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00:00All right, I am seated with Tola Akerele, the Director General, National Theatre.
00:17How are you doing?
00:18I'm great.
00:19Great to be here.
00:20Great to have you.
00:22All right, so we're looking at empowering women in art, entertainment, and lifestyle.
00:26So to start with, how can industry leaders ensure equitable representation and compensation
00:31for women in creative economy?
00:35I think sometimes it's a bit of a challenge because women are just so underrepresented.
00:40But I think we as women also have to have our own voice, we have to gather ourselves
00:45and make ourselves heard to some extent.
00:47I think we need more he-for-she's as well, who can actually advance the cause.
00:53Women on merit were incredible, were amazing, but we just don't always blow our own trumpet.
01:00So I think we've got to learn to do that a bit more and to make the noise that the men
01:03are so easily able to make.
01:05But in terms of the talent, the skills, we're more than equipped to take on positions and
01:14roles and run businesses.
01:16But I think our stories are not often heard enough.
01:19All right, so women often lack access to funding and resources.
01:23So to help them during the production process of their art and creativity, what innovative
01:28financing or partnership deals can help address this?
01:32I think one thing that's always helpful is to actually have good financial literacy,
01:36understanding what it means to, when you have a business, we set up a lot of business on
01:40a small scale, but understanding what it means to scale up, understanding what it means to
01:44have real impact creating jobs.
01:46So just the information that will take us from where we are now to the next level.
01:52And we're in the world of information now.
01:54Google is there, Google is your friend.
01:57So there's so many ways in which you can actually just get information.
02:00So I think we have to be quite deliberate as women in looking for that information and
02:04using it to advance our businesses, all the things we want to do.
02:08All right, so how do mentorship and networking play a role in bridging resource gaps for
02:14creative women?
02:16I think mentorship and network plays a humongous gap.
02:24When I first started out, I didn't have what we have now.
02:27This month has been absolutely incredible.
02:29I've done so many talks already, sharing my own experience.
02:33And if I'd had this then, I think it would have been so helpful to me and all the mistakes,
02:37you kind of save yourself mistakes when you have mentors on holding your hand, they can
02:41speak to you from their own experience and then networking as well.
02:45I think that that kind of opportunity for them to be open and honest about their challenges
02:49but being real about their experiences is also amazing, that platform you can give women.
02:55So I think this event is such a wonderful platform for that, hearing from women and
03:05the networking part of it, and hopefully meeting women that can actually become mentors as
03:09well.
03:10So I think it's invaluable.
03:12So what strategies can women use to turn their creative talent into sustainable business
03:19learning?
03:21I think we have to learn to understand that our hobbies can become businesses, but we
03:28have to understand value, the value of ourselves, the time we put in.
03:32We have to start, you know, when we charge, we have to charge with the value of your input.
03:38Sometimes we don't value ourselves enough.
03:40So I think understanding that is very, very big, and when you start understanding that
03:43people then start looking at you with value, and they can then move to that next level.
03:48So how do women in art and entertainment drive cultural narratives that challenge stereotypes
03:56rather, and foster inclusiveness?
03:59I think women have so many stories to tell.
04:02I think our superpower is the fact that we're so able to multitask so easily, a lot of men
04:06can't do.
04:08We go through so much, we stay silent, but it's important that we speak out.
04:12One of the things I'm really passionate about at the National Theatre is really getting
04:18some of our literature on stage.
04:20We have amazing literature, so many amazing female writers.
04:23How can we get some of those stories out, so people can actually hear them and see them
04:27in the performing arts space?
04:30How can women, more classically, what are the most critical changes needed to foster
04:37a more equitable education system for women in art, entertainment, and lifestyle?
04:42I think we need to try and get more women at the top.
04:45Across everything, we look at politics now, we see what's happening in the media and the
04:49news, and we can see that even in the Senate that they're talking about, there's only like
04:533% of women, which is outrageous in this country.
04:56Women are such a formidable force.
04:58We need to be in places where decisions are being made, so we can actually impact those
05:02decisions, and work for women as well.
05:05Thank you so much.
05:07It's nice having you.