Presence by Naki O

In this special episode, host, Naki Osutei shares a piece she did as part of Voices From the 6, an audio exhibit installed as part of Harbourfront Centre's Kuumba exhibit. Naki's piece, entitled Brokering Blackness, speaks to her journey to building a new kind of presence in the corporate world.

Hear more Voices from the 6: https://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/sandbox/voices/

Production Support: Erin Murray

Podcast Sponsor: 4th Metric Music

Podcast Host: Naki Osutei

This episode is a mirror of the previous one in that it looks at the impacts of location on a professional journey but from a different vantage point. Aidan Sykes of Sony Music, was raised in a middle-class community in Mississauga, Ontario. Listen in to hear how Aidan’s experiences with racism in his own neighbourhood coupled with being perceived as 'not hood enough' from some Black people affected his early journey. Incidentally, Aidan was mentored by Kevin Johnson of Episode 3. And you get to hear the story of how Aidan and host Naki O. met on a Toronto subway.

ADVANCE, Canada’s Black music business collective: https://www.advancemusic.org/

 

Episode 4 Guest: Aiden Sykes, Manager, Artist Marketing, Sony Music Entertainment

 

Production Support: Erin Murray

Eeeiii Nonsense Vocals: Patience Adamu

Podcast Sponsor: 4th Metric Music

Podcast Host: Naki Osutei

In this episode, we talk to Kevin Johnson, CEO of Mediacom who talks about how he hid the fact that he was from a low-income community as a protective strategy in the early days of his career in the advertising industry. It's been said that when a person is 'closeting' an aspect of themselves, there is always a portion of their mental energy dedicated to protecting that secret. This can have implications on their performance and thus their career in the long-term. Listen to Kevin's story as he candidly shares inflection points that helped along his journey to the C-suite.

 

Episode 3 Guest: Kevin Johnson, CEO, Mediacom

Kevin Johnson Articles: https://the-message.ca/2020/02/13/business-as-usual-im-a-ceo-and-the-only-black-person-in-the-room/

 

Production Support: Erin Murray

Eeeiii Nonsense Vocals: Patience Adamu

Podcast Sponsor: 4th Metric Music

Podcast Host: Naki Osutei

If you don't want to be a supertoken, you bring others along the journey with you! 

 

Dean Elizabeth 'Dori' Tunstall, the only Black dean of a faculty of design anywhere in the world, takes us on the journey of an initiative to hire five Black faculty members into the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCADU), a Black cluster hire. We also consider if and how the cluster hire approach could work for corporations and non-academic institutions that want to address racial inequities. With special appearances from Kestin Cornwall, Assistant Professor, OCADU and from Stacy Hylton, Corporate HR Consultant. Interviews taped September 2020.

 

Articles: https://www.ocadu.ca/news/ocad-u-hires-five-new-permanent-faculty-recognition-international-decade-peoples-african

 

Production Support: Erin Murray

Eeeiii Nonsense Vocals: Patience Adamu

Podcast Sponsor: 4th Metric Music

Podcast Host: Naki Osutei

Welcome to the podcast! This episode is the prologue – Naki unpacks what staying Black on Bay Street means to her and gives a sneak peek on what this season has in store. Special Guests include: Ray Williams, Kike Ojo-Thompson, and Helen Tewolde.

 

Production Support: Erin Murray

Eeeiii Nonsense Vocals: Patience Adamu

Podcast Sponsor: 4th Metric Music

Podcast Host: Naki Osutei