Creatives Like Us

Check out our second event - Thursday 19th June 2025

It can be tough running your own business, particularly as a Black or Brown creative business owner. You've got to wear so many hats from marketing, to finance, to being the CEO to delivering the actual product or service itself.

Well, make sure you join the waitlist for the second Creatives Like Us event. Angela Lyons, Ayo Abbas and Vanessa Belleau will be putting on a collaborative evening of inspiration, practical presentations, networking and problem-solving in a design-orientated event. Join the waitlist so you're first to hear when tickets for this event go live next month.

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Your place for inspiration and creativity

We'll be in a bright and welcoming space, kindly provided by creative agency 'ustwo', in Shoreditch in East London for this event.

The aim of the event is to be both inspiring and practical in equal measures. If you're looking to grow your business, or take on more staff, find more clients or market your business better, we'll have people on hand to help you work through it.

We've capped numbers at 30 participants as we want our event to be small but perfectly formed and at a size where you can meet everyone there and not feel overwhelmed.

Date: Thursday 19 June 2025

Time: 16.30 - 20.30

Bring an open mind

Get ready to network with other creatives

Listen and learn from your peers.

How the event will work

Before

We'll be in touch 10 days before the event to understand more about you, your business and the challenge that you'd like to tackle as part of the event.

On the day

Angela, Ayo and Vanessa will be there to greet you and introduce you to the other attendees. The event will comprise practical presentations and mastermind sessions where we talk through your challenge and actively develop solutions in small groups. There will be plenty of time for networking and getting to know the rest of the group. Drinks and food will be provided.

Afterwards

We have set up a WhatsApp group so you can stay connected with the group and share your progress post event.

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They said it...

Testimonials from past attendees of the first Creatives Like Us Event.

"They were inspiring and I felt that they genuinely wanted everyone in the room to succeed and to navigate their success journey well."
Eloya Imoedemhe

"I loved it all but I particularly enjoyed the hive mind sessions. Great opportunity to get to know people better and hear their experiences and expertise."
Ella Orr

"Fantastic! Vanessa was open and honest and it was an emotional and thought-provoking session."
Kerry Herbert

Why attend?

Gain practical skills you can apply immediately to your business.

Connect with a community of black creatives who share your passion and drive.

Participate in a small but perfectly formed event and build your network.

This is event is for:

Freelancers, entrepreneur, or business owner

Entrepreneurs

Business owners

Side hustlers

Meet your hosts

We're friends who had a bright idea!

We wanted to create a space where black creatives would come together - to learn and share business ideas.

Ayo Abbas

Marketing Expert, Founder,

Abbas Marketing

Ayo is an award-winning marketer specialising in working with architects, engineers and creatives who want to target corporates.

Ayo specialises in marketing strategy, content creation, and digital marketing and has experience working with both large and small business from across the built environment.

Angela Lyons

Brand and Marketing Graphic Designer,

Lyons Creative

Angela has been designing for over 20 years and has had her business Lyons Creative for 12 years. Her tagline is ‘A freelancer with a business’.

Angela offers graphic design services to multiple industries, which include corporates – insurance and finance, publishing houses, charities, and freelancers.

Vanessa Belleau

Founder and Managing Director,

High Fifteen Ltd

Vanessa is the founder of High Fifteen Ltd a boutique consultancy and executive coaching business. She is also an artist painter and runs Beautiful Water Studio. She specialises in positive psychology, emotional intelligence, creativity and cultural intelligence.

"Brilliant. One of the best networking events I've been to. As a creative introvert, it really does show that not all networking has look a certain way, and you just need to find the spaces that are for me, for creatives like us."

Yvie Ormsby

"The welcome was great. The staff were really friendly. The food was noooooice - and I don't really ramp with vegan food. It was a feel-good event all round."

Sylvia Prince

FAQs

We understand that you may have questions.

Please use the contact us button if your question is not answered below.

Who will be speaking?

We are finalising our speakers, mentors and panellists and will make an announcement once this is confirmed.

What if I don't feel comfortable networking?

Ayo, Angela and Vanessa will be on hand throughout the event to introduce you to others and feel free to reach out to them before the event if you would like to have a chat before the event.

Is there a cost?

There is a small nominal fee to cover running costs but we will keep costs low as we don't want it to be a barrier to attendance. We will also donate 20% of each ticket to The Shoreditch Trust,

How big will the event be?

We have a limited capacity for 30 creatives so that everyone has a chance to share their story and experience.

Do you do refunds?

We do not do refunds but are happy for you to transfer your tickets to another black creative if you can no longer attend.

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