In the company of successful women

Jessica Huie (in white) and Foluke Akinlose (far right) with Natasha Faith and Semhal Zemikael of La Diosa

On Monday 16th November, Pearson plc played host to the 2009 Precious Awards. The ceremony which celebrates the achievements of women of colour in business and in the workplace was created by media professional Foluke Akinlose.

Read our interview with Foluke Akinlose

The awards this year coincided with the 10 years of another one of Foluke’s creative businesses, Precious Online, the magazine for women of colour; and the guests, mainly female, were dressed to impress. The mood was joyful and buoyant. When I arrived, women were busy acknowledging peers and making new connections – “It’s a nice event to network and to support what these great women are doing” said Esther Kissiedu, Communications Assistant at the Financial Times.

Soon we were ushered in the main room to be greeted by our hosts for the night: Jessica Huie, founder of Colorblind Cards and of JH Public Relations – herself winner of two Precious Awards in 2007 for “Best Business” and “Entrepreneur of the Year”; and leading life coach and motivational speaker Rasheed Olagunru. They started the proceedings with a foreword from Gordon Brown: “the real heroes are all those BAME women who have blazed the trail and whose successes you are honouring this evening”.

Then it was on to the real stars of the evening: ambitious black and Asian women who had built successful businesses in fields as diverse as fashion, beauty, media, lifestyle, public relations, service and even construction.  Winners were selected by 4 judges: Joy Nichols MBE; Sandra Kerr, National Director for Race for Opportunity; Desiree Fraser of Fraser James Associated Ltd and Abu Bundu-Kamara, the UK diversity Manager for Pearson.

Lola Atkins of EWAV Works and Abenaa Pokuaa of Ohema Ohene (l to r)

Lola Atkins – pictured above, of EWAW Works  was one of the winners. She took the award for Ethical Business of the year. She gave an emotional speech, thanking her business partner but also highlighting that success doesn’t come without hard work. It is a message that was often repeated during the night. Amaka Olateju of Wuchi by Maks, winner of the Online Business of the Year award, recognised that “you can achieve anything but you have to work hard at it”. Vanessa Hutchinson, winner of the Best Business award for her café-bistro Mahoe Café, recounted that “every minute” of her entrepreneurial journey she was “screaming for help”.  Ambition, vision but also support from their peers is what kept them going, as designer duo La Diosa pointed out. Winners of the Precious Entrepreneurs of the year in 2008, they brought Foluke Akinlose, founder of the Awards to the stage, to thank her for her continuous support and nurturing.

So what’s next for the nominees and winners of the awards? Use this prize to increase brand awareness and connect with big businesses; strive for sustainability and most importantly give back. Give back and inspire the younger generation such as Monet, daughter of Colordblind Cards CEO Jessica Huie, who attended the event and proudly presented an award; a moment that perfectly sums up and symbolizes what the Precious Awards aim to achieve.

Jenni Asiama and Vanessa Hutchinson (l to r)

For a full list of the winners, please visit the official website for the Precious Awards

Read our full interview with one of the nominees, Joanne Crossley of FairEssentials

One Response to “In the company of successful women”

• Fantastic! Thank you so much for such a lovely review that really captures the essence of the evening. x

  Foluke Akinlose says
  November 23, 2009 at 11:40 pm