INTERVIEW WITH ABI KASIM
EX-STUDENT, ENTREPRENEUR AND MODEL
Yussuf: This is an interview conducted by myself, Khyrn and Dante and today we are here with Abi, who is a former Deptford Green student and is achieving a lot of success in her life.
Yussuf+Khyrn+Dante: Good afternoon Abi!
Abi: Good afternoon.
Khyrn: Our first questions is, what area did you grow up in and how did it influence your career choices?
Abi: I grew up in Deptford and I lived here all my life up until I moved out of my parent’s house. My parents still live here now and growing up, my experience was actually quite ok. Lots of people think of Deptford as being some sort of dangerous area to live in, but obviously my experience as a girl is different to what the experience of a lot of guys would be. In terms of how being from here influenced my career choice, I started off wanting to be a teacher, and as I came to Deptford Green, I was so impacted by my teachers and the great work they were doing and combined with the fact I also enjoyed working with children, that’s the direction my life could have gone, but I ended up choosing a different path. Now I work in the corporate world so in terms of influence, I went where the winds of life took me!
Yussuf: We also understand that you are a model. What steps did you take to become one?
Abi: Modelling to me was just a bit of fun, it was one of those situations where my friends were like “With that type of bone structure, you should model”, and when three people in a row said it to me, I got to a point where I was thinking ‘I might as well try to do this’. I went to a party and there were two photographers there and one of them came up to me and asked me if I modelled. I was pretty surprised and said “Yeah, sure let’s do this” and I went to my first shoot literally not knowing how to model at all and I just kind of winged it. I feel with these things you’re always going to start off at ground zero, not knowing what to do, so you just have to try figure it out as you go along. What steps did I take? Well, it was a thing where I went to photographers and said 'I will work for you for free because I am trying to build up my portfolio' until I had enough images that I could start charging for my photos to be used. I knew I was good at what I did and people were telling me I am ‘sick’ at it, so the jobs started coming in. The most I’ve been paid for modelling is £1000 per day. That came about because I was booked for a job and then the more they decided to use my images, the more they paid for them, so it can be good - you just have to put the hard work in. The lesson here is that I had to work for free at the start to get to the point where I can now charge £1000 per day.
Dante: What is the hardest part about being a model?
Abi: The hardest part about being a model is feeling like the way you look has an impact on your value and how you are viewed. I think the hardest part is that people think being a model is about you as a person when it is not - it’s about what you’re modelling. If I’m about to put some clothes on and model, its not about me, its about the clothes I’m wearing, I am just the mannequin, so they can effectively do anything they want to my face and my hair. I had a few comments about my body not being good enough or not being ‘XYZ’ enough and that can effect you if you let it, but I just had to have a strong mindset and tell myself I’m not going to let it affect me and I’m just going to be me, so I’ve had to turn down some agencies because they wanted me to have a certain look and I was just like, ‘No that isn’t me’, so it’s about having integrity and an understanding of who you are and not giving yourself away.
Khyrn: Despite those challenges, what are the best things about your job?
Abi: Oh it's FUN!! It's good on set. You get to meet so many cool people. I’ve done modelling for designer brands. A month ago I was in Italy, at Lake Como, seeing beautiful parts of the world! To me that’s crazy; it’s like I’m getting paid to go on holiday. I’ve also been to the Amalfi Coast which is another ridiculously beautiful place in Italy. In two months' time I’m going to Morocco to do some modelling in the desert, which will be really cool because it’s a nice way to explore your creativity and just try new things.
Yussuf: How do you manage to stay motivated in such a competitive industry?
A: I’m not going to lie; I think it’s because I’m just not competitive! I think, because for me modelling is not necessarily the be all and end all, I’m not like ‘yes I'm out here to be a model, I’m out here to be Naomi Campbell’. My stance is that I’m here for fun, I’m here to go with the flow and see what happens. What I find is when you don’t put yourself under pressure about things and let it take its course, life runs more smoothly.
Dante: Have you ever had any negative experiences in the industry?
Abi: This is quite deep for me actually. Yes I did, and full transparency, sometimes this industry is not as nice and glamorous as it looks. I remember I had, and this is me being a bit vulnerable, I had an uncomfortable experience with a photographer. He was like ‘Come and do a test shoot at my studio’ and it was just me and him. As you know, some people don’t always have your best interests at heart and there can be some predatory behaviours in action out there and there was this one point where I thought to myself ‘Do I need to figure out a way to prop my phone up somewhere so I can record what this guy is doing or trying to do?' I felt really uncomfortable, so yeah, you can read what I’m trying to say here and you have to be careful out there, especially in this industry.
Khyrn: What challenges have you faced in your journey to success and how did you overcome them?
Abi: I think the key word there is ‘success’, because its almost like, what is success? What do you guys view as success?
Khyrn: Let me rephrase my question. What challenges did you face in your journey to getting to where you are today, and how did you overcome them?
