In this heartfelt Spark & Ignite Your Marketing episode, Beverly Cornell interviews Saskhia Menendez, a transformative voice in the music industry for underrepresented communities. From navigating personal and professional barriers to blazing new trails for inclusivity, Saskhia shares her entrepreneurial spirit, resilience, and the lessons she’s learned.
Three Key Topics Covered:
- Perseverance and Resilience in Challenging Industries: Saskhia opens up about her journey through financial and emotional hardships, sharing how she found strength in community, faith, and music. Learn how to navigate the unique pressures of being an entrepreneur blazing a new trail in uncharted territories.
- Creating Connection and Amplifying Underrepresented Voices: Through her work with initiatives like KeyChange and her efforts to launch a trans charter in the music industry, Saskhia shares actionable insights for entrepreneurs who want to champion diversity and create meaningful change in their industries.
- Staying Aligned with Your Purpose While Building Your Brand: Whether you’re a musician or an entrepreneur, Saskhia’s advice on clarifying your mission, identifying your audience, and staying true to your authentic self will inspire you to connect with your unique voice and build a legacy that matters.
Follow Saskhia:
Saskia Menendez | LinkedIn
Saskhia Menendez – YouTube
Saskhia M | Instagram
Saskhia | Facebook
Transcript:
Beverly:
Did you know that around 21 percent of music artists worldwide are women and the representation of LGBTQIA plus individuals, particularly trans individuals is even way more limited. Our guest today is someone making real strides toward changing these statistics. Hello everyone, and welcome to the Spark and Ignite Your Marketing Podcast And I’m your host, Beverly Cornell. And today I am joined by Saskia Menendez, an inspiring force in the music industry. Saskia’s story is one of courage, resilience, and visionary advocacy. From working as an innovator with KeyChange and serving on boards like The F List Music, to her current efforts to launch a trans charter for the music industry, saskia is breaking barriers and amplifying underrepresented voices. Plus her podcast music industry insights worldwide has become like a real beacon for those pushing for equity and music. Saskia, welcome to the show.
Saskhia:
Thank you, Beverly. That was an awesome introduction. Loved it.
Beverly:
It’s not often I get to speak to someone who is so incredibly interesting. It’s really fun to interview people who are in different areas. I’m not in the music business have like very little exposure to that other than my husband and I met in musical theater. So music’s a big part of our lives. And I think one thing I love about the musical theater space is it’s very welcoming to all people.
Yeah.
Beverly:
I love the idea that you are in this space, pushing it and making it even better.
So
Beverly:
talk a little bit about your journey, like how did you get to this place? Yeah. Your path is so unique. Talk about your path to here and then how music has played a role in that part of it.
Saskhia:
Thank you. Of course I will. Yes. So I started at the age of eight years old. I was going to school at my first school, and I had an amazing music teacher. Music was a massive part of our curriculum. at this time. And I have two deaf parents. My mum’s micro racial, my dad’s English and Spanish, and they’re from the UK. And yeah, they’re deaf, so they couldn’t hear. For me as a child, I had my grandparents, which was amazing because they actually could communicate with me, but it was a real challenge for me to communicate with my parents. So I went to school and they said you’re really good at music. So from then onwards, I won a kind of scholarship to go to, I went to a voice trials, my teacher sent me to a voice trials and I won a scholarship to go to a cathedral school in Oxford, which was where I was born in the UK and happened to sing for one of the best choirs in the world. And that was really that solidified my love for music. It gave me a voice. I was able to be seen, I could fit in. I was part of something that was bigger than me, and it was a group kind of teamwork, but it was all about music, and I love music. I was never really good at academic stuff at school, because obviously I didn’t have that kind of guidance from my parents. I’ve always been a creative outside of the box, for me anyway and I had my grandparents that loved me to bits, but they had their own life and their own things going on, I went to a private school and that happened for, till the age I was like 14, 15, and then I changed schools till I was 17. And that was really great. And I just happened to do music all the way through. So I started music from GCSE and then I did music marketing for my A levels for my, sorry, my degree, sorry, my uni degree, and that was events, music and media management at London Met. So when I was there, I started my own little community and my own little business and I started helping other artists manage