Lockdown living, at home with two sons of differing ages, hasn't been easy for Brand consultant Keysha. We talk to the former magazine editor about: why black hair matters; the switch from print to digital; interviewing Janet Jackson and Tyler Perry; taking conscious breaks from social media, and; the wellbeing to be found in embracing your local community - the real legacy of Covid-19.
Beauty journalist, Brand consultant and former magazine editor Keysha Davis talks to us about community spirit and raising two boys during lockdown, why black hair matters and feeling star-struck by Janet Jackson and Tyler Perry.
Show summary
1min – Lockdown living with two young sons at home, and what matters in life.
2mins30s – Unconventional career route: intern to entertainment at Pride, and Editor at BlackHair magazine.
7mins – switching from print to digital, with feet in both the analogue and digital worlds.
8mins30s – virtuous circle of experience: fashion, beauty and music.
9mins45s – interviewing Janet Jackson and Tyler Perry, my ‘pinch me moment’.
12mins08s – Black hair and hair discrimination: ‘it’s just hair, but it’s our hair.’ Brand responses.
16mins – Instagram and IG live: heroes, heroines, health and beauty.
19mins30s – “MsQuiche”.
20mins – Collective Covid grief and information overload.
23mins – Filtering social media and the ‘hive mind’.
26mins45s – Inspired by, and the importance of, the local community.
31mins30s – Spending quality time and rediscovering your life partner.
33mins – Comfort content, favourite new books and Judi Love’s date nights.
39mins30s – Hopes and aspirations for the future – imposter syndrome, and going out again.
Hi, my name is Sam Bleazard. Welcome to Comms from the Shed, the interview show where you get to hear from a range of diverse and interesting voices on how they've coped during the global pandemic.
In this series will be taking an informal look at life, talking to people who've been doing incredible things and asking them about their hopes for the future in both their personal and professional lives.
Hope you enjoy it.
Today we have brand consultant and beauty writer Kesha Davis, who is the former editor of Black Hair magazine and has written for Glamour magazine, The Independent and BBC Music - amongst other titles. She's also the founder of Arts, Music and Culture blog The Cocoa Diaries, is a mother of two and goes by the name of ‘MsQuiche’ on Instagram. Keysha - welcome to Comms from the Shed.
Hi, Sam. Thank you so much for having me.
It's great to have you here. And first of all, let me just ask how you have found the lockdown?
Lockdown has been an experience, to say the least. It's been such a rollercoaster of emotions for everybody. This is one experience we can say we've all had together. The challenge for me, like most working women - has been the juggle of trying to work from home. I always work from home anyway, but usually the children are at home. I've got a five-year-old and a 15-year-old which is quite a large age gap. They are both different, both at different stages of their journey. My younger one has just started primary school and my oldest son was due to do his GCSEs, but you know, that's all in a bit of a flux at the moment. So it's been really difficult juggling and trying to keep them motivated. Keep them on top of their work. And as you mentioned, I'm a freelancer and a consultant, so I’m having to work with various clients and still deliver. I'm sure like you, and like many, you've lost maybe loved ones or know of someone that's passed away from coronavirus. So you've got that aspect as well. It's been hard, but there's also been benefits as well. I think personally not taking your family for granted and realising what matters in life.
So just briefly for our listeners - how did you get to be the person you are professionally, a consultant on brands and someone who writes about beauty? What's your background, and what was the journey to get here?
I don't know if unconventional is the right word, but it's not a traditional route into beauty journalism. I first started off writing for lifestyle magazines and interning for magazines like Pride. That's where I got my main start, as an intern at Pride, and then I went on to become an editorial assistant, and after leaving Pride I ventured into PR. It was almost accidental. It wasn't an intentional move really. I don't even remember how it happened. But I was looking for work in magazine journalism after leaving Pride the first time, because I worked there twice and found it really hard, and I foolishly thought I could just leave and walk into another magazine job. The magazine journalism world is quite small and close knit, so I went into PR for a bit, for three or four years and worked in marketing for a while as well. And then when I became pregnant with my first child in 2005 I started reaching back out to Sherry Dixon, who was then editor of Pride. And saying to her that, I'm maternity leave right now and I really miss writing for magazines - can I perhaps send you a few feature ideas to consider? She was like, yeah sure, and asked me to send them through. I always have to thank Sherry for this because she's always supported my my throughout my whole career. She's always been so supportive and always there at the right moment. So I was writing for Pride on a freelance capacity and then one day, just out of the blue, said to her - look are there any jobs going? And she said, funnily enough the entertainment editor has just resigned, so there is a position available if you want it. She said Keysha I know you know the company already, so it's literally yours to refuse. So I went up to the office which was based in Battersea at the time, met up with Sherry and just spoke about what the job would entail. And that was it really. Once I got that second chance in the industry, I haven't looked back since. So I worked there for four years, left to freelance for maybe about six months, and then the position became available at Black Hair magazine for an editor. And being an editor was always my ultimate goal from a child from when I was, like, 13, 14 and started buying magazines. I don't know if you remember magazines like Just 17?
