“The Nomad” is a fortnightly published series where I talk to professionals in PR and Comms who are from a country but spending their life in different countries and cultures, then delve into the insights which might help other people to live or to do business in an inter-cultural world. If you or someone you know would be happy to share their perspective, please get in touch! I’d love to hear from you.
In this very last episode of The Nomad S1, I had the opportunity to sit down with Kathy Kyle Bonomini, who is Asian American but has been living in the UK. Kathy has over 20 years of international experience launching and leading transformational communications campaigns, extensively working with UK business improvement districts (BIDs), businesses, start-ups, schools, corporations and local and foreign governments.
She volunteers at UprisingUK, offers pro bono consulting services to women-owned micro-businesses. She is also co-founder and partner at the award-winning US-based company, Amplia Group. Her agency DigiKind, which was launched in lockdown, focuses on supporting and empowering local communities through digital ‘tech for good’ tools.
In January 2021, Kathy was named as one of the UK’s most 100 inspirational female entrepreneurs by Small Business Britain’s f:Entrepreneur ‘#ialso100’ campaign.
1. Hi Kathy, how are you doing and what’s been keeping you busy lately?
I am really thrilled to be chatting with you! I am a big fan of your campaigns of the week and find you and your work to be totally inspiring, Son! Thank you for having me. I am excited to be working on US and UK projects that are making a positive social impact and are super creative to boot.
I am mentoring an apprentice and young people at Our Bright Future, which is part of the Wildlife Trust. We have created a three month brand ambassador programme where we are helping to empower young people to serve as the face of the organisation. I designed the programme, brand and am training the young people.
For the past year, I’ve been working with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to safely reopen and recover their high street. Our Don’t Let Your Guard Down campaign was recently featured in the Times and the Guardian, which was nice. We’ve also recently upped our digital game by implementing Hello Lamp Post, which will help to further engage and empower citizens to participate in future proofing their high street. Frankly the opportunities and applications are endless: tourism, public health, transport, consultations – the council team working on this is quite simply visionary and I am so proud of this effort.
We’ve just brought a freelance graphic designer on board in New York to work on US projects – she is incredibly talented and I am thrilled she is on our team.
I am working on a community engagement project with my friend who is a teacher and former school governor where we have significant community support on a safer sustainable streets initiative.
And of course DigiKind is growing and taking off. Our social media manager Rosie really knows how to build community and she is doing a brilliant job and I couldn’t ask for a better team.
Oh I am trying to paint more and run three days a week. The painting is harder than the running!
2. As a Vietnamese-American working and living in the UK, what are the best things about having that multicultural experience and what are the things you’re most proud of?
I have certainly adopted the UK as my home country. The US will always be my home, but I am the kind of person who moves in and really gets comfortable. I volunteer, get to know the community, start businesses and really get involved. I have loved bedding in. I am not sure how my Vietnamese culture or American culture have played a role in this. From a young age, I have always seen myself as kind of a TCK – a third culture kid. I remember my university professor calling me this. Not really aligning with the Vietnamese kids or with the American kids because neither group really accepted me into their “groups” growing up. I grew up in a military family so we moved around a bit and we ended up in San Diego. All of my friends were quite diverse and although we weren’t colour blind, we just got on with life.
It’s funny, I don’t really think about my “multicultural” experience, I just think about it as my experience. It’s people (society, films, magazines, social media) who tell you that you are different, that you are the “other” – it isn’t the other way around. You start to realise you are different from the norm and you either embrace your uniqueness or you conform. Or somewhere in between. At first, when I emigrated to the UK, nearly a decade ago, people tended to call me “the American lady” – I am not sure, and never really asked, about anything else.