music, promoting them, giving them guidance with photo shoots and connecting with other people in the industry, making contacts and making my name. And then I went away and started supporting people. And that’s where I really got into the music industry itself from the education. So then once I got into the music business, I thought this is real thing for me, but it was at a time where there was a lot of decline in the music industry as well with the file sharing, the legal downloading that we had. So the industry was in decline and I thought, okay, maybe this isn’t for me. So then I went into teaching as well. And I did a bit of teaching at a school in Oxford and I was an events manager as well. So I did activities, how the teacher how the students learn English, like the basics and the intermediary stuff, which I loved, but we had a lot of music involved. We’d always go to parties. We’d have great events going on. And then after that, I write, okay, I came to London, moved here. I was a shop manager. Then I moved here to London for a little bit. Cause I thought I can’t really do that normal kind of job. Did a great job. It was good. Okay. But I thought that’s not for me. I have to be a creative. So I went back into the music industry. I did my master’s degree at Tower Yard in marketing, actually. It was international music marketing, which I think is extremely important because it’s about knowing who your audience is, how to reach them in a cost effective way, But who are they and how do you break that down? In small chunks where you can understand, okay, this is who I am as a product or a person. And how do I break that down? In that little funnel that you can get like a sales funnel. I break that down and figure out, okay, who do I appeal to? Who would like me? Who would support me? Whose voices do I need to amplify as well as my own, but also figure out who I need to connect with and hit that all at the end. And understanding that was really important, I think, in music and in any, anything you do in business. I think it’s a management process that everyone should do. And I think it’s really important because it’s helped me a lot to define myself, but to also reach the correct audiences. So that’s where it started for me again. And then I went into key change in F list as a volunteer, picking up people. I could build communities as well as connect with other communities. Share this knowledge and that experience as well as You know, feel like I’m always part of something because I also went into care in children’s home at a younger age. It was away from my parents and a lot when I was younger. So I’ve always wanted to feel part of something. It’s not all about me. It’s about understanding other people, understanding myself, but how do we fit in and how do I reach the right people and connect with them in the right roles?
Beverly:
I love this so much because it speaks to In many ways, I think every entrepreneur’s journey, I think we all are just trying to, and as humans, like we all just trying to figure out who we are, how we serve, like all those things in this life, right? We’re all on our own unique path and with the gifts we’ve been given, whether it’s music or marketing or for me, I think it’s probably storytelling or writing, but how do we. How do we connect to that? And I think there’s a really powerful example in, for me, a couple things. One is I lived in Spain when I was in high school. And until I lived away from my own country and my own language and all those things, I don’t think I really understood what it meant to be an American. Like you have to go away from that for a minute to see it with a whole new set of eyes. And I also think like when we help our entrepreneur clients, we oftentimes, that’s exactly it. Like we see them differently than they see themselves. We help them see themselves. We shine a light on who they are and then how to amplify that to the world. Who’s going to want to be in that light? Who’s going to want to, Participate in that who’s going to resonate with the most right, but really helping them find out who they are. That clarity is so helpful in who you’re going to talk to, where they’re going to be, how the message is going to be delivered, like all the things. And if you’re not clear there as a human, as a business person. It’s so hard to make your mark. So getting clear and having focus from a human perspective, a entrepreneur perspective. And as a musician, I can only imagine how that plays a role in it. So I love that so much. It’s so much a part of who we, what we do with our clients. Very important.
Saskhia:
And it really drills down to your kind of unique selling point as well. What is that? What makes you different? What differentiates you from everybody else is another key point. I think for me it’s okay. I know who I am, but that’s taken me a while to figure that out as well as a product as someone in the industry, because I think you have to find that as well, that little, okay, what do I have? That’s different to everyone else.
