‘I’m in spaces where I’m the only girl and feel like I have to outshine everyone to make a point’

Girl Grind UK was founded in Birmingham in 2020 when songwriter and artist Namywa Hutchinson began reassessing her career after the Covid pandemic led to the cancellation of her European tour. The organisation started life with a mission to empower women and non-binary people from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic backgrounds to realise careers in the arts. 

Today, Girl Grind UK runs a range of programmes focused on both business and personal development in the music industry. 

Hutchinson sat down with Safiya Bennett-Parker, 24, and Zicola Brown, 25, two participants from Girl Grind’s 2024 programmes, to discuss its mission, impact and what others can learn from its success.

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Namywa Hutchinson: We do loads of different things at Girl Grind – masterclasses, workshops, networking opportunities. Obviously, people are learning skills on the programmes, how to be a singer or how to use a piece of software, but the other side of it is about personal development. And that’s my favourite bit because that’s when you see young women like you come into their own and start to really own their space and have flourishing careers.

Zicola Brown: Before Girl Grind I wasn’t really doing music that much. Now, I’ve just come back from Sweden and I’m about to go to Croatia to perform at a festival. 

I always think back to a final showcase we did and that moment of bringing everyone on stage and doing my song as the last song. That was what made me think: I can’t stop now. It’s making me feel like I’ve got a purpose, so I’ve got to keep going. 

Safiya Bennett-Parker: I did a radio and DJ course. I learned so much about the industry and it really gave me the confidence to put myself out there. It all helped me clean up what I had going on already and propel me further into where I want to go. 

Now I’m doing a lot of content creation to put myself out there as a DJ and thinking about what kind of events I want to do, what kind of people I want to network with.

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NH: What’s great from my perspective is that since the programme, you’ve both had completely different journeys. Cola’s continued to be in projects with us, whereas Saf has gone away, built an amazing network and now is ready to come back and get support with funding what she wants to do next. For us, it’s all about how we can work with people like you two in whatever way helps you most. 

ZB: That’s the nicest thing about Girl Grind, it feels so comfortable. I remember going on a visit to Spotify HQ and it’s like, you should feel scared or nervous in these places, but I don’t because I’m with the people from Girl Grind.

SBP: Yeah, we went to BBC Radio 1Xtra in Birmingham. I’ve listened to radio every day since I was a kid, so getting to see behind the scenes and see all the little buttons in person was crazy. But like Cola said, it helped me feel comfortable in those kinds of spaces.

NH: It’s so nice to hear you both say that! It’s what we were set up to do, which is serve both parts – the career and the spirit. But it’s also great to hear because it can be difficult to run things like Girl Grind. There’s limited funding in general but also specifically for projects about women, diverse people, queer people. It can be a fight – being resilient, innovative, and having strong community around the organisation makes it possible, but we could always do more with more.

SBP: Girl Grind was the first thing I’d heard of for people like me in the industry. And when you think about positive representation, it’s crazy how much of a gap there is. 

Growing up, I don’t remember any women I could look up to. Then when you do break through, you’re known as a ‘female DJ’ or a ‘female black rapper’ or whatever. All those little labels kind of diminish the success and it feels like you always have to go above and beyond.

ZB: Yeah, now in my career I’m in so many spaces where I’m the only girl and feel like I have to go out there and outshine everyone to make a point like, ‘oh maybe we do need to be booking women and girls’, you know? 

But if I do ever feel outnumbered, I think back to Girl Grind and the people, the positivity, the reinforcement. It’s carried my career. The industry could learn a lot from the open- door mentality of Girl Grind. They’re here to help people, not block anyone from doing anything.

NH: I just want people to come and say hi! Come and check us out and we will work with you to grow whatever it is you want to do. I want us to always have the conversations that are needed, for black and brown women, for queer people, for new and emerging voices in the music industry. 

And I want to grow that message too – in five years’ time I want there to be a Girl Grind Jamaica!.

ZB: I’ll be there! In the next five years I want to keep getting comfortable in the industry, that’s my plan. It’s not just about music for me, I love community and I want to keep bringing people in the industry together.

SBP: I’d like to be prominent in the industry and recognised as a positive representative for queer people and girls. I want to be able to give back through music. 

And I want people to understand how much things like Girl Grind make a difference – it’s a big deal, and it changes the trajectory of people’s lives and careers.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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