Jasmine #mixedmonday
Hello I’m Jasmin. I left London 7 years ago and moved to Bristol, where I live with my 4-year-old, Rosa and my husband, Andy. I’m a brand, comms and insight consultant, and split my week working part time for Yeo Valley Organic, whilst running my own consultancy. I also volunteer for a small but mighty Bristol charity – Housing Matters.
How would you describe your ethnicity?
My mum is from Trinidad, my dad was born in India. So I’m the manifestation of East meets West. We lived in Derbyshire in the 80s/90s, and far away from extended families, so my sister and I grew up “pretty English”. We didn’t eat Trini or Indian food, we didn’t speak any Punjabi and I think my parents just wanted us to fit in. So we did things like eat pasta with Dolmio sauce, watch Noel’s House Party on a Saturday night, and listen to a lot of Queen.
We watched a lot of TV growing up, and I remember my parents creasing at shows like Desmond’s, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Goodness Gracious Me. I didn’t get a lot of the references, but they clearly did, and these shows were a window into cultures that felt somehow familiar, but very distant. Whenever I went to Trinidad as a child (we never went to India) I got a similar feeling – a strange sense of belonging, but sadly always a tourist.
Up until recently, I never really thought about defining my ethnicity. When people used to ask me, I’d breezily reply “Oh it’s complicated!” Most of the time, the question made me feel “othered”, and I didn’t like it. Quite a lot of the time I couldn’t be bothered to go into it.
On forms I’d switch between “Mixed – Other”, “Black – Other” and “Any other Asian background”, depending on the day. No-one ever told me what I was supposed to put. Sometimes I’d worry I’d put the wrong thing, and to this day, I’m still not 100% sure of my box! Back then, I don’t think anyone thought it was important for me to have the language to describe myself.
Nowadays I usually say I’m “half Trinidadian, half Indian”, because that’s at least accurate.
Has your mixed-ness influenced your career in any way?
Not massively (I mean I had a West Indian x Indian immigrant work ethic hammered into me from childhood, and that drive is probably ingrained in my DNA). It’s only now that I am actually thinking about my identity, and how I articulate my own story. I think I’ve just been distracted in my 20's and 30's.
And this thinking extends to how I show up at work. Starting my own company has given me the license to put the authentic version of me out into the work world. It’s pretty liberating.
If you could describe your mixed identity in one word, what would it be?
Intricate. Lush. Grounding
What is the best thing about being mixed heritage?
I’ve a theory that if you are of mixed heritage you tend to be good with people. I think it’s because we’ve had various lenses to look through which make us not just self-aware, but curious, interested and accepting of others.
