Editor’s Letter
Welcome to a very special issue…
For October, we focus on the industry which is expected to be worth a stellar £79.8bn by 2024 in the U.K. alone - entertainment. Covergirl Ella Balinska is an inspiration to the next generation of female actresses with her humble demeanour and her drive to keep learning, head to page 29 to read about the young star. Our second covergirl Nikki Makeup is usually behind the camera painting the faces of the likes of Kim Kardashian to our very own covergirl Ella, turn to page 106 for her four-page-spread. Our third covergirl Peace Hyde who heads Forbes Africa’s digital media division and has a passion for improving the quality of education in Africa, talks about the industry and growing up in London on page 75.
Finally, we chose an amazing duo from our ‘Become A Covergirl’ opportunity that we ran back in July as our fourth cover girls. Their names are Anna and Lydia who co-founded the contemporary bag line Tiba + Marl. You can find their cover story on page 45.
Our fifth and final cover compromises of 32 inspiring women of colour who make up to be philanthropists, artists, doctors and financiers, just to name a few. Our 32 cover girls are from five countries and a handful of cities across the globe. We asked them to write a letter to their younger selves for our most dynamic campaign yet. Turn to page 40 to read the powerful 34-page spread.
The women we feature always express their gratitude and how greatly honoured they are to be included in WOTC, but I often wonder if they know that I also feel the same. That I also feel honoured to have the opportunity to speak to them and tell their stories. I’m never after the breaking news, which I’m sure is evident now. I want to dig deep. I want to find out why our women started doing what they do and why they still do it. It’s easy to applaud success once you’ve made it (whatever that personally means for you) however, I like to applaud the journey it took to get there. I think that’s why this campaign is quite so special and very important for the next generation of female leaders especially. It’s easy to forget where you came from. I like to remind myself a lot. So, I also wanted to write a letter to me. It’s addressed to myself right before my 18th birthday where I was at the height of very poor decision making.
Dear Phadria,
I wish you knew your worth.
I wish you understood that your value, your identity isn’t in a guy and how he views you.
What really matters is how you view yourself.
I want you to know that no one is going to save you. You think they are but that ‘knight in shining armour’, is actually you.
I know you have no idea what you want to do with your life, that’s OK. You would have never been able to see yourself as an Editor telling the stories of the most compelling women to hundreds of thousands of women across the world, and guess what, it’s just the beginning.
Think more. A lot more. It will stop you from acting on emotion.
Continue to endure life, it’s always going to be a fight. You wouldn’t want it any other way, trust me.
Oh, and I know you don’t know your worth right now and it will take a few years, but the father figure you’ve always needed is coming soon and he will teach you all about it. Once he does, never forget it. You’re going to need to teach others too.
Love
