October 16, 2024 • 54 mins
In Episode 17, I sit down with Ashlee Davidson, Vice President of Communications at Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control division. Ashlee shares her incredible journey of nearly 20 years in aerospace defense and how she redefined executive presence as a Black woman in corporate America. From childhood aspirations of becoming Whitney Houston to breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry, Ashlee's story is one of resilience, mentorship, and authentic leadership.
We discuss:
- Ashlee's transition from corporate communications to executive leadership in aerospace defense.
- The importance of mentorship and advocacy in breaking the "double broken rung" faced by Black professionals.
- Redefining executive presence: showing up authentically as a Black woman in corporate spaces.
- Overcoming bias in the workplace and advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- The balance between personal and professional growth, and the role of self-care in maintaining success.
Connect with Ashlee: Website: www.speakaberrant.com Instagram: @speakaberrant
Connect with Angela: Website: www.angelavharris.com Instagram: @coachangelavharris @theflowpodcastwithangela LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/angelavharris
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angela Harris (00:01):
Music. Welcome to the flow podcast, fearlessly
leading our way. This podcast isa space dedicated to
spotlighting the unfilteredvoices of black women in their
unique leadership journeys. I amyour host, Angela V Harris, I'm
(00:26):
an award winning coach, speaker,author and champion from black
women. Make sure you like andsubscribe to this podcast to
stay connected to ourconversation, let's get ready to
flow.
(00:53):
Hey, fearless leaders, welcometo another episode of the flow
podcast. I am your host, AngelaV Harris. In this episode, I sit
down with Ashlee Davidson, acommunications executive at
Lockheed Martin with nearly 20years of experience in aerospace
(01:13):
defense and corporatecommunications, Ashley shares
her remarkable journey tobreaking barriers in a male
dominated industry, we dive deepinto her early aspirations,
overcoming imposter syndrome,and how mentorship played a
critical role in her career.Ashley opens up about the
(01:34):
challenges of being a blackwoman in corporate America,
navigating bias, and how sheadvocates for greater diversity
and inclusion, plus she sharespowerful insights on executive
presence, finding balance as aleader, and the importance of
self care. This is a must listenfor anyone looking to push past
(01:55):
limitations, claim their spaceand lead with authenticity. Tune
in to hear Ashley's inspiringstory and the lessons she's
learned along the way. Welcometo the show, Ashley.
Ashlee Davidson (02:09):
Thank you for having me.
Angela Harris (02:12):
Well, I'm glad to have you here today. Well,
first, can you tell thelisteners a little bit about
yourself?
Ashlee Davidson (02:17):
Yes, I'd be happy to. So I currently reside
in Dallas, Texas, and I'mcurrently Vice President of
Communications at LockheedMartin's missiles and fire
control business. And that role,this current role that I've been
in now for almost three years,my entire background of almost
20 years now has been all inaerospace defense and all in
(02:41):
some form of corporatecommunications and marketing.
I've always enjoyed writing,been passionate about speaking.
So this, this particular careerjourney and this role that I'm
in to date is one that I dreamedof for years. So really a big
milestone for me. And aside fromwhat I do day to day for work,
(03:05):
I'm also married, and we havetwo wonderful children who are
three and five, so pretty busyperson to catch on a day to day
basis, between what I do forwork and also what I do in my
quote, unquote free time with mymy family, my growing, young
(03:26):
family, but really blessed inwhat I do, both professionally
and also personally, in terms ofjust building the life that, you
know, I look back and I washaving a conversation with one
of my girlfriends, just the lifeI dreamed of. You know, for
many, many years, they're reallyblessed to be in the position
that I'm in today. Well, thank
Angela Harris (03:45):
you for making time to do this interview with
with with your busy schedulethat you have, and you talked
about this being the life thatyou dreamed of. What career did
you envision for yourself whenyou were a child? Oh
Ashlee Davidson (03:56):
so funny. Okay, so I actually when I was very
young, probably around the agethat my son is now, you know,
five or six, I wanted to beWhitney, Houston. That's who I
aspired to be, okay? That'swhat. That was the goal. And
very quickly, I love my mother.She she told me that, she let me
(04:17):
know in so many words that thatsinging probably, you know,
wasn't going to be my strongestsuit, but I did have the gift of
broadcasting, you know, being infront of people that, you know,
the public speaking. I was notafraid of the stage. Was not
afraid to speak. And so I thinkthat she helped me kind of grow
(04:37):
a love for poetry and just thelove for, you know, having stage
presence. And so throughout mychildhood, I was, you know,
acting and dancing and doing alltypes of things just to kind of
put myself out there in avariety of ways. And and I
quickly turned that attentionto, okay, now I want to be Oprah
Winfrey. And so as I kind of.Entered into high school and in
(05:02):
college, I leaned a lot more onthe broadcast journalism side.