Well there was a lot of pages torn out of Just 17 on my big sister's wall, let's put it that way.
Exactly. That was always my ultimate goal. I thought this looks like an amazing job, because I always loved to write and always loved reading. I also love the creative side as well - like photo shoots and profiles on pop groups and celebrities that I was into, so I thought this looks like an amazing job. So even though Black Hair magazine wasn't in the lifestyle genre - it was more specifically hair and beauty - I thought you know what this is a perfect opportunity and I'm going to take it, and that was that. I worked there for seven years before the magazine folded. Like many printed magazine titles it just became a victim of the industry because people weren't buying magazines anymore. And then that was it. I left or was made redundant in 2018 and have just been working as a consultant and freelancer ever since.
Interesting to hear you say that you really missed writing. I mean, that must be must be good karma on your part because you mentioned somebody giving you an opportunity. You've been very generous in terms of my own writing as well, so in case I forget to thank you, I'm going to say that up front. It's interesting also, to hear you say that it was a dream of yours to be an editor. So it was great that you you managed to to realize that dream so young. I wondered what your reflection was on the shift to online from print, with print becoming almost obsolete. What are your reflections on that? Because it feels to me like you lived through that, and now we're very much in a fully online virtual world of media.
It was really hard, actually, because like I said, I've loved magazines from when I was a child. It's always been magazines, books and music. Those are the main things that I was into and up in my loft to this day I've got stacks of old magazines. My partner Richard is always telling me to get rid of them, but I say no I can't, and I've always felt they would be in my life. I also always felt that once I become an editor, that will be me, that will be it until my retirement years. I also love digital media as well. I like consuming online media, and as you know, I'm really into social media as well. I think as a typical Gen-Xer, I've got my feet firmly planted in both worlds - that kind of analog world and digital world. So I was really sad to see magazines go, but I also saw the writing on the wall pretty early, and on reflection that was one of my reasons for starting The Cocoa Diaries, which I started in 2008. It was quite a long while ago and I was like, this is the future. I remember speaking to my colleagues at work as well, and saying girls get yourself a blog, get yourself on Facebook and they're like, you know what, that's fine. I'll just, you know, sit over here and do my magazine thing.
Absolutely. I think that's important. And also listening to you talk about having had spells in your career in PR, in magazines and in beauty - are these things like a virtuous circle where one thing kind of feeds the other? It sounds almost sort of cyclical, like you know one thing led to another but also allows you a kind of route back and forward between these different things. What is your reflection on that?
Absolutely so just to go back to when I was at Pride as an entertainment editor, part of the reason why I had an advantage to get the position was that I was freelancing for Black Hair. I was approaching the editor and saying, look, I've just interviewed Janet Jackson - I think that was the first one I pitched to the magazine - but I haven't been able to place it anywhere. Would you like to feature it in Black Hair? The then editor was like, yep sure, let's do that. And once that relationship started, every issue I would pitch her a celebrity interview. So when the job became available at Black Hair, they already knew who I was, they knew my work. So that enabled me to get that foot in the door, I believe. And you're right that fashion, beauty, music - everything is intertwined, so it was quite easy to transfer my skills from that of an entertainment journalist to becoming a beauty writer.
In those early days, did you have any favourite interviews, or did you ever feel kind of star struck at any point? I guess people who interview a lot don't experience that, but yeah any any sort of memories that jump out at you from that time?
