Audrey Indome: “I want my legacy to be ‘She did it, so I can do it.’’’
Audrey Indome is the third member of the award-winning podcast ‘The Receipts Podcast.’ She is co-author of the Sunday Times bestseller – ‘Keep the Receipts,’ and has worked as a journalist, radio producer and hosted the Amazon Prime series ‘Talk that Talk,’ among many others.
Indome, 35, grew up in Woodford, on the cusp of East London and Essex with her Ghanaian Parents. Her mum came to the country at 18 when she found out she was pregnant and worked several jobs, including being a cleaner, until she was able to study and qualify as a midwife.
Audrey graduated in Film and TV from Brunel University in the early 2000’s and realised that in order to pursue a career in writing, she needed a formal qualification. She spent weekends at a college studying for her NCTJ diploma whilst balancing working at ‘New!’ Magazine, as she initially wanted to be a celebrity gossip journalist. From co-hosting a radio show to working as a set makeup artist, Indome has had much experience in the creative industry.
“I just figured I would try my hand at different things and see what stuck. I do think I was destined to do something creative; I just didn’t know what it was.”
Despite this, Audrey spent most of her working life as a PA at various media companies in the UK. She didn’t find success overnight, and it wasn’t until her early thirties that she broke into mainstream media. Your degree and career choices do not determine the outcome of your life. Everyone’s trajectories are different and most definitely not linear!
Indome has been very open with the fact that her journalism career didn’t work out, but believed that ultimately it worked out for the best, with the success of the podcast leading her to even bigger opportunities – including becoming an author, which she finds ironic.
“It’s so ironic how this whole book thing is, because obviously I tried to be a journalist, and I’m very vocal at the fact that I failed at being a journalist, and now I’ve come full circle. I see this whole book thing as very prestige.’’
She added, “I’ve always had that ability to grab people’s attention, and I knew that from young. I would always find myself landing opportunities, and it wasn’t intentional, but I do believe a part of my purpose is to be that big sister, to be that auntie for younger black girls.”
Audrey offered insightful advice for those suffering from Imposter syndrome, as this is something she continues to struggle with to this day – despite all her achievements.
“Imposter syndrome is bred from not seeing yourself; you’re so used to seeing a certain type of person, so when you’re in those spaces, you feel like ‘why am I here?’ I still suffer from it, despite everything, and that’s the maddest thing, it’s toxic and it’s a roadblock for future opportunities.’’
Audrey Indome
Despite the imposter syndrome, Indome aims to continue entering these spaces with the hopes of being the face that young girls see as inspiration and motivation to make it in the creative industry.
“I see myself as a black woman creating space for other black women; I want my legacy to be ‘She did it, so I can do it.’
Audrey spoke about her aims for the podcast, and how she felt when she signed a contract with Spotify.
“Black and brown women’s stories, they just weren’t heard; no-one cared about them, so for us that was an intention of ours. We were gonna be real, we’re gonna be raw and we were gonna be ourselves, and through this we’ve changed lives – I know this because of the feedback we’ve received.”
Audrey Indome continues to pave the way for the younger generation to be themselves, through creating spaces for them and sharing her life experiences and mistakes that they can learn from and use as guidance for development. Her work in the industry has only just begun, and she has a lot more to show for herself.
‘The Receipts podcast’ opened doors for other podcasts started by black and brown women to have friendly chats and open conversations surrounding sex, relationships and love. These topics are gradually being destigmatised in minority cultures, and the gap in the conversation is beginning to close.
It’s no secret that when people become part of a company, they have to censor themselves to protect their image, and this was a worry of Indome’s.
“I thought, if we are gonna get paid for this, do we have to compromise who we are and change the nature of the show? But Spotify were quite hard on us about not changing anything because we had already established ourselves before we signed with them.’’
As creatives, you are constantly belittled and told to ‘get a real job’, and it is very easy to put your passions and happiness aside in order to please others and to find stability; but take Audrey as inspiration. She didn’t allow being a PA to prevent her from breaking into the industry she had always wanted to be a part of. Your time may be now and it may be in fifteen years, but it’s important not to lose sight of the things that mean the most to you.
It is very easy to feel inferior in an industry where you don’t look like any of the faces that surround you – whether this be behind the scenes or the camera – but allow your talent to do the talking, and remember you belong as much as the next person.
Kesiah Gakpe is a second-year journalism student from East London studying BA Journalism. Her biggest areas of interest in media and journalism are lifestyle and pop culture; in addition to creating safe spaces for black people and making room for difficult conversations. She enjoys reading and reviewing said books. Find her on twitter @kesiahdelali, Tiktok @kesiahreadit and her new blog – ‘Opinionate’ https://kesiahgakpe.wixsite.com/opinionate
