Big Love is the optimistic MINI attitude to life, open to all, no driver’s license needed. It drives us forward and guides everything we do – two little words with the power to inspire a world of positive action. It is our belief that we can bring a positive change to the world. With partnerships and unique projects, we hope to make an impact with diversity, sustainability, and more.

But what drew her to poetry? And what is her message for you?

The two pillars of Sophia’s life and work are her honesty and her love. The first-generation London native basically inherited the latter. “Both of my parents are half Gambian, which is in West Africa, and both of my grandfathers are Southeast Asian. My dad’s father’s Indian, my mum’s father is Sri Lankan. Every single person in my household is half Gambian, half Asian, and it’s quite a miracle that they met with such similar stories, such similar backgrounds.” 

A small miracle, possibly, but there’s another family fact that influenced her. “Both my grandmothers were of different religions to their partners, but they decided to pick love. That was more important to them than family, or how others would look at them. They just wanted to pick love. And I think we’ve all been in that situation.” Sophia’s commitment to love and kindness is thus basically a family tradition. But what about poetry?

Unsurprisingly, the drive to write came from within. “I’ve always had really big emotions. Growing up I was told that I was quite sensitive, probably a bit too sensitive. There was no middle ground with my emotions. I think that writing and having that outlet was my balance.” Sophia is quick to make it clear that self-expression is much more than self-therapy. It is a way for a person to understand – and love – themselves. “Poetry is giving me time to feel out my emotions. Printing my heart on a page and then stepping back, seeing what I’ve been feeling, what I’ve been experiencing makes more sense than simply being angry, or upset, or just really happy. Writing it down helps me understand it more.”

Poetry brings out the commonalities between people, and by speaking to the individual, it builds a community. Whether she’s talking about men’s mental health, female empowerment, or other topics, Sophia can connect to different audiences. “I have a lot of conversations with people who also feel these emotions in a very big and raw way, and then I pull all our commonalities together. Two people can think they’re different and divided, that they have nothing to do with each other. But you put them in a room and ask them to talk about the first time they were scared… You ask two dads from different cultures and religions to talk about what it was like holding their child for the first time. You’re going to realize that we’re a lot more similar than we are different. I use poetry as a bridge to remind people of that.” 

Sophia hasn’t just written poetry. She has also produced a book of real-life superheroes – artists, actors, athletes, etc. – to inspire others. Her superheroes all have a secret power within, which they had to discover and embrace to succeed. But can MINI be such a superhero? Can we spread the message of Big Love together? She seems to think so, as she considers a brand a form of self-expression. “You don’t just get in any car. You’re very specific about what car you get, and oftentimes it’s the feeling that car, that brand gives you. When I put on a pair of Nike Dunks, I feel like a certain type of person. When I put on a pair of stiletto heels, I feel like a different type of person. Brands can lean into that feeling.”

Big Love means a commitment to something bigger, something beyond the core business. “If you’re a car brand and your thing is love, how can you show love in other ways? What other campaigns? What other things can you do that increase love in the world? If brands do things outside of themselves, it can change so much.” MINI shares this sentiment, and we hope to keep living up to Sophia’s and our own ambitions.

What about the actual cars? “Someone described MINI as a passionate younger sibling. And I love that cause I’m a younger sibling. I’m the youngest, in fact, which means that maybe I got away with a little bit more. And I’m uber passionate as well. I saw myself a lot in the brand in that it’s just this – literally – electric, passionate, quick, zesty colourful younger sibling that just wants to go out and touch as many people and change as many things and spread as much love and get as many people smiling as possible. And that just felt like me.”

And how will Sophia be an ambassador for Big Love? Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer was already set in stone before we even met. “Whenever I speak to my nan, she tells me that ‘in everything you create, never offend, never judge, never criticize, only seek to inspire and educate.’ Offending someone does not close the gap between people. Judging someone does not close the gap between people. The only thing that can be a bridge is leading with love.” We can’t wait.

MINI and Sophia are collaborating for the first time for International Women’s Day. She has written a poem for the occasion that reveals more of her positivity, gentleness, and love than any other description could.

Hey, it’s so good to see you again.

She whispers to her reflection after spending some days away from her most brave and her most bold. But oh… how the wind has driven her back to remember exactly who she is and why even if her skin is different, or her culture is new here… any corner of the world would be lucky to view her. Lucky to have her remembering to step back into her power, her skill, her grace. To every different woman’s reflection, I say…

You’re every bit as brilliant and beautiful as this day. But you were all of these things before anyone even says. You are built on the strength of a past that was brave enough to put fear last and demand change… and now look at us. How women’s lives everywhere are filled with the biggest love.

And if I can do anything I hope I can remind you to remindyour reflection that someone somewherehas taken the time to sow a seed in you, they’ve believed in you, and they’ve extended love in the form of faith in you, and they’ve reminded you who made this face for you. The women before you who changed the entire game for you, although history could not have her stand on it, she prepared this stage for you, she held this space and holds your hand, and she held her grace, in the face of a man.

During an age where women didn’t have a place to step into their bravery safely, they took that risk, blindly, faith filled that one day from their garden, from the weathered seeds they’d sown, that something powerful, something beautiful and something rooted could grow… and now look at us go.

Look how we glow.

A day isn’t enough to hold all of our glory. Hold all of the suns in the sky for a century, put a brake on the clocks and hold all of the traffic and have all the world’s sons pause on the magic of what it means for a woman to exist like this.

A woman has always been the literal centerpiece of what it means to live. But now with a thousand women’s stories in my mouth, a woman is what it means to sing and shake until glass ceilings break, until old mindsets change, until pride beats out shame and our bodies are reclaimed. I wouldn’t want to exist in anyone else’s skin. Not when I hold the heart of a revolution within, and I love nothing more than to wake up with it. To share that love out, to whisper strength into the things we’re scared about. I know what it means to fly on the wings of love. To feel my fear shrink as someone lifts me up. To spread my heart into the wind in hope that it’s enough to remind even just the one that the sun sets in their strength, for them to drive bold, into the darkest parts of people and be their lantern. Love is best when inspired and actioned.

There are few things I’m sure of, and of them all, one I’m more certain than the rest of them.

That love… it truly is the best of us.

Words by Sophia Thakur.