That's that's even what I wentto school for. And in my early
years of college, I wasintroduced to a program called
inroads. The program is stillaround today, and the program
essentially places minorityyouth with a certain GPA into
(05:23):
internships with Fortune 500companies. And so I got placed
through inroads with SikorskyAircraft, that's an aerospace
and defense company in theircorporate communications
department. And for me, I waslike, Okay, this is a win. You
know, it's got communications,and they're going to pay me. And
so I ended up doing that themajority of the summers. You
(05:45):
know, through college, theyoffered me a full time role, and
it was just, it was just veryeye opening. Angela, I feel, I
felt like, for me as a minorityyouth growing up in the inner
city, you don't really hear alot about these big corporate
jobs and, you know, you hearabout these fortune 500
companies, but if you don'thave, you know, parents and
(06:05):
other folks who are in thoseindustries or in those corporate
seats, you may not really knowwhat's happening in those
offices, right? And to have theexposure and know that you can,
you can, actually, there's apath for you there. And so
inroads provided that for me.And it was a game it was
literally a game changer. Idecided, you know, when they
(06:25):
offered me a full time role as asenior in college, that I was
going to go and really make acareer for myself. And I think
within the first couple years,just with people that really saw
potential in me, mentored me,coached me, supervised me, and
kind of let me know like, hey,not only is there a path for
(06:46):
you, but you could be reallystellar in this space, and that
was something that I didn't evenknow. And so I'm really thankful
for that foundation, and for meagain, that was a game changer.
And I've I've stayed inaerospace, defense, stayed in
corporate America, been withFortune five country companies
ever since, and and really grownmy career.
Angela Harris (07:08):
That's amazing that you had individuals pouring
into you and kind of, you know,directing you and giving you
that career pathway guidance. Itsounds like from your first job
out of college, a lot of peopledon't have those opportunities.
Ashlee Davidson (07:21):
Yeah, yeah. And I, you know, I've, I always say
I was very blessed that, youknow, the right people showed up
at the right times and and I,you know, whether they
supervised me or, you know,experienced me in different
ways. And then said, hey, youknow, I want her to come join my
team or tap me on the shoulder.And said, We need you to go do
(07:42):
this special project, or come dothis role, so that you gain
skill sets, so that you become,you know, a better leader for
when you get to exposition, justthings that on my own I wouldn't
have branched out to do, orsaid, you know, I I should be
considered For, and so I make itpart of my charter today. You
(08:03):
know, in my seat, to be veryintentional about mentorship,
very intentional about givingfeedback, especially to people
of color, especially to women ofcolor, who, you know, tell me
that they aspire to one day. Sitin the seat. I'm very, I'm very
upfront with them, because Iwant them to, I want them to
(08:26):
make it, but I also don't wantthem to have blind spots in
terms of how they can get there.
Angela Harris (08:33):
That's really good, and actually a great
segue. I know, with you being aVice President of
Communications, you're certainlya unicorn in your field,
specifically in the aero defenseindustry. And there is research
out there for McKinsey andCompany from the black in the
workplace report that says a lotof black professionals face
what's called a double brokenrung. Then what that is, is the
(08:54):
inability to move from an entrylevel role to manager, then
manager to above. How did youmake your initial transition
into your first leadership role?Yeah,
Ashlee Davidson (09:04):
so I resonate with that tremendously. And so I
think, for me again, kind ofleaning back on mentorship, but
also I actually pushed my waythrough the door so I was in an
entry level I the first probablyeight years or so of my career.
