What does the future hold for women of colour in the advertising industry?
The short answer is: anything they can imagine. Through her journey from a junior designer in a big agency to the founder and managing partner of her very own bespoke full-service agency, Curious & Creatives Zumurrud Rinquest has thrown herself into sharpening a hugely important skill: to find the gap, make a move, and build others up in the process. As I received my first opportunity to lead as a woman of colour, I quickly realised that more voices were needed. Dynamic perspectives, backgrounds and cultures, all coming together to represent our nations true diversity of narratives, opinions and truths, she says. This evolution in Rinquest s outlook occurred during a time when women were only beginning to flex their skills in the advertising industry, and women of colour were by far the minority in ad-land. Today, we know that matters have improved only marginally. Aside from the glass ceiling that women across all industries are acutely aware of, women of colour have had to contend with an added layer of hoop jumping in the workplace: racism, lack of access to entry, discrimination, profiling, silencing, and the list goes on. In the last few years, companies around the globe have become more sensitive towards matters of equality, now fortified by the added pressure to not merely claim diversity, but to take action to make room for women  and women of colour  among the key stakeholders, decision makers and leading thinkers within every organisation. Rinquest has experienced the plight of creative professionals of colour in the ad industry from many different perspectives. But the most striking experience has been that of searching for new talent for her growing creative agency and receiving an abundance of applications in response  yet only a handful from women of colour. An incubator for talented young women  A leader by nature and a businesswoman with a flair for seeking out  and creating  opportunities to grow her agency, it has become Rinquests mission to not only hold space for young women of colour in the ad industry, but to expand it. Rinquest has leveraged her wealth of industry experience, keen intuition and her conviction of building a business on sturdy relationships to build a true power team. As she continues to grow Curious & Creative one brief at a time while adapting to the ever-evolving digital landscape, she has now set out to put this ability to good use by creating an incubator for creative talent  predominantly women of colour  in the next few years. This incubator will open the door for those who are not by the financial means to empower themselves through formal education, and will include a bursary programme to focus on the upliftment of women of colour in the Western Cape, she says. My dream has always been to build a network of strong women with an immense love of creativity in business. We have worked hard to achieve this at Curious & Creative, and now its time to extend our knowledge and passion to the greater community, she says. Its up to us, as women and creatives of colour, to carve out a space for success and build the creative landscape weve always dreamed of working in  one that is fair, equal and well-primed for the innovation and creativity we can offer brands of every shape and form.  Zumurrud Rinquest is the founder and managing director of the all-women bespoke agency, Curious & Creative. Aside from building a thriving business, Zummis career is dotted with many achievements, from climbing the ranks from junior designer to her role as Creative Group Head at a leading ad agency, to earning the title of Innovator Trust Top Black Entrepreneur of the Year and being part of award-winning teams. Comment on Twitter @MediaTMO or on our Facebook page. Send us your suggestions, comments, contributions or tip-offs via e-mail to glenda.nevill@cybersmart.co.za.