Awen Woman of the Month - March 2021

This International Women's Day, I am launching the first in a regular series, "Awen's Woman of the Month". Through Awen Coaching, I want to ensure the women I work with feel empowered, and my first Woman of the Month certainly shares this desire. Founder & Creative Director of Gritty Pearl Productions and Gritty Talent, the incredible Mel Rodrigues, tells us how travelling the world making TV for the BBC and curating TEDxBristol led her to #ChoosingToChallenge what a media-tech entrepreneur looks like! I think you’re going to really like this!

Who is Mel Rodrigues? 

Good question! Well, I’m changing all the time, but right now, I’m a Bristol-based, Midlands born media-tech entrepreneur. Also a connector, creator and gentle mischief maker! Right now, I’m on a mission to improve diversity and inclusion in my former profession, the TV industry.

I’ve always loved storytelling, but for the last five years, I became really interested in nurturing new creative talent and understanding how uneven and inaccessible some opportunities in media can be. I took on running TEDxBristol (Bristol’s TED talks) in 2015 to have a crack at some of these issues via our grass-roots activities. 

It’s been a baptism of fire, but I’ve learnt so much about what motivates people to create change, about running a team and working with people from very different backgrounds and perspectives. It gave me the inspiration and courage to leave my secure day job at the BBC and start my own company, Gritty Talent.

I’m also puppy-mamma to Mabel the cockerpoo, doting auntie to various nieces, nephews and godchildren, and the eldest of four sisters. I was raised in a small town called Redditch but moved to Bristol in the late ’90s for Uni. Since then, I’ve been around the world making TV and working on a range of media projects, but Bristol became my adopted home about a decade ago.

I’m from a mixed heritage family. My dad is a Kenyan born Goan, an engineer and real self-made man, having moved to the UK about 50 years ago now! My mum is a white British woman, a real creative – a talented artist and former librarian. It didn’t occur to me much until recently, but this collision of cultures, worldviews, arts and sciences has definitely impacted who Mel is. I’m a combination of all these things and experiences and still evolving!

What are your personal values, and how do they shine in your work?

I really value kindness, humour, optimism, and collaborative work.

All these things probably interlink, but taking kindness and humour first, given the year we’ve all just come through, I think I would have cracked if I hadn’t benefited from a lot of kindness and good humour. It’s the glue that keeps us going when things feel bleak and difficult. I also think kindness and humour are essential and helpful business values – especially when you are running a startup!

It’s scary to start up on your own, and so many things can and do wrong. But it is through the generosity and wisdom of others that I have been able to achieve a really great first year at Gritty Talent. Colleagues have given up their time to help me fill in grant applications; others have shared their pearls of wisdom about the holes you can fall down when starting out in tech – and how to jump over them! And my new team has definitely humoured me! I don’t have all the answers. Sometimes things go a bit pear-shaped. But being able to laugh at ourselves, learn and wear it lightly has been a great boon during this strange year of remote working and lockdown.

I guess this is also why I value collaboration so much – I don’t think any of us will ever do our best work alone. Other people’s perspectives and insights are not only really interesting; they help you build better products and understand audiences and customers beyond your bubble. 

Finally, the need for optimism… I launched Gritty Talent about 10 weeks before we locked down. We’d onboarded our first cohort of 10 ‘Gritty’s’ – and we’d planned lots of face to face mentoring, workshops and pitching… then the pandemic happened! The business plan went out the window. After a bit of a meltdown, I took some rest, paused to think things through, then picked myself up off the floor and decided I’d have a crack at using technology to do the work instead.

Optimism and confidence aren’t automatic – you need to nurture them. They grow as you try stuff, make mistakes and learn new things. But we need to cultivate this mindset if we want to do things better. And I think the world needs a bit of unbridled optimism right now! Yes, things are hard, but we’ll find ways through. 

How do you make a positive impact on the lives of women?

Making a positive impact on the lives of women has become a real conscious activity over the last few years, as so much of my work involves giving a platform to women and non-binary people whose voices and stories have not been listened to or championed in the mainstream. 

At Gritty Talent, we are particularly keen to work with women over 40 for on-screen TV roles. How have we got to a place whereby, with the exception of a few national treasures, real women from all walks of life aged over 40 seem almost invisible on TV?

