“Born or Made is a networking group for local talent, creatives and entrepreneurs, who put human first, offer opportunities, support their community, bring new ideas and are open to collaborations”
Maria Athini, Marketing Manager Lambeth Council
“I feel made in Brixton, and because I was an immigrant, I feel born in Brixton because I had to invent a new identity here”
Maria Athini, Marketing Manager Lambeth Council
maria athini is the Marketing Manager within the Communications team at Lambeth council.
Maria's role at Born or Made, representing Lambeth Council, is instrumental in fostering a strong relationship between the communications team and the local creative community. By sharing information and creating networking opportunities, she is not just a face for Lambeth Council, but a beacon of hope for local creatives. Her efforts through Born or Made, which delivers fortnightly, are shaping the future of creative networking in Lambeth.
The Lambeth Communications team receives a lot of information about programs and schemes, funding, and things that the Lambeth Council is running in the borough for local residents and young people. This is a good opportunity, a good group, to share this information directly with people who offer it to others.
Moreover, through the communications requirement, Maria and her team commission freelancers; therefore, they have managed to find locally based creatives.
Maria is also a playwright and screenwriter and has carried out academic work, including a module for an E-learning platform and a personal website showcasing their published work.
“Born or Made members have shared values, which foster human connections behind work and business and an overall ethical attitude.
It's a rare & wonderful mix.”
Riccardo De Franceschi, Creative Director of Dalton Maag
Riccardo De Franceschi is the creative director at typeface design studio Dalton Maag, which has been based in Brixton for over 35 years.
Dalton Maag employs over 40 people from different locations worldwide. It represents the expansive global client pool and delivers stunning type designs to clients such as Amazon, AirBnB, Nokia, and many more.
Riccardo joined Born or Made to connect locally with creatives and other businesses in the local community. Given their global reach, Brixton is deeply rooted through Dalton Maag, so much so that there is a font named Effra (a famous underground river in the area) within the library, added to which their fonts have been utilised for famous landmarks such as Brixton Village, which adopts the Akitz Grotesk font.
Riccardo was at first a little sceptical (his word) about joining Born or Mdde; he didn't see that business benefit. Elle, our founder, has heard this reluctance multiple times and is more than comfortable inviting visitors for free to see the other members and the benefits of being part of the community meetups. There is, and never will be, a 'hard sell' for Born or Made. Networking isn't for everyone, and referrals can often take months to receive; however, in the case of Riccardo, a reference happened following the first couple of meetings, which has now led to a fully customised font creation for another Born or Made member, better yet the client is meters away, the other side of Brixton road bringing in-person meetings to a whole new 'easiness' level and certainly a highlight for the exciting project.
The project will be released to the world in January 2025. It's fair to say we're more than excited about the collaboration and the return on Dalton Maags's Born or Made membership investment.
In conclusion, Riccardo's scepticism has vanished!
"The BoM experience has been positive. What I've enjoyed the most is its human nature, and the physical in-person meetup has been very inspiring for me."
Riccardo highlights that it is very interesting to see the dynamics of how other members work as you are exposed to their journeys, stories, struggles, and successes. This is enhanced by the meeting times (early mornings or late afternoons), which allow a space where you can sit between personal and professional and stop and listen without feeling the pressures of the phone pinging!
We firmly believe that referrals, connections, and projects can come from outside the room at Born or Made. With that in mind, Riccardo has advised other members and put them in touch with others. An accredited, trusted, professional recommendation is 'gold dust,' and Born or Made is delivering that in spades.
“Networking & building relationships take time. It’s been brilliant to have already worked with MVA twice through BoM.”
Becky Mursell, Documentary & Portrait Photographer
Hugh and Becky are a perfect example of the opportunities that networking groups such as Born or Made can offer.
Through the group they were able to collaborate and begin a successful partnership between Hugh’s online school, MVA (MInerva’s Virtual Academy) and Becky’s skill in people photography.
Why does this show the use of Born or Made? Both Hugh and Becky agree that without this networking group to bring them together, they would not have made the connections necessary to find each other’s businesses and collaborate.
MVA, an online school that helped over 800 students who struggle with traditional school sit GCSEs and ‘A Levels’ this summer of 2024, requires an excellent website to draw in potential applicants and present their business.
Hugh and Becky collaborated on two separate school trips organised for the pupils of the school where Becky expertly shot a number of photos which you can find all over Minerva’s website.
This fruitful collaboration further emphasises the need for a networking group TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS BY ALLOWING YOU TO FIND OTHER LOCAL CREATIVES AND ENTREPRENEURS WHO MAY HAVE SIMILAR VISIONS OR HELP your business.
“I think the secret sauce is Elle Moss”
Hugh Viney, Founder & CEO of MVA
“I joined born or made to see and meet local entrepreneurs”
Rob Jury, Co-Founder We Are Graft
We sat down with our Born or Made in Brixton members, Polly Waterworth, co-founder of the Brixton-based Social Enterprise We Rise, and Rob Jury, co-founder of the Brixton-based animation agency We are Graft, to discuss their journey with Born or Made.
Polly and Rob agreed that networking is essential to the growth of their businesses, with the added value of discussing the challenges and opportunities in running an enterprise. It turns out that (brilliantly) Born or Made is the networking group they'd both been seeking. Why? In a nutshell, BoM supports the community by collaborating and working together to produce the best outcomes.
Rob and Polly collaborated on producing a short film introducing the Youth-led Empowerment Network - an idea to reimagine London's spaces created by three young people from the We Rise Alumni.
In Collaboration with the young people, We Rise delivered a brief storyboard that Rob and his team at We are Graft illustrated, animated, and created a powerful and engaging video that has brilliantly been shortlisted for a 'Reimagine London' award. This is Collaboration at its core!
See the brilliant animation below. We wish them the very best of luck in the competition.
“Collaboration is so important and the very essence of Born or Made.
The networking group doesn't have egos but a supportive atmosphere, which is refreshing. Born or Made ultimately introduced us.”
Polly Waterworth, co-founder of We Rise.
“born or made is a natural step to help grow my business”
Andrea Maloney, We Are Brave
Andrea believes that networking lies at the core of any creative position, as even making connections through word of mouth is incredibly important in building relations and gaining new clients.
This trust in the power of networking led her to find Born or Made, which she believes is a “super-friendly” environment, as well as providing important help to her, particularly highlighting Jo Bristow, who, as a coach, steered her towards her goals. This positive start to her collaboration with Born or Made has left Andrea seeking further collaboration within the group together with Polly, co-founder of WeRise, showing once again how networking helped create new opportunities for the both of them as they were introduced by a student Andrea had helped.
Beyond her successful design career, Andrea is currently pioneering her next vision, We Are Brave, a social enterprise to help young people thrive and be ambitious in the creative industry through the use of her incredible resilience, which she has built up over years of hard work even in the face of discrimination and adversity.
While resilience is not something that can be taught as a ‘formula,’ Andrea hopes that her experiences, both positive and negative, can serve as guidance for many as We Are Brave continues to grow.
“through we are brave, I can use my experience to show young people that they can achieve anything they want”
Andrea Maloney, Founder of We Are Brave.