I think Janet Jackson was one of those ones because I, like many, not even just women - I think everybody idolised Janet as a child of the eighties, you know? And it wasn't a one on one interview, but it was quite an interesting experience because it was Janet and Tyler Perry. Tyler Perry was the main talent there and he was promoting his film, 'Why Did I Get Married Too?, I think it was. And Janet Jackson was one of the co stars, so it wasn't a one on one, there was probably about me and four other journalists in the hotel room. Tyler was holding court, and he's very charming, very charismatic. I really liked him, a really lovely personality, and we were all just kind of talking back and forth. Janet hadn't entered the room yet. Janet entered maybe 3 to 5 minutes afterwards, sat down, and she was just so quiet. And what we expect of her quiet, demure. And she sat there and everyone was just asking Tyler questions. I'm like, This is Janet Jackson! Why is no one asking her questions? So I directed a question at her, and I think she was like: oh someone's acknowledged me, and you know, she was her usual sweet and gracious self and but just seems so normal - as she is, you know. So I think that was probably one of my kind of pinch me moments. I'm actually interviewing Janet. Everybody else? I don't think there was anyone else that particularly stood out for me. It became a job after a while, and to be honest, towards the end of it, I didn't enjoy it as much. I felt I was interviewing a lot of up and coming artists or artists who were kind of hot at the moment, and I tended to find artists like that weren't particularly up for being interviewed. You could sense that they didn't want to be there, so it wasn't an enjoyable experience. I really preferred interviewing a lot of the veteran artists, artists that had been around for 20-30 years and had really storied careers. With those real stories, there are real battle scars, and nothing is off guard or off limits. They were a lot more forthcoming, and they actually wanted to be there.
There's a piece you wrote for Glamour magazine how black women can be discriminated against because of the choices they make, due to their hair styling. I just wondered what your opinions on that were - for anybody who is not aware of that issue that might be listening?
Funnily enough I've just submitted another article about hair discrimination this week, for another magazine called Spell, which will be out in a few weeks time. So it's obviously a subject that I'm really passionate about. So for those who are not kind of aware of the conversations around that, basically, there's a history of black girls and boys being discriminated against for the way they wear their hair and that could be anything Sam. It could be as simple as just wearing your hair in its natural state, so if your hair is in an afro, there have been a few casess where girls with Afros have been told you must put your hair back in a ponytail, keep it straight or whatever, because it's distracting to the other students, you know obstructing their work. It's just nonsense basically. So I figured it's time to write about this, and I'm not the only one - there are many other journalists out there that have written about the subject and there's a call to put an end to it. And there's a few things in place as well, from brands that are working to end the discrimination as well. Cantu beauty is a brand that I worked really closely with, and they've recently implemented a training program enabling hair stylists of all backgrounds black, white and other ethnicities, to train how to style and look after Afro hair. So that it's not a thing that becomes other or alien, it's just hair. It's just hair that grows out of my head and it has different needs to what Europeans or Asians have - but it's our hair you know. Just take away the politics of it all and think about the Children that this impacts as well, being told that your hair, the way your hair grows out of your head naturally, that it's wrong. It's something that you're liable to get in trouble for, or be excluded from school for you know. Just think how that makes you feel as a child, and it's funny because I don't think I ever experienced that as a child growing up in the eighties, and considering we are a society who feels we've come such a long way in terms of, you know, multiculturalism, it somehow seems that we've taken a step back in that regard.
Well I'm glad I asked you about this and people might be wondering what appreciation a middle aged white Scottish man can have for this, but it's been brought into sharp focus for me because I have mixed race Children and, you know, they have Afro hair and I remember very vividly, my daughter drawing a picture of herself with straight blond hair. She represented herself as having straight blond hair, and I found that really odd. It's kind of troubling. So this is genuinely of interest to me so I think it's great that you shine a light on this and it sounds like an ongoing conversation. There are also very well known artists in the music industry that talk about this as well. I know Solange Knowles, who is the sister of Beyonce, has done a track about it and others too. So I guess it's something that will will run and run. But like you say, it almost feels like it's bigger than hair as well. Hair is a vehicle for which to discuss a much deeper issue, clearly. You are still interviewing. And for those who don't know you well, I know that you've just made a foray into Instagram Live and you've been interviewing some of your heroines, heroes, mentors. Do you want to just tell us a little bit about that? Who have you been talking to and what's coming up next?