I always try to think of the women and girls accessing our content and services – how does it make them feel about themselves? What messages are we sending to them via the media about how society views and values them?

My experience receiving positive impact from other women has really shaped my view on this. I am lucky to have had several really dynamic bosses and colleagues who have gone above and beyond to support me (with no gain or agenda for themselves). I think most women who receive this type of support feel an instinctive duty to pay it forward. Our lives and opportunities can only improve if we are all part of the change. I would often try to work with more junior colleagues at the BBC to give constructive feedback, help with preparation for job interviews, or offer a friendly ear. I also do regular mentoring.

My one bugbear with this is that supporting emerging talent – whatever their gender – is often hidden work that doesn’t get rewarded or incentivised. I’ve met some fantastic men who engage in this work, but my experience has been that it is women who tend to do the majority of talent nurturing within teams and companies. If we are going to have meaningful equality at work, and if the next generation is going to be equipped with all the skills and insights they need to do their best work – then it is everyone’s job to mentor and positively impact the women and early careers people that they work and connect with.

Why do you think it is important to create equal opportunities?

Really “equal opportunities” are still very hard to come by! So before we even try to create them, we have to understand all the nuanced factors and circumstances that lead to opportunities being uneven and inaccessible to women.

I’ve observed first-hand that legislation isn’t enough. Behaviour change and shifts in attitudes take time. My mum’s generation was ‘allowed’ into the workplace but not expected or encouraged to develop their skills and rise through the ranks. Part-time and flexible work was rarely an option. It’s better now, but the gender pay gap and lack of women in C-suite roles show we have more to do.

My generation entering the workplace 20 years ago had access to a whole range of amazing opportunities in education, careers and financial freedom, but we still hit roadblocks and discrimination. I remember being aged 27 and experiencing incredible misogyny from the cameraman, who refused to afford me the same respect as he would a male director. I decided never to book him for a film shoot again.

As I got older and rose through the ranks, I realised that it’s not enough to comply with equality policies – you have to be actively anti-discriminatory and enabling. It’s in your everyday behaviour, language and decision making.

An equal opportunity is one where a woman (or a person of colour, a disabled person, an LGBTQ person, an elderly or young person etc.) feels able to take it up without fear of being discriminated against, bullied or shunned.

So we not only have to create opportunities that are accessible to all, we need to work hard to ensure that at every step of the way we don’t lose people from minority groups through sometimes invisible barriers and embedded cultures which can prevent them from thriving and progressing.

This International Women's Day theme is #ChooseToChallenge. What have you chosen to challenge? (career & life)

At the moment, I think the main thing I’m challenging is what a tech entrepreneur looks and sounds like! Most tech founders are young men. Most CEOs are middle-aged, middle-class white men. The business culture is high-octane and very competitive. 

I’m very aware of the privilege that I have as a white in appearance, middle class and educated woman, but I am still somewhat of a rarity in these circles. I speak and look differently, and I am definitely trying to operate by those values of kindness and collaboration, which might bemuse some on the circuit!

Being a woman aged over 40 starting an ambitious business is also a choice that challenges others. Some people still seem to be stuck with the rather antiquated view that a woman in her 30’s and 40’s should be primarily focused on finding a partner, getting married and raising children. These are things I’d definitely like in my life, but I challenge the notion that I am not absolutely credible, brilliant and valid as I am right now: single, puppy mamma and the leader of a high growth tech company that is disrupting the TV talent world. 

Where can people find out more about you and your work?

Head to grittytalent.tv for all the info about the inclusive tech and creative talent work!

Also, we are currently on the look-out for ‘gritty talent’ – so if you or someone you know has a passion or a skill you want to share, but you don’t see someone like you in the media often – we want to hear from you!

I’m a regular Twitterer, so follow me @MelRodrigues01 or on LinkedIn. I’d be happy to connect with anyone interested in TV, diversity and inclusive tech development.

Finally, keep an eye on all the Gritty socials for big announcements about when the app launches and how you can get involved @GrittyTalent

I'm sure you'll agree that Mel has an incredible story and most certainly #ChoosesToChallenge. Her values and how she champions women through her work are inspiring and I feel very lucky to have her as part of my #FemaleFounders community.

Thank you, Bethany

Founder | Awen Coaching