Candice Brathwaite

Why organisations work with Candice Brathwaite

• Two Sunday Times bestsellers built on different theses. I Am Not Your Baby Mother (2020) reshaped national conversations on Black British motherhood. Manifest(o) (2024) became an instant bestseller on intention and self-belief, and took her on a sold-out international tour across the UK, US and Canada.
• Lived authority on inclusion and representation in a moment when most DEI speakers have either lost the room or become politically performative. Her debut was the first book by a Black British woman about Black British motherhood to enter the British Library.
• A speaker who can hold uncomfortable conversations and keep audiences listening. Liberty London described her keynote as “the best we have ever put on in 150 years of the store.”
• Cross-sector keynote track record across financial services, professional services, retail and tech: NatWest, Barclays, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Ralph Lauren, Sainsbury’s, Deliveroo, Liberty London and the Cambridge Union.
• The timing and craft of a working broadcaster, drawn from regular appearances on ITV’s Lorraine and Steph’s Packed Lunch, her role as Contributing Editor at Grazia, and writing across the Guardian, Harper’s Bazaar and Stylist.

Biography highlights

• Two-time Sunday Times bestselling author: I Am Not Your Baby Mother (Quercus, 2020) and Manifest(o) (Quercus, 2024)
• First book by a Black British woman about Black British motherhood to enter the British Library
• Founder of Make Motherhood Diverse, the campaign challenging stereotyped representations of parenthood in British media
• Contributing Editor at Grazia and regular UK television presenter on ITV’s Lorraine and Steph’s Packed Lunch
• Host of Conversations with Candice (Acast, 2026), following the multi-million-download Closet Confessions
• Keynote clients include NatWest, Barclays, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Ralph Lauren, Sainsbury’s, Deliveroo, Liberty London, the Royal College of Midwives and the Cambridge Union

Biography

Most corporate conversations about inclusion have stopped landing. The language is familiar, the speakers cautious, and the audiences switched off. The substance still matters; the form has stopped working.

In 2016 a blog post asked where the Black mothers were in British parenting media, and started building an answer. The blog became Make Motherhood Diverse. The platform became a book. I Am Not Your Baby Mother (2020) was a Sunday Times bestseller and the first book written by a Black British woman about Black British motherhood to enter the British Library.

A second Sunday Times bestseller followed in Manifest(o) (2024), with a sold-out international tour across the UK, US and Canada. Alongside the books came regular presenting work on ITV’s Lorraine and Steph’s Packed Lunch, a Contributing Editor role at Grazia, and two podcasts. The corporate keynote diary expanded with it: NatWest, Barclays, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Ralph Lauren, Sainsbury’s, Deliveroo, Liberty London and the Cambridge Union.

Buyers tend to book her for the same reason. Inclusion, ambition and the lived reality of working parents are subjects where most speakers either over-perform or under-deliver. Liberty London described her keynote as “the best we have ever put on in 150 years of the store.” That is the response organisations come back for.

Key speaking topics

• Diversity, equity and inclusion
• Personal brand building and visibility
• Modern motherhood and the working parent
• Motivation and self-belief
• Manifestation and intentional living
• Storytelling and cultural commentary

Ideal for

• CHROs, CPOs and DEI leads designing inclusion programming that audiences will actually engage with rather than tolerate
• Internal communications, ERG sponsors and culture teams running events on representation, belonging and the experience of working parents
• Leadership development and event teams looking for a closing keynote that drives genuine post-event conversation
• Brand, marketing and creative leadership teams thinking about voice, visibility and cultural authenticity

Audience outcomes

• A direct, honest perspective on inclusion that audiences will repeat back to their colleagues
• A sharper sense of what genuine representation looks like in the everyday operation of a business, beyond statements and campaigns
• Language and permission to talk about visibility, ambition and working parenthood as serious organisational concerns
• The energy and confidence to act on something they have been postponing in their own careers