Sure, so it started last year - funny enough during the first lockdown, and in the first lockdown with everyone stuck at home I think I started it to cope with the boredom and also tackle some of the fear and anxiety. I needed something, another creative project and I liked the idea of Instagram Live because it's quite easy. You just jump on press record and no need to edit. As you know we both spent a lot of time working on The Cocoa Diaries, but writing an article takes time and brainpower and I'm like, I don't want to do that! I'm trying to do something easy. So I'm gonna just jump on Instagram and speak to people that inspired me as mentors, people that I know and eventually I want to reach out to people that I don't know, who I admire. But I thought it's easy just to start with your social circle, because I feel I've got some amazing people in my circle doing incredible things. It started last April, and my first guest was Dionne Smith who is a hairdresser. I thought, that's the obvious choice, because people know me for my work in the hair and beauty sector. So I interviewed Dionne and it really well, and then I went on to interview a makeup artist called Pauline Briscoe. And then I started delving into other topics because my interests go beyond hair and beauty. I've delved into subjects like finances too. The last one I did before taking a break, which was meant to be a two week break, that ended up being about eight months! - the last one I did was on mental health, looking at things like grief and anxiety. I lost my mum in 2019, so as you can imagine lockdown was March 2020 and when I thought about it, I was like 'oh my God', because I was still really in the beginning stages of my grief. And I don't know if that's why I stopped for a bit, because that particular episode was really quite emotional and shout out to Nathaniel Oke for just holding it down for me. He's the psychologist I spoke to about the subject of grief and because we were right in the midst of covid at the time. I just really enjoyed it, like I said I was meant to take a two week break, and then work became quite busy. I feel like I was dealing with grief at that moment in time as well so I took a break, and now I'm back. My partner Rich says I should just see this as a season two. So this is season two. Last week I interviewed Leslie McKenley - who is a property investor. And for my next one I've got a best selling author. But I can't tell you anything yet.
Well, that sounds good. If people want to catch you. How do they view your instagram live? What are the details? What's your handle?
My handle is Miss - MS - Q.U.I.C.H.E. And you can find all my previous ones. Not all of them are there unfortunately, because when I first started Instagram wasn't saving all of them. They also won't save after a certain amount of time, but I've got three or four there, so I think they're up there for you to view. And, yeah, just stay tuned for the up and coming ones.
Excellent. Now is Quiche with Q just a play on words? Are you genuinely a lover of the food quiche?
It's definitely a play on words.
Ah right, okay.
I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan to be honest.
So bacon based flans with a crust are not necessarily your favorite food?
Exactly. Exactly.
I'm glad we've clarified that. It was really touching to hear you talk about what was obviously quite a seismic moment in your life, your mother passing away. And I think it's well accepted now amongst most people that there are stages of grief. I also wonder, because you talked about a time when lockdown had just happened, and I think you may have seen it, but I did a blog on LinkedIn about screen fatigue, you know, who's experienced it? While everyone's experienced it, clearly. I think in previous conversations I've had with you, you talked recently about information overload. I just wonder if these kind of events are making people want to take a step back. You know, and reflect. How important is that do you think?
Extremely important. And screen fatigue has been real for me. I've now gotten to a point where even though it looks like I'm on social media, I'm really not. I tend to go on there, and post things like features I've written recently or advertised my upcoming Instagram Live, or just check in with people to make sure they're all right. And I've noticed the difference immensely to my mental well being. Screen fatigue is real and is just an overload of information, and just kind of absorbing the energy on social media right now, which I feel is going through a collective stage of grief. I really do. I don't know. I'm a bit of a amateur psych kind of thing. I like to psychoanalyze people and, you know, events and social movements like social media. And I feel we're going through a bit of collective grief at moment through as a result of covid. And that's why, I don't know if you've noticed, but it's polarised. The social media landscape is so polarising, very loud, very combative. Opinions are split. People are arguing about things that aren't so important in the grand scheme of things. A lot of it is probably not relevant to your day to day life. Previous to Covid I used to take breaks for Lent, used to give up social media for Lent, and I think that has given me the insight once you're away from it and you go back to it and see how easy it is to be drawn in and how encompassing it can be to your life. And I just don't feel it's healthy, like any addiction. You know you can't see yourself. You can't see it once you're in it. But it's only when you take a step back and think, Oh my God, I'm really quite addicted to this thing.
