This episode discusses Baiba's journey with the spelling of her name, how she ties her name to her identity and sense of belonging, and her family's history and the changing spelling of her family member's names. Over the 10 years of living in the UK and catering for the Brit’s comfort, Baiba's name has been butchered beyond recognition a number of times. After a decade, she finally and unapologetically reclaimed the original spelling of my name. I was inspired by Thandiwe Newton’s story and realised that she also allowed others to mispronounce her name for too long. Baiba is a connector. She connects people, ideas and past to the future like dots, and is fearless in challenging the status quo and conventional thinking and certainly is someone you can count on to inspire you to think differently. Baiba is originally from Latvia, but have spent the past decade living in the UK. Over this time she has worked with FTSE100, NYSE listed corporates, Tech startups, and government organisations where has been involved in various global initiatives concerning People, Workplace Culture, Digital Transformation, Sustainability and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Today Baiba is the Founder & CEO of Lakehouse Consulting, where her key focus is evolving the global state of leadership to create more sustainable, equitable and inclusive ecosystems. She works with leadership teams to assess and optimise the impact of them.

In this episode, August discusses how he chose his name, August, why the month of August is so important to him, and his experiences coming out as trans to 100k TikTok fans. August Rocha is a Chinese-American, disabled, transgender speaker, writer, and TikTok content creator with over 100K followers. He focuses on his lived experiences as a person with many interesting identities. This episode celebrates and supports Adoption Awareness Month (November) and Transgender Awareness Week.

In this episode, host Maya speaks with Glenn Lutz about the journey he's had with his name, the different names he's gone by which have reflected different periods of his life, how his name has been tied to religion, and Glenn's experiences with his mental health. Glenn Lutz is an author and conceptual artist living and working on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i. His practice spans photography, sculpture, hip-hop, and publications— examining topics including identity, the connections between spirituality, religion, mysticism, and mental health, and the cause and effect of the injustices faced by the Black community in the United States and abroad. He is also NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Ambassador and mental health advocate, working with NAMI to destigmatise mental illness and bring awareness to mental health resources available to the community. www.glennlutz.com | @glenn_lutz

In this episode, learn more about Zimbabwean naming traditions, specifically focused on the Shona tribe. Tino Chakadonha is a senior account manager at Veritone - an Enteprise AI company. His professional interest lies at the intersection of technology and humanity. As a British-Zimbabwean, Tino has experienced the introspection that comes from feeling that you don't quite belong anywhere and the advantages/disadvantages that come with that, day to day and long term.

Aira Gonzales moved to the UK when she was 7 and since starting school, her name has always been something she's been hyper aware of. Whether it’s a teacher assuming she was Spanish because of her last name and greeting her in Spanish, her name warranting a pause during the register because the teacher was unsure of how to pronounce it, and the name being mispronounced or spelled wrong despite it being in her email signature. The most striking thing for Aira is the fact that she's had to explain why as a visibly non-white, South East Asian woman, has a Spanish last name. A lot of people mean well when they ask out of curiosity but sometimes Aira notices people getting uncomfortable when she tells them that her last name is down to colonialism. The Philippines, where Aira was born and raised until moving to the UK, was claimed by explorer Francis Magellan in 1521 as part of the Spanish Empire. It wasn’t until 1898 that the Philippines became independent, but at that point, a lot of the culture of the Philippines became heavily mixed with Spanish influences. For example, last names. It was made strictly mandatory for Filipinos to take on a last name from a catalogue of names, many of which, were Spanish. On paper, this was because traditionally surnames in the Philippines weren’t governed but of course, taking on a Spanish last name meant stronger colonial rule. To this day, it remains ingrained in Filipino identity. Even though to some, it’s just a name, to Aira, it’s also a reminder of the colonisation of our country by the Spanish and the effects colonisation had on our culture and society.

This episode explores Greg Bunbury's complex and intricate relationship with his name and its links with the transatlantic slave trade and his work within the DE&I space. Greg Bunbury is a Graphic Designer, Creative Consultant and D&I consultant. His mission is to change the world by design, enabling purpose-driven businesses and organisations to connect with diverse communities, through creativity & inclusion. Greg is also the founder of Black Outdoor Art, a project that uses outdoor advertising space as a platform for creative Black expression, and hosts the Design For The People podcast, spotlighting creatives working towards positive social change.

In this episode, listen to WuQing Hipsh share her story of how she chose to be known by her birth name, WuQing, aged just 2.5 years old, after being adopted from China as a baby, growing up in New York, the meanings behind her names, and the history behind her surname, Hipsh.

In this episode, listen to Masruba Tasnim, Inclusive Leadership and Talent Consultant, share experiences with shortening her name to just one syllable to accommodate others, the meaning of her names and the story behind why she doesn't share her surname with the rest of her family. Masruba's experience spans across the private, not-for-profit and public sectors. She has extensive experience in D&I, Learning & Development, HR Operations and Corporate Social Responsibility. She supports leaders to create impactful change and realise the potential of socially and ethnically diverse talent, for their organisations.

Listen to GoldTooth reflect on his birth name, Tamil naming traditions and how he came up with his DJ name. GoldTooth is a British-Tamil producer, selector & curator hailing from South London. Having spent his formative years listening to the sounds of Tempa, DMZ, Metalheadz, Lord Of The Mics, Eskimo Dance, Hessle Audio & Boy Better Know, to name a few, he has grown to become a master purveyor of underground electronic music and has recently been inaugurated as one of the newest members of the BBC Asian Network family. As skilled behind the decks as he is in the studio, GoldTooth expertly blends traditional sounds from his motherland with modern underground beats to create a truly unique acoustic experience that shifts between the likes of A.R. Rahman & Unknown T at the flick of a beat.

Gesu Antonio Baez is an International Politics Advisor and Public Affairs Consultant based in London. He's the Chief Political Advisor at Pax Tecum Global Consultancy, a firm focused on helping businesses engage with local governments to promote their business which leads to greater social impact. As a foreign affairs expert, he's appeared on multiple media outlets and given high profile talks commenting on global events. Born in New York City, he currently splits his time between London and Italy. In today’s episode, we explore the evolution of Gesu’s name, the different names he is called by, and experiences of corporate america. Instagram: Zingarello1988; Twitter: @JesusABaez; LinkedIn: Gesu Antonio Baez GOT A STORY TO SHARE? Let us know here: https://forms.gle/8nKgjSD6QScX9rpRA Follow @thatsmyname_pod on Instagram for more.