Ayomide Ajayi
3 min
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At Ace we look for the best black business success stories, to celebrate, inspire and motivate you. Each week we will share an amazing story, about an entrepreneur from a diverse background.
This week we introduce you to Kelly-Jade Nicholls, the founder of Woke Babies UK.
Did you know that by reading five books a day with your child, they will start school having heard approximately 1.4 million more words than children who were never read to?’
Woke Babies UK.
Kelly-Jade Nicholls established Woke Babies UK with aims of keeping the arts of reading alive through the representation of ethnic minorities, particularly Afro-Caribbeans’ in illustrated books.
Subscribers to Woke Babes, are able to indulge in an exciting monthly package of inspiring stories and educational activities all tailored to their child’s age and learning ability all for £20 a month. Not forgetting the key selling point: all the characters are fully representative of the Afro-Caribbean society.
Graduating from the University of East London with a degree in Fashion design and Marketing, she had already accomplished amazing things from such a young age. With a creative background, Ms Nicholls admired the job of stylists and designers, aspiring to become one herself.
Whilst at University she was awarded the Tyler Media Youth Award – at just 17 years old. She even had opportunities of presenting her own fashion collections in the Caribbean fashion week in Jamaica, where she acquired an incredible network of contacts and fell in love with the industry.
In 2018 only 4% of picture books published represented black children.
Whilst on the quest for the next fashion project, she attended a children’s’ party. She noticed that all the attendees were gifted an illustrated bible, but all the characters were Caucasian. She was confident in her knowledge of the geography and the history of the bible, she knew something had to change.
Establishing the gap in the UK market for black children books, she employed her mother to help with the reinterpretation of the bible whilst she illustrated what is now known as ‘My Favourite Bible Stories’.
Reaching out to the incredible network of contacts she acquired in the fashion industry, she gained a lot of support and promotions giving the opportunity for sales to skyrocket. Sales rose so high it was acknowledged and awarded best seller in the New York Times Children’s Picture Books list. As luck would have it, she was later approached by the largest international publishing companies Harper Collins, who plan to republish the innovated bible in 2020.
Kelly-Jade then noticed in the feedback from the children’s bible she created; parents had emphasised that black children were underrepresented in books and activities. There were extremely limited academic or inspirational literature, that included black children and adults. In fact, in 2018 only 4% of picture books published represented black children.
Based on this feedback, Ms Nicholls established Woke Babies UK, where recreations of original stories are made to combat the under representation of Afro-Caribbeans in childrens’ stories with hopes that literacy levels will increase within the demographic in years to come.
‘Woke Children is a black children's book - however it's not just for black children. I hope this is a huge difference for a lot of black authors and I'm hoping publishers take note of this and start publishing a lot more black authors because of it’
Kelly-Jade Nicholls.
Woke Babies now have more than 600 subscribers and growing. Each package delivered, helps reignite the passion of reading in a young black king and queen. Children are now being taught to love themselves in the skin they are in and have a chance of a bright educational future. It can be purchased on their website at WokeBabies.co.uk or on their Instagram at Woke Babies UK. They are also in the midst of raising money for schools, to equip them with diverse books, as a recent government statistic shows, 'only 56% of Afro-Caribbean pupils are reaching average requirements when they finish KS2'. Kelly-Jade has also set up a crowdfund to help bridge the gap of underrepresented black children. With £5,310 already raised and 10 days to go I personally think it is a revolutionary idea and worth every penny!
Making a change can come in many different forms. Kelly-Jade used her innovative nature and amazing network to start bridging the gap for black children and its only the beginning of her new chapter. She has taught us, that it does not need to take a new invention to make a difference. Working around your means and believing in your talents, can be just enough to make a big impact.