It's interesting to hear you talk about it, and it sounds like you almost sort of think about it and assess it as a as a whole conscious being. I remember reading a book a few years ago that really influenced my thinking, a great deal by a guy called Jaron Lanier. He wrote this book called You Are Not a Gadget and the book had a great cover, it just looked like an iPod. And in the book he talks about - it's quite philosophical - but it talks about that collective consciousness that you mentioned, and and I think how he describes it, is as a hive mind, you know that people just flock around a subject. I think he was one of the early pioneers of the Internet, Jaron Lanier. It is quite interesting that because the polarisation that happens means we can't have healthy debate. You know people feel they have to take an opposing view, and I know that certain platforms are kind of driving you away. I think you mentioned one particular platform that you're feeling less and less enamored with. I think we're all like that and we we fall in and out of love with them, or we have to delete an app on our phone because we just can't filter it properly.
It was literally getting to the point where I just switched it on and I would get headaches physically, get headaches because you can absorb the energy can't you? - from the way people type or what they say. Going back to what you just said about the hive mind, that's another reason why I've really minimised my intake of social media, because I found that a lot of people that have deleted all their apps say this as well. You find yourself taking on the opinions of others, and if you have an opposing opinion you're reluctant to put that opposing opinion across for fear of being attacked or cancelled, you know? And I'm just looking at a prime example. This whole thing with the royal family, and the interview that Megan and Harry did recently with Oprah?
Sorry, what story is this Keysha? Oh wow - tell me more!
Exactly. You know what? The whole world is talking. That's what I was saying earlier about really not having any bearing on our lives. You know who said what to whom, who was horrible to whom? I have complicated feelings about it and I don't really have any horse in this race. Personally I think there's probably wrongdoing from all parties, as there is in any argument or conflict, you know? But to have an opposing view...? I feel like with social media you cannot look at it in a nuanced way - everything is literally black or white. I found the most interesting conversations I've had about Meghan and Harry or other hotbed subjects, they tend to be offline, like what we're doing now, one on one, where we put our points across and do so respectfully without this big, combative energy.
I guess what that's about is that you have thinking time and breathing space. I guess the immediacy of the technology makes it very reactionary. I suppose it doesn't cause you to reflect. To flip that to a positive, I just wondered if there are any stories that you've seen or things that people have been doing during lockdown that you're aware of, that you found inspirational? There's been a lot of great things that have come out of this period. Is there anything that either somebody you know has done, or a story that you've seen online that you found particularly inspiring?
Do you mean in terms of social media or just in general?
No, just in general. Things that people are doing. So I spoke to Drew McMillan who's the Director of Comms at British Airways. He was talking about British Airways people volunteering, pilots volunteering to be delivery drivers, people distributing PPE, volunteering in the NHS. It could be something very small scale, like other people in your street helping the neighbours.
I was going to say it is probably is more on a community level. I think potentially a neighbor a few doors away got covid over the Christmas period. My neighbour across the road bless her, she's 80 years old and she lost her husband, I think last year, or the year before. Thankfully she has two adult sons that took her to hospital, and so forth. So we've been rallying around and, thankfully everyone's all right. Thankfully everyone's out of hospital now, and everyone's OK. We've just been communicating and rallying around, like I text my neighbour Paul - I made some chicken soup, do you and Jackie want some? Because sadly the couple next door got covid. So they're like, oh my God, yes please. You know me or Richard will do a little delivery on the door step. Likewise with them, before they got ill they would bring us shopping every week. They would have excess items. I don't know why. But they would bring a bag of shopping every Friday. Loads of bread, milk, fruit. Just random things. You never know what you're going to get, so it's just been nice. And I was speaking to their daughter and she knocked on our door to say thank you. Thank you guys for being such lovely neighbours, you know? And I'm like, no this is what it almost feels like in some ways. And maybe this is the lesson. If you're looking for a big philosophical meaning behind this whole covid thing, it's kind of like I said, going back to basics and remembering the things that are important - community being one of them, which we'd kind of forgotten pre covid. Always being in a mad rush to do everything in our lives. It's just remembering at the heart of it those are the things that matter, you know love your family, your health, your neighbours and community. And prior to this experience we probably would have just waved to each other in the street. But now we're actually having conversations, and like I said, checking in with each other to make sure everyone is all right, bringing round bowls of soup and food. It's been really lovely. It's been so nice.
