Continuing our series featuring some of Tooting’s great young entrepreneurs, we introduce Caroline Odogwu, who heads up new youth marketing agency Y-Connect.

Caroline’s career and multiple business interests all revolve around her deep commitment to working with young people and helping them to reach their full potential. She tells us her story.....

“I’m a South East London girl, born in Lewisham and brought up around Carshalton. Whilst most of my friends stayed in London for uni, I decided to head up to Liverpool to study Journalism at John Moores. It was a bit of a shock at first being so far from home and I used to head back every two weeks, however I eventually settled in and loved my time there.

“It was during my second year of uni that I began to feel there was a lack of positive female role models who I could relate to and be inspired by regarding work, relationships and life in general. At the same time, a friend of mine talked about how her younger sister was struggling with similar issues, so we came up with an idea of creating a network for young women to come together and share their experiences. However, we sat on this project for a while – too long in fact!

“After I graduated, I moved back to London and took a role at a family entertainment channel called OHTV that used to be on Sky Digital. I started as a receptionist and worked my way up. I pitched a programme idea to them for young people which they agreed to commission. It was a 20-episode series called ‘Young Achievers’ where I travelled around London interviewing young people. I produced the series, but also planned it, did the casting, filmed and presented it! It was a great experience and this is where my passion for young people started. This was back in 2011 when there was so much negativity surrounding young people off the back of the London riots and a rise in gun violence. I wanted to project a more positive image for young people on TV.

“After the series ended, I was made redundant from the company as new management stepped in and there were a lot of changes happening at the channel. It was very unexpected. What followed was a very tough period of unemployment, interspersed with the occasional admin job where I was so frustrated at being unable to do what I wanted to do and fulfil my potential.

“Two things kept me going during this difficult time. After procrastinating for too long about our idea to create a network to empower young women, even though everything wasn’t where we wanted it to be, I and my co-founder friend decided to take the plunge and set up She Is You - a ‘sisterhood’ of women aged 18-35 where everyone can chat and relate to each other. This has evolved from running an initial one-off event to now putting on monthly events where our members can meet up and share experiences whilst listening to relevant guest speakers. We won an award from David Cameron in 2014 recognising our work which was a real honour.

“Our ultimate goal with She Is You is to develop a personal development programme and physical academy for women to help them get from where they are to where they want to be and provide the resource to make it happen. Alongside this, I also set up a business called I Am Adored that empowers women through jewellery. My ‘jewellery with purpose’ has values tied in with She Is You - I want women to feel self-loved and adored by wearing my creations. Each piece comes with an affirmation card reminding women to celebrate themselves, their worth and their value. 

“The other thing that kept me going during my period of unemployment was attending a load of business networking events where I spoke with so many like-minded individuals. At one of these events, I was approached by someone from Business Launchpad (BLP) who encouraged me to become one of their clients so that they could support me with the growth of She Is You. My counsellor was brilliant and believed in me and what I was trying to achieve. At that time, BLP were launching a new centre in Acton and looking for someone to carry out some part-time marketing for them – so I joined the team! This then evolved into doing some outreach work and then a full-time job as Head Of Marketing for BLP, based in Tooting, whilst continuing to run She Is You on the side.

“At the start of 2017, I saw the opportunity within BLP to create more youth leadership and engagement and felt that the natural next step was to create a youth marketing agency. This agency is called Y-Connect and we’re creating a hub of young people that are really skilled in helping businesses reach a youth market. Myself and my first hire, Raymond Pele, are aiming to build this business from scratch into London’s leading youth marketing agency, work with amazing brands and bring a unique perspective to the youth world.”

We wish Caroline good luck and are looking forward to watching her take Y-Connect and her other ventures forward! You can follow Caroline via her personal website, Instagram & Twitter and contact her at caroline@businesslaunchpad.org.uk

Caroline is holding her next She Is You event right here in Tooting on Tuesday 26^th September. It’s free to attend so book here!

Based in the Trident Business Centre on Bickersteth Road, Business Launchpad offers free business support & counselling to young entrepreneurs aged 16-30 in Wandsworth. To find out more about Business Launchpad, click here.

If you’re a young Tooting entrepreneur who’d like to be featured in future articles, then drop us some details via email – we’d love to hear from you!