Abi: I’m still facing challenges, because the number one challenge you face is up here [mental challenge] and how you perceive the obstacles that are in your way. I’ve had many different challenges. For example, when I did my accounting qualification, which was really hard, I had to do 15 exams back to back whilst still at work and I thought ‘Oh my gosh there’s no way I’m going to be able to do all this’ but you just have to try and if you fail, you have to go again. Resilience is the key thing throughout your journey. The main challenge I’m facing now is, I’m in a new corporate job and at this moment I’m simply not good enough. These guys have hired me on this ridiculous salary and I don’t believe deep down I’m worth the money that they’re paying me, but I need to counter that by saying that if I don’t think I’m good enough, I need to train myself to become good enough. To be better. I feel like those are the different challenges I'm facing. It's all about having belief in yourself. Obviously I’m saying this to you but I’m saying it to myself as well because it is such a key thing.
Yussuf: You’ve mentioned before that you’ve worked abroad, so what is the experience like when you’re travelling to and from different countries?
A: It’s really fun because the last job I was on, it was great because it was one of those locations you see when you’re scrolling on your timeline and you think ‘Wow that place looks unreal’ and I’m getting to go and you’re almost going thinking 'I’m here for a holiday' when in reality you’re not; you’re there to work. I mean this sounds ridiculous because these are definitely first world problems! I remember the last one I was on a boat on the lake and it was freezing! It was so cold and I was in a thin dress and there was a drone flying above me and I had to pretend I wasn’t cold. As I’m saying it out loud it sounds silly, but it's just one of those things that you don’t expect because you go abroad thinking things are all going to go smoothly but you come back and you’re all tired and I had to go back to my day job the next day. But the experience was brilliant so I’m not complaining.
Dante: You spoke about this briefly at Cultural Evening but what is it like to run your own business?
A: The business is a journey that I’ve been going on this year, and I’m super excited about it but also super nervous because I’ve never done anything like it before. For me, it’s a way to make my own mark on the world and not feel like some company or agency are paying me for a service, plus not feeling like (for example in modelling) you’re at the bottom of the chain. It’s an event styling business. When I first came to this country - I moved here from Nigeria when I was nine - it was difficult because neither of my parents could work. My mum was depressed (but she wouldn’t use the word depressed because she’s an African parent), but I knew she was and one thing that really made her happy was going to Nigerian Hall parties and seeing all the decorations and the other cultural things. So, she started to do it for family and friends until it kind of hit a wall as it had reached a point where it needed to go online, but if you showed my mum a laptop, she wouldn’t understand what to do with it and you can’t realistically launch a successful business without having those skills.
I grew up. I chose not to go to university, I worked in a large, successful company and I realised that part of my purpose as my mum’s ‘baby’ is to raise this idea which is like my mum’s second baby!! and with the fusion of my skills and her expertise, we can create an amazing business and incorporate a digital aspect to it. It’s not just events styling, i.e. ‘I’ve got a wedding, come and decorate the hall for me’. It’s more like actually, ‘I’m having a wedding, what do I want it to look like?’ and my team and I will create a digital visualisation of what the event will be and a digital replica of the venue. It’s about going that one step further and understanding the fact that we’re in a digital age and people want to see and visualise their wants and needs, so we are incorporating those skills to build something that will hopefully be successful.
Here is a link to Abi's business. If you are interested in their service - click HERE
Khyrn: What advice would you give to young people growing up in a similar situation to yours?
Abi: Trust in the journey, trust in the process. I feel like even if you feel like you can’t see the destination and you don’t feel like what you’re trying to do is realistic, just focus on whatever the next step is. My thing now is, how am I going to build a business that’s going to reach six or seven figures? I’m unsure of that, but what I do know is that right now I’ve got to build a website so that's the next step in front of me. Once we have that, the vision will come to life. I’d never thought I’d be in the position where our brand is an actual brand and its generating interest and support, with bookings coming in all the time. At the time of its conception, I couldn’t visualise this bit of the plan, and now I’m here trying to get it to the next step, so I’d say to trust where you are and whatever you’re doing, enjoy it as much as you can. Give yourself to the process, get lost in what you’re doing and be present in your work.
Dante: This question is for the library. What book would you recommend to students?
Abi: When I first walked into the library, I was searching for the Percy Jackson series because that’s the one book that I remember reading at DG. I spent half of my time learning and the other half socialising, and I wished I’d read more at the time. Reading is great, honestly. Reading really helps you mentally and emotionally, and I’d recommend you guys read more. As you get older you realise, there are books out there that relate to you. For example, I’ve read books about business or self-help books on how to better yourself, so I’d recommend building the reading habit.
Yussuf: Finally could you describe to us your experience as a student at Deptford Green?
Abi: I had a great time at Deptford Green. No, I had a fantastic time! When you look back, you remember that school was your whole life at the time and that’s all you knew. You realise how lucky you were to have all the support available to you. All the teachers and staff there in person to help you. You could see your friends 24/7 which you don’t really get once you leave school. Once you start working, trying to find time to be with friends now is almost impossible! I might see them 3 or 4 times a year at most. It was a really nice time being involved in the different clubs and activities at school and the teachers were so nice and supportive.
My advice is if you find a teacher/staff member you connect with, stay in contact and be friends with them outside of school. There’s a teacher that I’ve recently come back into contact with and we’ve had dinner twice and he’s at that stage where he’s almost a mentor to me and I have learnt from his wisdom, so don’t ignore what your elders tell you! School staff have your best interests at heart…
The boys: Thank you very much for your time Abi.
Abi: Thank you. My pleasure.