I think you're absolutely right. I have a similar reflection. I feel like I've spoken to my immediate neighbours on either side of the street more in the last 12 months than in the previous 10 years. I would completely agree with you, it's created a focus on the local. I know myself and others who I routinely bump into, go out for local walks or just go out for five or 10 minutes to the local coffee shop. And again I've been reflecting on this too. To me it's just what people have discovered - to add to what you've just so eloquently put there is - it's those little bits of humanity, just little pieces of human contact. We've had to go out into the local environment, in the neighboring streets and rediscover it, and find it again. And you know that's something we should hold onto because I think that's definitely an important thing.
I hope - and we keep saying the world opens up again, whenever that will be - we kind of hold onto these things, keep these things, you know, cherish them. I know it's gonna be hard because we're so used to the previous way of life. We've been doing it for the vast majority of our lives, so it will be hard. But it just felt right. A lot of those things just felt like - this is how life should be led, even when lockdown first started. And I remember saying to Richard, this is the longest period of time in our lives...how long have we been together now? 18 years. So in the 18 years that we've spent with each other, when you think about it, you spend like, maybe 10 days on holiday with your partner. You spend another 10 days at Christmas, but to spend three months - it was challenging obviously, it had its challenges, but it was actually really, really nice as well. Richard and I, kind of had time to spend with each other, laugh and share things and cook nutritious meals. And there's none of that rush-rush we usually found ourselves caught up in. So, yeah, I know what you mean.
You know, when you think about it now, it seems strange to think about how fleeting those relationships were. You know waking up in the dark, you're getting on a train getting into a car, rushing out the door, rushing your Children to nursery school, coming back late. Someone is then rushing to pick them up. Whose turn is it? You know that kind of thing. Repeat. Eat, sleep and repeat.
I've rediscovered my love of books, and what's also helped curb my addiction to social media is burying my head in a book.
And what have you been reading? Can you give us an example of a couple of books that you've read?
Yeah, sure. I've really been into memoirs. I've always loved memoirs. I would love to write or ghost write a memoir for somebody - if anyone is out there listening, do let me know! I read Mariah Carey's book. In fact, I can look at my bookshelf now. Mariah Carey's book, which was amazing, plus Mel B who I'm not a huge fan of, I must admit I was never really a Spice Girl fan, but once I completed Mariah's, I thought which book can I read next? It's along a similar vein, and it popped up on my recommended list on Kindle. It was really, really well written, so many life lessons in there. What I loved about Mariah's book is that she talked a lot about her creative process as a songwriter and a musician, whereas with Mel it's more about her personal challenges. More about life. You know, she went through a highly documented, abusive relationship with her ex-husband, and she talks about it in painstaking detail. Really, really raw and emotional, but it was brilliant. What else have I read? I've read quite a few books on hair as well. There's a an award winning Afro hairdresser called Charlotte Mensa. She recently wrote a book called Good Hair and about some of the things we spoke about, about the history of Afro hair, and also just practical tips and how to keep your hair on top shape. Um, what else have I read? It will come to me later, but those are a few.
Yeah, well, they sound good. On one of our earlier episodes of Comms from the Shed we spoke to Dr Kirsty Fairclough, who, amongst other things, is the chair of the Manchester Jazz Festival, and she's a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. It's probably worth mentioning to you if you enjoyed Mariah Carey's book, that herself and three other academic colleagues are writing a book on divas of RnB, and I believe that Mariah Carey is among those people featured. So look out for that later in the year. It's going to be quite an academic study as well. It's going to go quite deep into the issues. I must confess I was made aware of something in quarantine - sorry lockdown - that I had no prior knowledge of, but my wife got me into. I think as you know, this is Judy Love's 'quarantine date nights'. How would you describe Judy Love's quarantine date nights? Because it's also hosted on Instagram. It's raw, it's live, it's a one-off. And it may be slightly different to Loose Women and some of the other things people may have seen. But try and explain it, because I find it incredibly funny.
I'd seen it previously at the start of lockdown, but I'd never paid that much attention because there was so much content on Instagram Live. So you would go into one room and watch five minutes and then jump. I revisited it again, maybe last month, and it was the best thing ever. Like you said I've also been looking for things just to laugh at because life is so heavy. Life is so serious right now. So anything that can make us temporarily escape from our reality is a bonus for me.
I mean could we call it a dating show?
