May Recap
Power Circles, Women in The Workplace, and a Chick - Lit Era?
If I say, I can’t believe it’s about to be half way through the year, I have a sneaky suspicion that many of you will agree with me. Time refuses to tarry. Despite my many pleas for it to do so. I asked my mentor, the other day how she manages to escape this feeling of not having enough time, and her direct response was “organisation and cut throat prioritisation.” I was grateful for her honest answer. She went on to expatiate, with something I likened to what Oliver Burke echoed in his book, Four Thousand Weeks, there will always be more and more to do, what will make the key difference is prioritizing what matters and if I may add, when. I’m also reminded, now, of Warren Buffet’s two-lists prioritisation approach where saying no, is just as important as saying yes. If you’ve never heard of this, the idea is to write down 25 things you want to do in a given time frame, then circle the top 5, zero in with laser focus on these and ditch the rest. Once again, ruthless prioritisation.
Mid-year, could be an inflection point, a time to pause check in and see if one needs to steer in a completely new direction or to simply adjust and course correct. It’s also a time for our first interview with a creative, excited about that and a podcast chat about one of my favourite topics, WOMEN.
Highlights
Can Feminism Be African? - Interview with Minna Salami
GAIA Open Day - Getting a glimpse of GAIA community of leadership, excellence, connection, and purpose.
McKinsey Women In the Workplace 2025 Report
My Discovery List - Discover new books, ideas, articles, substacks, music, movies and podcasts, through a curated list.
Can Feminism Be African? - Interview with Minna Salami
Minna Salami is an intellectual, who is affable and highly intelligent. When I sat on a panel discussion at her book reading earlier this year, I was pleasantly surprised at her wit and ease of language (not easy to do with academic subjects). Her second book, Can Feminism be African? A Most Paradoxical Question so far has not disappointed. I was lucky enough to be able to interview her for the Big W, which you can read here. If you are curious about reading her work you can start at her award winning blog MsAfropolitan or buy her latest book here.
A Glimpse into GAIA’s Powerful Community of Women
One mid-May Saturday, GAIA opened its doors to women executives and decision-makers to come and hear directly from us and members why a community of like minded women is essential for navigating your professional career, especially at this level of leadership. Open days like this are special, because they offer an opportunity to pause and imagine what’s possible when women gather intentionally. Women still do not have enough access to capital, networks or strategic support systems that power success. Networks like GAIA are changing that.
A lot of what I do at GAIA is in a way parallel to to what I try to do here at Her Journal, giving visibility to women leaders (female managers), and sharing leveraging peer to peer mentorship for insights and learnings so that they can learn from this and use the learnings to take their very next step in their leadership journey.
GAIA x McKinsey Women In the Workplace Presentation
I get happy when I can curate impactful and key events like this at work, especially when it’s with great partners, like McKinsey. I’m thankful to the McKinsey team I worked with, across timelines and crazy flight schedules, for this event. In particular, Mayowa Kuyoro, without which this event would not be possible. Women in the Workplace Report is an annual report McKinsey in collaboration with LeanIn.Org releases on the state and representation of women in the workplace, taking a critical look at the status quo, and then proffering solutions for moving forward. For the first time ever McKinsey, has expanded their research and report to three new countries Nigeria, Kenya and India. Data like this is salient, because often we have anecdotal evidence of issues with the pipeline, but that doesn’t have the clarity and precision of data, which can mean wasted resources, wrong focus, and inadequate solutions. This report helps to paint a clearer picture, which deepens our understand of women representation in the workforce. Further more it can be used to take action, whether at a national, organisational or even individual level. Read the report here.
A Chick-Lit Era?
I am reading more fictional books than planned this year and this month I somehow managed to read a disproportionate amount of chick-lit. I don’t know why, but it started with Chimamanda’s Dream Count. Despite my love of all things relationship, I don’t know if I enjoy this genre of writing, except for memoirs, which is partly why I enjoyed Dolly Alderton’s book the most (it was also funny). The age of the protagonist is also be a factor. I was particularly fond of Glynnis MacNicol’s I Am Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself and have a feeling I will like Miranda July’s All Fours, both ‘protagonists’ are older than 40.
My Discovery List
Discover new music, podcasts, books, articles and brands through a curated list, that shares the best of my internet scrolling and my musings.
