily injustice girls in Iran face. She explained how she, her sister, and her mother escaped the country, although sadly, the women they left behind were not as blessed. In Iran, the official age that girls become a woman is twelve years old. From this point onwards, they have little say in their lives. Sahar moved us as tremendously as she cut several pieces of hair from her head as an act of sodality for the women back home.

Brown girls do it Too– Rubina Pabani and Poppy Jay are a fun duo and a great way to close out the event. Their podcast, brown girls do it too, focuses on sex, specifically within the Asian community. They did a hilarious short skit that involved answering calls about people’s sexual problems. They made light of the topic and had the audience roaring with laughter.

It takes a lot of courage to do what these ladies have done and help spread a unique message that will greatly impact many people.

There was a total of ten Acts. Five in the morning, which consisted of spoken word and dancer Olivia Rose Shouler and Sarah Lisney. Anna Deva  who discussed climate action within finance. Donna Patterson on workplace discrimination, a chat with Ben Hurst and Jamie Windust on masculinity and Josephine Latu- Sanft on climate change.

We then had about an hour’s break, allowing us to meet the guest speakers. Then we resumed in the theatre later that afternoon and watched the remaining 5 acts. Storyteller Feruza Afewerki on Grenfell, Janey Starling & Seyi Falodun on self care at work & community, Trans speaker Ben Peachy, Sahar Zand, a British Iranian journalist and Rubina Pabani & Poppy Jay on their podcast, ‘Brown Girls Do It Too.

Popular Novels and Beverages were also available to purchase. There was a total of 1,500 of us in attendance. We were all given a lanyard, a show catalog, and a unique logo-printed reusable bag. I created a Tiktok video of the day, which you can see here.

Overall it was a good day filled with positive energy. Although, It would’ve been a great treat if they found a way for all of us in attendance to engage in an icebreaker to share our stories during our break.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my experience. 

Till next time,

Lots of love

Sasha