WEALTH WEDNESDAY: Black Women In Working In Corporate Culture-

Black Women & Corporate America: How To Thrive In The Workplace & Your Career + More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's appics way up at Angela Yee, Angela Yee. And
of course it is Wealth Wednesday. So here is my
Wealth Wednesday partner, Stacy Tasdale.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Happy Wealth Wednesday, everybody, And this one is really going
to be a wealth of information. We are talking about
how black women can navigate their careers, advocate for themselves,
and really navigate corporate cultures with some amazing people. So
we're super excited.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
All right, Well let's get it started and introductions.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, we have Jackie Glenn who is now the CEO
and founder of Glenn Diversity in HR Solutions, and she
is the former Global head of Diversity of EMC Dell.
And we have Sandra Kents who is the CEO of
Paradigm for Parody and Angela and I we know all
y'all saw the pictures. We had the pleasure of ringing

(00:52):
the closing bell at the Nasdaq with Paradigm for Parody.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
And a really great panels, really conversation.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
And we have Andrea Atkinson Downer who is a product
of Paradigm for Parody And I'm putting on my glasses
because I got to get your title. D girl is
the lead distribution engineer at ever source. We're going to
talk about that because one being a female engineer, being
a black female engineer, lead engineer is ever source. So

(01:26):
all of this stuff is really made possible because of
mentoring support. This is going to be an amazing conversation
a lot coming from an organization called Paradigm for Parity.
So for when we start, Sandra, tell us what it
is and tell us about your mission.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Oh absolutely, and thank you so much for having us
here today. And so Paradigm for Parody is really an
opportunity to engage companies and organizations to achieve gender parody,
including racial equity. We all know that women are not
represented at every level of leadership in corporations today, and
so our goal and our mission is to ensure gender

(02:02):
parity at every level of leadership.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
And there are so many different ways that we are
not represented or sometimes can felt shut down, you know,
at work, even when we are attempting to use our
voice and not having the support that we need. And
so what are some things and some corporation What are
some things that corporations can do and how does Paradigm
for Parity help with that?

Speaker 4 (02:23):
Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (02:24):
So besides leading from the top right because it takes
the leadership from the top to have a commitment around diversity, equity,
and inclusion. We provide a five point action plan, so
it's providing that strategic direction along with key tactics, and
that plan includes things like sponsorship, which we know is
critically important. Women and ethnically underrepresented talent does not make

(02:46):
it to the top, and companies or corporations without sponsorship.
We also know that it also involves unconscious bias. How
do we mitigate bias in the moments that matter and
ensure that we are able to consciously eliminate unconscious bias?

Speaker 4 (03:03):
Right?

Speaker 3 (03:03):
And then we also have how do we think about
our data? Do we know who works for us? And
do we know at what level of leadership they are
in our organizations? And we know that data leads to strategy,
and then strategy leads to cultural change. And so those
are some of the ways that we're helping companies and
organizations to really think about their talent from a gender perspective.

(03:27):
But we know that once you think about that talent
and you create that strategy, it really does help all
of your talent be successful in your organization.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
I just want to pause for a second classes are
back on because I want to give.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
A real flavor for nice glasses. That's my friend, that's
my girl.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
What corporate cultures are really like for black women and
paradigm for parodies. Job is to help us get into
leadership rules. So reality check, women of color make up
just five point five percent of senior leadership rules. Black
women are one in halftimes more likely to be sent
home or know of a Black woman who was sent
home from the workplace because of her More than forty

(04:08):
percent of black and Latino women reported being interrupted and
spoken over in a work setting. A third of women
of color said that others take credit for their ideas.
And we did a series last summer on the mental
health toll of corporate cultures on black women, and it
really blew me away to do this research. Constant exposure
to microaggressions and all this kind of stuff increases anxiety, paranoia, depression,

(04:31):
sleep difficulties, lack of confidence, all that other stuff. But
it was the physical stuff that really blew my mind,
because one thing that we all know is black women,
you assimilate to fit into corporate cultures. You're not yourself.
Boston University. This really blew my mind found that chromosoonal
shifts actually take place in Black women who are exposed