I am not really sure how to quantify my Vietnamese-American experience without being overtly othering myself or buying into preconceived notions of what being Vietnamese is or what being American is. But it is an interesting question! I was raised by what my white Dad has recently called a “very Asian family”. My mom came to America in 1968 and I am a first-generation American. My sister and I are the first people in our family, on both sides, to go to University on a scholarship. I am the first to earn a Master’s degree. I mentored students from underrepresented backgrounds – essentially people like me – POC or socially and economically disadvantaged. In the US, they lump us all into “Asian American” – in the UK, we are “BAME”. I still find this to be totally bizarre, by the way!
Either way, it is an “other”. I have lived and worked on four continents and it is always the same: “what are you, where are you FROM?” Some people just want to put Asians into a box. I am not sure if they just feel more comfortable with us there: model minority, service workers, sex workers, nerds – whatever it is, get in, and stay in your box. As long as they are not threatened by you and you don’t disrupt the balance of power, we are all good.
Perhaps this experience as this “other” has shaped my approach to my work and in building relationships. Upon reflection, it could be the reason I continue to mentor, volunteer and support innovative women across every industry. I have completely immersed myself in community affairs and reach out to people because I have adopted the UK as my home and want to make a positive, sustainable impact.
Having said all of that, my experience in the UK has generally been exceedingly positive.
I think in the venn diagram of the Vietnamese American experience living in the UK, there is something that is shared and when you go through life as an “other”. One has an opportunity to go in a few directions. I choose to stay positive and take every obstacle and challenge as an opportunity. And it has been super positive!
I think a strong work ethic is in my blood. Both of my parents still work, despite being retired. They are in their 70’s. I bring the classic Vietnamese work ethic and focus on education with me to the UK. And I would like to think I bring the American ingenuity, innovation and work ethic to my life here. What I love about the UK is that it is still very European in many ways, and my clients don’t care so much about reputation, it is more about results. Having lived a decade in Washington, DC, I welcome this perspective. (Wink.)
In the UK, I’ve launched two companies and volunteer as a mentor and advisor to a variety of government organisations, businesses, and non-profit organisations. I am most proud of my ability to be a present and mindful parent, while running my businesses, serving my community and colleagues. My ethos is to do work that will make a positive, sustainable impact on the world in some way. I know it sounds crazy and lofty but what’s the point otherwise?
I have found that “fitting in” isn’t – and never was something that is in my nature. I was the kid who rocked up to school wearing a 45 record in her hair and despite Asians purportedly excelling in maths, I scraped by in my trigonometry class in secondary school. Which is why the UK is a perfect place for me to call home. Be yourself and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.
3. Have you ever faced any challenges because of that dual identity or have you ever thought about it at all?
Life is one big challenge. I think just like any other “other” group, you face challenges. I think perhaps as a female professional I faced challenges working in a new country. When I first arrived in the UK, I met with a PR head hunting agency to get a lay of the land and was told by another female in the interview that I would never earn what I did in the US and perhaps I would have kids and should just focus on that as a newlywed. (True story.) I don’t think my Asianness had an impact on her statement, but certainly, my Americannes and her adoption of heteronormative patriarchal norms had.
As a female founder and entrepreneur, I think a lot about this. I think that women pay the motherhood penalty regardless of whether they have children or not, and COVID has demonstrated to us that we ALL need a flexible working environment, regardless of our status as parents. I think a lot about “other” groups – whether they are young people, transgender, people of colour, disabled, English as a second language – you name it – I think of these “hidden populations – and how they are actually in plain sight – but “we/us/society” just don’t really pay attention to them, and we really should. In order to build a more inclusive and representative society, I think we should be collaborating instead of working in silos. I think my dual identity has given me the space to think about these things, and I am glad for that.
I think that if my dual identity has brought challenges, they are nowhere near as tough as other “othered” groups have faced. If it has been an issue, it has mattered more to other people than to me, so I don’t sweat it.
4. There’s been a rise in hate crime and xenophobia against Asian Americans. In a world, and especially in an industry, where we talk so much about diversity and inclusion, how can people do better?
