Vese Aghoghovbia, Philly & Friends: adding a drop of colour and diversity to the playroom

Vese Aghoghovbia is the Founder of Philly & Friends. When Vese had her daughter in 2017, she quickly realised that there was a lack of diversity in children’s books with less than 1% featuring a black or minority ethnic main character. This inspired her to self-publish her own book entitled “Who Do I See in the Mirror?” which features her daughter as the main character and has a clear message of self-love through the power of representation. Since then, her business Philly & Friends has grown into an iconic children’s lifestyle business with purpose, representation and diversity at its core. In this episode Vese speaks about the lack of representation in children’s toys and books, the impact this has on children from an early age, building a purpose-led business and her experiences as an entrepreneur.
Vese Aghoghovbia is the Founder of Philly & Friends.

When Vese had her daughter in 2017, she quickly realised that there was a lack of diversity in children’s books with less than 1% featuring a black or minority ethnic main character. This inspired her to self-publish her own book entitled “Who Do I See in the Mirror?” which features her daughter as the main character and has a clear message of self-love through the power of representation.

Since then, her business Philly & Friends has grown into an iconic children’s lifestyle business with purpose, representation and diversity at its core.

In this episode Vese speaks about the lack of representation in children’s toys and books, the impact this has on children from an early age, building a purpose-led business and her experiences as an entrepreneur. 

Highlights:

01.45: Inspired by her parents to become an entrepreneur 

07.57: Why representation from an early age is so important

15.40: What can we do as parents? Check our bias and check our toybox. 

21.42: The journey from idea to published book and Vese’s learns

27.05: Expanding from children’s book to 35 products

35.56: Vese’s other mission driven business – D-Vees

39.34: The key ingredients to be a successful entrepreneur

44.28: How Vese’s sense of fulfilment has changed throughout her career

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / craig@confidotalent.com 

Our Guest:

Vese Aghoghovbia, Founder of Philly & Friends. 
Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0
 
Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / rachel@confidotalent.com 
Vese Aghoghovbia, Philly & Friends: adding a drop of colour and diversity to the playroom
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