#CuriousMoments with Advita
It’s been just over six weeks since our book Building a Culture of Inclusivity was published in the UK, and it all still feels incredibly surreal that I have written an actual book.
I’m often asked about how it all started. So here’s a little Friday story on how it all began.
I’d just finished reading Inclusion on Purpose by the remarkable Ruchika Tulshyan. It’s a phenomenal book, and it inspired me to think differently about how we approach inclusion from a communications point of view.
A little book idea sparked, so I dropped Priya Bates, ABC, MC, SCMP, IABC Fellow a message. When we caught up on Zoom, and I told her what I was thinking, she initially said no! But those of you who know me well know my superpower is influence and persuasion ????
I said it could be months before we find a publisher, so what’s the harm in putting together a few thoughts and sending the chapter outlines. She reluctantly agreed. We spent 90 minutes sketching out our ideas, and we sent them over to Kogan Page. A few of our friends had their books published through them, and we’d heard good things.
Ten days later, we received an email to say they were interested. They wanted us to tweak a few chapters, but they would submit the idea to their editorial board for consideration. Two weeks after that note, we received the confirmation they wanted to publish our book! But they wanted to start immediately and complete the book by the end of November 2022. We were in June 2022. I breezily said to Priya, “It’ll be fine!”
And it was fine. Kind of. I mean, I did think I’d be able to escape to a delightful Airbnb and enjoy the ocean breeze. Instead, I spent every Saturday and Sunday in my garden office sipping fizzy Vimto to get me through the chapters. The standard question at home was, “Are you still writing that book?” I cancelled all plans, I didn’t see some of my friends, and I missed a load of stuff. But do I regret it? Do I ‘eck. We submitted 90,000 words on the deadline and haven’t looked back.
As far as we know, Priya and I are one of the first internal communication professionals of colour to write a book about communications. It was important to both of us to show up and share our experiences with others so they could start influencing and changing behaviours so no one feels excluded at work.
The book has received some fabulous feedback, and every day we hear how much it’s helped people understand inclusion from a communications angle. We’ve ranked on the top sellers’ PR list on Amazon and have maintained our position in the top 10 for a few weeks in the UK. We also sold out in Canada and Australia (back in stock now).
If you’ve bought our book – THANK YOU. Please share what you’ve taken away, it honestly makes my day when people get in touch.
Originally posted on LinkedIn, Follow me for more curious moments.