(04:54):
to these microaggressions. That's like, our bodies are that intelligent.
They literally try to turn us into a different person. Diabetes, depression,
heart disease, high blood pressure. And I know black women
put out thirty percent more cortisol than white women. So
welcome to our world, Welcome to the women who are
going to fix it.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
And you know, and for you, Jackie, I wanted to
talk to you about what your experience has been like
just having to deal with all of these things. She
also is the author of lyft as You Climb as well.
But and that's important too, right when we get into
these positions to make sure that we lift as we climb.
But what has been your experience speaking to what Stacy
just said that black women have to deal with in
the workplace?

Speaker 5 (05:36):
You know, going back, it's been five years since I've
exited has a chief diversity officer and it's triggering, you know,
I said to I was talking to a young lady
last weekend.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
She said to me.

Speaker 5 (05:50):
You know, now, Jackie, I have a name for microaggression,
tone policing, gaslighting. Yeah, and so something that Tracy said
in one of the studies is that not only were
we talked over, but we were labeled. You know, we
all know the name anger black women. Not they don't

(06:12):
have to say it in front of our face, but
we know or people are afraid of you, or you're
a bully, or just because you show up confidence and confidently.
And I worked in the technology industry so that within itself,
the numbers you give off, it was less than you know,
when you pull that number apart, I like to dig

(06:33):
into the number because the number itself for minority women
when you when you really start to dig it and
pull it apart, it's less than three percent, especially in
the technology space. So just imagine being there and being told,
you know, people are afraid of you, or can you

(06:55):
you know, bring your voice down on Nashua and everybody
else is f bombing and throwing stuff from in that
but just because you show up confidently. So I think that,
you know, as we get through this conversation, there's pieces
that I'll add to my journey. But my journey brought
me to the point where I wrote the book Lift
As I Climb an Immigrant Girl, because I really felt

(07:17):
like I had to subtitleist yes, because you know, being
a black woman in corporate America is one thing, but
being a black immigrant woman with a thick accent is
a whole.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Nother ball game.

Speaker 5 (07:28):
So there was a lot of Oh, I don't understand
what you're saying, or you have an accent. We're not
sure the client is gonna want to speak with it you?
Or can we take Billy Bob with us because they
might fit in with him?

Speaker 1 (07:45):
Beat right, they might feel more comfortable.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, right, you have an interesting story. Everyone knows Dell
Computer was founded by Michael.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Dell and jow Dell Technology.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Now Dell Technology. Sorry, and you had an interesting Michael
Dell running Yeah board reading he sounds kind of cool.

Speaker 5 (08:03):
Yeah, Michael Dell is cool. And you know, it's a
lot of times when you're the only one in corporate America.
I mean, I know, for me, I had a lot
of imposter syndrome, and so I always feel like people
don't know who I am. And so I was coming
into the Hopkinton office one morning and we just am
to be walking in together and he said, hello, Jackie,

(08:23):
how are you doing?

Speaker 4 (08:24):
And I would like, you know, and I caught.

Speaker 5 (08:27):
My mouth and I said, because I had this thing.
We were going through this merger, the largest technology merger
in the world. We were going EMC sixty thousand, Dell
one hundred thousand together, one hundred and fifty thousand.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
Give her and take a few.

Speaker 5 (08:41):
And I quickly snatched my mouth clothes but opened and
said blessed and highly favor And he said, ooh, that
gives me goose bump. And so I think the other
conversation that you're referring to share, it's with my being
in the boardroom with my CEO and going to present

(09:02):
on diversity. And when we walk into the room, there
was twelve seats around the table and was taken by
twelve white guys and this is on the EMC side
and myself and my boss. My boss was a white woman.
She just edited to the back of the room and
sat down. And as I was walking back there, Angela,
I mean, I had like a moment as Opords saying

(09:26):
made aha moment and.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
I'm like, Rosa Parks did.

Speaker 5 (09:29):
Not get ast for me to go back there and
pick a chair up and sit back there. So I
picked the chair up and I went over to my CEO.
And this is a Jamaican saying, small up yourself.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
And he was so.