I find it to be exhausting, to be honest. Have we not learned anything from history? But to answer your question, I start with teaching my kids about diversity and inclusion whenever the moment presents itself. Whether it is about Asian Americans or any other POC or LGBTQI+, I just roll with it. We are all allies and we all need to be working together, taking care of each other.
Yeah, I think it starts with being an ally. Look after each other, call out racism and hate speak every single time, listen, recognise your own privilege. Not being defensive and not taking anything personally.
5. You founded DigiKind during the lockdown with a strong purpose to help cities and towns digitally transform the high street and reimagine public services. How do you reflect on that journey so far?
I was recently thinking about Adam Grant’s concept of Givers and Takers – and we are working on creating a community of givers. I am inspired by the absolute superstar people I have met – the businesses, the internal comms teams, the tech superstars, the councils, the BIDs, the people working on amazing campaigns. When we launched DigiKind, I had just received an award from Small Business Britain, for being one of the UK’s “100 inspirational female entrepreneurs”. I’ll be honest, a high street shop sent me the application and I wasn’t sure I wanted to submit it. I wanted to keep my head down and do the work (very US Asian approach) and my business partner suggested that I just hit the send button on the application. I wanted to win work based upon my results, not on awards.
But I am really glad I submitted the application because the brilliant founders and the connections to Small Business Britain and their other campaigns have been incredible, supportive, inspiring, and invaluable assets for me personally and for our high street work.
We have an incredible team and I am grateful for their support in bringing DigiKind to life. We launched the company because we believe that the high street is broken and we can help to fix it by reimagining what is possible. It is really exciting to see our work come to life and especially see our client in Windsor and Maidenhead implement our reopening and recovery strategy.
During various stages of lockdown, I offered business support and digital placemaking – offering “Lunch and Learn” training sessions to over 50 businesses in Windsor and Maidenhead – to train businesses on how to reach their audience in lockdown. I also offered this training through DigiKind and Small Business Britain to businesses and nonprofits nationwide to really excellent reviews. I’ve been on the radio and done a few webinars about tech for good and community engagement. What’s really exciting is to see the community really take hold of the work and own it.
There is still work to be done and I am really excited to do it.
6. Part of the ethos at DigiKind is to use “tech for good” best practices to help build sustainable communities and revitalise the economy, can you expand on that, please?
Yes, of course. I think it helps to define what Tech for Good means to us. Essentially it is using technology for a positive social impact. I don’t think technology will solve all of your problems; in fact, I think it should really complement your efforts. I never lead with technology; it should support programme goals. When I think about reopening and recovery, I advocate for building a community of local brand champions who serve as evangelists for their own high street. We can push a plan onto the community, or we can build a recovery plan from the ground up, collaboratively. When you empower people, they become part of the solution and own it. I prefer both a grassroots and grasstops approach, where we develop a digital ecosystem that will live beyond our involvement in the project.
I start by focusing on building a word of mouth economy that is based upon community recommendations from locals and influencers. When people see their own ideas implemented and shared, they feel a sense of ownership and pride in their town. Ideas begin to stick and become sustained and long-lasting. We are partnering with Hello Lamp Post, a purpose-driven tech-for-good company to engage more people across the UK. Councils and BIDs can use HLP to get that two-way engagement on the street and reach citizens in a fun and totally unique and effective way.
At DigiKind, I get to talk to a lot of people around the UK and I ask them to share their stories with us. I’ve interviewed BID managers, artists, florists, zero-waste food shop owners, brewers – you name it. Some of the stories I’ve heard and shared have been truly inspiring.
A Hoppy Place in Windsor started their online shop and delivery service during the lockdown and told me that they discovered and created a strong community base during the lockdown. They also won two national beer awards in the process. I love their story and how they pivoted in a crisis.
