In last week’s Industry Spotlight I interviewed one of the London technology scene’s brightest sparks and I think it’s safe to say anyone who read the article came away feeling inspired.

This week the script has flipped as I catch up with an old friend and a young lady I met whilst I was at the very beginning of my post graduation journey.

I was first introduced to Kieran Yates at the Ctrl.Alt.Shift offices in Waterloo, London where I worked on Social Strategy among other tasks that young social activists with enthusiasm for change do. Our shared network compiled a mix of music industry influencers, key journalists and Mervin Martins.

It was through this network where we both worked to seek and create opportunities and while we both ended up in completely different areas of expertise, we kept in touch and I thought it was about time Kieran showcased just a little of herself to the rest you.

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Kieran Yates and I’m a (mostly music) journalist for MTV, The Guardian, The Independent, Red Bull and a few others. I also do freelance PR and A&Ring [Artists and repertoire] on the side. When I get time, I write press releases and biographies for artists and have also been known to ‘whine pon the floor’ at Dubstep, Grime, Spoken Word and Hip Hop nights.

At the moment, I front the Urban Bards blog, which is a project I’ve just started, to document the Spoken Word scene in London, trying to educate people about what it is, what’s going on, and to shed light on underground voices.

There’s a lot of voices to engage with on the underground, I support musicians a lot in my work, but Urban Bards is for the poets, and their culture.

How did you get into this industry and why did you chose this path?

Well, I always knew I wanted to be a writer in some capacity. I did a lot of unpaid work experience at places like LIVE and The Guardian. I could never afford to do them in the Summer, so I did them in half terms and just worked like crazy. Through LIVE, I made a lot of good contacts through some amazing mentors, like Emma Warren and Chantelle Fiddy, and then I moved on to work for CtrlAltShift, and then from there, I just fell into all the other stuff by writing constantly.

When I graduated, I tried to attend every night [gig] going, write about it, consistently update my blog, write for free where I could, and now the hard work is starting to pay off.

Was this how you had planned things to go or are you capitalising on opportunities and simply rolling with it?

I didn’t plan anything at all, apart from the fact I knew I wanted to write. I capitalised on opportunities, writing into the night, sacrificing time, all that kind of thing. I just banged on lots of doors until they opened for me. I still do that now.

We’re in a new era where anyone can create opportunities for themselves. Do you agree?

Definitely! It is hard to be creative; but you have to establish your own path and find opportunities. After putting in the hard work, listening, learning from the experts and having loads of drive, I believe if you want anything enough you can get it.

Would you rather have 100,000 twitter followers to market to or an extra £10,000?

The money. With it I would be able to manage projects and make a lot more things happen, such as events, creating various magazines and the like. You can do all that without money, I think it just takes you longer.

What one thing can you not live without?

My notebook. Half of what I do is about being organised, pitching ideas, and waiting for a brainwave, so when they come, I’m ready. Also, there’s nothing better then putting pen to paper sometimes.

With so many talkers and gamers out there claiming to be experts and influencers. Do you consider yourself a smooth talker, a real talker or a don’t talk to me I’m not a talker?

I’m a real talker! I’m my own worst critic when my work isn’t up to scratch and I always try and tell people the reality of how hard it can be to succeed. Which isn’t being harsh it’s just real talk, that’s not a reason not to try tho.

If you wasn’t in this field, what would you be doing?

I’d probably be teaching, probably some kind of social activism… and I’d rally children to look cute, camp outside parliament and make [David] Cameron feel bad for taking away their EMA.

Name three people who have inspired you in your life.

My mum. For teaching me early on that knowledge is power, and being the most inspirational woman I know; she’s amazing.

One of the keys in this industry is recognising the people that helped you when you were coming up, and that’s a lot more than three.. sorry but you know its true.

If you were a superhero, who would you be and why?

Wonderwoman, for the outfit, invisible plane, and thinly veiled feminist sayings. Obviously.

What does the future have in store for you?

Hopefully lots more of the same thing. More writing, more plotting and hopefully inspiring lots of fun things for and beyond…

Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to young creative minds, what would it be?

Don’t be disillusioned by knock backs or people telling you that there aren’t enough opportunities. I had it and you have to push through all that, look at what people are achieving despite the current cuts. It’s a great time for the arts.

Be sure to keep up to date with all of Kieran’s Wonder Woman adventures and her quest for global peace over at her personal blog. Her new project Urban Bards gives a unique angle on the current underground Urban scene so make sure you check that out also.

And if that isn’t enough Yates for you, don’t forget to stalk her on Twitter. Aight!

Main image courtesy of Verena Stefanie Grotto

The event featured speakers from the BBC, Rugby Football Union and a London derby presentation battle between Arsenal Football Club and Chelsea Football Club.

After the presentations there was an excellent panel session for the BBC Olympics with Lewis Wiltshire (@lewiswiltshire), Karen Pickering MBE (@karen_pickering), Jeanette Kwakye (@jnettekwakye) and Jake Humphrey (@jakehumphreyf1) which was hosted by the BBC Director of London 2012 Roger Mosey.

I presented alongside my colleague Laura Higginson on behalf of Chelsea FC. Skip to 37mins to see our presentation:

So, what did you think?

