Brit Pack Interviews
LOLA ADESIOYE
Name: Lola Adesioye
Profession: Social and Political Writer & Commentator/TV and Radio Broadcaster/Singer, Songwriter/ Businesswoman
Current Residence: Harlem, New York/Cambridge, Boston
Previous Residence: Dulwich, South East Londn
Left UK in: 2008
Call it fate, luck, ordained even, Lola Adesioye was meant to be in America. How else would you explain the almost seamless transition from country to country? The immediate job opportunities and instant circle of friends? Lola hit the ground running when she made an exploratory trip to New York in 2007 to visit friends and check out the city. During that time she received an offer of employment, returned to the UK to obtain her visa and was back in the US permanently within a month. Over the last 4 years she’s evolved as a writer and social and political commentator, with a regular slot on CNN and contributions to the Guardian and Huffington Post and also helped grow the popular African-American news site, The Grio, as its deputy editor. These days Lola, who is also a talented singer/songwriter, travels between New York and Boston and is ready to take on her next challenge - an entrepreneurial project that will showcase all her unique skills.
Profession: Social and Political Writer & Commentator/TV and Radio Broadcaster/Singer, Songwriter/ Businesswoman
Current Residence: Harlem, New York/Cambridge, Boston
Previous Residence: Dulwich, South East Londn
Left UK in: 2008
Call it fate, luck, ordained even, Lola Adesioye was meant to be in America. How else would you explain the almost seamless transition from country to country? The immediate job opportunities and instant circle of friends? Lola hit the ground running when she made an exploratory trip to New York in 2007 to visit friends and check out the city. During that time she received an offer of employment, returned to the UK to obtain her visa and was back in the US permanently within a month. Over the last 4 years she’s evolved as a writer and social and political commentator, with a regular slot on CNN and contributions to the Guardian and Huffington Post and also helped grow the popular African-American news site, The Grio, as its deputy editor. These days Lola, who is also a talented singer/songwriter, travels between New York and Boston and is ready to take on her next challenge - an entrepreneurial project that will showcase all her unique skills.
Why did you decide to move to the US?
I was in this in-between phase in my life where I’d been working on this really big music project, when that came to an end I was looking at what I could do next. England really is not a place that’s supportive of the type of career I’d like to have. I do a lot of different things and in England it’s like ‘Oh, you do a lot of different things’, whereas here the people I looked up to had hybrid careers. It was ok to be a speaker, a writer, a broadcaster, a philanthropist and that very much suited my personality.
While I was here for those first 3 months I went to an Obama rally, just by accident. I was writing at the time for a British comment site and talking about my experience here. I had heard about Barack Obama but I’d never seen him speak and when I went there it was like something just hit me over the head - I know he's going to be massive and I need to be here for this, I need to see where this is going.
How did you find work in America?
I’ve actually been really lucky, so many doors just started opening in the weirdest way. When I was 18 I met a guy on the beach in California and he introduced me to a group of people who were all very young, very dynamic, entrepreneurial media people. So I didn’t have an issue with friends.
A girl that I use to work with in London, who had moved to New York, started working at this private members club in New York. She called me one day and said they were looking for people to be on the committee of this club and you get a life-time membership for free. So suddenly I not only had my ready-made group of friends I had this whole social building full of creative people and everyone who I would want to meet. It was weird how things started happening but I decided to just go with the flow.
What was the hardest thing to adjust to since you moved to the US?
The thing that I found hardest and that I still do is sometimes people here can be a bit disingenuous because it’s a PR and self-promotional type of culture where you are whatever you say you are. I did come across a few people who were somewhat unscrupulous and liars, for want of a better word!
Here everyone is trying to make it. Everyone is a CEO of their own business, they all have business cards and it all looks very professional. They might be the CEO but they’re the only person in their company!. So there’s that aspect of weeding through and finding out what’s real and what’s not. I find that frustrating because it’s like people wasting my time.
Also dating here totally baffled me. The culture of dating is different. I had a bad experience with a guy I met quite soon after I arrived who turned out to be a total liar. I realised that some people just liked to go on dates, it doesn’t necessary mean anything. I don’t see the point in going on multiple dates for the sake of it and dating lots of people at the same time. I prefer to get to know someone on a deeper level.
What was the reaction from your friends to your move?
When I went back to the UK my friends were a bit like, ‘Oh, so you’re on TV now, who do you think you are?. It was a bit snide, whereas here all my friends thought it was cool. There’s a definite difference in cultural attitudes in terms of success and going for your dreams and ambition.
I was surprised by how little people said 'well done'. I did have some nasty comments on Facebook; people saying I was on my high horse. It was quite hurtful and it was strange because I haven’t changed, I’m the same person. A lot of my work was around race so I was critical of England and I think a lot of people thought 'well you never said this when you here'. Because that conversation isn’t really available in England.
Some people said I started to dress differently and my hair was different. But I did change my appearance, I had longer relaxed hair and was experimenting with different styles and then I cut it really short and went completely natural. Some of them were like ‘Oh, are you becoming a Black Panther or something?’.
I was in this in-between phase in my life where I’d been working on this really big music project, when that came to an end I was looking at what I could do next. England really is not a place that’s supportive of the type of career I’d like to have. I do a lot of different things and in England it’s like ‘Oh, you do a lot of different things’, whereas here the people I looked up to had hybrid careers. It was ok to be a speaker, a writer, a broadcaster, a philanthropist and that very much suited my personality.
