Sonya Barlow (BSc Business Studies, 2015) – the Art of Going Solo

Sonya Barlow

A keynote speaker at the September 2024 edition of Bayes Alumni Connect exploring  ‘Unlocking Your Personal Brand’, Sonya has forged a career as a neurodivergent award-winning tech entrepreneur, broadcaster and journalist. She recounts the learning curve she faced in successfully building her own business.

What drives you to get involved in Bayes alumni events?

I try to be invested in Bayes and pay it forward to the next generation of learners. For example, I am a board member for The Global Women’s Leadership Programme and get involved in numerous events as the speaker or guest on the panel.  During the pandemic, I also designed and delivered the digital mentoring programme as part of Bayes’ Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation module.

I started my entrepreneurial journey in 2020 and since then have allocated time per month to build my own skills and share my learnings with others, so an educational institute is a great place to start. Through this, I can learn new ideas and skills from students and share knowledge as an alumna on personal branding, business and networking. That’s why I always put my hand up. I have been on this great journey for the last four years as an entrepreneur and the last 10 years as a graduate of Bayes. I want to come back and give something of added value to alumni and the wider Bayes network, to share the more practical soft skills, tips and tricks that they need to elevate themselves in their career.

How do you achieve this?

I add value by sharing how people can identify the why of their professional brand, establish the goals they can set, think about the content they’re producing, and re-define how they measure their degree of success. Your personal or professional brand is interchangeable and can drive traffic to your business or your career. Personal branding isn’t about being the loudest online – it’s about shifting perspectives and adding value.

I have also written a best-selling book called Unprepared to Entrepreneur, which outlines all my lessons plus contributions from leaders in 11 chapters – this is the book I wish I had had in my university library or when I was figuring out my next step in life.

What memories do you have of Bayes student days?

Early on, I struggled and found it difficult to find my sense of purpose or identity. Back in 2011, I didn’t know much about university life, coming from a working-class background and being the first generation to go to university in my family. That being said, I was sure that work experience through a sandwich course would help my career prospects. However, I don’t think I made the best choices over those first two years when it came to focus, so come the third year, despite achieving all the final rounds for placements, I missed out on experience with GE and Microsoft.

In hindsight, my ADHD had a part to play in these feelings and moments of failure and figuring it out. However, failing fast and staying resilient is a skill set that I am strong in, and so rejection is really re-direction. I learnt about the Erasmus programme which changed my life – studying abroad as a student in Rome Italy. From walking to the Trevi Fountain and having croissants outside the colosseum, to learning the language and making best friends from all over the world,  the best thing to happen was losing out on a work placement because I got this life placement!   Upon my return to Bayes for the fourth year of study, I absolutely smashed it, not just in terms of the programme itself but also by creating two student societies and getting to know my lecturers better.

What were the main takeaways from this experience?

I graduated in 2015. My best friends are still the ones I made at university, and they are my strongest support system – we help one another in bad times and good.

What I tell students is that university is a place where it’s ok to fail, provided you give things a shot, as it’s the best way of establishing what you want to do in life after studies without getting sucked into the noise which now exists in real life and on the internet. In my fourth year, I started with imposter syndrome, applying to all the big banks and thinking that when you’re at Bayes, that’s what you do. The interviewers sussed me out as they said straight out that I’d get bored working in consulting or audit. So, I might not have gained the placements I applied for, but I learnt new skills through interviews, connected with new people who I still meet today and realised what I don’t like doing – sitting behind a computer going through spreadsheets!

What steps would you recommend to budding entrepreneurs?

Build on someone else’s budget first, giving yourself the time to test your idea. That way, you’ll have the guarantee of a 9-to-5, meaning you’ve got the rest of the day and the weekend to start building your own business. I started mine during lunch hours and train rides home. For the LMF network, I made a logo on Canva, bought a website domain and started hosting brunches on the weekends. Those brunches turned into workshops and events, which eventually turned into consulting projects and paid work around the world. 

The majority of the entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed say they build their fledgling business for an average 18-24 months on someone else’s budget, as a side hustle, until they no longer can balance the two and they can afford to live off their business idea.

When you are an entrepreneur, you are not going to have a lavish lifestyle. You’re not going to have that guarantee of a paycheque or salary, right? You’re not going to have that money in your bank. You have to make changes. I used to work non-stop as if that was the badge of honour but even that is wrong – taking breaks, letting my ADHD brain recharge and going for walks to generate new ideas are also healthy habits to live by as an entrepreneur.

What steps have you taken along your entrepreneurial journey?

I’m blessed in that I have a supportive family and had some savings to lean on. I had a conversation with them when I decided to become an entrepreneur, explaining what it was likely to mean for us – from holidays to helping out around home. When you start a business, it may be you doing the work, but the people around you also feel the consequences, good or bad.

Part of this initial phase means trying out everything from the outset until you learn what you know and don’t know and outsource. The internet is your friend, and your network is there to help you.

In short, figure things out in your own time, and when you feel stuck, lean into your network to ask for help. Build those skill sets, and then you can figure out what you do and don’t want to take care of. That’s why I’m now successful in what I do because I focus on what I like, am good at, what success looks like and where I can add value.

Where does branding fit into this process?

Think of your professional brand as your portfolio. Through the LMF Network, we help people increase their value by £11K on average by building their professional brand and skills through our career programme. The personal brand is like your CV. It’s digital evidence of what you have done, your experience (life and work) and why you should be chosen. This will take years to build online and offline, plus involve a few pivots as the world develops – for example, the next 10 years might emphasize AI, so how are you building those skills? I recently pivoted my podcast into AI and started making videos on what’s happening in the world of AI and tech to show that I am learning, leaning into topics and able to think critically – instead of building my own AI app.

Another way to build a brand is to have something different to say and share! Not everything requires starting a business, but your entrepreneurial mindset needs you to commit to ideas and see them through. You will have more failures than successes, but these are all part of the learning process. As an employer, I would rather hire someone who has tried and taken risks in their own time than someone who has stuck to the linear path without struggle.

What is your key message, based on your experiences?

Be seen and have substance. I love the process of having an idea, trying, failing and figuring it out. The world rewards people who are curious and try – so learn, lean into new challenges and connect with people to build your network.  But don’t take up other people’s space – the world is noisy and will make you think you have to be everything. Not true.

Focus on your five pillars, have a big goal every quarter and lean into your strengths. Through my experience, I created the 3-2-1 rule of networking – 3 conversations, 2 connections and 1 coffee. The point is to challenge yourself every month to grow by learning from others, helping people and sharing your experiences. What may not work here might work in another place; you can go find your space and make it your own. Also, don’t let your differences determine your success – as an Asian woman with ADHD, I often lessened myself in rooms but now I can say that I was in the wrong rooms to start with because the spaces made for you will make you feel strong and powerful.

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