00:03Everyone's done such a great job of reading from that autocue
00:06But there's no way I'm gonna be able to do that. I've never done it in my life, so I will be reading
00:11Off of my own stuff. Can I clear this so I don't get confused and start reading somebody else's? Hello. Good morning. I
00:18Am jet-lagged
00:20As anything fucking hell is definitely a nighttime to me ready for a drink
00:30I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this event tonight and the scholarship had me in floods of tears girls
00:37congratulations
00:39absolutely
00:40beautiful to watch you
00:42My boyfriend Rich was cussing me out cuz I cry anything but obviously that's absolutely worth it for everything that you guys were saying and doing so
00:48Congratulations, Kerry, you know, I love you. Whoo
00:53Also finally got to meet Dua Lipa, a bit starstruck. Absolutely love her. Love a Londoner
00:58And I'm just gonna listen disclaimer. I'm not really a motivational words kind of gal
01:08I'm just gonna be up front about it straight away. I'm also not really a speeches kind of gal
01:14so
01:15well
01:17They're really not my fucking forte. I can't lie
01:20When I'm nervous, I swear forgive me. I'm British. What can I say? I've never prepared one of these in my life
01:25I do of course though as quite a few few people in the room know I have the gift of the gab
01:31I can absolutely talk for hours and eat your ear off, but when I talk for hours, it's about nothing
01:41Really so right in this has become or it's not become it's been quite a challenge
01:45I can't rely and suddenly it dawned on me last night
01:48I flew in from London last night and it dawned on me when I was writing this that there is no way
01:53I'm not saying at this event
01:54But there is no way that all these big long speeches that were always hearing from people people cannot be writing those themselves
02:00It's impossible
02:02It's such a hard task. I'm convinced that I could have hired someone to write this
02:06But it's too late now you're gonna have to listen to what I've got
02:11So easy peasy first obviously thank you so so much to the Hollywood reporter is an absolute honor to be here today in full fucking glam at 8 a.m.
02:19on a Thursday morning
02:21No no no seriously thank you so much for having me at this this event. It really isn't good. I'm being serious. I am honored to be here
02:36I'm just saying
02:38It's listed as a branch. This is breakfast
02:43And like I said earlier congratulations to the scholarship winners and the mentor program that's incredible to the other two other honorees tonight
02:50Um and of course the most um the reason I'm here to sherry lansing what are done
02:58Not really sure where to begin sherry. I mean I guess this award, you know, is pretty self-explanatory. I suppose
03:05I'm not quite this is this hard with this microphone isn't it do we're very very tall we're supermodels
03:11You are I'm not but anyway, but having a whole award named after yourself for your legacy is quite a flex, so
03:17It is
03:21I'm gonna get serious for one second
03:24Shitting myself
03:27Sherry you are the epitome
03:30Absolute epitome of what it is to open doors and more importantly to leave them open
03:35I'm blown away to even be sitting next to you tonight tonight. See I told you this morning
03:47Let alone receiving your award so thank you for everything you've done and of course everything that you continue to do. Thank you so much
03:53Yeah, give her another round of applause
03:55this award feels very big and grown up and I feel a little bit out of my depth receiving it considering that I'm only 35 and I've only released four albums
04:10It feels like I only really kind of just arrived. That's at least how I feel but um upon writing this speech and like reflecting a little bit and trying
04:16And trying to work out what to say I realize it's actually been 17 years and I've been assigned artist
04:22Which is kind of crazy?
04:24And sometimes I wonder within those 17 years if like people think that I'm calculated
04:28You know when I disappear for years on end
04:30I'm elusive and that I believe that less is more you know something like that
04:34But the real reason that I've only had four albums and I don't think that many people know this they might know that I have a child and that I'm a mum
04:42But my son is 11 years old
04:44Right?
04:45So if you do the math that means the right at the height of 21
04:48I can only call it pandemonium because that's how it felt to me
04:51Overnight it was like I was famous it was the strangest most surreal experience of my life still to this day
04:56I fell pregnant
04:58And to many that would be and it was considered career suicide
05:02However, always one to go against the grain
05:06It was there and then that I chose to reject the scarcity of success
05:10And the idea that you have to be constantly relevant to be successful
05:13And that perhaps, just maybe, I could be a hit both on and off the stage
05:18And you'll never guess what, fucking got away with it
05:27And why?
