Oh, hi there, Sophie Williams is me!
Short Bio:
Sophie Williams is a professional speaker, the Author of Millennial Black & Anti-Racist Ally, TED Speaker (The Glass Cliff – why some leaders aren’t set up for success), the voice behind @OfficialMillennialBlack, and a Racial Equity Consultant (how many multi-hypehnates is too many!?). She is an Ex-Netflix Global leader, and has held the positions of COO and CFO in London Social and Advertising agencies.
As a speaker Sophie regularly delivers keynotes, presentations, workshops and training sessions for businesses such as Apple, Amazon Google, Barclays, the NHS, The Rio Ferdinand Foundation, UK Civil Service, Sky, and Cambridge University; having frank and necessary discussions around race, gender, and the intersection of the two – with a particular focus on Blackness and womaness and their impact on Black women’s lived experiences in UK and US workplaces.
Sophie’s writing has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, Bustle, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Refinery29, Elle, and Grazia.
Before beginning writing, Sophie had a career in advertising, particularly in social agencies, where she has held the positions of COO and CFO.
Would you like to hire me? Would you like me to write something for you? Do you want me to speak on your panel? Or ask me a question I haven’t already answered? Get in touch and I’ll get back to you.
Longer stuff:
Hi! I’m Sophie Williams, a TED Speaker, an Author, and an anti-racism advocate in the UK, who loves thinking and talking about intersectional identities (especially race and gender) and how they shape our experiences of the world. In a previous life I was a, Advertising and Operations specialist with a focus on organic social media.
I am the author of two books. The first – Anti-Racist Ally: An Introduction to Action and Activism is a pocket-sized paperback introduction to allyship at home, work and in your community, published by HQ (Harper Collins) in October 2020, Anti-Racist Ally is available world wide.
My second book is Millennial Black. It’s a much bigger, more in depth look at how Black women’s intersectional identities (Blackness PLUS womanness) shape our experiences of work, the unique challenges we face, and what can be done to make it better. Millennial Black is available as a hardback, ebook and audiobook by HQ (Harper Collins) and was published in April 2021.
My career has been in London’s advertising agencies, starting at M&C Saatchi, where I have worked as a Project Manager, Creative film and photography Producer, Operations Director, and most recently Chief Operating Officer.
In 2019 I left full time employment to set up Blanket Fort – a micro agency providing high quality, bespoke Marketing and Production support to businesses. As Blanket Fort I have worked on marketing campaigns for Sex Education, The End of the F***ing World, and The Crown. You can find some examples of my work here.
I have also worked for Netflix in a full time capacity, working as a Gobal Manager, Production Planning.
I live in London, was born and raised in Birmingham, and lived in Paris for about 3 years. I went to Leeds University, where I studied Theatre and Performance at Bretton Hall.
Would you like to hire me? Would you like me to write something for you? Do you want me to speak on your panel? Or ask me a question I haven’t already answered? Get in touch and I’ll get back to you.
You be good, I love you.