(09:25):
I was in individual contributorroles, and I got to a certain
level in the corporate space,and realized that a lot of my
peers didn't look like me, whowere at that same level had made
that jump, you know, tomanagement space. And at the
(09:45):
time, there was an open role incommunications and marketing for
for a leader position, and I wasnot tapped on the shoulder for
that role, but I said to myself,knowing what I knew, the skill
sets that I had. Of why not me?And so I actually decided to
apply. I got some advocacy andendorsement from the right,
(10:09):
right people who had experiencedme. And I was even told, Angela,
that, you know, we're taking achance with you right like we're
taking a chance with you. And Iwill tell you every single role
I've had since that every youknow, I always get some kind of
soundbite like that, like we'retaking a chance. You know, this
(10:29):
is a leap of faith. You know,we're stepping outside the box
to give you this opportunity.I'm always told that in so many
words, so that's kind of becomecommonplace for me, and we can
talk about that too. Butcertainly, you know, with that,
I kind of took that as fuel,right, like that. I took that
as, okay, well, then watch me.And so from there, I kind of
(10:52):
stepped into the space and, youknow, just continue to gain the
right leadership skills. And I,I resonate with the saying, you
know, like, pick it to you makeit. Because I know that there
are a lot of people that don'thave all the tools in the
toolbox when they step intocertain spaces, but they they
enter those spaces, right? So,like, why not me? And so again,
(11:16):
mentorship, guidance. I'm alwayswilling to learn. I'm always
willing to say I haven'texperienced x, so how can you
teach me, or what do I need toknow? And I think making myself
vulnerable also helped peoplekind of get behind me to say,
okay, she wants to learn, butshe and she's got this the
capability, so let's make sureshe's knowledgeable and
(11:38):
competent in what she does. Andso that's really how I
transitioned early on from, youknow, an individual contributor
to a leader.
Angela Harris (11:46):
Okay, I definitely want to explore what
you said about being told thatpeople were taking a chance on
you. And I feel like a lot ofblack women have probably heard
that. And often times I feellike we count ourselves out,
like some people may see a role,or says that you have to have
global experience, or it saysthat you have to have already
done this, and so we may noteven apply, just because we
(12:07):
don't think that we will, youknow, meet the qualifications.
So what can we do about that?
Ashlee Davidson (12:14):
So I think, I think this is where, you know,
aside from the work that I do asas Vice President of
Communications, the Lord hasreally been like on me the last
few years about starting thisconsulting business that I
started called Speak aberrant.And really the the driver there
is because I wanted to make surethat I am being a vessel to help
(12:38):
women, and especially women ofcolor get past those barriers of
things that they they theyforesee as barriers, of things
they can't do, or things thatthey're told they that they
shouldn't aspire to, or when wesee a position and say we don't
have all the qualifications andcount ourselves out, because
there have been more times thatI've counted myself in and
(13:02):
gotten the role and got into thenext, you know, place in on the
ladder, than not. And so for me,I think the key thing that I
found is I'm okay with the factthat they're always going to
count me out. I'm okay withthat, because we haven't changed
(13:24):
that narrative. Because evenwith you saying to me, Angela,
that I'm a unicorn in the space,it's because we haven't changed
the narrative. I can't walkthrough the hall and see another
black female VP doing what I'mdoing, wearing, you know, her
braids, and showing up, you knowhow I'm showing up
(13:45):
professionally, right? I don'tsee that in my space, and I
think that we can change that.And so I'm always willing to
say, why not me, right? Like,you gotta tell me, why not? So
it's not that I'm forcing, Idon't force my way to the table,
but I certainly take up my spaceat the table. I certainly take
(14:05):
my seat at the table. And so mygoal is to really encourage
women to do just that. And sojust to pull that a little bit
further, you know, the last fewroles that I've had, maybe the
last 10 years, every single rolethat I've taken whether
someone's told me when I wasgoing to apply, that I've been
told, you know, that role is toobig for you. You know, you don't
(14:28):
have all the skill sets. I stillapply. I've gotten jobs, and
within the first week of gettingjobs, even the job that I'm
sitting in today, peers that Isit around the table with have
said, you know, you weren't theperson that I voted for. You
know, good luck in doing thisrole. I That, to me, is what we
(14:51):
experience, and I think that alot of times people think it's
okay to even make those.References to us even when we're
we have a seat at the table,almost as if they want us to
continue to shrink or feel lessthan even when we get to the
table. And so my biggest goal isto shift that right and to shift
(15:15):
it positively. So I'm alwaystalking about being the positive
disruption. So when I show up,you know, I show up in a way
that's positive. Even when Iexperience narratives like that,
my reaction is always positive.It's almost like, let me show
you. Let me show you who I am.Let me show you what I bring.
