Diywithjoy

18/07/2026

So I was talking to my girl Sophie | Solo Female Travel | Content Creator | London | UK about solo travel and honestly it brought me back to this moment I think about all the time.

2019, I took my mum to Portugal for her birthday. We were on a boat trip and I met this lovely young married couple from Pakistan. I ended up talking to the husband about solo travel - like really passionately, the way I always do lol and I didn’t think anything of it.

Months later he messages me. He’d gone on his first solo trip. Said it was one of the best decisions he’d made for himself.

I got so emotional reading that 💛🥺 Like that’s the whole point. You have one conversation and you genuinely never know what it plants in someone.

So if you’ve been going back and forth about solo travelling, this is your sign 🌍

5 reasons to just book it:

1️⃣ it’s honestly one of the best ways to reconnect with yourself
2️⃣ you learn to trust your own instincts. There’s no one to lean on but you
3️⃣ it makes you SO much more adaptable. i’m not scared of change the way i used to be
4️⃣ you’re forced out of your comfort zone, from talking to strangers, eating alone, figuring things out in another language and it opens your mind in a way nothing else does
5️⃣ it’s genuinely good for your mental health. grounding yourself somewhere new, learning to be okay in your own company

I get emotional every time I talk about this because it changed my life and I want more people to know they can do it too.

If you’ve solo travelled, what did it teach you about yourself? tell me below 👇🏾

ps i’ve got a blog post up on solo travel safety tips for women. Go read it before your next trip 💛

14/07/2026

Met Oprah and Jay Shetty ☺️

But you know what was even more special?

Meeting the Crescendo Creative Bridge WhatsApp community IRL - 200+ brand marketers, C-suite leaders, agency founders, investors, creators and media, all heading to Cannes 🌍

People gave Crescendo Digital - Tourism Marketing & PR Agency | UK & Africa their flowers in real time. I got a speaking opportunity from this group. And most importantly, I found community.

What the community did at Cannes 2026:
✨ Found last-minute accommodation for members
✨ Shared invite-only event access
✨ Surfaced PR and press opportunities
✨ Unlocked speaking slots
✨ Introduced people who ended up collaborating together
✨ Shared the tips no one tells you the first time

If you’re heading to Cannes Lions 2027 for first time or fifteenth, this is the group I wish I’d had when I first arrived 🤍
Everyone genuinely supportive. Everyone giving before they ask.
Join us - link in bio

12/07/2026

Vaseline and The Real Nigerian Prince, built by Leo Singapore, Publicis Groupe Africa, Quadrant MSL and partners on the ground in Lagos, won Gold in Creator Collaboration and 5 Lions in total at Cannes Lions 2026 🥇

They took the “Nigerian Prince” scam played by Chris Okagbue and turned it into a QR system Nigerian consumers use to verify their skincare is real.

Not a brand borrowing African culture for relevance. African insight and ex*****on winning on merit on the biggest creative stage there is. ✨

I think about this a lot on how much of Africa’s creativity still gets treated as a market to activate rather than the source of the idea. This is proof that’s changing.

Some things I’d love to see more of at Cannes Lions 2027:

1. More creators going down to the basement of the Palais to see the actual winning work. That room is the clearest brief you’ll get on what’s being rewarded right now.

2. More agencies and brands walking creators through how the work gets built — not just the finished campaign — so creators start pitching big ideas with the same confidence they bring to their own content.

3. More consumer and lifestyle brands present. Tech platforms have been buying up all the real estate along the Croisette.

4. More indie founders and creators on juries, especially for Social & Creator Lions.

I want a Lion of my own one day. Built the same way Vaseline’s was. Rooted in where I’m from, not despite it. 🦁

08/07/2026

2025 → 2026: what a year does when you show up ready.

2025: I came to LIONS | The Home of Creativity as part of the ERA Programme. I spoke on stage with the Financial Times x . Ziada Abeid and I made a quiet promise to each other, next year we’d bring our own delegation of African and global diaspora creatives & founders to Cannes Lions.

2026: We did.

Crescendo Digital - Tourism Marketing & PR Agency | UK & Africa was selected as an official Cannes Lions ERA Programme Partner.

The Crescendo Creative Bridge brought a full delegation to the festival.

🦁 Secured passes valued at over $28k USD in festival access

🌍 Built a Cannes WhatsApp community that grew to 200+ brand marketers, C-suites, agency leaders, creators, founders, investors and media from around the world

🎤 Placed 12 speakers across panels, roundtables and forums, including our delegates, partners, wider network and myself

💼 Secured a five-figure paid brand partnership for one of our talent, negotiated before we even landed at Cannes

🤝🏾 Private invitations to intimate activations, lunches and dinners with YouTube, Meltwater and DEPT®. Collaborative programme partners including Harvard Law School
African Creative Economies Initiative for our mentorship programme & Nene Parsotam, ECD and strategic partner.

🏛️ Moderated a senior roundtable with UK Advertising, DBT (Department for Business and Trade), and senior Nigerian creative industry leaders

A year ago, this was a whisper between two co-founders in Cannes.