Beverly:
So you’re in an industry that’s a beast. Like I feel like the music industry is like its own. What frustrates you about it and how. As it relates to like representation and inclusion, if you had full control. What would you change and what would it look like for you
Saskhia:
in the industry? There is now there’s a lot more authenticity. Should we say there’s more of a spotlight? There’s more social media. There’s more. You can see more. This is more transparent than it used to be. And I think certain people had control back then. We’re now the barriers a lot less than they used to be. So people can see what’s going on. And I think there’s still that tick box exercise. Okay, we’re doing this because we need to look good or we’re going to get funding for this And there’s still a lot of that going on Unfortunately, and I don’t mean to say it in a bad way, but I have personally had problems with that myself And there’s also people discover it to still discover in their selves or understanding who they are and how they fit in and sometimes people can I think another issue is a trust issue because I think you know you’re dealing with lots of different people but you also have to know who are these people and are they authentic or are they with that facade and there’s loads of egos. As well as dealing with all of these different issues. And sometimes people can come for you online, in person. Especially when you’re by yourself. I think, a lot of artists have a little team, or a little group of people, I think. And when you’re by yourself, sometimes that can, okay, how are we going to do this? And how can we ensure that everything is how it should be? Because it’s always going to be resistance to change. Always. And it’s not going to be straightforward. And for me, being a trailblazer is really difficult because firstly, I’m trying to build a lane for other people to follow that they can walk in. They can feel seen. They can feel educated. They can feel understood. They can feel part of something that they’re not at the moment. And I think that’s where we need to get to. We’re trying and we will, but step by step.
Beverly:
Yeah, if they can feel safe, being where they truly are, like that’s like a whole, and I think, I think I love the idea or I heard what you said about like a peek behind the curtain, social media has allowed us to get behind the curtain of the music industry.
Saskhia:
And I think some of these reality shows show you that they should even with these celebrities. Look, even if they’re celebrities, they’re still human beings. They’ve got normal lives and no one’s perfect. And I think this is another issue is okay. Now it’s becoming more authentic in lots of different ways. We just want realness. We want authenticity. We want to see people we can connect with on a daily basis and say, yeah, they’re just like us, or they’re a part of us, or we’ve been through that experience. We can relate to that, or we really want to support that. And I think that’s what’s changed.
Beverly:
So I have some fun questions. And one of the questions I ask occasionally is if you, if your life was a movie, who would play the hero? And what would the main conflict be and how would it be resolved? What would the happy ending
Saskhia:
my happy hero would be God is God. And the reason is God is because I know at the end of the day, God has got me. God has got me this far. I believe in God. God is. been there through my darkest times along with music and that’s how I connected with God, through music. For me that’s really important.
Beverly:
I got chills. I love it so much. So good. Yeah. You’ve had such a unique journey and you are, I think when you blaze your own trail, I feel like you encounter more challenges because there’s other, you’re leading so other people can follow you. So isn’t as hard for them. So talk about a particular challenge that you’ve had that’s really influenced who are you are today.
Saskhia:
Okay, I think sometimes it’s the financial barriers but also it can be a very lonely road. I’ve got my children, they’re not in the industry, they don’t understand. My family, I’ve got some of them, they’re not in the industry and they’re not very supportive. Some of them are, some of them are not. And, It can be a lonely road. It can be a very challenging road along the way, but it makes you stronger and that’s where you find your light in the dark. And I think that’s where you get your story. That’s where you realize this is real. This is not quite right. This is how it should be. This is how it isn’t. And it’s like a tunnel and you need to find the light at the end of that tunnel and keep moving and moving. And sometimes it’s so hard. It’s so hard, but you have to keep going, and I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to do this for me, because there’s no other options. I’ve got to do this for my community, because we need it. I’ve got to do this for society, because they want it. And I just want everyone to succeed. I just want everyone to feel welcome, to feel respected. And sometimes I don’t even feel respected myself a lot of the time. But I still show up, and I’m still nice. And I still get comments coming at me. But, there is those occasions where I do feel like, Can I do this anymore? But then I’m like, I just got to keep going. And that’s the hardest part.