Speaker 5 (09:47):
He just started laughing and going like this, and everybody
just moved her on the table face. And so there
are times when you have to figure out all your
coping mechanism, don't have the and I I brought my
chair and I and so ever since he saw me,

(10:08):
ever ever since that incident, every time he sees me,
he would say, smaller yourself.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
That's a great case in point, you saying black women,
all people really have to own their career journey. What
does that look like?

Speaker 5 (10:22):
You know, we were talking about it in the green
room that you know. I talked to a lot of
women with my HR background and they'll say to me
things like, oh I didn't get promoted or oh nobody
invited me. And I said, well, did you tell them
what you want to do? And did you make it known?
Did you put it out there? Because what I found

(10:43):
when I was in corporate America, they would say to.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Me, Sandra, well, we didn't know you want to do that.

Speaker 5 (10:49):
We didn't know you want to Okay, because we're sitting
there thinking, oh, I'm so wonderful, they're gonna tap me.
They can't not tap me, and so I said, make
your whatever your aspiration is known.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
Absolutely I did that. I want my own show.

Speaker 5 (11:05):
You put it out there and they can't say no, no,
And this is what I'm looking to do and own it.
And I'm always want to say, if you have to pivot,
I put a.

Speaker 4 (11:16):
Timeline on it.

Speaker 5 (11:17):
It's always on my gender when I go in to
meet with my boss, and I take the emotion out
of it. And I'm an emotional person. But I learned
a long time from a mentor of mine too. I'm
to be a white guy. I have a lot of
those coming out of corporate and they've been great because
I study them. And he said, Jackie, don't get all
emotional that you're not. You're the only person just going there.

(11:42):
State what you want and what you look and why
you should get it.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
Well you deserve it, yes, not why not just what
you want it, but why what I want doing here?
Here's the this is what I've been up to. Because
sometimes people don't know, right, and we assume that just
because we've been doing all this work that they're paying attention.

Speaker 4 (11:59):
They know.

Speaker 1 (11:59):
Some times you have to show people here are the
things that I've done. This is what I've accomplished. Here's X, Y,
and Z just so you can see, and this is
why I deserve And also asked, is there something I'm
not doing that I did do it?

Speaker 4 (12:11):
I said, tell me what?

Speaker 5 (12:13):
What do I need to get there? But you know
a lot of us was raised this like this, where
our mom or our parents are to just keep your
head down doing, keep wearing. Oh no, I do not
tell my daughters that keep you're kidding, Oh no, because
you got to say my mom always says self praise
is no praise at all. But if you don't speak

(12:34):
up about what you have been doing, we as women,
especially a black women, we're so modest and we don't
want to talk about it because we think it's bragging.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
And I had even more than bragging.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Sandra. We were just talking about this, and we're going
to get to Andrea whose exhibit A. And you're Sandra
was you know, top executive the Bank of America before
she was it paradigm for parody talk about difficult corporate cultures.
And you were saying how we don't feel good all

(13:09):
the time. I mean, it's like it's all of these
things we face. They hit our self esteem, they hit
our self confidence, so it's hard to sometimes know how
to navigate that. Absolutely and I told you your journey
is incredible in that way.

Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, And I think part of it too, is because
you don't feel good or your self esteem starts to
go down, and then you lack confidence, and then what
happens you start to show up in a different way.
You your work diminishes, right, and then all of a
sudden you are not operating in a way that you
know you have the power and the ability to do so,

(13:43):
and so you have to be you have to understand
and know your power.

Speaker 4 (13:47):
Number One.