While I was here for those first 3 months I went to an Obama rally, just by accident. I was writing at the time for a British comment site and talking about my experience here. I had heard about Barack Obama but I’d never seen him speak and when I went there it was like something just hit me over the head - I know he's going to be massive and I need to be here for this, I need to see where this is going.
How did you find work in America?
I’ve actually been really lucky, so many doors just started opening in the weirdest way. When I was 18 I met a guy on the beach in California and he introduced me to a group of people who were all very young, very dynamic, entrepreneurial media people. So I didn’t have an issue with friends.
A girl that I use to work with in London, who had moved to New York, started working at this private members club in New York. She called me one day and said they were looking for people to be on the committee of this club and you get a life-time membership for free. So suddenly I not only had my ready-made group of friends I had this whole social building full of creative people and everyone who I would want to meet. It was weird how things started happening but I decided to just go with the flow.
What was the hardest thing to adjust to since you moved to the US?
The thing that I found hardest and that I still do is sometimes people here can be a bit disingenuous because it’s a PR and self-promotional type of culture where you are whatever you say you are. I did come across a few people who were somewhat unscrupulous and liars, for want of a better word!
Here everyone is trying to make it. Everyone is a CEO of their own business, they all have business cards and it all looks very professional. They might be the CEO but they’re the only person in their company!. So there’s that aspect of weeding through and finding out what’s real and what’s not. I find that frustrating because it’s like people wasting my time.
Also dating here totally baffled me. The culture of dating is different. I had a bad experience with a guy I met quite soon after I arrived who turned out to be a total liar. I realised that some people just liked to go on dates, it doesn’t necessary mean anything. I don’t see the point in going on multiple dates for the sake of it and dating lots of people at the same time. I prefer to get to know someone on a deeper level.
What was the reaction from your friends to your move?
When I went back to the UK my friends were a bit like, ‘Oh, so you’re on TV now, who do you think you are?. It was a bit snide, whereas here all my friends thought it was cool. There’s a definite difference in cultural attitudes in terms of success and going for your dreams and ambition.
I was surprised by how little people said 'well done'. I did have some nasty comments on Facebook; people saying I was on my high horse. It was quite hurtful and it was strange because I haven’t changed, I’m the same person. A lot of my work was around race so I was critical of England and I think a lot of people thought 'well you never said this when you here'. Because that conversation isn’t really available in England.
Some people said I started to dress differently and my hair was different. But I did change my appearance, I had longer relaxed hair and was experimenting with different styles and then I cut it really short and went completely natural. Some of them were like ‘Oh, are you becoming a Black Panther or something?’.
Could you ever see yourself returning back to the UK?
A year ago, I would have said no but now I think I would want to maintain a house here and have this as my base but have a London property that I could go to more regularly. I have thought about when I have kids if I’d want them to be educated in England and I don’t think I’d object to returning to England for the sake of my kid’s education. I’d ideally want to be able to move back and forth.
What’s been the best thing for you since relocating to America?
In London I felt like I was just another black girl. It wasn’t like a racist thing it was just, that was my place. I was the only black girl out of a large group of mainly white friends. When I came here it was like I’m celebrated and people want to hear what I have to say and I can talk opening about being black. That was actually quite surprising. I found social mobility easier here, if they feel you have something to offer it’s like ‘do your thing.’ It’s been an amazing journey, it’s definitely been challenging. Any time you move to a new place, you discover new parts of yourself because you’re outside of your comfort zone and you do become more confident.
What’s next for you?
I’ve always had little businesses from when I was a kid so I’m just looking to combine the news stuff, the comments stuff and the entrepreneurial stuff and somehow bring it all together. Also, I was part of a songwriting team here for a while, we were doing a lot of pop/RnB which wasn’t really my thing but it was a good experience. Now I’m really focusing on my own sound and myself as a performer. It’s soulful music, that’s saying something, with a bit of substance and depth. I feel music has lost its substance and has become very disposable and I want to bring it back to stuff that people could listen to in 20 years. I’d like to rep Britain in America, I think that would be kinda cool.
Find out more about Lola: www.lolaadesioye.com
Follow her on Twitte: @lolaadesioye
A year ago, I would have said no but now I think I would want to maintain a house here and have this as my base but have a London property that I could go to more regularly. I have thought about when I have kids if I’d want them to be educated in England and I don’t think I’d object to returning to England for the sake of my kid’s education. I’d ideally want to be able to move back and forth.
What’s been the best thing for you since relocating to America?
In London I felt like I was just another black girl. It wasn’t like a racist thing it was just, that was my place. I was the only black girl out of a large group of mainly white friends. When I came here it was like I’m celebrated and people want to hear what I have to say and I can talk opening about being black. That was actually quite surprising. I found social mobility easier here, if they feel you have something to offer it’s like ‘do your thing.’ It’s been an amazing journey, it’s definitely been challenging. Any time you move to a new place, you discover new parts of yourself because you’re outside of your comfort zone and you do become more confident.
What’s next for you?
I’ve always had little businesses from when I was a kid so I’m just looking to combine the news stuff, the comments stuff and the entrepreneurial stuff and somehow bring it all together. Also, I was part of a songwriting team here for a while, we were doing a lot of pop/RnB which wasn’t really my thing but it was a good experience. Now I’m really focusing on my own sound and myself as a performer. It’s soulful music, that’s saying something, with a bit of substance and depth. I feel music has lost its substance and has become very disposable and I want to bring it back to stuff that people could listen to in 20 years. I’d like to rep Britain in America, I think that would be kinda cool.
Find out more about Lola: www.lolaadesioye.com
Follow her on Twitte: @lolaadesioye
