Selma Nicholls is CEO and Founder of Looks Like Me, a talent agency that aims to redefine beauty by raising the profile of underrepresented groups in the fashion and advertising world.
With more than a decade of experience working as a producer in theatre and dance since graduating from London Contemporary Dance School, Selma has worked on productions with organisations such as East London Dance (eld), LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre) and Creative Engagement, following her dream to work in the arts sector.
Increasingly, Selma realised there was a gap in the market to give underrepresented groups visibility in the arts and fashion world and to drive advertising communications to do the same. So in 2016, she set up her own talent agency to do just that.
The name of the agency, Looks Like Me, was inspired by her three year old daughter, Riley-Ann, who questioned her own identity when she saw limited imagery of children that looked like her in the media and asked why. With a background in creating content, casting and production, Selma designed and developed tailored workshops, editorials and castings that would open the door for black and ethnic minority groups to be more visible by challenging the status quo in the world of brand communications.
Projects credited in
- International Women’s Day 2021, meet 100 rising stars inspiring changeWe still have a way to go when it comes to improving gender diversity and equality in the creative, tech and digital industries – which is why it is so important for us, as a platform, to use our force for good. We’re thrilled to be releasing our annual list celebrating and shining a spotlight on 100+ rising stars from underrepresented gender identities – as nominated by The Dots community – who are transforming the industry of today and inspiring the generation of tomorrow. The list beams wit212
- Reimagining Christmas with Pinterest: Winners AnnouncementWe’re thrilled to share with you the top 5 winning concepts of our ‘Reimagine Christmas’ campaign with Pinterest! This year has been challenging for so many, which is why we teamed up with Pinterest to create paid work for our brilliantly talented community, commissioning them to create festive ad campaign concepts for the platform. With household names like Topshop, Birdseye, MADE and British Airways on the billing and the exceptional insight from our expert judging panel (see list below), w
- This Black History Month 2020, meet 100 rising stars inspiring changeWe still have a long way to go when it comes to conquering the lack of diversity in all industries – which is why it is so important for us, as a platform, to use our force for good. True diversity at every level is the key to innovation and success, so we celebrate and promote Black talent throughout the year, including via our list of brilliant Black leaders. This is definitely not an exhaustive list, so we’re always looking to unearth more incredible rising stars to feature and promote, to h166
- Launch video: The Dots x Pinterest: Reimagining Christmas with PinterestWe’re looking to commission 20 creative storytellers from across The Dots community who will be paid to create Christmas ad concepts for a bunch of top brands on Pinterest. Thanks to the hundreds that joined our live launch on 26th August 2020! For those that missed it (or if you want to watch it again), you'll find the video below. Read the brief and apply here! (deadline: 3rd September, 10am) Pinterest resources mentioned in the video: How to make videos stand out on Pinterest & animation t
- This International Women’s Day 2019, meet 100 trailblazers redefining the creative industryDiscover our 2020 list here This International Women’s Day, we’ve launched our latest ‘10x10’ – asking 10 influential industry icons to each nominate 10 trailblazing women and non-binary people who they believe are redefining the creator landscape. The result? An incredible list of 100 trailblazers inspiring change. Our list will be accompanied by a takeover on The Dots – look out for brilliant profiles and projects on the platform as we aim to inspire, as important as ever when considering ‘88165
- ChristmasSOwhiteInspired by a little girl called Esme who when looking online could find no images of black families celebrating at Christmas, we co-founded ChristasmasSOwhite. An initiative to create more diverse imagery in communications and a call to action to creative agencies to make more diverse casting decisions when creating campaigns. Thanks to co-founders Nathalie Gordon, Wren Graham and Selma Nicholls. www.christmassowhite.com
+ Show more
Skills
- Entrepreneur
- Casting