Squarespace x WePresents: Make It Real - Liv Little
Liv Little is the founder and CEO at gal-dem, a media company committed to spotlighting the creative talents of women and non-binary people of colour.
Curator, writer, producer, publisher, CEO – there’s not much that Liv Little can’t do. And at 25 years old her rise may have come quickly but it certainly hasn’t been without plenty of late nights and a serious amount of grafting. While still studying at the University of Bristol Liv founded gal-dem, a title by and for women and non binary people of color to address a lack of representation in the media. It was a necessary reaction to the whitewashed news cycle of mainstream media, but also a form of catharsis for Liv. Feeling unhappy, isolated and misunderstood at university – “I would cry every day” – gal-dem provided a way for Liv to create a like-minded community of women going through the same thing.
“Growing up the people I would see on TV or in entertainment that looked like me were very Americanized, and they were the only things I could in any way relate to,” Liv says. “That’s true for a lot of Black people in Britain I think. The recognition of the British media of Black people and people of color more broadly has always been behind. Even the history I studied in school that was in any way related to Black history was the American side,” she says.
“I think as you get older you get to a point where certain things just don’t sit right with you anymore and when I was in university I had started to develop a framework to articulate those experiences,” she says. At the time Liv was also working part time in television and documentary making, giving her a broader understanding of storytelling and more specifically which stories were being told. “gal-dem seemed like a viable route to tell more stories from different perspectives,” she says. “It made sense for me.”
It was a manic but incredibly exciting time – I wouldn’t have done it any other way.
Find out more about Liv's thoughts on the need for diverse storytelling in media:
Liv has spent time working within TV, most recently in commissioning in the factual department at the BBC where she developed a new strand focused on the history we aren't taught in schools. She also has experience working on a range of shows as researcher, producer and art director and in 2018 produced her first audio documentary for the Migration Museum. Liv has been voted as a Future Leader, a rising star at WOW and included in the inaugural BBC's 100 women series. Liv has also spent time working in a range of third sector organisations including Women for Refugee Women and the Simon community in Dublin.
“My Squarespace website is easy to use and showcases the personal and professional projects I do!”
Visit Liv Little's website here.
Squarespace and WePresent partnered to celebrate and support Black female entrepreneurs. The series ‘Make It Real’ highlights four women who've transformed their creative ideas into a reality.
Discover more stories:
Jade Purple Brown on the power of representation in design
Holley M. Kholi-Murchison on the tools needed for success
Sharmadein Reid on the future of female empowerment in business
Preparing to launch your own business? Visit squarespace.com and use code: THEDOTS10 to get 10% off your first website.
Companies
gal-dem magazine
- Media Production