TWO creatives from Bradford are speaking up about the hidden dynamics of race and being a woman in the industry as part of a new podcast.

Fresh graduates Olivia Bridge and Zoe Mcintosh are breaking into the fashion communication and interior design world with a vision to make the industry more diverse and understanding of issues faced by BAME creatives.

In a bid to break down barriers and tackle not only issues faced by black creatives but struggles with confidence and imposter syndrome, the pair has launched Arise Creatives on Instagram and 'Arise to speak pod'.

The aim is to inspire, educate and uplift young, black female creatives and explore anything from social and cultural struggles to looking at other women's success.

Episodes include 'Self Love is Self Care', 'Gen Z, A New Creative Era?' and 'University life as a black female creative'.

.Their hope is that these experiences - often unheard - are now being brought into the mainstream for other young girls like them.

It has grown in popularity around the world with the account receiving messages from creatives thanking them for speaking up about something they would otherwise go through alone.

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus, Olivia, who lives in Shipley, said: "Arise was born out of a need to highlight the under representation of black women in the creative industry. So through our platforms we aim to uplift and raise awareness of relevant issues through various forms of creative content generation such as podcasts on YouTube, as well as motivating young women via Facebook and Instagram.

"We have shineday Sunday where we shine a light on black creatives work as well as Motivational Monday where we give young females examples of success stories to inspire them.

"We are also in the process of working with universities such as De Montfort University, working with both staff and students, to overcome this issue of lack of representation and support for black female creatives.

"It's really not spoken about until you get into that situation. I feel I didn't become aware of it until university when all my lecturers were white or when you're looking for placements I would look on companies where you can look at who's there and it would always be white males. Sometimes it would put me off, sometimes I felt like I didn't even want to go into the industry.

"It's often swept under the rug. I know recently with the Black Lives Matters, it has been a bit more talked about."

According to the Design Council, the design economy employs a slightly higher proportion of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups than are employed in the wider UK economy - 13 per cent compared with 11 per cent. BAME designers are least likely to be in senior roles, accounting for only 12 per cent of all design managers. Further analysis shows that 88 per cent of design managers are White, 7 per cent come from an Asian background, 2 per cent are Black/African/Caribbean/Black British, and 3 per cent come from other ethnic groups.

One search for 'creative person' on Google shows a clear bias towards white models or examples.

Zoe said: "I feel like the issue is growing up not seeing anyone like you in the industry you want to go in but also not hiring people of colour. I don't know why that is but it's just a thing that's been happening."

And it's not only about boosting representation of the black community, it's about the North too.

Zoe, who lives in Great Horton, said: "I feel like there's a gap in the North as well. London is such a powerhouse but the North, I feel like there's quite a gap.

"For us, we'd love to have a physical space because there are quite a lot of them in London where you can hire creative spaces."

To find out more search ARISE Creatives on Instagram, Facebook and Spotify.