OTHERED: How to Thrive & Disrupt in Spaces Not Created for You
Ayo Sokale
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Ayo Sokale is a remarkable young woman. A Civil Engineer, a TV presenter, a keynote speaker, a politician, a coach, a Mandarin speaker, former beauty queen; to say her list of accomplishments is impressive is somewhat of an understatement. She is also young, Black and Autistic. All of the things she has achieved have been done in spaces that were not created with someone like her in mind.
“’In the past, I have felt like I was in the wrong demographic and often did not show up in the world the way others thought I should. I was too young, too happy, too female, too neurodiverse, too smart, too naïve, too black, too white and too much. Simultaneously too much and too little. Growing up in spaces where I was or felt ‘othered’ was a huge part of my formative experience. But it was also coupled with the thirst to learn, grow, and ingest enough knowledge to make sense of patterns around me. So I have been inadvertently writing this book since my pre-teens, as I find my way to traverse these spaces and also prioritize my wellbeing. Our environment primes us for how we behave. And if you are othered, you are facing a colonel, capitalist, patriarchal priming which sets you up for failure unless you conform. And conforming or not confirming can come at great cost’.”
Ayo walks her ‘othered’ kindred spirits through 6 paradigms she uses to explore norms of personal growth. She invites the reader to consider what it means to be authentic, how to create safety and self acceptance, how to question and challenge - does this support me, or does it serve the system?
The result is a fiercely intelligent and compassionate user manual to navigating life’s complexities. The reader comes away with a compass for internal wellbeing and a roadmap for thriving as a disruptor of systems.
At just 30, Ayo Sokale is one of the UK’s youngest civil engineers. Named one of the top 50 women in STEM under 35, she is sought-after by major brands and organisations as a keynote speaker on sustainability, the environment, DEI and neurodiversity.
A generation of children have learned about science from her on the BBC, with her new show ‘Get Set Galactic’ airing on Cbeebies from May 2023. She has also presented on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Channel 5 and the Smithsonian. In 2019 she was elected as a Labour party councillor, and won a formerly held Conservative seat in Caversham. Not long after, she was appointed the Deputy Mayor of Reading.
She is also an executive coach, working with STEM and ND professionals to achieve their goals and reach their potential. She loves dancing, horse riding and has just taken up flying lessons.