Beverly:
I think even if it’s just a one little baby step, one little, as long as you’re making a forward step right every day, it might not be a giant leap. It might be, and there might be a constant pressure against you on that step. I’m so deeply grateful for people like you who make these steps. My job is to sometimes carry the weight for you and that is to share your story it’s important for me to like maybe push aside some of those barriers to get your voice and your story heard And I have a very complete Transcribed Very purposeful intention to do that for people who are underrepresented in this place. So It’s important. It’s important that you share and it’s important for people like me. It’s important. So you are essentially so important to this process and for humanity. And I’m very grateful.
Saskhia:
So I’m also grateful that we’ve met and sorry for the tears because it touches my heart. And if it wasn’t for people like you, there wouldn’t be a place for people like me because we need each other. We need the allyship. We need to share, it’s about sharing too. And I think. I share sometimes and sometimes I overshare and I apologize if I do, but sometimes I just want people to know that no matter what you go through, no matter how hard it is. Just keep going. There is a light at the tunnel. And even sometimes I question myself, am I doing the right thing? Am I this? But I am. And I hear it all the time from people.
Beverly:
I can’t do what you do, but I can do what I do. And that’s what this is all about. I, and giving platform and giving spaces for this conversation. I think, like you said, like some people have never been exposed and not having those moments of connection until that happens, it’s just so incredibly hard. So creating these moments. of that piece. I can only do what I can do, but I’m here for it. And I will do what I can. So I love it so much. I really do. I think it’s so important. Talk a little bit about, you’ve had all these challenges and I will say this, like most humans have these same challenges and finding their purpose. I just think yours is magnified in so many, because you’re going so against society. However, I do think things are changing, which is good. I do think I can’t imagine having this conversation 10 years ago, right? Like I, this is so good. However talk a little bit about, we have this exchange. We’re both a little bit teary eyed. I love it so much. It’s so extremely special, but talk about in the space that you exist in this music industry. That is so difficult. Talk about a story where, you’ve made impact and you know what you do matters.
Saskhia:
Thank you so much. I think for me, it’s just literally going out to all these networking events Meeting new people just like you, Beverly, talking to people, being, just being me, connecting with people on a level where they’re like, we just get on, like we just connect and that connection with people and that music industry makes me feel that connection. It makes me feel alive. There’s some awesome people in the industry, honestly. It’s just finding the right people, finding the people you trust, finding people that you know. Okay, does this work? Does this help? Is this something that we can do as a collaboration rather than just me? And also building allyship across different groups, underrepresented and disadvantaged communities. Because, my own intersectionality makes me understand that I fit a few different groups. In there, you know a few of those and I’ve also been through a lot in my life So I can relate to lots of people in lots of different ways and I think that’s what makes me a little bit different, not, and in a way it was a bad thing. All those things, a lot of those things that happened to me are not positives, they’re negatives. When you use them in a way that you can connect with others and actually say, actually I can see a part of me in you and I love that about you. I’m not so cool about you. That you can break down those barriers, but you can only do that in an authentic way. You can’t do that in a superficial or a facade y way or an egotistical way. It doesn’t work, and people can see through that.
Beverly:
I love the phrase, Understanding my own distinctuality. Oh, like that, like I wrote it down. Cause I was like that there’s, and that’s where you’re unique as lies is in your perspective, your experiences, your particular journey and path, but also the things you’ve been challenged with, the gifts that you’ve been given the people who have supported you, that entire path is so unique to you and distinctive. And I like the word distinct. And that was just a really powerful word, but also. When you were saying it, what I thought was that, diamonds are not created under this easy process, right? It’s under extremes amount of force that something so unique, so beautiful is created. And As you’re making those baby steps and as you’re like running into those things, I really hope you think of that, like this is just part of the process.
