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Connecting Africa’s Skilled Professionals
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ReConnect Africa is a unique website and online magazine for the African professional in the Diaspora. Packed with essential information about careers, business and jobs, ReConnect Africa keeps you connected to the best of Africa.

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 Barbara Campbell – Publisher & Editor

 What I learned along the way is… to keep believing, no matter what, and to never give up. Failure … simply means  that this was NOT God’s plan for you. Move on and try something else.

Barbara Campbell Publisher and Editor

I was educated at……

….the school of LIFE if the truth be known. Much of what I have learnt is through life experiences, but the official places, I would say, are Lambeth College where I studied Journalism. I got into the University of East London, to study for a degree in Media, but turned it down because I had also received a job offer from The Voice newspaper.

My first job was…

….bumping around for a while doing a little bit here and there during my studies. My first job in my field was with The Voice newspaper in 1995. I became Editor of their sister page The Weekly Journal within two years.

What I do now is….

….I have owned my own publishing company since 2000 after cashing in my life insurance policy to fund it (as the banks would not bank roll a single mother of two children who did not own her own home or even a car!). All I owned was my belief in myself and my kind and Barclays refused to take EITHER as collateral.

Barbara Campbell is the former Editor of The Journal Newspaper and the originator of the Black History Month magazine Black Heritage; LIVE Listings Today, the Alternative Time Out and The Official Guide to International Women’s Month magazines. She is the Publisher and Editor of LIVE listings Magazine - the only multicultural listings publication in the UK that combines arts and business and the positive side of youth.

Barbara’s career began in 1994 when she was offered a job as a journalist by The Voice whilst still a journalism student and she became Editor of its sister paper within two years of working with the company. She cashed in her life insurance when banks would not fund her and launched LIVE listings Magazine after identifying a gap in the market for people of varied nationalities to learn of events happening in their areas. She has also freelanced with several mainstream publications including The Independent on Sunday and Ms London.

Campbell, a single mother of two, has won numerous accolades including ‘Best Print Media’ in the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners Awards, International Women of Excellence Award (2007), GAB (Gathering of Africa’s Best) Award (2006), the BFIIN/GWIIN Global Woman of Innovation Award (2005) and the LACE Awards (2004).

A former Board Member of the National Union of Journalism’s Black Members Council, Barbara believes in giving back to the community. She regularly lectures at colleges and universities on the topic of print journalism and gives two weeks every year to SASS and the From Boyhood to Manhood Foundation where she mentors children from the age of 14. She is also on the selection committee of The Eagle Award.

What I learned along the way is…

...to keep believing, no matter what, and to never give up. Failure is not an option, but if one fails do not take it personally. It will not be the end of the world – it simply means that this was NOT God’s plan for you and it was not the place you were meant to be. Move on and try something else. Another thing I have learnt is that there is an abundance of WONDERFUL people out there that will gravitate towards you… because like attracts like. But you need to be in it to win it.

My greatest influence has been…….

…my mother!! God, that woman just got on with it. She was pretty high up in politics in Jamaica (her birthplace) where she represented the then PM of the country. She had a mansion of a house, ‘helpers’ and each of her children had their own nannies. Then she came to the UK and could only find a job in a bottling factory despite her long list of qualifications. My mother taught me how to multi-task and how to turn every disadvantage to my advantage. Most of all she taught me to never just accept my lot, but to strive for more and for better. She and the Almighty have been my greatest influences.

The best advice I ever received is…..

…..make sure that, whatever career you choose, it’s one that you so enjoy that it does not seem like work. Hence my turning my hobby of writing into a career. It’s not work… it’s my pastime… but the beauty of it is that it pays the bills!

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