Speaker 3 (13:47):
I love what you said about knowing what you want
and Angela, You're absolutely right. It's going into those meetings
and having the opportunity to sit down and say, this
is what I'm looking for, this is what I want,
this is how I've contributed to the organization, this is
how contributed to the bottom line. And for me, my career,
you know, has started with what I learned over the

(14:09):
course of my career is that if you just put
your head down and all you're doing is working, you
are not doing enough. Being able to do your job
is bear basic, right, that's table stakes everybody and you know,
everybody's there to do their job, and you get paid
for doing your job. But where you start to elevate
yourself is where you think about I. Number one, owe

(14:29):
my career one hundred percent. Number two networking. Networking. Networking
is critical. Who knows you, who knows your worth and
your value at your organization. And when I became at
a point in my career where I knew it was
time for me to do something different, and I, of
course learned some of these quality lessons, I went in

(14:50):
and I had a conversation with my manager and I said, look,
I love the work that I do, but it's time
for me to do something bigger and broader. And and
while I love and I want to stay with this organization,
I'm gonna look externally and to be honest with you,
she encouraged me and say, you should know your value
in the market, but give us the opportunity to provide

(15:11):
you with that next career you career move that you're
looking for. The next thing she asked me, which is
probably one of the most difficult questions to answer, is
what do you want Because a lot of times what
people think is I want to be promoted.

Speaker 4 (15:28):
I want to make more money.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Yes, those are things that I wanted, but that's not
the answer that they're looking for. Again, it's articulating what
are your skills? You know, how have you exhibited those skills?
What experiences do you want to have? And it wasn't
about a role or a job, It was about what
is it that I wanted to accomplish in my career?
Where did I see myself? And then they can go

(15:51):
back and advocate, meaning they your manager and your sponsors
and those that you're networking with can go back and
help you. Then marry that role to or your desire
to a role within the organization. And once I had
that conversation with her, you know, I began to look
externally and internally, and of course Paradigm for Parody came along,

(16:14):
and my manager had a brilliant idea when they came
and said, hey, we're looking for CEO or no, they
didn't say we were looking. They say we're about to
hire a CEO. And my manager said, wait a minute,
stop the presses, hold up, don't go any further. I
think we have a solution. And she got with the
head of HR and said, Sandra's looking for something bigger

(16:34):
and broader. We have a leader on lan program. I
know we haven't had someone go out as a CEO,
but she would kill it.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
That's amazing.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
And they went and presented that Opportunity.

Speaker 2 (16:45):
Bank of America is a Paradigm for Parody company. So
what happens is companies take the pledge to follow Paradigm
for Parodies guidelines and action steps to promote gender equality
in their c suite. And as you're hearing these wonderful people,
everybody out there needs to sign up for their free
master class on the New Realities of Black Women in

(17:07):
the Workplace. That's on November two. It's Paradigm p A
r A d I g M number four Parody p
A r I T y dot org Slash Masterclass.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
And it's free.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
It's free in all of these gems that you're hearing them.
Let's now turn to Exhibit A.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
It's a downer who works as.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
You're passingior engineer at ever Source and you actually lobbied
your company a little bit to join Paradigm for Parody,
which is something else we could all do.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Tell us all about you.

Speaker 6 (17:44):
So we had a webinar with Paradigm for Parity Sandra
presented the program to our company, so I knew that
I needed to do this. I made up my decision.
I'm pretty much gonna just, you know, just push it
all the way. And they said, well, you're gonna look
for the information to come out. So it was every

(18:05):
meeting that we had weekly that I was like, did
we get.

Speaker 4 (18:08):
Any information on Paradife for period?

Speaker 6 (18:10):
So I asked every week, so they were so tired
of hearing about Paradife for parody. So what happened was
and after I actually had the information and I was
trying to make a connection with our human resources department,
I finally made the connection to who the person I
was supposed to speak to, and I realized that the
nomination period was over. So I was like, oh, no,

(18:34):
here we go. So now I had to strategize to
see how I could still be a part of this program.
I said, well, maybe I'm not gonna be a part
of this program this year. But I happened to be
home one day and I finally, after I called a
million people in human resources, I finally it was one evening.
I was in my kitchen and my computer wasn't We

(18:57):
were working from home to post COVID, So all of
a sudden, I hear Microsoft teams and it's ringing. I
actually got the person calling me from human resources.

Speaker 4 (19:12):
So I was like, oh, hold on, one minute, one minute,
you know.

