It's one of my favourite weeks of the year! Diwali is this Thursday which means I'll be eating my weight in delicious Indian treats. ICYMI, Diwali is the Indian festival of lights and symbolises new beginnings. In the meantime, your favourite weekly newsletter is lighting up your inbox (see what I did there 😉). We're covering women of colour vegan founders, Hot Mess Holiday and racial imposter syndrome in the workplace.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Fallon Gregory on the work she's doing to uplift First Nations People in Australia. Her advice for loving the skin you're in literally sent shivers down my spine. You're in for a real treat - full interview up on the Glowreel website, and the Community Feature section below features a sneak peek of the interview 👀.

So, let's get glowing!

Shilpa

P.S. If you're in Australia + celebrating Diwali, you'll want to get your hot little hands on this Diwali box by The Maharani Diaries and Wrapped Gestures. It features products from WOC owned businesses and will go down a treat this Thursday! I've got mine on the way to me as we speak and I'm so excited 🪔

News To Know

Vegan Founders, A Hot Mess Holiday Season And Racial Imposter Syndrome

A Moment Of Appreciation For These Firsts

In business news: women of colour vegan founders are on the rise!

The global Vegan Women Summit (VWS) Pathfinder Pitch Competition aims to create a more diverse and inclusive food tech and sustainable startup industry. Finalists pitch their company to try win $50,000. The competition saw a 25 per cent increase in women of colour founders this year. Seventy-five per cent of the women who made it into the semi-finals were women of colour. Smart women saving the world with their sustainable startups - we love to see it!

See also: Kaitahi As One leads the way for Kiwi entrepreneurs and these venture capital funds founded by minority women are banding together for change.

Over in entertainment land - we're in for a Hot Mess Holiday season (feat. Diwali 🪔)

Surina Jindal & Melanie Chandra are back at it with their latest film, due to hit TV screens on December 11. Hot Mess Holiday centres around a young finance exec who's dumped by her cheating fiancé during the Diwali holidays. So, naturally, her free-spirited bestie is determined to help her get lit. "This is a big moment for women of colour - it’s the first buddy comedy starring and executive produced by two South Asian American women to hit mainstream TV."

Representation matters, including in the workplace. Unzela Khan is tackling racial imposter syndrome in the workplace. “If you don’t see anyone like you reaching senior positions, you start believing that, in part, it’s because people like you aren't skilled enough." Obviously feelings of racial imposter syndrome won't disappear overnight. But these hot tips will help drive change.

See also: the models speaking up against anti-Asian racism in the fashion industry and Marcella Lopez on using inclusive colouring books to encourage acceptance in the classroom.

Glowreel Reco Of The Week

You need to get your body moving with: a fun dance workout with Tara 💃🏾

Bonus points if your speak French - which is the language Tara speaks in. But we guarantee you'll be dancing your heart out, even if you don't speak French - dance is a universal language, people! Tara's videos are super easy to follow.

This week's reco is brought to you by Mel - Glowreel's research and strategy queen + a food and fitness junkie!

Bites

What does your hair mean to you? 👩🏾‍🦱 These black woman break down the hidden cost of black hair and the rise of the natural hair movement.
Grab your trail mix and let's go! Liselle Pires and Quena Batres launched Trail Mixed Collective to promote and increase the numbers of women of colour in outdoor sport.
Rebecca Willink's Make The Space campaign is ... making the space! 🙌🏾 Find out why she's campaigning supermarkets to stock more diverse foundation shade ranges here and here, and sign the petition here.
Tana Lin is the first Asian American federal judge in Washington state 📖 She's also the first former public defender to be appointed to a federal district court.
Fionnghuala O’Reilly reflects on her experience of being Black and Irish. Plus why she uses every uses every platform she has to speak up for Black women.
A love story for the ages ❤️ (The former) Princess Mako of Japan finally married the love of her life, Kei Komuro. Mako had to give up her royal title to marry Kei, who's a commoner. The happy couple will start their new life in New York. Ah, true love!

In Conversation With Fallon Gregory

Image via Fallon Gregory

We're honoured to be featuring Fallon Gregory in this week's newsletter! She's a proud First Nations woman, a mum, and an influencer who uses her platform to advocate for and uplift First Nations people in Australia.

Fallon shares how her heritage influences her work, her tips for loving the skin you're in and the launch of Influence Blak- an Indigenous Australian Influencer Resource.

We've shared some interview snippets below. You can catch the full interview on our website.

About Fallon

I’m Fallon Gregory. I am a Bardi and Kija woman currently living in Boorloo, also known as Perth.

How Fallon's Heritage Has Influenced Her Work

My heritage is automatically implemented into all I do and talk about, as it’s my life experiences being a First Nations woman. My heritage influences my work and passions, as I use the platform I’ve created as an educational tool and strive to generate awareness towards the issues and injustices surrounding First Nations Australia.

On Why She Created Influence Blak

I created Influence Blak because I saw a void in the influencer space where First Nations people didn’t have the support or a resource where they could access information if they were wanting to seriously pursue influencing to the point of a career.

On Loving The Skin You're In

Until you love and accept yourself as you are, and celebrate that person whole heartedly, you won’t live. You were created with purpose, just as you are. Make sure you speak that life into yourself. Then you will enter a whole new world where the validation and acceptance you craved from others will now come from within. And it’ll be enough. Because you are enough.

The full interview with Fallon is available here. Trust us, it's a must read. In addition to the snippets above, Fallon shares reflections from her career and the Blak women that inspire her.

Historical Woman

Cornelia Sorabji: Legal Queen And Advocate For The Purdahnashins

Raven Wilkinson: Breaking Barriers In Ballet

Cornelia Sorabji was the first female graduate from Bombay University, the first woman to study law at Oxford University and the first female advocate in India

She was admitted to Oxford in 1892 - a milestone that predated the women’s suffrage movement in Britain.

Sorabji returned to India in 1894 to do social and advisory work on behalf of the purdahnashins. This was a group of women who were forbidden to communicate with the outside male world.

Despite her degrees, Sorabji couldn't defend the purdahnashins in court. As a woman, she didn't hold professional standing in the Indian legal system

Hoping to change the system, Sorabji undertook the the LLB exam at Bombay University in 1897 and the pleader's exam of Allahabad High Court in 1899. She also petitioned the India Office to allow a female legal advisor to represent women and minors.

Sorabji became the first female advocate in India in 1904 but was not recognised as a barrister until a law that barred women from practising was changed in 1923.

It's estimated that Sorabji helped over 600 women and orphans fight legal battles during her career.

One Lioness To Another

"If one girl with courage is a revolution, imagine what feats we can achieve together."

-Queen Rania of Jordan

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This week's email was brought to you by Shilpa Bhim, founder of Glowreel. You can see more of her work at www.shilpabhim.com or follow her on Instagram @skb.ontherun