05:29Because of all the sacrifices that the women before me have made
05:33It's because of them that I have every right
05:35To be the boss at work and the boss at home
05:37So thank you
05:45Now when it comes to how I might be here accepting this award
05:47I'm not particularly sure, I'm not entirely sure
05:49But I can't help but think
05:51Because it's much to do with my character as it does my talent
06:01Like, talent can't dictate how you move
06:03Talent can't decide how you treat people, it doesn't have a moral compass
06:07Talent cannot read a room
06:09You can be the most talented person on the planet and only make bad decisions
06:13And to be honest, talent is kind of random, you know
06:16It's like, you might have it, but what does it mean?
06:19But character, well character is observed
06:22It is witnessed
06:23Character is taught and it's passed down
06:25My character, as I'm sure you can tell just from like the last minute I've been on stage
06:29Has a roughness
06:30And a toughness to it
06:31I trust no one and yet I'm completely fearless
06:36And I 100% got it from the women who raised me
06:39As a child you're a sponge, you learn what you're shown
06:42My mother, my aunties, my grandmothers
06:46They were all strong, loud, boisterous, loyal and cutthroat women
06:50Like me
06:52Always ready to jump for you kind of women
06:55Chaotic but focused, soft in the middle but solid on the outside
06:58Like me
06:59They are a force to be reckoned with and quite frankly, terrifying at times
07:03Like me
07:04But that was because they had to be
07:08They had to learn the hard way what it is to be a woman
07:10And so in turn they hardened
07:12Their character was their armour
07:14But thanks to them my character is my skin
07:16As a child, you're a sponge, you learn what you're shown
07:20My teachers, my school teachers
07:23My God, I have some of the most amazing teachers
07:26Who gave me my love of literature, of words, of poems and rhymes
07:29Stories and writing
07:31They were far too qualified to be teaching at a school like mine
07:33And could easily have made double the money at private schools
07:36But they stayed with us to give us a chance
07:39And that taught me loyalty
07:41These are my leaders and I'm eternally grateful to them all
07:44For making me who I am today
07:46So thank you guys
07:47None of them are here, they're all in England
07:49All right, so my manager, right
07:51This is where the lines get a bit blurry for me
07:53I don't, am I allowed to talk about a man
07:55Like having a really positive impact on me
07:58At an event for women
08:00You never know
08:04You know what, just to be safe
08:05Let me thank his mum first, Jill Dickens
08:08Thank you for giving birth to Jonathan
08:14Jonathan, woo
08:18Jonathan
08:19I'm not going to cry
08:20You might though
08:21And this might be controversial in the room
08:22Because I'm about to big this man the fuck up
08:24Okay
08:25I've never done it before in my life really
08:27He thinks I hate him
08:30No one has ever believed in me
08:32The way that you have
08:34From day one when I was a teenager
08:36Or maybe I might get a bit emotional actually
08:38You had me in every room and every meeting
08:41If I didn't understand something
08:43You'd go over and over it with me
08:45Like a kid doing maths in the kitchen
08:46With an irritated parent
08:48You've never tried to change me
08:51Never told me to pipe down or be small
08:53Never told me to lose weight or gain weight
08:55Never told me to hurry up or rush an album
08:57And you were the happiest for me
08:59When I told you I was pregnant
09:01Not only have you helped me become a top tier artist, Jonathan
09:04But you've helped me become a top tier person
09:06Which in the end is all that actually matters
09:09I know, give him a big clap
09:18I'm going to tell you to fuck off later
09:22Jonathan is the example
09:23But I actually have many men in my life
09:25Who I love and who love me
09:26But in the spirit of this morning
09:27And in fear of bras being burned
09:29I'm going to thank their mothers and not them
09:32So along with Jill
09:34I would like to thank Minerva Martin
09:37Rosemary Konecki and Rosalyn Russell
09:39To name a few
09:40Thank you to them for raising good men
09:42Who do not think that a woman's power diminishes their own
09:46That's a fucking vibe
09:55Whew, it's nearly over, thank goodness
09:57And so I stand here today
09:59Rose is crying her eyes out
10:01My other manager, are you alright?
10:02I love you too
10:03I do, I do
10:04And so I stand here today as a testament to all of you
10:09All of the women before me and beside me
10:12Who broke down doors and left them open for us
10:15I don't have stories of how my path to success was hard
10:18Because it wasn't
10:19And I know that's rare and I know I'm lucky
10:21Whew, but that's because of you
10:24A lot of you had to claim your power
10:26And you've given me mine
10:27Thank you for leaving the key
10:29I accept this leadership award as an invitation to carry on being myself
10:34It's got me quite far
10:38But also as a reminder that I'm following you
10:40I'm following you
10:41And that every single person has the right to be the boss at work
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