Speaker 6 (19:16):
So she finally talked to me, but did I know
that she was actually interviewing me? So I had to
create that narrative right there. So it was like that
sixty second elevator speech that I knew I was prepared
for that I needed to show her that this is
why and this is what I plan on doing with
the Paradigm for Parity program and how it works for me.
So she was able to connect me with the business partner,

(19:38):
even though I was actually speaking with my management team
that was close to me, more close to me and
my role that I was in as a senior engineer,
so I wasn't getting anywhere because they didn't know as
much information.

Speaker 4 (19:52):
So then we.

Speaker 6 (19:53):
Reached out to py Andiging for Purity and they opened
up and extended the nomination period.

Speaker 4 (19:59):
So it was like who Thank god.

Speaker 6 (20:03):
I was like, I thought it was like over and
I was like, oh no, I done mention it every
week and everybody was tired of hearing about Paradigm for Parody.
I was even watching the pilot program and I was like,
oh my god, I gotta get in this program. I
don't know how to do this at this point, because
then I figured it out.

Speaker 4 (20:21):
So then.

Speaker 6 (20:24):
My I think my director has said to me that
next morning after I spoke with her that evening, she
must have sent emails to where they needed to be
and come to find out that it was actually happening,
because she was like, well, the squeaky wil then get
I said, oh, And she didn't say anything else, but

(20:45):
then I said what do you mean by that? She said,
You're in. I was like, Paradise for Parody. She was
like yes, and she didn't see it, but I did.
She had a little tear because I was really super
happy that this was the needle in the haystack that
I needed.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
And Angie, what kind the changes and support have you
seen since joining Paradigm for Parody?

Speaker 3 (21:03):
And can I just interrupt just for a second, say
she got into the Paradigm for Parody Profit and Loss
Leadership Accelerat, which prepares women for operational roles with in
corporate America. So I just wanted to clear that up, okay,
And has just been a stellar star since.

Speaker 6 (21:19):
Yeah, and so a lot of changes I have seen.
Well I've always seen changes as far as with my role.
So I was more or less looking at changes in me. Okay,
you know, so I was more I was gaining more confident,
more confidence in things. I was actually just really being

(21:39):
mindful of how I'm showing up, you know. So you know,
when people see me, they see me as a successful, safe,
secure leader, you know, and people start seeing me like that,
and I and it built my confidence, It built my resilience,
you know. And I think when you know, when it
first started with you know, with the nomination, date was

(22:00):
behind and I was like, oh no, but I could
tell you now I know how to get around that.
I know how to strategize.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
Give us a summary of your journey from single mother
to getting to this And now you said, you know,
confidence and self esteem has always been an issue.

Speaker 6 (22:16):
Yes, yes, So I always was told even when you know,
going through you know, my college and my college years
and you know, and always getting that no, you know,
and I was like, oh my god, this is and
I never stopped. So I literally had I've applied it
ever so so many times it was ridiculous, And I said,

(22:37):
you know what, one day, I'm going to get a gat.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
I'm going to get that.

Speaker 6 (22:39):
Yes, you know, I knew being a single mother that
I didn't want my daughter to see to struggle.

Speaker 4 (22:44):
You know, there's always a struggle, you know.

Speaker 6 (22:46):
I've always made sure I was an a student, you know,
and I always, you know, make sure that she sees
that she doesn't have to struggle, because I would make
that struggle for I would do the struggle for her.

Speaker 4 (22:58):
So I think that was the point there.

Speaker 6 (23:02):
Coming up in New Hallville, I came up through New Hallville.
My family always were givers. I'm from New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut,
so we have like three streets named after us, and
we have a legacy there. I spend a lot of
time in the community.

Speaker 4 (23:17):
I give back.

Speaker 6 (23:19):
I tutor every Saturday, two underserved students because I believe
that's so important that I give it back and it's free.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
And making so much in a very male dominated career.
You were telling me how hard it was toeer.

Speaker 6 (23:32):
Oh yes, I mean, like it's just that we're not
supposed to be there and they don't see the black woman.
They may see they may see engineer as a white male.

Speaker 4 (23:43):
But so you may get that in some instance where.

Speaker 6 (23:46):
You can be at a job or something and they'll
be like, well, who's in charge, And you know, no
one says anything because they know it's the black female
that's in charge. But the person will automatically assume it's
always the white male that's an charge.

