This Much I Learned: On striving for authentic leadership

Making real change that shakes up an industry and catches the imagination of consumers is not something every leader is able to do. Ade Hassan MBE, however, is different.

Frustrated by the lack of suitable skin-tone hosiery and lingerie for women of colour, Hassan decided it was time for “a different kind of nude”. In 2014 she left her career in finance to launch Nubian Skin, a carefully edited collection of hosiery and lingerie designed for a variety of skin tones.

Inspired by Eunice W. Johnson, the late creator of the Ebony Fashion Fair, and supermodel and make-up mogul Iman, Hassan has taken her collections from the West End stage to Beyoncé’s 2016 Formation world tour.

Then in February, Nubian Skin won Transport for London’s Diversity in Advertising competition for its campaign challenging assumptions around the word ‘nude’ in the fashion industry. Chosen for its bold and inclusive imagery embracing a range of ages, body types and skin tones, Nubian Skin won £500,000-worth of prominent advertising space on the TfL network.

In this podcast, Hassan discusses how she has cultivated a sense of authentic leadership, both within her business and the wider industry, the impact of winning the TfL award and how she creates a strong team.

From opening up about mental health issues to closing the career confidence gap, you can listen to previous episodes of Marketing Week’s This Much I Learned podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud and Spotify.