I would love to hear any feedback on the presentation and the event, as public speaking is something I am keen to develop.

Thanks to Sophie Brendel (BBC’s Head of Digital Engagement), Maz Nadjm (Ogilvy’s Head of Social Media) and Dan McLaren (Adidas Social Media Lead at Carat) for giving me the opportunity.

Sidenote: Yes I know I need a hair cut.

Challenge: Pick up to 10 of your favorite things about your community and create an ad page on the Community section. Simple enough!

The task is to get as many comments and views as possible to this thread.

“Gumtree are passionate about communities and bringing people together.”

Being that the London Southbank is built up on creativity I decided to be a little bit more innovative with the challenge and rather than pick a selection of my favorite things, I took my new moleskin notepad, a sketchbook and my new digital camera (courtesy of Gumtree People) down to the Southbank and chose a selection of things that inspire me from the Southbank area.

So, my lovely readers, i need you guys to help me out a little:

- Head over to My Southbank
- Leave a nice little comment
- Retweet the My Southbank to your network.
- Let me know when you have done so and i will add you to my personal reward list!

**Alternatively if that is all too long, just leave a comment on this post!!**

Here is the full article for My Southbank:

The Elephants are everywhere, they look spectacular and really makes you think about the passion, creativity and effort that went into sculpting these and also what a world without Elephants would be like.

Check out some of the photos I took below and the sketch I drew of an Elephant called Maureen by Mackenzie Thorpe.

Note: The angle was different to the picture and i haven’t drawn since i left school seven years ago, so stop laughing. Thanks

81 Gower Street
London
WC1E 6HJ
+44 (0) 20 7580 3184
http://www.elephantparadelondon.org/

With galleries from the likes of Picasso and Dali and sculptures from Henry Moore it’s just a great place to observe brilliance and be inspired to create.

Even if you are not interested in art, it’s a spectacular building in a creative haven on the heart of the riverbank in South London, hence the reason why 25 million people visit every year!

53 Bankside
London SE1 9TG
+44 (0) 20 7887 8752
www.tate.org.uk

But every year The Times BFI Festival in autumn is Europe’s largest public film event and shows the best in contemporary cinema from around the world at venues across London.

Want another reason to be interested in the BFI? Check out The BFI IMAX on London’s South Bank, it has the largest cinema screen in the UK and now has a huge 3D screen also!

Belvedere Road
South Bank
Waterloo
London SE1 8XT
Box Office: +44 (0) 20 7928 3232
http://www.bfi.org.uk/

Situated on the Southbank, the Bridge links from The Tate Modern to St. Paul’s Cathedral across the River Thames. I remember walking across it when it first opened and it was nicknamed the ‘Wobbly Bridge’ and even though it doesn’t wobble anymore, every time I walk across it I think it’s moving.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Bridge_(London)

It can’t be knocked that the view from any part of London’s prestigious Southbank is pretty darn epic. Whether you are staring at Parliament from the Waterloo end or the East London skyline from Blackfriars, the Southbank is without doubt my favorite part of London.

Tip: Take a walk along here on a clear night and witness London in a way that makes it without doubt the city to live in.

http://www.southbanklondon.com/

Remember, i need your help to win this, so if you are also a fan of Southbank, please head over to this thread i set up, leave a brief comment and retweet the linky!

Thanks for reading chaps!

Oh the sweet and joyful commute to the office. The 50-minute journey of silence, and the stench of body oder is enough to drain all enthusiasm I had when crawling out of the shower, and overshadows any stimulating Gordon Brown lazy eye headline I may have decided to set my eyes on reading.

Maybe it’s the over population of the Crackberry that has these sheep staring so hard at their palms that you’d think they had Cheryl Cole naked between their legs.

However, the issue that beckons is the fact that day in day out, the journey is consistently silent… I mean I’m not looking for a six-train pile up of carnage and horror at London Bridge. The look on these Duncan Bannatyne wannabe’s is enough to scare off any Bin Laden look-a-like with his gym bag of C4.

My quarrel is worse than a bad day in Bosnia. It’s staring at our pathetic attempt of claiming to be a multi-cultural state, because the fact is that we are so paranoid of everyone around us that we need to cocoon ourselves in a ball of latest gadgets and black and white paper hoping that we don’t catch eye contact with someone who may actually appear to say ‘Good Morning’ as they travel to their destination!

I haven’t had the joy of travelling the world in a quest to find morning banter on the commute but I’m sure if I was hiking to the office in the Caribbean, I may be partial to a “Wots’ good mon”, followed by a musical duet with a local traveller who has the ability to brighten up their own life without the need of a qwerty keyboard or white earphones and fruit logos.

If not I may get some funny looks for wearing winkle pickers in 100 degrees of heat!

It’s a shame we have to be so dramatic and fearful of the people around us, with the thoughts that every Middle Eastern individual could be ready to explode not only killing me and the unfortunate Morgan Stanley chap beside me, but more importantly making me miss work and ruining my fake Hugo Boss suit…not to mention now I’m going to miss tonight’s Dragons Den.

Fortunately, I also own a Crackberry and I can spend the 50-minute commute polishing my ego chatting with my virtual reality Twitter friends… and not with you Zombies!

Thanks London.