“You can’t empower women without listening to their stories.” – Gloria Steinem

Hi, I’m Aprileen, a Trinidadian British black woman living in London, and I Welcome you to Pursuit!  A (Our) collective for Women of Colour in the UK and Globally.

I have started this collective to highlight the incredible career stories of Women of Colour.  To create a space where women who look like me, who look like You, can come together to Pursue.Build.Create their careers and lives outside of their careers. A place where we can feel motivated, encouraged and empowered by sharing our stories and hearing those of our peers and idols/predecessors.

A few months into a role at a Luxury Retail brand, I was asked to speak at an event. A young lady approached me and said, “It’s great that I’ve met you. Now I know that it’s possible to get a job other than in the store at places like that.” I asked her why she thought this. She said, “I don’t even see people or women who look like you, with your hair, in senior positions at brand like that. Or most places.”  

I decided to change the narrative and show her that it is entirely possible.

Pursuit also exists to provide opportunities to give back to the community.  My mother has instilled the importance of giving back within me, she was always giving away to children’s home, whether it was clothing or food. She took our first pay checks to contribute towards charities. Pursuit will, in the future, curate events to provide opportunities for the Collective to give back to society, particularly the next generation of incredible women of colour.

Pursuit has been inspired by the stories of Bozooma St. John, Mindy Kaling, Elaine Welteroth and Myleik Teele. Strong, independent, courageous women from diverse ethnic heritages whose stories have personally impacted me.  It’s important, now more than ever, that young Women see stories of women who look like them, and come from the same places as them, doing extraordinary things in their careers and their lives. It’s important to let them know that their goals and dreams are possible and there are Women of Colour who want to show them how.

I hope that when you leave these pages, you leave with a sense of being full, a sense of being empowered and a sense of recognising the stories of each of these women within yourself.

Get to know the Women and the Pursuit journey more in the Journal.

Pursuit Journal