(15:36):
Let me show you the experience Ihave. Let me show you how I'm
going to show up so that you cannot be as naive, so that you can
have more substance about womenof color and what we bring to
the table, and why you need usat the table. And so I, I'll
leave you know, sort of thisquestion with with this, because
(15:56):
I, I talk about this often. Youknow, my daughter's three, and
so my, my biggest mantra, or my,my biggest goal is that no
matter what she wants to be in2020, 2030, years from now, I
want her to be able to walk intowhatever space, whether she
(16:18):
decides to shave half her headand wear braids on one side, or,
you know, go halfway around thecountry and all her glory. I
want her to be able to do itwithout even thinking. I gotta
worry about my skin color, or Ihave to worry about how
someone's going to treat mebecause of my appearance,
appearance, they're going toliterally look at her resume,
(16:39):
literally look at hercredentials, what she brings to
the table, and say she's themost qualified, qualified person
because of who she is. And so mybiggest goal is to just make
sure that I continue to to breakglass, walk through spaces, take
up space, so that herexperience, and all of the brown
girls who are, you know, juststarting out, have a way
(17:02):
different narrative than thanyou, and I still do today.
Angela Harris (17:07):
That definitely resonates with me as well with
you wanting to, you know, leavethe workplace better than you've
experienced it, and I candefinitely see why your daughter
would be a motivator for that.Yeah. So I'm curious, how do you
define executive presence, anddoes it look different for black
women in corporate America?
Ashlee Davidson (17:25):
It's a big question. So executive presence,
I think, takes on manydifferent, many different forms,
and I think that there's a fineline. I think that we walk with
executive presence. And I thinkthe pandemic has also done some
things to kind of shift whatpeople experience or expect as
(17:47):
exact executive presence.Because just like you and I are
having this conversation today,a lot of times people are not in
person, interacting with oneanother. So I always tell
people, you know what executivepresence boils down to how
people experience you, and whatpeople's perception of you is
when you leave a room, like whatwhat memory will they have? Or
(18:12):
what's the brand representationthat people have of you, even
when you're not there? And sothe biggest piece for me with
executive presence is, you know,you have to really always do
your homework about the audiencethat you're going to meet. Who
are you going to interact withthroughout a day. I find a lot
(18:32):
of times that that people that Imentor will say to me, you know,
I'm not really quite sure why Ididn't land that job, or I'm not
really quite sure why. So and Sodoesn't remember me like I had a
conversation with them. And I'llsay everything from, well, you
know, if it was virtual, did youshow up on camera? And sometimes
they'll say no. And I'm like,Well, if you don't show up on
camera, people, people need aface to be able to resonate
(18:56):
with. And then, you know, I'lldig deeper and say, well, when,
when you showed up, you know,for X, Y and Z meeting. How
prepared were you? Did you doyour homework? Did you know the
folks in the room? Andsometimes, you know, we get
mixed reviews about that interms of presence. I also tell
people, you know, be preparedfor the moment. So a lot of
times, young women that I mentorwill say to me, you know, I
(19:20):
don't have lots of money to goout and buy fancy suits and all
this, this stuff. And I'll sayto them, listen, when I was an
entry level associate, my momand I went to JCPenney and
bought three different suitsthat I could mix and match, and
I made those things work foryears, right with different
blouses and and whatever. Soit's not even about that. It's
(19:42):
about being mindful of how youwant to display yourself. And
one of the other things that Itell people about executive
presence is you're not dressingor behaving or showing up for
the job you have today. You'reshowing you should be. Going up
for the job that you want, thejob that you aspire for next.
(20:04):
And so that's been a big thingfor me, too, is that, you know,
as I've worked my way up theladder in in corporate America,
and even today, as much as I'mthrilled with where I've landed,
I'm I'm always thinking I shouldshow up as if I'm the chief
communications officer, and whatdoes that look like? Right? And
(20:26):
it's not to say that I'maspiring to take that seat
tomorrow, but when peopleexperience me, I want them to
experience me in a way that letsthem know that I'm ready, I'm
ready for that seat, right? Andthat's the narrative that I want
to leave with them. And the lastthing that I'll say on that this
is, I do think that we're at aninflux point where, and this is
(20:49):
something I'm really happyabout, where black women in
particular, we can show up andbe a little bit more authentic.