Speaker 4 (24:00):
But when they realized that you know your stuff and
you know you.

Speaker 6 (24:03):
Can't take it, they can't take it from me because
I've set myself up in that way. I've even put
myself out there working because I knew that I was
always gonna get to know. So what I did was
I took a different turn. When I worked for a
public utility company. I decided that I wanted to be
an engineer, but I knew that I needed to go
a different path because this was a much harder path.

(24:26):
I had to go out in the field and work.
So I was in those man homes working Wow. I
performed the job of the engineer because I knew that
they wouldn't be able to take that from me. So
when they see my resume, they see me hopping doing
two programs two colleges at the same time. It says something.
It says that I persevered, you know, and my daughter
was a part of it. She saw it, so that

(24:46):
was so important that I didn't let her down because
she needed to see me finish.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
And I feel like we do always have to be
in a position where we're overly qualified, overly prepared and
always knowing every assa whereas some people may not have
to do that, and you know, as a woman, some
people don't have to do that, it ends up.

Speaker 2 (25:07):
Being a plus to My mom used to have to
be ten times better after and it was hard and
didn't feel good. But guess what, one day, you're ten
times better.

Speaker 4 (25:16):
And I actually wanted.

Speaker 2 (25:18):
You to touch on what skills did you get from
Paradigm for Parody that have helped you moved into Now
you're like the boss, your boss lady now Yeah.

Speaker 6 (25:26):
So it's it's you know, it's it's I think I'm
more like, I love the guys that work for me.
The skills that Paradigm for Parody has given me is
the resilience, my self confidence, because I really would sit

(25:46):
back and just let you know, just I would speak out,
but I think it was like there's times that you
can't speak out because you know, people value your ideas,
being innovative, and you have ideas, so if you speak out,
people see how you show up.

Speaker 4 (26:02):
Those skills were very good one thing.

Speaker 6 (26:07):
The other part of it is to be able to
influence others, you know, And I've learned that too, And
I've learned that I had to speak up for myself
and advocate for myself because no one was gonna do
that for me.

Speaker 4 (26:19):
And that was the reason why I'm.

Speaker 6 (26:20):
Here at the Paradigm for parody, because I was like,
Hella high water, if I have to go all the
way to the CEO, I'm going.

Speaker 4 (26:27):
And I didn't care. It even earned me, you know,
a right to.

Speaker 6 (26:31):
Actually have And it was weird because I had a
mentor at at ever Source and she's a C suite
black woman, very respected woman, and she actually I asked
her to be my mentor. I didn't know her, but
I said, I got to really strategize with this one.

(26:52):
So I told her, I said, you know what, you
don't know me, you don't know me from Adam, but
this is we share a common interest here. And I
showed her the interest that we shared. I showed her
the things that I was going to be working on.
And you know at the end of it, she said,
you showed up every time you did the work.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah, because being a mentor is work too, And I
want to talk to Jackie and Sanda about the difference
between being a mentor and a sponsor and how do
people find a good mentor or a good sponsor.

Speaker 5 (27:24):
Yea, So, Santra, I know you saw this coach somewhere,
but I saw it this morning and I just really
had to write it down. But it says a coach
talks to you, a mentor talks with you, and I
add a third, a sponsor talks about you. And so
I like that depending on where you are in your career,
you might you definitely need one of them. And one

(27:47):
of the biggest things that I've done over the years
that we were telling is making sure that I coach
young women and mentor them. When you get into the
c suite or you get to the director vice president,
you need a sponsor. You need someone that is talking
about you when you're not in the room. And I
have to tell you, I wouldn't be sitting there before

(28:08):
you if I didn't have. Some white guys.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
Just just loved how I showed up.

Speaker 5 (28:14):
They were not intimidated by me. They could tell me
about myself and still be friends with me, and they
weren't afraid, and they would talk about me when I
wasn't in the room right And I feel like that
sponsorship right there, and depending on where you are, I
encourage all young women that are listening to really get

(28:35):
yourself a coach, because sometimes people need to be told
about themselves, Like you're showing up raggedy today and you don't.

