Meet Kay Oldroyd
Founder
Black Youth Achievements
Black Youth Achievements is a community interest company based in London. Best known for their annual awards ceremony, the Black Youth Achievements awards celebrate the accomplishments of young people between the ages of 8 and 25 years of Black Caribbean and Black African parentage.
Founded in 2008 by Kay Oldroyd, Black Youth Achievements recognises and rewards the talents, positive actions and personal accomplishments of black youth.
The organisation’s annual awards aspire to be the UK’s premier ceremony of recognition for young people and will become a national event from 2012 onwards.
Kay Oldroyd is the award-winning entrepreneur who leads the company’s team of five. Recent accolades include the receiving the Volunteers Award at the 2010 London Peace Awards and Global Entrepreneurship Week’s High Impact Badge of Honour for the 2009 and 2010 Black Youth Achievements awards.
Why did you decide to start your company?
I started Black Youth Achievements as a result of the desire to see a better, fairer representation of young people in the UK. I also wanted to highlight and promote positive images and role models for future generations to look up to.
So much emphasis and focus has been put upon young people who seem to be failing or under-achieving, that those who are successful seem to go unnoticed.
What was your career path prior to starting your first business?
Prior to starting my business I had what felt like a million and one jobs! I left school at 16 with five GCSEs. I should have taken nine, but I was uninspired and not supported in school so I didn’t go in for the last two days of my exams.
I then went to college to study computers, typing and administration and got my first job within a government department. I stayed there for two years before I had my first child at the age of 18.
After that, I moved from one job to another, always seeming to grow bored after six months or so because it wasn’t what I really wanted to do. I then had my daughter at the age of 23 and when I went back to work this was within a nursery setting.
Between 1997 and 2009 I was employed in youth work, counselling, further education, housing, mentoring, career and employment advice before starting Black Youth Achievements in 2008.
Did you always know that you would start your own business?
Absolutely not! I had never considered it before. No one in my family was a business owner and there wasn’t anyone around me that owned their own business either. It wasn’t something that I’d grown up wanting to do.
Can you tell us more about the Black Youth Achievements Awards, how were they conceived?
At 3am on February 12 2008 I woke up and had this really strong feeling about putting on an awards ceremony to celebrate all that was good about young people.
Although there were other awards events out there, they seemed to be specific to education, sport or music. There wasn’t anything that covered a range of categories nor was there anything that was open to the whole of the UK.
I saw that there was a gap in the market and I wanted to fill it. I was also really tired of hearing stories about black youths killing one another as this seemed to be the only images that would feature in the papers or on the TV. I wanted to focus on something positive and uplifting.
What are you working on at the moment?
Right now I’m working on the 2011 awards which will take place on Saturday November 19 at Jury’s Inn Hotel in Croydon.
This really is the best time of year as there is some much to do to make the evening a success. It’s high energy and quite stressful but it’s also the most productive time. There’s no better feeling than seeing all your hard work come together on the night.
Can you describe your typical working day?
There is no typical working day when you have your own company! Sometimes I will be up working from 6am all through the day. Other times I will start working at 3pm in the afternoon and then not get to bed until 3am.
There are many times that I will be sending emails to people in the early hours of the morning and then they will call me to ask why I don’t ever sleep. I have to work when I feel inspired to do so and this could happen at any time of the night or day.
Obviously there are certain things that I can’t do in the middle of the night, especially making phone calls as I don’t think that would be appreciated!
What have been the highlights of running your own business?
The highlights are definitely seeing the happy, proud faces of the nominees and their guests at the past two awards ceremonies in 2009 and 2010.
What is the hardest part of running your own business?
It can get quite lonely when you have to make certain decisions and be responsible for the outcomes. It’s also tiring when you are juggling so many different tasks.
Keeping up to date with regulations and changes within society means that you always have to be aware about what is going on. Now that really is hard.
What has been your proudest business moment so far?
Being nominated for Black 100 Plus, the London Peace Award and Black Women of Europe Power List have all been proud moments for me. It’s nice to be recognised for your work and it helps me to see that what I’m doing is appreciated and needed.
What, or who, inspires and motivates you?
I’m inspired by people who ‘do’ and don’t just ‘talk’ about doing. I also love seeing people perform live music and singing. Their energy helps keep me motivated to keep on going.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering starting a business?
Don’t rush to do too much at once. Set your foundation and structure on solid ground and then replicate what you have done elsewhere.
Fast forward five years, where do you think your business will be in 2016?
By 2016 Black Youth Achievements will be a globally recognised organisation with services all over the world.
It will be successfully delivering its products within Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the US with young people leading it. Black Youth Achievements has always had an international vision and a mission for seeing and creating change.
Kay, is there anything else you’d like to share?
Black Youth Achievements believe that there is a success story within everyone. We want to hear yours. Contact us to get involved.
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For more information visit www.blackyouthachievements.org. You can also find Black Youth Achievements on Twitter and Facebook.
The Black Youth Achievements Awards ceremony takes place on Saturday November 19 at Jury’s Inn Hotel in Croydon. The evening will start at 6.30pm with a sit down dinner, followed by the awards presentations and showcase.
If you are interested in volunteering at the event,or if you are performer who is interested in finding out more please contact admin@blackyouthachievements.org or call 020 8677 8009 / 07908 258 681.
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Kay Oldroyd was interviewed by Octavia Goredema, founder of the Twenty Ten Club.
The Twenty Ten Club is an award-winning social enterprise designed to connect, inspire and support Black female entrepreneurs. You can also find Twenty Ten Club on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Do you have a question for Kay? If so, please feel free to post a comment below:
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Awards
Future 100 social enterprise award winner, 2010
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