I'm starting to see that incorporate America spaces, for
instance, I, you know, 10 yearsago, wearing braids probably was
a little bit less commonplace,and now, I mean, it's hot here
(21:11):
in Dallas, so I'm not reallysure if I didn't have braids in
the summer, I don't really knowwhat I would do, but it's
perfect. You know, you can showup and that can be considered
professional and not somethingthat needs to be talked about.
And so I think we continue tomake inroads in that space, too,
in terms of us being able toshow up authentically without
(21:31):
that being countered to thenarrative of executive presence
that we want to bring indifferent environments. Now I
heard to talk
Angela Harris (21:39):
about, you know, the progress that you've seen
over the years, specificallywith people being more
comfortable with braids in theworkplace. I know we also have
the crown act now as well. Whatare some areas of opportunity
you see that haven't beenaddressed yet?
Ashlee Davidson (21:54):
Yeah, I think that there's still as much as
specifically with braids, youknow, and just our hair. I think
we are making inroads. I dothink that there's still some
work to be done there, and so Ithink we've still got a ways to
go. But I also think you knowthat in general, I was having a
(22:18):
conversation with a couple of ofmentees of mine, and they were
saying, you know, I don't wantto have I feel like it's
imposter syndrome, you know,that I can't fully show up to
work the way that I am. And Isaid, Well, why not? And they
were telling me that, you know,they want to be able to show up
(22:41):
and where they want to be ableto show up and wear certain, you
know, head wraps on their head,head, or they want to be able to
show up just different thingsthat, that, that we typically do
when we're not in corporatesettings. And I said, I think
there's a fine line to that,because at the same time that
(23:04):
that may be what you do outsideof work and how you show up when
you go somewhere with yourfriends or you brunch with your
girlfriends, think about anaverage white man, right? He
doesn't necessarily, even if,and I hate to be stereotypical,
but because my husband loves togolf too. So it's not even about
(23:26):
white men, but my husband, who'sa black man, is not going to
show up to his job with his golfshorts on and his golf polo,
right? Like that's not what he'sgoing to do. He's going to dress
for the job that he's assignedto do. And same for a white
male, if if golfing or fishingis his thing. So we have to
(23:46):
figure out how we strike morebalance and how we want to
represent ourselves again, kindof going back to what should be
acceptable, things that we dowith our hair that should not
even be a conversation, but alsofiguring out a balance with
that, because I think there'sstill something to be said about
corporate America is what it is,and there should be dress codes
(24:10):
that should be, that you know,that we should adhere to.
Angela Harris (24:15):
Also it depends on the culture as well. Like
some you know, workplacecultures, they are more casual
than others. It is acceptable tocome to work every day in jeans
and a T shirt speaker, yeah,
Ashlee Davidson (24:25):
yeah, and so. And to pull that a little bit
further right, like the theoffice that I work in is very
corporate, and so the thementees that I'm referring to,
like, they work in this officespace, and they and they tell me
that they want to one day sit inthe seat that I'm sitting in. So
going back to what you weresaying about like, executive
(24:46):
presence, I'm trying to help yoube ahead of the game, so that
when those opportunities arise,people are like, absolutely. We
see Angela. We see the valuethere. We see how she shows up.
You know, if. So if you aspireto be in that the specific
space, there are, you know,rules of the road that you kind
(25:08):
of politics that you kind ofhave to be able to navigate
through. But if that's not, youknow, the environment that you
want to be in, I'm good withthat too. And, you know, find
the environment that speaks moreto how you want, you know, the
culture that you're comfortablein, because those, fortunately,
those exist now, right? Andpeople can maneuver through
(25:31):
those too.
Angela Harris (25:32):
Yeah, like I said, it's all about alignment
and finding, you know, culturesand organizations that align
with your personal values,right, right? So you feel
comfortable. I'm curious. I askyou, what's, what's the biggest
risk or leap that you've takento advance your career?
Ashlee Davidson (25:49):
Oh, man, okay. I think for me, the, you know,
I'll make it more general in thesense of, I'm I'm more. I was
born and raised in Connecticut,and love Connecticut. Shout out
to Connecticut and all my myfriends and family back there.
