Passion! Azariah Jade’s Compass to True Achievement & Fulfilment in the Creative Industries

Features 2 Explainer

The reason why I decided to cover this topic is because I myself have been working toward succeeding into the creative industries for over a year now, and along my journey, have greatly benefited from sound advice from industry professionals, as well as training opportunities that have helped me develop transferable skills that are invaluable to any sector of the creative industry, and have opened up even more opportunities. I hope to adequately highlight what it really takes for a young creative to thrive within what is considered among the most competitive, fast-paced, and growing industries; from a professional’s perspective.

Passion! Azariah Jade’s Compass to True Achievement & Fulfilment in the Creative Industries

Does passion win out over skill when starting out in the creative industries? Is it even easy to land a role in this industry, much less retain a role and make an undeniable impact within it, particularly as an under-represented young person?

According to Research published by the PEC in 2021, “The UK’s creative industries- from film to fashion, and from video games to the arts – are integral to local communities throughout the country. This is in part because of the economic importance of the sector: one in eight UK businesses are part of the creative industries, and together they contributed almost £116 billion in GVA in 2019, growing four times faster than the rate of the UK economy as a whole (DCMS, 2021). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they also accounted for more than two million jobs (DCMS, 2020)

So, is there really a place of satisfaction within such a bustling industry? Is there that space when you can combine both passion and skill to create your unique ‘vibe’, that no one else can duplicate, and that is felt long after you have left the job role?

These are some of the questions that Azariah Jade, Industry Outreach Executive at Film London & Senior Project Coordinator at Diva Apprenticeships, addresses in our intriguing discussion around her work with an organisation that was created to help under-represented young people break into, and carve out their own permanent space within the creative industries.

Reminiscing on her early experiences that led her into this line of work, Azariah noted that as a Black woman she was advised that “she had to start early”, though she was only fifteen at the time. Accordingly she started building connections, while she finished university, and applied for jobs, till she landed one with HBO.

However, it was in that role that Azariah finally came to a surprising realisation, “I noticed that I was the only person, or one of the few people of colour, and that (job experience) was the first time that I noticed that I was different...for the first time I felt genuinely black, I felt different, I felt on the outside.” This she said threw her into a huge identity crisis, before she soon discovered that there was a term for what she was experiencing: ‘micro-aggressions.’

“Once I understood the term,” she said, “it made me understand a little bit more what was going on. Actually, the fact that there was even a term made me feel like I wasn’t on my own because clearly people have felt like this before.”

She also noted that she wasn’t the only one and that it wasn’t only black peopleor people of colour in general having the same issue, but also people of different social, economic, and even religious backgrounds, “…we all have a passion to be in the industry, and the skillset to do so, but we are being treated different because we are different, and it’s not right.”

Though Azariah held out from job-to-job, she kept experiencing more of the same till she got to the last one, where she made a choice to walk away.

She then providentially ‘stumbled’ on her role at Diva Apprenticeships, and the support Azariah received encouraged her to stay on, and simultaneously revived her desire to help others like herself overcome their respective obstacles to enter and shape the career of their dreams in the creative industries.

Azariah stressed that knowing one’s personal value, and skills, and having passion even when dealing with rejection is the best method of success for any young creative seeking to become indispensable while navigating the industry, “The moment you start identifying your skills, and you realize your own personal value, and what you can bring to any organisation, it will radiate off you like a beam, and they will see it, and they will know that…this is the one for us… because literally just shines.”

Though she acknowledged that “it doesn’t just happen overnight…”she noted, “It is a big part of self-confidence, and identifying what your actual passion is, because the moment you work in your passion, you take off.”

And from the looks of it, that is exactly what Azariah has done!

Research Link

Burger, C., Easton, E., and Bakhshi, H. (2021) Creative Places: Growing the creative industries across the UK. Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, Available from: https://pec.ac.uk/policy-briefings/resilience-in-places-growing-the-creative-industries-across-the-uk