Bozoma! Bozoma! Bozoma!
Lol for those of you from an African background know when your mum calls your name over and over like that, it usually spells trouble.
But this time, it’s good trouble.
I had the pleasure of attending Bozoma Saint John’s workshop earlier in the month in my city, London.
I remember when she announced that she was going on tour for the Badass Workshop and I saw London. I was like “Hell yeahhh, I’m going to be there no matter what and how much it costs.” My biggest regret was perhaps not getting a VIP ticket to have a 1:1 with the Queen herself.
But if you don’t know Bozoma Saint John, you’re clearly living under a rock. She’s a Hall of Fame Marketer with household names like Netflix, Uber, Apple Music, Endeavour and PepsiCo under her belt. She’s also the Founder of The Badass Workshop which literally catapults women to living full and unapologetic lives. Like literally. She’s also the author of The Urgent Life (which I’ve read and is featured on the Motty’s Must Haves, detailing her journey of loss and survival). Her résumé goes on…
She also recently joined the Real Housewives club! Housewives fan, where we at?!! — Real Housewives of Beverly Hills to be precise.
And amongst her many other accolades which time would fail me…she’s most importantly Mum-in-Chief to Lael.
I’ve been following her for a while — ever since she joined Netflix in 2020 as Chief Marketing Officer. As an ambitious Black woman, I was inspired by her journey to leading one of the most coveted entertainment companies in the world. We already know there aren’t too many of us at the top so every woman we see taking up space at that level is a cause for celebration.
And what I love about Bozoma is that she isn’t your typical Black female executive at the top who’s trying to fit in and play the game. Bozoma is so unapologetically herself; proudly fusing her Ghanaian and American heritage; rocking her bold hairstyles and slaying in her colourful and unique outfits. Did you see her RHOBH reunion look?
So for someone like myself who struggles with fitting in, Bozoma’s unapologetic confidence and audacity to fit out drew me.
Fast forward to The Badass Workshop Event in March, I knew it was going to be great but I wasn’t too sure if it was going to be another motivational, self-help, make you feel good session.
But girlll I was impressed and beyond.
Walking into the event room you could feel the energy from tons of ambitious, beautiful, strong, resilient women ready to grab every word that came out of Boz’s mouth.
The theme of the event was Carpe Omnia which is a Latin word for seizing everything. Bozoma talked about intentionally plucking what it is you want from life, going after what it is you want, unapologetically owning every ounce of you, living a FULL life (choosing to keep showing up and doing what makes you feel free no matter what) and the most important lesson: following your intuition.
“The more you listen to your intuition, the louder it gets. You cannot ask other people about your life,” she echoes.
She recounts different decisions she had to make throughout her life, whether it was choosing to upend her comfortable life in New York after her husband’s passing and move to LA only to land a juicy job with Beats and Dr Dre, or making the choice to leave Netflix when it was the mountaintop job, or even the decision to join The Real Housewives club. There’s always been voices – from both naysayers and well wishes. She pointed out that some voices are good; they mean well, they love you and want to see you comfortable. But you can’t let their good intentions stop you from doing what you feel is right.
She elaborated on how you betray yourself everytime you hush that inner voice, recounting how she’s always seen the negative impacts of not listening to her intuition, so now it’s her guiding force.
For those who are indecisive and unsure of what decision to make, and at crossroads, Bozoma has a WORD.
“If you don’t know what to do, SIT STILL,” she asserts.
So often we’re so hasty to make a decision. We live in an “instant” age; instant messaging, instant food, instant coffee…everything’s quick. And while it’s made life easier for us, it’s easy for us to dive into what is not meant for us and land in hot soup.
So whenever the noise is so loud; everyone and their mum piping in your ears on what to do or what not to do.
Take a minute. It may be hours, days, maybe months. Silence that noise outside and look inwards. What is your gut telling you? What is that still small voice, I call the Holy-Spirit, telling you?
As the event draws to a close, Bozoma ties the bow neatly into intentionally going after what it is you want; that thing that sets your soul on fire re-echoing the key principles of her book — The Urgent Life.
For Bozoma, she’s not preoccupied with the fear of dying or fearful of the ‘when’ or ‘how’ but she’s more concerned about the width of her life rather than the length — living a FULL life maximising every single potential and destiny meant for her. Whew!
Then she drops a mighty gem…
“Destiny is a covenant. It’s not automatic. You have to take some steps. Your destiny can move if you don’t move,” she says.
It was a whole lot of “hmmm and oooh” in the room after that statement.
“Live the width of your life not the length. I refuse to be afraid of what time I go,” she affirms.
“What are the fears stopping you from living a wild life?” she asks
Lastly, she wraps up with the importance of being your biggest cheerleader especially in the work world, honing in on her experience of taking up space in corporate America even if it made folks uncomfortable.
She speaks out against “being humble” alluding to it dimming your light. “Remove the we and stand on I — nobody will know if you don’t shout out your work,” she says.
“Think about the reputation you want and tell people that”
What an event. What bold statements. What an inspiring session. — “If you don’t know what to do, sit still.“