Saskhia:
At times I can come home in tears, not because anyone, sometimes it’s a situation, sometimes it’s an issue or it’s not any one personal, It can be in the environment, for example, or I’m tired of being in the only one in the room. And those times can actually make me come home and cry. People don’t realize sometimes that it’s not all the glitz and the glam, and it’s not all Walt Disney. There is those really dark times that you have to go through, and knowing who’s there for you, and how you reach out. And I think that’s really important to also reaching out to others that you can connect with.
Beverly:
I remember during COVID the Black Lives Matter was really that movement was really in space. And we were in Richmond, Virginia, where they were taking down a lot of the Confederate statues. There was a lot of unrest and rioting and it was very active situation and a little bit dangerous, but I took my children down to the monuments that had been tagged, that had been, spray painted. And I had a conversation with them about what’s happening. This is like really happening right now in your life that you need to see what people are saying on both sides. What is the conversation? And I remember I was really angry at the time. I was like, why is, why are we having this conversation again and again and again and again? This is not a conversation any mom should have to have, let alone this unique conversation in this space. I never had to, I never was talked to when I was a kid about how certain
Just
Beverly:
because of the way I looked, I would be treated differently. There are things as a woman that we are treated differently, but not, there are certain things that we carry to as women. But I remember calling one of my friends who was, is like family and she’s African American and she’s, A little bit older. So she’s lived through a lot of changes as an African American woman in this country. And I said, how are you not angry? And she said, cause anger doesn’t solve the problem. I said, how are you not like sad? And she’s because sad doesn’t solve the problem. How are you not? And I was like all these things. And she was so wise and I said, I’m tired. And I’ve only been at the party for 10 years. And she said, it is really tiring. It is a lot to have to carry that. It is a lot to to even care. And I hear you say things like coming home and I just I feel your tiredness and that it’s hard to care. It’s hard to carry that. It’s hard.
Saskhia:
And I think this is another thing that we need to remember is different groups face different issues and those issues need to be addressed because at the end of the day, we’re all equal. We’re all human beings and we all deserve to be respected across the board and that’s all we’re asking for.
Beverly:
If you could tell someone one thing or one way of how you’d want to be treated or thought about what would be the thing?
Saskhia:
Just want people to feel accepted, understood a place where they’re welcomed and included and a game changer or an innovator and a game changer in a way of younger generations. inspirational, someone that people can say, if she can do this, I can do this. If she can actually do this from actually from nothing, from coming from nowhere with no money, no, no real chances that she’s had to really get off and try her best regardless and do stuff for free, do stuff for the community, do stuff for projects, do stuff for other people, really get out there and do your charity. Cause it’s about your ethics. But also helping others and charity. That’s how I think I’ve got this far.
Beverly:
It’s extraordinary. It’s so good. What’s, let’s go back to marketing just for a minute.
Saskhia:
Yeah.
Beverly:
What’s one unconventional marketing tactic that you’ve tried and it surprised you?
Saskhia:
Okay, for for me it’s probably the image. The image and the design of stuff, when you make a project look the way it looks and it looks so glissy and glossy and shiny and it doesn’t always have to be. I think that’s something that you make it look good. You make it look shiny. I’m not perfect. I’m just a human being and I think that’s what I really want people to see too is there’s going to be some yes people. There’s going to be some no people, but just stay real. Just be you and yeah, make it look glossy and shiny on the outside. Make it look great. That’s my unconventional thing. Cause that’s not really me. That is that.
Beverly:
Yeah. What’s been something completely, what’s been a result that’s been completely unexpected?
