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Last Friday, I had the pleasure to be the MC at the Brighton Summit, held at the prestigious Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, at the University of Sussex. The theme for this year was HUMAN. My mission was to capture the hearts of around 400 delegates and move them smoothly through the excellent line-up of speakers, workshops and experiences, curated by the brilliant team from The Brighton Chamber of Commerce. 

If you haven’t been to the Summit before, I highly recommend it. It’s where collaborations and partnerships start and businesses are born. Back in 2017, I was a keynote speaker at the Summit and gave a talk about my experience running Liberty842, a London-based social media content company. My business life was thriving, but my home life was not. My daughter’s mental health was plummeting, and as a result, so was mine. 

So, at the end of my talk I pitched the idea of creating a new company – one that addresses the complexities of mental ill-health and puts young people in the driving seat of change. I counted 36 business cards from talented humans who wanted to collaborate. Make (Good) Trouble was born at The Brighton Summit.

The theme for the summit in 2017 was “Embracing the Unknown” – with a pandemic in the middle of our journey – we certainly did that. 5 years on and Make (Good) Trouble has worked with thousands of young people, parents and carers and professionals. We have secured long term partnerships with Public Health, Sussex Police, five local authorities, The NHS and most recently Save The Children.

So, it was on a nerve-wracking Friday morning, putting my makeup on in the dark, that I recited my lines or what I could remember of them, in preparation of holding court as MC for the day. I wanted to entertain, inform and cajole the audience into making good connections, ensuring they felt totally at ease whilst doing so. When asked what HUMAN means to me by one of the chamber organisers, I thought about our work in mental health. 

I decided to open with an adlib about having undiagnosed ADHD. Having ADHD is my superpower – it gave me the gusto to get on the stage and be vulnerable and funny (hopefully) at the same time. I asked the audience what would happen if ChatGPT had ADHD? Would it start writing, stop mid-sentence and start going on about something completely different? Marvellous!

The exemplary keynote speakers showed their humanity, through emotional, funny and uplifting stories sharing their journeys to success, including Jens Knoop, from Knoops (best hot chocolate I have ever tasted!), forensic scientist and author Professor Angela Gallop, CBE and finally Lord Simon Woolley, author, cross bench peer, Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge and one of the UK’s most high-profile campaigners for social justice, co-founder of Operation Black Vote. I was bowled over by Simon’s humanity as he held my hand on stage and thanked me, which took me by surprise and made my day! 

I learnt so much on Friday that will further inform our business going forward. I ate delicious food and made loads of connections which are still flooding into my inbox as I write. 

Do come to the Brighton Summit next year, where I’ll be on stage again as MC, making more good trouble.

On-stage selfie at the Brighton Summit 2023: Karen Dobres, Lord Simon Woolley and Daisy Cresswell. And Daisy introduces Simon onto the stage at the Brighton Summit – and is surprised (and delighted) as he holds her hand to thank her for her support.

Main image courtesy of The Brighton Chamber.

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Meet Lotti who has joined Make (Good) Trouble as Production Assistant through the Kickstart scheme, and is our newest member of the team.

Lotti, our new Production Assistant

I’m very excited to be working with Make (Good Trouble) as I know how much they put into helping young people’s mental wellbeing and prioritise the importance of engaging with different types of digital media. This is especially important to me as I’m am very passionate about incorporating social and environmental issues into my photography and videography and have always been eager to work within young people’s mental health. I’m very much looking forward to making lots of good trouble with the team!

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Make (Good) Trouble is proud and excited to be part of the Brighton Kickstart scheme put together by Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival (BDBF), working together with Future Creators. It allows us to provide a young person with reliable employment and offer vocational training in media production.

A Make (Good) Trouble photo shoot

We’re one of 20 local organisations offering over 80 work placements in the arts, publishing, PR, digital media and other creative opportunities. Future Creators will facilitate the scheme, working with local businesses and organisations to provide paid work placements for 16- to 24-year-olds claiming Universal Credit.

Every project we undertake is co-created with young people and digital media production is the lens through which they can express their opinions and direct their truths, ensuring an authentic, actionable end-product. During the current economic uncertainty, this scheme is very much needed and helps to fund places for young people who might not otherwise get that opportunity.

We will be supported by Future Creators throughout the placement and will be awarding Badge Nation’s Digital Badges as part of the scheme. We have already awarded 56 Digital Badges to young people involved in our projects over the past year, and they’re a brilliant way to reward our co-creators with a verifiable record of their achievements. 

This is such an important initiative, particularly at a time when youth unemployment is hitting new highs due to Covid.  We look forward to welcoming our newest team member to Make (Good) Trouble. Watch this space!  

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Huge thanks to the lovely Emma Foster from Knowso – a company set up to inspire women to start their own businesses and enterprises – for talking to Make (Good) Trouble founder Daisy Cresswell.

In this video Q&A, Daisy shares her experiences of setting up the social enterprise and the challenges of finding funding and the value of building a supportive community around you.

You can find out about Knowso and read more about lots more inspiring women in business on their website: www.knowso.com