In celebration of Women’s History Month, we are featuring Filipino women who are all making a difference in their families, communities and their workplace. They come from different backgrounds but each one of them is forging their path as an immigrant woman of colour in the UK.
Name: Paula Braiden
Please describe your current work.
I am the founder and managing director of Seek Social, a multi-award-winning digital marketing agency based in Manchester.
I work with our clients in all aspects of marketing in the digital landscape which includes website development, running paid ads on Google or social media, SEO, content creation, and graphic design.
What is the maxim you live by?
“Never compromise your values for success.”
We all have things we truly believe in and that’s very personal to us.
My beliefs drive a lot of my decision-making. Sticking to my values allows me to live a happier and a more peaceful life.
1. Don’t be scared to speak your mind, however, do this respectfully.
2. Learn to be comfortable speaking to anyone & everyone as it’s a life & career skill that will help you.
3. Don’t miss the opportunities to learn from your mistakes and failures even if it feels like there’s no lesson to be learned.
Tell us the biggest challenge that you faced and how you overcame it.
To date, the biggest challenge I have ever faced is the initial years of establishing and growing my company in the UK as a confident woman of colour.
Early in my business journey, I kept thinking how much easier this would have been if I were back home in the Philippines. The colour of my skin or my really prominent American accent would not confuse people as much or be a red flag to suggest that my ability was not up to par with British standards.
I worked really hard to assimilate British culture and made sure to learn how to communicate effectively, even changing my accent to make people feel at ease.
I still battle racial inequality in business from time to time.
What is the one achievement that you are most proud of and why.
This one is quite personal and I feel an achievement most people would probably overlook.
Moving, fully settling, and finally feeling England is my home is one of my proudest achievements.
Moving away from your home country is really hard. A lot of people, not just Filipinos, try and often fail.
The initial excitement turns into bouts of bad homesickness. You used to know what to do and where to go for everything and then everything changes and things don’t always make sense.
So yeah, finally feeling really happy and settled is (was) a great thing.
What would be your advice to young Filipino girls of today?
1. Don’t be scared to speak your mind, however do this respectfully.
2. Learn to be comfortable speaking to anyone & everyone as it’s a life & career skill that will help you.
3. Don’t miss the opportunities to learn from your mistakes and failures even if it feels like there’s no lesson to be learned.