Saskhia:
Probably getting this far. I would never have expected to get this far at all. And I think that’s something that I’ve done through, again, charity and good ethics and supporting others. and connecting with people. Networking. Honestly, if it wasn’t for that, I don’t think I’d be here. And that works in a two way street because, again, I was talking to my son about this. A lot of people don’t realize I don’t have any other choice. I don’t really have anything else to back me up. I don’t have, much time on my hands either. I’m an older person, not young. I’m not 21, I’ve also got two children. And I’ve also got a grandchild, believe it or not. He’s now one. So there’s all these things behind me, pushing me, and my grandmother, who brought me up, really and they want to see me do something. They don’t want to see me just, wasting away and doing nothing. And So I need to show them all that this is something that I can do for you all. And I do it for them as well as myself.
Beverly:
I think children create a force to be reckoned with when you become a mom, something changes in you. So fundamentally about like how we want to show up for them, how we want to care for them, the life that we want for them, like all of it, it becomes so powerful. What has been the song or the musician who has really influenced some of that for you?
Saskhia:
That’s a tricky question to answer. I couldn’t name just one artist. There’s so many amazing artists. I don’t even think I could name one to be honest, not one specific artist. I think there’s, I do like jazz. I do like blues. I do pop R and B. I like so many different genres. I could be here all day listening to all of them. But I grew up in the kind of 90s, 2000s. So for me, those kind of artists in that, where I was growing up, my teenage years, I could connect with and relate to. There are quite a few, but I also like my old school ones, because I grew up with my grandparents and they used to have records on. They had ABBA and all these other bits and pieces they used to love. And even going back earlier than that, I remember the war tunes that they used to play sometimes. Being in all these different environments and being with different age groups and different sectors of society in different times of my life has helped. But for me personally, I want to do something more jazzy, blues and pop. Something fresh and and upbeat. Not like my whole A fusion.
Beverly:
A fusion of music.
Saskhia:
I want stuff people can relate to, but let’s have a party. Let’s put a smile on people’s face. That’s what music does for me. So that’s why I want to give back to others.
Beverly:
I have a lightning round where I ask some fun questions rather quickly. Are you ready for that?
Saskhia:
Share
Beverly:
a fun fact about you that maybe your biggest fans wouldn’t know.
Saskhia:
I love horse riding. I love horses.
Beverly:
Oh.
Saskhia:
I’ve always loved horses. A brilliant horse rider and I love cross country and show jumping.
Beverly:
Is it English? Cause I had learned English when I was younger. English riding versus Western.
Saskhia:
English saddle.
Beverly:
I I did it for four or five years. It’s a very expensive sport if you do it, like the horse care and all that. My mom and dad made me choose between dance and horses. So I did dance cause I loved music and that was where I sat. But remember with the horseback riding there’s something really magical about working with a horse. And I was just starting to do jumps and all these different things. And I had ribbons and you go back and I, if you go back in my, people who don’t know that about me either is that I used to ride horses. Yeah. And my favorite animal is a unicorn, which essentially is a horse. It’s magical. So yes, very nice. If your brand had a voice, what word or emotion would resonate from its core?
Saskhia:
Sassy.
Beverly:
Ooh, I like that. There, what are the three most important ingredients for success for you?
Saskhia:
Consistency, authenticity, and perseverance.
Beverly:
Persistence, for sure. I love that. When was the moment that you realized you were successful?
Saskhia:
I think I struggle with my own self worth it’s probably from my past experiences as a child. I’m going to be honest about that. And I think, that’s my struggle is I’m very giving and sometimes I’m not very giving to myself. I’m really good at giving to others a lot of the time.
I
Saskhia:
need to give a bit more to myself. And I think that’s something that I’m working on at the moment.
Beverly:
Somebody recently shared, Your job when you are an adult, become an adult is to take care of yourself the way you deserve to be taken care of, meaning what other people didn’t give you your job as an adult is to do that for yourself, to make sure that little girl, little boy was totally loved and a hundred percent respected and a hundred percent valid and all of the things that, that’s your job. And so make sure that job. Don’t take care of just everybody else, but take care of you too in the process.