Speaker 4 (28:42):
Get that part.

Speaker 5 (28:43):
You need to stop, take a deep bread and extend
some grace. I had to set that to one of
my coaches. She just kept saying, you know, these people
are out to get me. And I said, so give
me an example, and I said, you know about just
extending some grace. I think we are in.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
This era that I'll talk about that we're just extends.

Speaker 5 (29:02):
Sove meet people where they're at. Everything is not to
get you, even though there's some stuff out there to
get you, but everything is not about that. And when
you have a coach, a mentor, or a sponsor, you
really need to mix it up there. So you kid
me like, Okay, Jackie and Sandra, can can you guys
be my coach? Because I want a black coach. Yeah,

(29:23):
you need a black coach, but you also need a
white coach, an Hispanic coach, you need lgbt QA coach.
You need a coach wish a visible or invisible disability.
I have all coach on all the dimensions of diversity,
because I'm not versed in all of them. And I
think sometimes we just gravitate to people that look like

(29:46):
us and we're comfortable with and this whole notion of
sameness is real. Oh, let me just go to Angela
because she's my girl. And when I should go to
Billibob because he's kicking it and I want to know
how he does it.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
Yeah, how's some people that I'm not that close with
who've done a lot for.

Speaker 4 (30:02):
Me, right, you know?

Speaker 1 (30:03):
And sometimes it's not going to be your friends. And
it's great, you know, when we help each other, But
sometimes you do have to get out of your comfort zone,
like you said, and go to somebody who you may
not know like that, and you'll be surprised that the
things that your work can speak for itself and people
have no problem vouching for you.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
Absolutely, And I do think there's something to what you
also shared about you know, how do you become a
good put yourself in the position to be sponsored, or
put yourself in the position to be coached or mentored.
And you know, like you said, as a mentor, you're
there to listen and bounce ideas off of and when
you show up raggedy, you know, girl, pull yourself together.

Speaker 4 (30:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:42):
So that is the mentor piece, but the sponsor piece
is very different. And I have to be able to
articulate to my sponsor, you know, the work that I lead,
the value that I bring, the projects that I'm in,
and I have to get myself ready for that because
a sponsor is putting their personal and professional cap behind me.
They're the ones sitting at the table and saying, hey,

(31:03):
I really think Andrea should be promoted, and here are
the reasons why. And they can speak to the why,
and then they can say things like, you know, and
I'm willing to help her and make sure that she's
successful in her role. And so, as a protege or
someone who wants to be sponsored, you have to know
your why. You also have to be able to articulate
your value and your worth and the work that you're

(31:24):
driving and leading and be able to demonstrate that in
a way that someone wants to sponsor you. And I
do think there's a notion around. Let me just talk
a little bit about executive coaching, because I think executive
coaching is another great opportunity that we sometimes don't take
advantage of. I never had an executive coach until I
came into this role as CEO.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Master class. Free master class, keep.

Speaker 4 (31:46):
Going, that's right.

Speaker 3 (31:48):
And so when you have an executive coach, especially as
you begin to progress your career within corporate America or
wherever you are, that executive coach really helps you to
think about two things. Number One, they help you to
think about yourself and why you feel a certain way.
So you can go back to the person Jackie that said,
oh I think you know they're all against me. Well,

(32:10):
an executive coach will help you dive into the why
behind the way you're thinking about that, but then help
you shift your thinking and help you think about how
to show up differently and better in your environment. So
I think an executive coach is amazing. And I think
if you do what Andrea did and you ask, hey,
one of the things that I'm looking for is to
have an executive coach, will you support me will this

(32:31):
organization support me on that journey. And also a board
of directors. So when you think about a mentor and
those that are very different from you, I say three
to five people is always good. You want someone in
the company and someone external because you really want to
get a broader perspective and you need that to be successful.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
So absolutely, you're touching on so many things because that
whole go it alone, particularly you know women of color
have you really can't.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
You need this coaching.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
You need those kind.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
Of skills absolutely and want.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
Definitely talk about that go it alone. And Jackie, you say,
we're kind of in a new era now where we
have to look at things like mentoring and coaching differently
because the way court, you know, corporate cultures are set
up now, black women are actually pitted against each other
for that top job. So what are the five piece
of this new era that we're in.

