“My journey is a bit of a strange one and one that probably isn’t conventional”.
Rashida Noray moved to Cambridge in the UK from Trinidad and Tobago with her family when she was 10 years old. Graduating from the University of West England with a degree in Filmmaking and Creative Media in 2015, Rashida didn’t know what was next but immediately jumped into action to make sure she walked straight into a job from university.
By her own admission she felt like a “jack of all trades and master of none” and wasn’t sure where she would fit within the media industry. Nonetheless, her lecturers had great faith in her and Rashida was introduced to Green.TV’s founder, Ade Thomas, by her lecturer Alistair Oldham. She was offered a role as a social media intern with Green.TV and, although this wasn’t her area of expertise, she took the role. Yet, when given the chance to help out in other areas, she would jump at the opportunity to learn and grow as much as possible, taking on more and more responsibility.
“Rashida is seriously capable, clever and very, very organised. She is the perfect Managing Director, in the true sense of the words. She’s superlatively talented at managing and brilliant at directing. Since becoming MD of Green.TV Media, Rashida has really propelled the business forwards.” Ade Thomas Founder, Green.TV / Co-Founder, the EV Summit
Ade first noticed her initiative and dedication when she spent several hours organising and categorising all of Green.TV’s external hard drives, putting processes in place and creating workflow documents to save time. This initiative and dedication meant she quickly moved through the ranks, first to a Producer, then Studio Manager, becoming Head of Business Affairs in 2018 and finally, her current role as of June 2020, Managing Director.
“This was a role that was offered to me 9 months previous, but I was very nervous to take it. I felt like I wasn’t prepared enough or had any training to be an MD, a whole bunch of self-defeating, imposter syndrome-type thoughts came to mind, and I really shied away from it for a long time. But when the pandemic hit, as a company we really knuckled down, switched gears into more digital events and I was the one who spearheaded that. After pulling my boot straps up and leading and training the team, I realised it’s not about what you do, it’s more about who you are and I felt ‘I can lead the team through the pandemic storm.”
“Rashida is a truly inspirational leader. Her tenacity and solution-focused approach to strategy instils a dynamism in every team member at Green.TV. To go from an intern to Managing Director in 5 years is unbelievable – unless of course, you’ve met Rashida.” – Elizabeth Penny Head of Partnerships
For any women looking for their place within an organisation Rashida says – “There are leaders and followers, and not every single person can be a leader, and that’s ok. Especially when it comes to black women, we feel we need to be the best at everything and be leaders at everything because we feel we are representing an entire race of people so have to be at the forefront of things, and that is very heavy. Learn to be okay that there are trailblazers and then there are people following that path, both are equally as important and it’s important to be either.”
“I have not learnt more from one single colleague than I have learnt from Rashida. My time at Green.TV has been shaped by her as a leader and as a friend. I have grown in my leadership, because I have watched her in hers. She is strong and passionate and has created a team that wants to create change as much as she does.” – Emma Fry Head of Content.
Despite her creative streak, Rashida is strategic and very logical in the way she thinks, believing no one should hide their personality, but instead lean into their authentic self to become the best leader they can be.
“Women feel like they almost have to change themselves personality-wise to step into leadership roles, especially in male dominated spaces. One of the things that’s really important I think for young women and women leaders is to be yourself authentically. If you’re an introvert, be an introvert and a leader, you don’t necessarily have to be ‘aggressive’ and ‘super assertive’ just because you may have seen that in leadership before. On the flipside, if you are a naturally assertive woman, do not change that to try and fit a mould other colleagues may want to put you in. It’s okay to embrace both the dark and light sides of yourself, it’s fine not to be the conventional ‘warm, soft female’. Power can mean whatever you want it to mean.”
