Meet Nova Reid — Nova Reid

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So good to see you here. My name is Nova. Which means new.

Someone once described me as a human geographer and it's stuck. I am incredibly curious and absolutely fascinated by human behaviour. I am a creative with more ideas than time - to summarise, I am a writer, producer and TED speaker.

I am a curator of courageous conversations on and off-stage that encourage us to be less racist, more courageous and a lot more human.

Happily married, and am an avid collector… of shoes. I strongly dislike marmite. Love plantain. Care deeply about healing. My absolute favourite place to be is in the water, preferably swimming in the Caribbean Sea.

Click here for my official biography and images

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I’ve always had a strong sense of fairness and injustice from a young age.

I find it difficult to tolerate human suffering, so I talk a lot about overcoming shame and collective healing for two reasons:- one, because whether we like it or not, we’re all connected and two, I truly believe if more people had access to adequate support and were dealing with their BS instead of projecting their hurt onto others, the world would look like a very different place.

I started my career as a professional actress, dancer and singer, studying at London Studio Centre and had the pleasure of performing to audiences from TV, stage and the largest - over 10,000 at Wembley Arena. I feel at home on stage, which is handy, as this foundation continues to serve me well with my joy for public speaking and storytelling. When the body (and mind) had enough, I re-trained as a holistic therapist, studied counselling skills at the University of Hertfordshire and NLP leadership and life coaching and went on to work in mental wellbeing for 10 years supporting young people to have agency over their mental health - this profession became a firm foundation for my work with understanding human behaviour.

My entrepreneurial journey started when I got engaged to be married and was astonished at how whitewashed the wedding industry was. I counteracted this by founding Nu Bride, a multi-award winning wedding media platform. This evolved to regularly being asked to offer training, consultancy and deliver inspirational talks ranging from confidence and mental health to race. My curiosity has led me to work with some of the most brilliant companies, interview some exceptional human beings, produce film and podcasts, pioneering events and a transformative anti-racism academy, which then led me to write my bestselling debut book, The Good Ally.

The rest, as they say, is history.

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Here’s a little snippet into my world.

How it started…

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I am proud to be a windrush grandchild 🇯🇲. I grew up in the 80’s in a British-Jamaican family in what was a very white Hertfordshire, as you can tell by my face, it was a mixed bag.

I used to have a complex relationship with my name, as I was born when Vauxhall Nova’s were all the rage. And. Well, kids can be cruel.

It’s since grown on me.

I miss mixtapes and now have to settle for Spotify playlists.

In another life I think I would have been a professional athlete. But after about 9 years, my dance teacher convinced me to ditch it and focus on professional dance instead. I learned so much about failure, focus, discipline, trying again, community and grace as a young athlete. I was also fast in the 100 metres. Fellow competitors used to groan “oh no, Nova’s here” when I arrived at the starting blocks. I didn’t enjoy running anything further than that though.

Winter training and having to run outside, in the snow, was a total deal breaker for my Afro-Caribbean genes.

The dancing bug got me in the 80’s.

How it’s going…

The producer bug in me really started in 2005/6 when I produced my own theatre show Young Gifted and Black (homage to Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone) at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London with the Musical Director of the Lion King at the time to provide a platform for talented young black actors who were underestimated and overlooked by agents and casting directors at the time. It attracted top agents and the attention of the BBC.

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I spent a lot of my early career as a professional dancer, singer and actress.

Some years later I tied the knot with this one (he saw me at the aforementioned show and said he knew he wanted to marry me).

I founded my own multi-award winning wedding media platform Nu Bride, after experiencing racism and invisibility in the wedding industry.

More years later - I got fed up with how dull and homogenous wedding shows were so created Nu Bride the Wedding Show. An immersive experience with no investment or support other than volunteers - who more than showed up for the cause. The opening night sold out and we garnered press attention.

I’ve won a number of awards for the aforementioned advocacy.

Wrote and delivered my big bro and sister-in-law’s wedding ceremony in Slovakia - that was special.

I produced a documentary film called Other, that premiered at RSA House.

In 2018 I was invited to attend the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan as a media expert which was very special.

In 2019 I graced the famous red circle after being headhunted by TEDx Frankfurt to deliver a TED Talk on racial microaggressions. It’s racked up approx 120,000 views.

In the same year I was named on of the top 100 black british women by the Black Magic Network in 2019.

In 2020, I produced Conversations with Nova Reid podcast.

In 2020, I won a Precious Award for Social Impact in racial justice.

In 2021 I became a published author with my debut book, The Good Ally.

As you can see - I still love to dance.

I shared the stage with David Harewood MBE at the National Theatre - first time I have been on that stage since I left the acting world in 2009. We had a beautiful conversation about the impact of racism on mental and physical health and a whole lot more.

2021-2022 I was invited to be the anti-racism expert advisor to the panel in a very important year-long human rights Inquiry by Birthrights charity, to explore why Black women are 4-5 times more likely to die in childbirth and to address systemic racism in maternity care. Our report: Systemic Racism, not Broken Bodies, provides vital insights and makes recommendations for the NHS and healthcare providers to effectively tackle racism and improve health outcomes for Black women and birthing people.

To be continued…

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So good to see you here. My name is Nova. Which means new.