Saskhia:
I’m just doing my thing. I’m just trying to make a difference and be me. It’s not about that to me. It’s not about the success to me. It’s about making a difference. But that is
Beverly:
success. That is a level of success. That’s just what success looks like for you. And other people would agree with that. If you’re making a difference, that is success. Entrepreneurs, I say this a lot in the podcast, entrepreneurs are notorious for moving the goalpost. They achieve something, then they like the next, they don’t even sit in there in the success of it. And they’re already like onto the next thing, right? Okay, I’ve done this now and I need to do this. Have you ever written your eulogy?
Saskhia:
Not yet, no. I’ll be there for ages.
Beverly:
So I give you a piece of homework, is to write your eulogy. Okay. And look at where you are now and what would need to change for you to be that person. It might be So for me, I want to live a life of service. That’s something that’s really important to serve others in very impactful ways. And so one of the ways is through my church as well. And so I look at how can I wrote this wonderful eulogy of life of service, but I looked at like, how can I incorporate this more into my life now in the next five years, in the next 10 years? And so it helped me decide that I wanted to be a catechist this year, like to help children learn. So that like I started making decisions based on the eulogy I want people to say so that I live the life that I want. When I am on my dying bed, I want, or if I go tomorrow, I want to know and I want everyone in my life to know that I live the life that I was intended to live.
Saskhia:
Awesome. I think, I have a kind of goal where I want to get to. But is it, is she, for me like it’s a big goal that where I want to get to and with the music and the success and everything. I don’t always think that relies on just me. It’s the hard work that goes again behind that and behind that as well and building that structure and building that. I think it’s like building a house isn’t it as well.
Beverly:
foundation and then yeah, all the floors and
Saskhia:
yeah. Filling that process of making a building and hopefully one day I will, but I think it’s also about timing and getting the timing right as well. And then saying, okay, is this success yet? Or am I there yet? And I don’t think I’ll ever quite be there. And again, with myself, people say, you look awesome. You look amazing. My transition is going to be forever till I die. My life’s never going to end until I die. And like you said, I think for me, it’s just living today as it is. appreciating God and saying thank you for that God and being grateful and having that positive affirmation a hundred percent. But I think, for me, it’s about live today and see what you can do for today and tomorrow maybe. But after that, I just think, we’re just thinking too far ahead. Let’s think about what we’re doing today. What difference are we making today? How can we make today different? And that’s where I always try and stay and that success will just come eventually. And it’s not about the success for me. It’s about that, that making that change and helping others too along the way and supporting myself.
Beverly:
I think you can take all that and make it really simple for yourself in the sense of making a difference. Did you make a difference today by being on a podcast? Did you make a difference today by loving your children? Did you make a difference today by getting dressed up and going out and doing the thing, whatever that looks like. Like for me, it was going to that event. I had to get up, get a dress, go to the thing, right? It doesn’t mean it has to be. We always want, I think, as much impact as we can get. And that’s what I love to do is help small entrepreneurs get as much impact and have, make the world a better place as long as they can. To me is in, is really magnifying their impact is the power that I have to help them. And hopefully for good magnifying the impact for good, if I had a conversation with you today that made you think differently about who you are and had that moment or had that revelation or had something that made them believe more, that impact is just as important
as
Beverly:
that bigger impact. So like when you look at the eulogy, it simplifies it in a way that is Really powerful. So again, like to my listeners, if you have not done that exercise for yourself, you’d start to live. I have a very young team and I wish I had lived more intentionally as a young person. I did live very intentionally. However, I didn’t have an intention that I have now. And writing my eulogy, really looking at the life that I want to lead, looking at the legacy I want to leave. Has informed my business, has informed my life, has informed I want to make sure that, I give my son some adventures, and we go and do things, and there’s just things that have it has intentionally changed my life. So if you had to look back on your journey, what is one piece of advice that you would give that young person?