In Exeter, there is a wonderful artist called Steve McCracken who created a wellness walk art trail in partnership with Libraries Unlimited and also painted murals over hoardings to help brighten up the high street. He also does paste up birds along the high street with a self-propelled art trail for people to take along the town centre. Steve has been covered in multiple outlets and by writers and has support from businesses and the Exeter BID. He has a huge following both on and offline and it is all because the community connects with his art and ethos. During lockdown, his art was a bit of a lifeline for his community. He had great support from the business and nonprofit community partners – this is less tech for good and more community collaboration, but I am seeing more and more town beautification through street art, which I think we will see across our towns and cities. HLP recently launched a collaboration with Leiscter where they did a self-propelled art trail. So inspired.
In Bristol, they have done a lot around innovative reopening campaigns, but the one tech for good that stood out for me was the Tap for Bristol, where they raised over 40K for the homeless. The funds go directly to homeless charities and they are releasing their impact report soon so that everyone can see their results. It’s brilliant.
In Lerwick, the BID manager Emma is using Hello Lamp Post to get their community to engage with statues of “talking vikings” for an interactive place making campaign that also provided customer insight and feedback to the BID.
There is a fantastic app called Sociability that I learned about through Small Business Britain’s d:entrepreneur programme, which helps disabled people find accessible places, anywhere.
In Windsor, I met with and wrote a story about a local founder who launched a new app that is essentially a tour guide on your phone that will take you on a tour around the town.
In Dorking, the BID launched a Buy The Window Campaign with Loyal Free during the pandemic, where they are encouraging an immersive shopping experience for their customers.
There are so many stories to share – and we are sharing them on DigiKind – all for free.
I think the pandemic is showing us what resilience is all about and it is pushing us all to be more creative, inclusive and innovative in how we reimagine our local communities.
7. You mentioned a lot and did training sessions on the value of community engagement. How can the power of community engagement help to reinvigorate the high streets and what would be the best practices to increase it?
I think community engagement is all about democracy and empowerment. It’s about building trust and relationships with your community and then giving them the tools so that they can ensure their voices are heard so that they can create discourse. So whether that is using tools like Hello Lamp Post, or Social Pin Point, or a brand ambassador programme – we need to actively bring two-way communication to the community in order to help decision-makers understand citizens’ point of view and in turn, can make more informed decisions.
Ultimately it is about creating a more sustainable world. If you engage people, they buy into the plans you create and those plans have a better chance of succeeding. Citizens won’t feel like decisions are being made without them. They won’t feel like things are being done TO them, but WITH them, in consultation.
For me, engagement is about empowering people – there are loads of ways for us to do this – and ultimately I think we should be using all of the digital tools we have available to make our communities more inclusive and sustainable.
8. What are the differences between the PR landscape in the US and the UK? Are there any distinct differences between these two markets that people must be mindful of?
I think that there are nuances between the US and the UK and can depend on the sector. I have worked in tech, sustainability, AI, healthcare, education, infrastructure, politics, government (federal, state, local in the US and central, local authority in the UK), fintech, lifestyle, and nonprofits. I have found, working now in the UK for nearly a decade, that GBS said it best – and I will probably get this quote wrong – but we are two countries separated by a common language. Sorry, George.
I think we are pretty similar in the essentials, but there are nuances to consider. In the US, everything is just – bigger. Bigger budgets (greater population), it can be more corporate, and reputation and relationships carry a lot of influence – and American companies usually have more money to invest in campaigns. Everyone values ROI and measuring results, but there is more of a focus in the UK on demonstrating measurable results and proving that you’ve achieved a meaningful outcome. But for the most part, the differences are scalability, money and messaging.
I tell my clients, whether we are selling a product, solution, service, working on an advocacy campaign – whatever it is – that we should lead with addressing whatever problem the end user/constituent/customer/client/community is facing and then work with them to solve it. I don’t really see myself only as a marketer or as a public relations expert – I see myself as a problem solver and I help my clients to share their narrative in a compelling, yet meticulously thought out way. I don’t lead with a sales pitch or with a product. We should build credibility and trust and focus on putting people and their interests first. I focus first on identifying what problem we are looking to solve and attaching outcome-based measures so we know what success looks like.