Speaker 5 (33:29):
So, you know, twenty twenty came up on us like
a hot flesh. I'm gonna call it, I guess And
I called people who are just calling me an accident, Jackie,
So what do I say After the murder of Georgia
Floyd and I got off the phone and I said,
you know what we're in right now. We're in the
era of the five piece, and the five piece are

(33:51):
the pandemic politics because when twenty twenty was an election year,
we're seeing a lot of protests, prejudice, and people are polarized.
So nothing that you did before twenty twenty, you can
show up and do it the same way. Because I
feel like we're in a different era. And why do
I say that. I say that because you know, central

(34:14):
people now know what tone police it is. People know
if you says to them. You know, I mean the
guys I work with in technology used to say, now,
why do we have to do a special program for
people of color? I pull myself up by my bootstrap,
so that old bootstrap theory. We know that that's my progression.

Speaker 4 (34:34):
You know, we know that.

Speaker 5 (34:37):
You know, psychological safety, That's all I talk about. Psychological safety.
Do I feel psychologically safe when I show up at work?
And what are the signs that I'm in a psychological
dangerous environment?

Speaker 3 (34:52):
And so this.

Speaker 5 (34:53):
Era that we're in, people are showing up more aware,
they're showing up unapologetic, can't do I got a call
the other day because someone you know, walking to her
organization and tell them, you know what, I need to
move to Detroit because I do not feel psychological safe

(35:14):
in this environment and I'd like to work remotely. And
Era the reason why. And she had a whole laundry
list and they had to stop, and they couldn't just
brush her off and tell her, you know, years ago
before twenty three, really like, no, you're not working remotely,
and don't you know, we ended up giving her an

(35:34):
eyebraid schedule because she could point the things that happen
in the workplace that made her feel psychologically unsafe. And
that is a big thing. That is and this era
I've brought out a lot more deliberate and intentional intentionality
about how people show up at work and what they

(35:55):
will and will not take.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
We could go on forever. I'm going to have a
part two. You're all amazing. Thank you so much for
going really into the heart of this, and you paradigm
for parody. You're doing a free master class. Tell us
about that, Sandra and how people can sign up.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
Yeah, so our masterclass series is coming up, so you'll
get a chance to hear more from Jackie glynn. O.
We love that, I know, and Stacy Tisdell and myself,
Sandra Quince. Yes, So we hope you'll join us and
that master class. As Stacey said earlier, if you go
to Paradigm the number four parody dot com Backsplash Masterclass,

(36:36):
you'll be able to sign up for this free, courageous
conversation the realities of black women in the workplace. We'll
have the opportunity to empower black women with skills and support,
just like we provided for Andrea. So we hope that
you'll join us, and keep in mind, if you're not
a black woman, you should.

Speaker 4 (36:53):
Still sign up.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Yeah. Yeah, the skills are awesome for and they work
for everyone, and it also give you an opportunity to
brawn your own perspective and see it from a different
point of view. So we hope you'll all take the
opportunity to join us here in November for our masterclass series.
And it's going to be November two at eleven o'clock am.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
And say that website again because I think it's dot org.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
Yep, Paradigm for the number four parody dot org. You're
absolutely backsplash Masterclass. That's right, it is dot org.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
Okay, thank you all right, thank you so much. I
love the work that you've been doing and for you
ladies to be up here with us today and it's
a pleasure to see you again on It's always a
pleasure good to be.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
Thank you so much, and you all do not want
to miss. Tonight on Wealth Wednesday's after party with our
very own Jay White, we have Amy Luciano, also known
as Pretty Kitty, talks about her very intimate skin Caroline.

Speaker 1 (37:52):
That's her intimate skincare.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
J White Pretty Kitty tonight on Wealth Wednesday's after Party
with Jay White. And you can get that by going
to YouTube and going to j dot whit dash. The
federal code

Speaker 4 (38:11):
Way up