As part of our members’ circle feature, we catch up with a stand-out Square Club member. This issue, we sat down with the power-house that is Bobbi-Jo O Gilvie.

Bobbi-Jo O Gilvie is a coach, facilitator and change-maker, with a clear mission: to elevate voices from underrepresented backgrounds and transform the systems around us. Originally from Miami and a Harvard graduate, her path has led her across the globe before settling in Bristol – a city whose creative spirit matches her own. As founder of Ready to Blog Designs and Circe, Bobbi-Jo empowers entrepreneurs and women in business to tell their stories, build sustainable ventures and advocate for themselves. Her latest work continues to champion tech founders and artists from the global majority, ensuring their impact resonates not only across the South West but on an international stage.

Having travelled far and wide, what drew you to our wonderful city of Bristol, and how has it shaped your work and life?

Bristol was never on the cards for me – I thought it was a farm town! However, the UK was on my radar a very long time before I moved here. Many moons ago, I burnt out from working in corporate environments in the States and ran away, Eat, Pray, Love-style to “find myself.” Or at least to get away from a career track that was eating me alive, even though I loved it. So I found myself sleeping on my sister’s couch in London, warmed by the cool blue light of my laptop at 3am, trying to figure out what to do next.

What came next was me winning a competition for The Best Backpacking Job in The World (which was a riff on Tourism Australia’s Best Job in the World) and suddenly there I was; jumping out of planes, bungee jumping in a Ninja Turtle costume, and writing about it all.

I parlayed that into an ideal turn in my career where I got to create beautiful design for wonderful people and travel the world. Bristol came along as a result of one of those adventures, and it ended up being the first place that I wanted to stop and say, “OK, this feels like home.”

So, I stayed, I built a network and a foundation, and ultimately a life for myself here. Bristol has brought so many beautiful people and experiences into my life, from getting to champion global majority founders, deeply entrench myself into enabling leaders in the tech sector, explore my creative interests, and take more than a few hot air balloon rides. I can’t think of a better city to be a multi-hyphenate professional or person: there’s always an opportunity here to try something you love, what you’re passionate about, or just a little curious about. 

You describe yourself as a changemaker. What does that mean to you on a day-to-day basis?

Being a “changemaker” means that I get to be a challenger, a cheerleader, a mentor, a confidante, or an illuminating force in the work I do, depending on the day.

Some days, that will be working with a founder or an organisation to drive real change and transformation. Other days, it’s helping an artist believe in themselves, so that they can go on to create work that inspires all of us. It’s digging into a system and saying, “We can do better, and here’s how.”

I have a rule that I try to leave places better than I found them, and I think that goes for people too. So, if I can spark even the tiniest bit of change: in how someone sees themselves, in how they move through the world, in how they show up…that is such a win for me.

What inspired you to start Ready to Blog Designs and Circe, and what were the biggest challenges you faced when launching these as start-ups?

Ready to Blog started when I was living in the back of a campervan in Australia, hiding from man-eating spiders and wondering if working behind a desk was actually all that bad. I was in the travel industry due to the work I was doing at the time and witnessing the rise of Travel Blogging. I was also witnessing a lot of sameness. I could tell who designed a site before I could figure out who the blogger was, and I thought that was missing the point of this great moment we were having in storytelling.

So I founded a studio built around the client; who they are and what they want to communicate – I wanted to make it easy for them at every step. Ready to Blog became a way to help people show up as their best selves and tell their stories well, and I’m so glad that 15 years later, we’re still helping people bring their visions to life. Both then and now, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. 

Circe, on the other hand, was born from necessity. I was poached to run a design studio a few years back, and my immediate answer was, “Well, no. I’m already doing that and I don’t have to change out of my PJs and head into an office for the pleasure.” And then the organization dangled the carrot of being able to run a tech incubator for black women who wanted to break into tech. It was an immediate “yes.” After witnessing my approach to enablement, the organization put me through coaching training, which again, felt like such a natural fit. I was already doing it with my design clients, and now I had a framework.

Then, the pandemic. There was so much noise and so many in transition, and I found myself overwhelmed with requests for advice and guidance from my network, particularly the women. I noticed that while there is so much talk about the gender pay gap, the gender support gap was a massive problem that was only going to get worse as women were pushed out of the workforce with few resources to cope. It’s hard to launch a business at any time, but when you are faced with the opportunity–and, it felt, obligation–to educate, support, and provide the tools and resources for women who just want to do good work, what choice do you have? Bringing a coaching approach tailored to the needs and wants of women and packaged in a way that makes sense in their lives, while mitigating the systemic barriers they have to success, is, I think, the first step to making sure that women are happy, healthy, and properly compensated in the workforce. 

Having worked with entrepreneurs from the global majority, what are some of the biggest challenges they face, and how do you help them overcome them?

Frankly, underestimating the value that global majority founders bring to the table. I think a lot of people have heard the numbers around the lack of funding and opportunities extended to black and brown founders, but few are willing to roll up their sleeves and do the actual, long-term work to do anything about it. When surface-level solutions are applied to advancing entrepreneurship in this space, it feels cheap, forced, and poorly thought-out.

I don’t view the work I do as a tick-box exercise. To help global majority founders face these challenges, I start with who they are as individuals. What are their strengths? What is the big, beautiful thing that they were put on this Earth to do? They know the numbers, they’ve experienced the prejudice, I don’t need to explain that to them. What they need are people and institutions to believe in them, give them actual support that will move the needle, and not speak about them (and to them) as if they are destined to fail. I try to be the wind in their sails to bring their visions to life and do it in a way that honours who they are without burning themselves out. 

As someone with a focuses on helping others, where do you find your own sources of inspiration and energy?

I run, I read, I crochet, I spend countless hours telling my dog what a good girl she is. I will watch any flavour of Real Housewives and Bluey is such a balm on hard days. I don’t think anyone can survive without a good community, and I have that. I look to them for support and inspiration and guidance (and a good laugh after a long day). I find that my energy comes from feeling grounded and safe and allowing any opportunity for joy to take root in my life. So maybe a better answer to this is: I chase joy and let it hold me when I catch it.

Looking ahead, what projects or goals are you most excited about in the next year?

I am so excited to bring Circe to a wider audience this year. I’ve spent a lot of time running programmes for big institutions and it feels like a gear shift to scale something on my own terms. I’ve still got a few marathons that I want to run as well, so I’ll be lacing up and locking in (please say, “hi,” if you see me on the Cycle Track)! The big goal, however, is just to do good work and after a challenging few years, have as much fun as humanly possible. Whether that’s in the design business, the coaching business, or the start-up, my biggest goal in the next year is to make sure that I’m waking up with purpose and clarity more days than not and being able to say at the end of each day: “That was a day well lived.”

Bobbi-Jo O Gilvie is a force to be reckoned with. She is a true changemaker – coaching, designing and championing individuals with energy, joy and purpose. Bristol has become her creative playground, and we feel honoured to have her in our community. Explore her work at circeapp.me and readytoblogdesigns.com, and keep up to date with her adventures at @todayimbobbi.

Photo Credits: Meg Gisborne