9. Someone wiser once said, “A traveller without observation is a bird without wings”. If we have a list of ten observations about how to best do business in the UK from the perspective of a foreigner, what are the top three things on that list?
First, I think this depends on where you are “doing business” and how you define this. Does this mean working as a freelancer? Looking for a job? Helping a company go to market? Or starting your own company? The first thing I would say is to do your research and get to know the market inside and out. Understand the nuances of your target market, your key stakeholders, influencers and competitors.
Second, I would establish a trusted network of people with whom you have a real connection. Find your people and create a community you can bounce ideas off of. You’ll need to build your UK portfolio, create thought leadership, connections and network, so connect with professionals with whom you feel a real connection.
Finally, I would suggest focusing on adding value to your community. When you volunteer or mentor others, you build incredible relationships and networks. I think I’ve grown as a person but have also been recommended for engagements because of my volunteer work. And I’ve met and been inspired by so many people. And it has led me to my partnerships with the Dorking BID, local authorities, corporations, schools, UprisingUK, the Wildlife Trust, Small Business Britain, the f:entrepreneur, i:entrepreneur, and d:entrepreneur communities, with more inclusive and just super ace people. When you open yourself up to volunteering, everyone benefits.
Also, everyone takes turns making coffee and tea. That is my bonus tip for y’all.
10. The current state of the PR industry is that it’s flooded with “award-winning” campaigns with the focus being put too much on creating fluffy PR campaigns and winning awards and not so much on creating real change in people’s lives. As a business founder and a person who really cares about creating positive social impacts, what’s your take on that current state?
This one made me smile because I would apply for an award only if I think the work merits it.
I am actually applying for an award at the moment for the work we have done for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. My client has been really supportive and I am so grateful for that. As I have written the response, which has included editing my client’s video testimonials and multiple businesses’ written testimonials, a website and all sorts of supporting materials – it is a heavy lift – I feel honoured for the opportunity to have worked on something that has so clearly made a social impact. I have applied for this particular award because it focuses on public sector work and it is a well-respected outlet.
I think the act of applying for recognition also helps us to think about how we can improve on our engagement. I am constantly researching and interviewing councils and BIDs for innovative ways for us to share how they are doing great work. I think we have to celebrate the good work. I don’t think it should be cost-prohibitive to apply for awards, so I am a big fan of Darren Caveney’s UnAwards. I like that they are peer-reviewed and I think they really look for impact and results.
But yeah, I think we have to in some way recognise great work that is being done, which is one of the reasons why I co-founded DigiKind. Part of what we do is the community building through digital transformation, but the other side of the house is the recognition of the people on the ground, doing the work, every day. We are shouting about all of the brilliant work people are doing every day on the front lines to improve their communities and reinvigorate their local economies. We do it for free and that means something to me. When I finished up an engagement with a BID, I wanted to expand my sights on the rest of the country. I think there are so many ace campaigns out there and we can learn from each other and share the great work businesses and nonprofits are doing for their communities.
We want to break down the silos that exist and create a community where we are sharing resources, news, innovation and best practices and these legends of the high street – councils, BIDs, businesses, non-profits, you name it – are championed and recognised.
11. What’s next for you and what’s the best way to keep up with Kathy Kyle Bonomini?
I am probably going to have a cup of coffee and jump on my DigiKind call. Yes: https://linktr.ee/kathykyle_
Hi, it's me Son. I'm the one behind the blog Son Talks. I mean, I'm happy to verify I'm not a robot. Can easily spot cars or chimneys. I'm working as an Account Executive at Intent Health. You can reach me via LinkedIn at Son Pham or Twitter at @beyondson_ If you or someone you know would be happy to share their perspective, please get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. Over and out! See ya soon x