How to manage a media career and family: reviewing Tobi Asare’s ‘The Blend’
Review
Nicola Kemp reviews The Blend, in which OMD UK’s managing partner and head of global growth Tobi Asare explores the first-person stories of ambitious, creative, and resilient women.
I’ve always hated the term ‘having it all’; a stick primarily used to beat women for doing what men have done for eternity — attempting to forge successful careers while also having a family. The term ‘balance’ also brings me out in a cold sweat. I know of very few people, childfree or with children, who manage to have their work and life in a constant state of harmony. The very concept of ‘work-life balance’ sets us all up to fail.
This is why this summer you will find me re-reading one of the most practical, informative and useful books I have read this year: The Blend, by Tobi Asare. A book which is a beautiful reminder that it is possible to thrive in your career, as well as be the loving and present parent you want to be.
Asare, who is also managing partner and head of growth at Omnicom media agency OMD UK, is an energetic, practical and engaging writer. Page after page she sparks fresh thinking and new perspectives through practical tips, on everything from working while pregnant to the complexities of childcare. Having come to OMD from the financial services sector, Tobi brings with her an enormous amount of intellectual rigour and scrutiny to the book.
For working parents of school-aged children, the summer holidays are signalled not just by brighter weather, but often complex childcare solutions patched together from grandparents, sports camps and holiday clubs. With that in mind, the summer break is the perfect time for inclusive leaders to dive into this essential read.
Whether you are child-free, considering children, or one class Whatsapp message away from impending disaster, this book presents the opportunity to view your challenges and the challenges of others through a fresh lens. Through first-person stories from a range of ambitious, creative, and resilient women, Tobi successfully brings fresh energy and fresh perspective to the seemingly stubborn challenges of being a mother and also working outside the home.
In her opening sentence, Asare writes that The Blend is for ‘anyone ambitious’. At a time when the All In Census shows that over half of women believe parental leave has negatively impacted their career, we all need to be more ambitious for change. I urge leaders to read this book and consider how to better support working mothers within their organisations. (Spoiler alert: “Chapter 10, For the allies” is a must-read.)
In The Blend, Asare urges women to ‘be your own best hype woman’. As she explains: “I think it’s also been ingrained in us as women not to celebrate our achievements, not to show up for ourselves, and that to get ahead we have to lay low or be humble. I’ve seen it in lots of returning mums battling with their own self-belief and have been guilty of it myself.”
The energy of Asare’s writing is infectious and it’s clear that she is a force of nature. Her multifaceted career is an example of the creative firepower of a ‘Squiggly Career’; the term coined by the career development company Amazing If founders Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis. From running interactive workshops, to writing this incredible book, Asare is a trailblazer in the truest sense of the word and here is so much the media industry and business at large can learn from her wisdom.
All too often when it comes to mothers in the media industry, we continue to define women by what we think they can not do. Yet far from being a moment to shrink yourself, motherhood can be an expansive experience that delivers fresh energy, insight, and impact. This book is a powerful reminder to women that The Blend is possible. But only if as individuals and organisations we continually commit to doing things differently.
Nicola Kemp has spent over two decades writing about diversity, equality and inclusion in the media. She is now editorial director of Creativebrief. She writes a column for The Media Leader each month.
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