Loosely! So Judy basically invites some seriously brave souls. I think they're really brave to put themselves forward and just say, look I'm single and I'm looking for a partner. This is what I want, and this is what I don't want. And Judy, for those who don't know, is a comedian doing amazing things at the moment. Isn't shet? Her star is definitely on the rise. She's currently on Loose Women, and I think she's been on Jonathan Ross and stuff, and she's very warm and personable, and she's smart as well. So she's the perfect host. Like the next Cilla Black I guess.
I was just going to say - I'm not sure if she is the person that came up with this - the phrase "Do you want to slide into my DMs?" is now hardwired into my consciousness, in a way that maybe it wasn't before. Who do you think has been the most memorable guest, or has there been anything that's happened on a recent episode that you found really funny?
The one that sticks out for me was the lady who had the Rasta boyfriend with about 10 different girlfriends on the go. And she was on there for about 20 minutes talking about each different scenario. Yeah, that girl lives in Birmingham and she's got two kids, and it was just hilarious. She was such a character. Judy just sat there, gobsmacked and just laughing because she was so forthcoming and confident and comfortable with the situation. And you had the comments, as you can imagine, that were really funny. And it's really engaging, so she's really onto a good thing.
Absolutely, and just to just to finish off on Judy Love's quarantine date nights, I think it's probably worth saying that - from a broadcast point of view - it's quite high risk because it's effectively uncensored, unfiltered, and you know she is right on the line all the time. It's a pretty brave position to be in, especially as she has a mainstream career. So that's kind of the serious point. I think she puts herself out there.
She does - but she will call you out or pull you up if you say things that aren't necessarily politically correct, or you know she will know what to say. Alright, then, good bye - let's cut this conversation off quickly. So it takes a lot of guts on her part as well, to put herself out there because it literally is live. She's got a huge following. So anything can happen, you know?
Absolutely. Yeah, and it usually does and usually does. It's really great talking to you today. I just wanted to finish by maybe reflecting on some hopes for the future. I mean, when you look ahead, what are your hopes, dreams, or aspirations for the next few months?
Like most people I just can't wait to do things again. I can't wait to meet up with friends and family members, be out in the outdoors. I can't wait to feel the sun on my back to feel my feet in the water. Just the regular things really, go to concerts, theatre performances, go to dinner. I was okay up until maybe about a few months ago. I'm really excited about the future. I feel I'm in a really good place to become a lot more confident in my abilities. Going back to Sherry Dixon, my mentor. She has a weekly live show called The Sherry Dixon Show, and I was on one of the shows which spoke about Impostor syndrome, and she was like - I would never have guessed you suffer from Imposter syndrome because you are always doing these things. But I seriously do. That said I'm of the feel the fear and do it anyway school. The more I do things, even things like this, it's fine because at the moment it just feels like I'm having a conversation with Sam. But if I think about it beyond that I'm like, Oh my God, people are going to listen and you know, judge me. Like most people I've never enjoyed public speaking, but the more I do it, the more comfortable I become with it, and it's just one of those things. Like most things if you want to master it, you just need to keep doing it more and more. So the more I achieve or the more things I conquer, the more confident I become. I need to maybe push myself and enter another creative market. Documentaries. That's something I've always wanted to make. Maybe that's something I could explore, but I feel I need to push myself out of my comfort zone for my next endeavour.
Absolutely, and I'm sure conversations like this help. I totally get what you're saying about the unknown and how uncertain the future is. And I feel strangely optimistic, but I almost feel guilty in saying that. I don't know why I feel like that. I don't necessarily have any basis for it, but maybe there's just something in the air right now. And if there is, and if there is any optimism, we should just kind of try to grab it and bottled up those feelings - just just so that it can transmit to others.
Yeah, I think that's good, because I as we know, the news focuses on negativity. And you know, there's so much doom and gloom about impending recessions and getting the economy back, and vaccines and there's so much negative energy out there, negative stories. So to have optimism in the face of, you know all the adversity we've faced, and yet to face, that says something. Maybe that is an indication that beyond this, there are positive things to come.
Absolutely well thank you for talking to us today. I really enjoyed the discussion as always, and I hope that everyone can keep checking back with Comms from the Shed, and we'll keep sharing future episodes. So just to say once more, Keysha Davis, thanks very much for joining us today.
Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure, it's been lots of fun.
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