Eva Simpson is dedicated to raising the unheard voices within the black community and now the former Fleet Street journalist is doing just that working in her own PR firm ESPR with those values at its heart.
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Setting up the company in 2019, it was vitally important to Eva that she change the narrative surrounding African countries, particularly Ghana as she is of Ghanaian heritage. During an exclusive interview with HELLO!, the business mogul also opened up about her incredible work with Lenny Henry during the Covid pandemic and meeting with “gracious” King Charles III when he was the Prince of Wales as well as championing those who inspire her.
Which celebrities are you inspired by?
Eva: "I would definitely say that Lenny Henry is someone I find incredibly inspirational. Last year I did a campaign with Lenny to raise awareness of the Covid vaccine among black communities.
"There was a problem in particular in black and ethnic minorities with the uptake of the vaccine. And when the vaccine was here, we had some communities who couldn't get their hands on it quickly enough. Even my own grandmother said, 'I'm not taking that vaccine. I don't know what's in it.'
"I said, 'You're nearly 93, you've got breathing issues, you should be at the front of the queue.' I was thinking, what is the issue here? If my grandma is not taking it, there must be loads of people who feel the same. We knew the data was telling us for a fact that black people and other ethnic minorities were more likely to die of Covid, more likely to be hospitalised.
"So I said, what role can I play? I called up Lenny, luckily he was in my little black book, and I said to him, 'I want to do something about this. Can we just come together?' He said, 'Whatever you want. I'm doing it, who do you want me to call?' We got Amma Asante, a BAFTA award-winning film director. He said: 'Get Amma, she's going to direct this film and we're going to get Adrian Lester and David Harewood.'
Lenny Henry is in Eva Simpson's book of contacts
"And within about three weeks we made it with Lenny's support. It wasn't telling people to have the vaccines. It was making them find out more so they could make informed choices. As Lenny said: 'Don't listen to Dave down the pub, make some more informed choices.' So I think Lenny is a true inspiration and he writes amazing, diverse books."
ESPR, Eva's company, was set up three years ago in 2019 in a bid to change the narrative surrounding African countries and in particular, Ghana, as Eva is of Ghanaian heritage, and has since done incredible work to raise the unheard voices in the black community. Tell me a little bit about your PR firm.
Eva: "We focus particularly on black entrepreneurs, black founders, black leaders, and we help elevate their profile, elevate their brands, and we just help them tell the stories that they want to tell, and in the ways they want to tell it in. So that's really our focus. We have clients in the UK, we also have clients in Africa as well. So we are quite broad in that sense.
"I'm from a family of Ghanaian heritage and my son actually spent some years and went to secondary school for a while in Ghana because I wanted him to have that kind of African sensibility as well. I spend a lot of time in Ghana. There's farms, restaurants, there's skyscrapers. For me, I think for a long time there was this perception of Africa, certainly West Africa southern parts of Africa, that's all poverty-driven.
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"There are brilliant people, there are artists, there are inventors. If you look now, most investment is going into Africa - the likes of Google and Twitter are investing. It was important for me as a journalist, as a storyteller, to show the other stories, the positive stories. I'm glad there's more of an appetite for the positive narratives.
"I'm not saying there isn't poverty but that isn't the only story. There's a lot of talent out there and I think it's important to them to shine a light on that as well."
What challenges have you faced as a black woman in your career?
Eva: "I think the challenges I faced were probably challenges that I imposed on myself. And I think my biggest challenge would probably be imposter syndrome. I was offered the opportunity to join the Times as a News Editor, and I nearly turned that job down because it's The Times, it's going to be sort of posh Oxbridge types while I am from a state school in South London. I don't feel that now, but at the time my biggest battles were with self-doubt. Do I fit in here? Given the background I'm from, I would question, do I really fit in here?
"In the beginning I was thinking, do I deserve to be here? Why am I here? I never got that negative energy from anyone. It was just me, having those insecurities and so it's taken me a long time to not feel like that. Now I feel I can go into any room, I'm confident in who I am and how I sound."
How do you tackle more challenging conversations about race at home with your children?
Eva: "I have got two boys. My eldest son is 17, so he's a teenager and the little one is seven. I try not to lean so much into difficult conversations. I want them to be normal, happy, healthy kids. I do know that my son's father will speak to him about how to conduct yourself, how to behave.
"We know the statistics around stop and search. We know that young black boys are more likely to be stopped and searched. So his father will speak to them about how you conduct yourself accordingly to diffuse any situation. Obviously he will then come and tell us about it. So they're very aware of what's going on in the world, but I think luckily I feel like our family has instilled in them a sense of this can-do attitude, work hard, education can open so many doors for you, you get out what you put in. They're quite sharp. They know what's going on in the world around them, and we're aware of issues that happen but they have ambitions and dreams and I think they don't feel like their race is something that will hold them back."
What inspired you to bring about change?
Eva: "There were actors who would say some periods of their career they could only get cast if they were playing a gang member or a knife-wielding mugger or something pushing the stereotype. I thought, what could I do to kind of change that perception? I know so many brilliant people who do so many amazing things, how can I use my platform to push their stories?
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"So I felt that as a PR, I could achieve more because I could then connect brilliant people with journalists and get them to tell their story. That would be an effective way of getting them out there."
So what do you think in wider society could be done to raise more awareness of Black History?
Eva: "I just think organisations, companies, public bodies should be thinking about it. Diversity has become a much maligned word in the same way, I think, as the trajectory of gender equality. It's taken time to get gender equality and we've still got a long way to go as women to get that equality, that journey is ongoing but at least there's a concerted effort to do that.
"So with gender equality, it's something that organisations and companies and businesses are rightly thinking about. I think this needs to happen with race. Certainly racial diversity is something that organisations and companies should be thinking about. How can we make our businesses more diverse? How can we make them more inclusive?
"My own organisation, my own business is very diverse. I just think we just get better energy, better ideas. We have different people from different backgrounds. I think the outcomes are better.
"I think for us it's all about allyship. There are a lot of people who want to do good things even after George Floyd. White mums and dads and the kids on the march. People want to know how they can be allies and how to do better."
What is your biggest achievement?
Eva: "I think setting up my business, setting up ESPR and having it grow. To see the business now grow and thrive and the calibre of clients that we work with, the quality of service that we deliver, I feel we stand shoulder to shoulder with the quality of our work with any of the biggest PR companies out there.
"The past two or three years I've had some really pinch me moments. The Covid campaign we did with Lenny Henry, we did that in three weeks. David Harewood recorded his contribution from Vancouver.
"Adrian Lester was in his garden. That was an amazing opportunity. I did a campaign for Edward Enninful from Vogue. There was a campaign with Edward and Naomi Campbell, Idris Elba and Clara Amfo and they asked me to do the PR for that. My imposter syndrome was going on but I was on the phone with all these amazing people and I kept pinching myself.
Eva met King Charles when he was the Prince of Wales for an event
"We had an event with the now King Charles but at the time he was the Prince of Wales, at Clarence House. We met him, got a briefing from his team and we got a tour of the late Queen’s former tea room.
"He was just very gracious with his time. He talked to everyone in the room. He asked questions. He listened intently. He was very relaxed and took his time to speak to everyone. There were pictures of his children, of his wife's children, of Harry and Meghan. It was just a really lovely space to be in and those moments - it doesn't happen every day."
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