This year, it was real. Countless conversations, connections and possibilities.

To every delegate who trusted us to bring them into these rooms. And to the community that carried us all week.

2027 Cannes Lions, well... let’s talk 😏

Signed,
Your global connector 🌍

23/06/2026

How do we move UK–Nigeria creative collaboration beyond market entry?

That’s the question I’ll be moderating with a brilliant group of senior leaders at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2026 today! 🇫🇷

Beyond Market Entry: The Future of UK–Nigeria Creative Collaboration

📅 Tuesday 23 June, 11:30–12:30
📍 UK House, Empower Café, Pantiero Terrace

Following President Tinubu’s UK visit earlier this year, attention is increasingly turning to how stronger commercial partnerships can be built between two of the world’s most globally influential creative markets.

This isn’t a “what are the barriers” conversation. We’re getting into what actually works sustainable commercial models, sector-specific pathways across advertising, production, talent and cultural exports, and what real capital infrastructure between the two markets needs to look like.

Hosted by UK Advertising with an exceptional room including Steve Babaeko, Obi Asika, Fadé Ogunro Addy Awofisayo and more.

If you’re at Cannes and working at the UK–Nigeria intersection, would love to connect 👇🏾

15/06/2026

From Big Ben to the Eiffel Tower: Iconic Highlights of Western Europe

Western Europe brings together some of the world’s most recognisable landmarks, connected through dense transport networks and relatively short travel distances. Travelling between the UK and France allows visitors to experience two capitals with very different urban styles, histories, and daily rhythms, while also exploring the routes that connect them. Travelling beneath the Channel One of the most popular ways to move between the UK and France is by taking a…...

Western Europe brings together some of the world’s most recognisable landmarks, connected through dense transport networks and relatively short travel

15/06/2026

Slow Travel in Spain: The Most Scenic Train Routes You Shouldn’t Miss

Travelling slowly through Spain by rail allows you to experience the country beyond its major landmarks. Rather than rushing between destinations, train journeys reveal changing landscapes, regional architecture, and gradual shifts in atmosphere that are often missed when flying. Spain’s rail network makes this style of travel both practical and comfortable, especially across longer distances. Crossing central Spain by rail…...

Travelling slowly through Spain by rail allows you to experience the country beyond its major landmarks. Rather than rushing between destinations, train

14/06/2026

For the past few months, my LinkedIn and Threads have been filled with LIONS | The Home of Creativity I guess the algorithm is doing its job 😅

I’ve also been joking that I’m an unofficial Cannes Lions ambassador.

In that time I’ve personally convinced an ex Team GB athlete, one of the biggest Black media outlets, an IP lawyer, travel marketers, a tech entrepreneur, journalists, founders and many creators that they should make the trip to Cannes Lions this year or at least have it on their radar for next year.

Once you’ve experienced what Cannes can do for a career, your business, a shift in mindset, you can’t help wanting more of the right people in the room.

What started as me wanting to share a few useful tips with first-timers and our Crescendo Digital - Tourism Marketing & PR Agency | UK & Africa delegates we are taking with us as part of Cannes Lions ERA programme has turned into a Cannes Lions WhatsApp group of 130+ people — brand marketers, Creative Directors, C-suite folks, agency-side, founders, creators, musicians & DJ’s, media and investors.

Everyone genuinely supportive.

Everyone sharing tips, opportunities and the kind of insider knowledge I wish I’d had when I first arrived at Cannes.

The feedback from the people who’ve joined has been so lovely. I’m glad it’s helpful and honestly, I love watching people connect with others in their industry before they even land in France. 🇫🇷

I love connecting people. Genuinely, it’s a gift bringing the right voices into the right rooms and making sure people who deserve to be in spaces like Cannes don’t have to figure out how to get there alone.

So if you’re heading to Cannes Lions this June, first time or fifteenth here’s the thing I want you to know:

Cannes is all about relationship building and human connection.

Come with a plan and a strategy. But the heart of Cannes is people.

The best advice I can give you is to lead with the question: “How can I add value to this person?” And show up as yourself. The festival rewards both.

If you’d like to join the WhatsApp group, the link is on our Cannes Lions ERA Programme in the bio 🤗

See you at Cannes 🇫🇷🫡

11/06/2026

What It's Really Like Travelling Between Saudi Arabia's Holy Cities in 2026

Most international visitors to Saudi Arabia's western region arrive through King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, the coastal city on the Red Sea

09/04/2026

One of my fav travel memories from my solo trip to Egypt - Meet my new Saudi aunty, DeLaL 🤍🥹

Swipe left to check out the back story of how we met!

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with bad things happening around us, from social media to watching the news, it’s important for us to remind ourselves of the positive experiences we have encountered.

I have also had some beautiful experiences which involved strangers showing me acts of kindness while travelling.

Kindness restores faith in humanity and it is amazing to see this around the world. It showed me I shouldn’t travel with fear but with caution.

It showed me that I should travel with an open mind because you never know what friendly encounter you may have with a complete stranger that may change your outlook or even your perception of the world around you.

Kindness is free 🤍