Saskhia:
Wow. That time in my life is when I had my first son, funnily enough, that was, I was 17, just around 18 when I had my first son, so it’d be to see, it’s, it gave me that drive and that passion, so for me it was to be the best that I possibly could be. That’s what I would say to myself at that age. I took it for granted. I took being a child as well for granted. I wanted to be an adult when I was a child. Come to think about it, I wanted to rush, I wanted to grow up. Now I want to be a kid again. Just enjoy your childhood and let yourself be a child. Don’t rush anything. Be a kid. Enjoy it. Love it. Embrace it. And it’s going to be different. But just love it.
Beverly:
Okay. So let’s go back in the time machine and look forward. What is your long term vision for your work, especially your upcoming trans charter and how do you see it influencing the industry, even on a global scale? Like how, what does that look like?
Saskhia:
This is what is really important to me now in the UK music industry, 70 percent of the workforce is So what this document is, it’s just a document that people can sign up to and say, look, we want authentic trans representation. We want to support trans people. Trans people are welcome here. We’ve had some training. We’ve had some, education and understanding of what these barriers and issues are and roll it out to organizations, trade bodies, industry professionals, businesses, even artists. So they can then incorporate that if they wish to. on a voluntary basis. It’s not going to be, a compulsory thing, something people can sign up to say, look, we support, we see there’s an issue here. We want to help increase the numbers that there are at the moment which is not really reflective of even our own communities. Yeah, even if the LGBT community, those numbers are still not there. They’re still struggling along with women. We need to have this intersectional representation is really what I’m going for. Rather than just saying it’s okay, it’s men, it’s women, 50 percent gender balance. It’s great, but it’s not intersectional. It doesn’t include everybody. And I have a lot of top conversations with, for example, white cis men. They say, Saskia, I think this is great, but I’m not included. How can this be inclusion if I’m not included? We need everyone around the table, no matter if you’re gender, religion, race, background. We should all be allowed around the table to share those views, to educate each other and support each other. For a better inclusive industry, and really that’s what this trans chart is trying to do to work alongside the work that’s already going on to say, Look, can we have a bit of representation here?
Beverly:
It’s a beautiful vision. What is a tangible step that they can take today after they listened to this interview that may be impactful for them?
Saskhia:
I think we’ve covered a lot of things already. To be honest, we talked about not giving up. We talked about perseverance. We’ve talked about maybe being more dedicated, be really dedicated and passionate. I think passion as well, enjoying what you do, loving what you do and getting something from it. That’s not all about you as well. Really helps for me. That just take away, all these little hints and tips that we’ve given away. We all make mistakes too, and it’s about learning from them. It is. But do respect others. Always respect other people too.
Beverly:
It’s
Saskhia:
Really important.
Beverly:
Yeah. Such a wonderful conversation today. Before we go, can you share where people can learn more about what you’re up to, your work? How can people find you?
Saskhia:
Firstly, we’ll do the most simple, which is Google. Just go onto Google, type in my name Saskia, and that’s Saskia with a H. So we’ll spell that S A S K H I A,
Menendez,
Saskhia:
M E N D E Z. You just type that in Google, everything will come up on there. I’m on LinkedIn, I’m on Instagram, I’m on Facebook, I’m anywhere you want to find me. Just type in my name in Google, it will come up. Or just put Saskia Menendez Music and I’m sure it’ll come up.
Beverly:
Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing today.
Saskhia:
It’s an absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me and having this awesome conversation and connecting with me and making me feel better. I’ve actually sat on my sofa. I feel relaxed. I feel like you’re just, like you’re here in my front room. For
Beverly:
all of our list for, to our listeners today, I just want you to also realize that you are not alone in your journey. And all of this, remember any of the insights that we’ve shared today, they are really there for you to know you are not alone in this process. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to either of us. If you’re looking for any support or guidance, you can Google either of us. That is like totally a thing. I feel like a marketer’s dream. You’re on every single thing, but really we both want to help you. So please reach out and chat with us until the next time. Please stay tuned to my podcast channel for more inspiring stories and actionable marketing tips. On future episodes of the spark and ignite your marketing podcast. But until next time, I want you to keep sparking and igniting.
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