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Woman of the Year Nominees
Vannessa Amadi, Founder of VA: PR
PR guru Vannessa Amadi has been one hell of a ride since launching her own PR company, VA: PR, back in 2006. The one-woman juggernaut worked with the late, great Whitney Houston from 2007 up till her death and can count high-profile names including Ciara, Usher, Estelle, Ne-Yo, Destiny’s Child, Kelly Osborne, and Nigerian stars Genevieve Nnaji and D'banj as clients.
Vannessa’s trajectory has by her own admission been something of a surprise: The former Middlesex University Computer Science student didn’t harbour any childhood ambitions to work in PR. It was while interning for the MOBO Awards during her student days that Vannessa’s potential in PR was spotted by the event’s founder, Kanya King, who quickly snapped her up.
The rest, as they say, is history and after rising through the MOBO ranks, Vannessa went onto work for leading UK PR agency, Outside, before taking the plunge and setting up VA: PR.
While her success has been impressive, Vannessa’s journey hasn’t been without challenges: The mother of two battled Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2006, happily beating the cancer of the lymphatic system after gruelling treatment.
Despite all her high-level endorsements, what Vanessa would like to be remembered for most is her love of God. She told Pulse Nigeria: “I put God in everything I do because I'm very grateful to him for being here. [...]. So I hope that when I'm no longer here people can say that was someone that loved the Lord and someone that was really grateful to God for her life.”
Toni-Blaze, Editor In Chief at Wonderland Magazine
Toni-Blaze caught the fashion bug early. Her grandmother owned a tailoring business and a young Toni-Blaze found herself helping her mum and grandmother in tailoring and designing.
Fast forward to 2021 and the Londoner, who was born to Nigerian parents in the 90s, is now editor-in-chief of Wonderland Magazine – a London-based bi-monthly magazine dedicated to fashion and lifestyle.
Her role as editor-in-chief has seen Toni-Blaze adorn the Front Row of seating – or ‘FROW’ as it’s known in the biz – at fashion weeks around the world, including the big four: Paris, Milan, London, and New York.
Working with A-listers like Lupita Nyong'o, Jorja Smith, Mary J. Blige, and Camila Cabello, it’s only a matter of time before you become one yourself and Toni-Blaze has garnered 20.9k followers (and counting) on Instagram for her unique style.
She has also become a member of the British Fashion Council's diversity and inclusion steering committee – something which Toni-Blaze has long been an advocate for within the industry, having attended the London College Of Fashion and Central Saint Martins where she was the only person of colour in a class of circa 20 students.
Toni-Blaze’s fame, however, hasn’t inhibited her ability to have a giggle and remain astonishingly humble: She still gets genuinely excited about fashion, making those around her feel the same way. “I love that fashion can provide a means of escapism for the individual, it’s aspirational. I love that as a creative I am able to create images people can relate to or aspire to be,” she revealed to Forbes.
Millie Kendall MBE, CEO, The British Beauty Council
Beauty visionary, Millie Kendall, needs little introduction to WOTC readers having graced our cover not once but twice.
And for good reason: The mother of two, who has been awarded an honour from the Queen for services to the cosmetics industry, co-founded the British Beauty Council – a non-profit organisation that aims to support a successful, innovative, and inclusive British beauty industry – in 2018.
The mastermind behind the British Beauty Council that’s on a mission to make those with power take beauty seriously – after all the industry is big business employing an estimated one million people and contributing an estimated £24.8 billion to the UK economy – founded and created Ruby & Millie, in 1997 with make-up artist Ruby Hammer. The make-up brand was ahead of its time with its clear packaged, wind-up lip glosses and cheek tints.
Millie is currently one-half of BeautyMart, alongside Anna-Marie Solowij. The retail and online beauty concept brings together brands from across the world to offer shoppers a carefully curated edit of tried and tested personal favourites encompassing all budgets.
Millie has also been instrumental in the success of cult brands including Aveda, Shu Uemura, Aveda, Tweezerman, and L’Occitane.
Not bad for a girl who left school at the tender age of 15 to be a shampoo girl at Toni & Guy…
Naomi Oni, Public Figure
Close to a decade ago, Londoner Naomi Oni was walking home from work when she became the victim of an acid attack.
Corrosive acid had been thrown on her face and body following a shift working in Victoria’s Secret at Westfield Stratford City – and, in a shocking turn of events, the assailant, disguised in a veil, turned out to be Naomi’s old schoolmate, Mary Konye.
Naomi lost her hair and eyelashes in the attack and required skin graft surgery to cover her burns.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that such an event would have left Naomi, now 29, embittered and numb with rage. Not so.
Nine years on, Naomi still bears physical scars but has forgiven her attacker and works tirelessly to raise awareness of acid attacks – which have almost doubled in the UK in the past 10 years. According to the charity Acid Survivors Trust International, the UK currently has the highest reported number of acid attacks in the world.
Naomi is not afraid to speak out and demand change: She has called on the government to tighten regulations on the sale of liquids like bleach and has even featured in her own BBC documentary titled Acid Attack: My Story.
The activist has built a strong following of supporters during her recovery, and today is frequently seen as a public speaker covering topics acid attack awareness, overcoming adversity, and body confidence. Against all the odds, she is smiling and living again.