Articles
Where Have All My Deep Male Friendships Gone? - Male loneliness is on the rise, here’s a take on why.
Are women behind in everything? - Gender stats on mobile technology in Africa.
Science and Religion Can Co Exist - An scientist’s take on faith, religion and knowledge, with stunning pictures of the night sky and a quote that makes the island both a physical space and metaphorical allegory for rest.
The world is moving at much too fast a pace: everybody is plugged in 24/7, everything is rush rush rush. The island in the summer is a place where we can unplug, slow down, listen to ourselves think. - Alan Lightman
Substacks
My friends are on Substack! This is me shamelessly plugging them in.
One of my best friends, has recently joined Substack and I hope she doesn’t get mad for me sharing her very new Substack, Plants and Machines, but I think it’s too important a conversation to be missed. Lotte is a children’s screen writer who tells stories that help children make sense of their world. Her new Substack explores the future of childhood, children’s education, nature, and technology. I’m very excited to see where this goes.
, is a friend and relationship coach I met here in Lagos, who shares a similar passion for reading and interest in a wide range of subjects. After one of our lengthy catch-ups, where I may have tried to convince her to join Substack, Natasha, who has been writing for years and has been featured in The Stylist, Women Health, and Newsweek, has recently started a Substack where she talks about ‘love, loss, divorce, desire,’ with a focus on South Asian women and also the best recommendations in town! I’m currently listening to a podcast on happiness she recommended. You can read her last post here:
My friend Temidire Alesh is writing a ‘collection of stories honoring the generosity and warmth of people she’s been lucky to encounter during her travels across the world'. Read her collection here:
Books
I’m reading more books than usual, because I’m reading more fictional books. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not as I still prefer non-fiction. I’ve also now bought 29 books this year *covers eyes*
Fifty Sounds, Polly Barton - This is a book I would highly recommend and that deserves more affection and praise than I can give. Though I given it a lot, I’m still slightly resentful that I had to whip out a dictionary on several occasions and that the style of writing forced my brain to mentally exercise. As a writer, I appreciate the mastery of the style in which Barton has written this. By writing about language in a way that is enmeshed with her own personal experience, Barton forces you to experience a front row seat view of her challenges, and invites you to witness how and why moving to another country with a completely different language and culture can fundamentally shift your core. This is book is a study and homage to language and as one review said “crowded with intelligence”.
Dream Count, Chimamanda Adichie- Gozie - I didn’t have any expectations for this book despite the mixed reviews, people were either raving about it or disappointed with it. I simply wanted to read it because CAG wrote it. She’s a brilliant writer and eloquent speaker. The impact she has made on literature and feminism goes without saying. I found the book simple, which is not necessarily a bad thing, just not to my liking. If I’m honest, I’m more interested in why she wrote the book. I read that writing this book was part of her grieving process after the loss of her mum and a way to rewrite Nafissatou Diallo’s story, both very powerful writing processes. Grief is something, that only the aggrieved can explain. And the journey of grieving, is different for everyone. I find it touching that writing was a part of her own grieving process, and there’s now this book, a token if you will, of remembrance. My only question is why does everyone in this book have dysfunctional relationships?
Table For One, Emma Gannon - I don’t know why I missed this would be a fictional book. I’ve never read any of Gannon’s fictional novels, but have read and really enjoyed her non-fiction books. It was a simple, enjoyable enough, uncomplicated read.
Everything I know About Love, Dolly Alderton - This was my favourite of the chick-lit spree, but I’m biased. I grew up in the suburbs of North London, and went to university in London so in a way some of Dolly’s recollection of her youth was familiar to me. It was witty, amusing and descriptive. I laughed and cringed a lot. Alderton’s use of highly relatable metaphors, makes the book funny, punchy and endearing.
Perfection, Vincenzo Latronico - 10/10 I’m giving this book a rating, because I thought it was that good. Inspired by George Perec’s, 1965 Book, Things, Perfection is an introspection and critique into modern digital culture (and in my opinion on Millennial living).
Movies
Harakiri - Is a 1962, Japanese period drama, about a ronin Samurai, who shows up at the door of a powerful clan asking to commit seppuku. I thought this might be a good movie, based on its critical acclaim and the storyline, but I underestimated how good it would be. A film, that is both intense and humorous in an unexpected way with superb storytelling and alluring cinematography. A highly recommended watch! Streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV+
Slow Down….Breathe