But it's a small town, you know,it gives you Connecticut gives
(26:11):
you very small town. Feel,everybody kind of knows
everybody. Base, you know,whatever city you grew up in,
everybody kind of knowseverybody. The circles end up,
you know, just kind of collidingbecause, because there's smaller
degrees of separation. Andgrowing up for me that was
great, you know, I feel like myvillage was strong. You know,
(26:32):
there were people that supportedmy parents, you know, the church
that we went to, everybody kneweverybody. It's that kind of
feel. But I also knew that, onceI got into this corporate thing
that I that I started to reallyget a taste for and realized how
(26:53):
much of a how much of a paththere was for me. I realized
that I was going to have to getuncomfortable if I really wanted
to get after it, because therewere tons of Fortune 500
companies, you know, outside ofmy sphere of comfort, in in
Connecticut or just the generaltri state area, that would
(27:14):
probably afford me some reallygood opportunities. And so for a
lot of people, that's toouncomfortable. That's too
uncomfortable to do. And forsome people, I I totally respect
that, you know, givencircumstance, some people have
families, they have to take careof things that tie them back to
certain areas peace. I get that100% and I don't take away from
(27:37):
that. But, or very early on, youknow, in my sort of mid 20s, I
said to myself, You know what?I'm at least going to, I'm going
to, at least going to get ataste of of what it would be
like to make a move for mycareer if I don't love it. You
know, I go back home and, do youknow, and be in my safe space.
And so in my mid 20s, I wasoffered my first opportunity to
(27:59):
go from Connecticut to West PalmBeach, Florida, to work at the
same company, but in apromotional role in
communications. And I shockedeverybody and said, I'm out of
here. I'm going to Florida, youknow, and, and I'm going by
myself, and, you know, I'm goingto, I'm going to see what this
is like. And it was souncomfortable. It was so like,
(28:20):
even in making the decision, Iwas saying to myself, What the
heck are you doing? Like, whyare you doing Why are you doing
this? Why are you going to getyourself this uncomfortable, not
know anybody you know, takeyourself away from everything
that's familiar. And it was, itwas the biggest challenge for me
to do, but it was the rightmove, because I grew
professionally, but mostimportantly, I grew person like
(28:43):
as a person. You know, I figuredout how to be comfortable with
myself by myself. I figured outhow to, you know, better, take
care of myself, and figure outhow, you know, to safeguard
myself as an individual. And soin doing that, I also, you know,
there were just many layers togrowing. And so from there, I
(29:05):
didn't shy away. I haven't shiedaway from opportunities to to
grow. There have been timeswhere people have asked me to go
places, and, you know, justbased on the role or what I'm
doing personally and where I am,I've, I've thankfully and
thoughtfully decline, but therehave been times where, you know,
I've said yes, it's a yes, it'sa yes for me and my family, and
(29:27):
so I'm thankful for my partnerand the journey that we're on.
And, you know, he and I haveagreed that at points when it
makes sense, if there'ssomething that we want to go do
together and explore, we'll takeanother leap of faith. But you
know, also, for us now, kind ofgoing back to what I was saying
about sometimes you, you know,you kind of stick to your realm
(29:49):
of comfort, I think for us rightnow, you know, Dallas is a great
space because of our kids andour you know, our kids are going
into our oldest is getting readyfor kindergarten. So. You take
those things into consideration.But I do think for me, the
biggest leap of faith has reallybeen stepping outside of what's
(30:10):
normal in terms of relocating.And so I encourage people when
you can look for opportunitiesto grow yourself, not only
professionally, but personally,and and do that? Give yourself
that opportunity to getuncomfortable and jump out the
window, and if you don't loveit, you know, you can say you
did it, but until I do it, youdon't know. You just don't know.
Angela Harris (30:34):
Just be open, and that that resonates with me as
well, like I am always open totrying new experiences and
trying new things personally andprofessionally. And I actually
did do cross country move oncefor a job opportunity. I lived
in the Seattle Washington areafor about three and a half
years, where I, you know, spentmy entire, you know, adulthood
on the East Coast, relocated tothe Pacific Northwest, and I was
(30:57):
open, you know, I was like, I'venever, you know, lived in that
part of the country before I wasopen to exploring it, found out
it wasn't for me, but I stillhad the ability to come back,
you know, I did, right? Yeah,
Ashlee Davidson (31:08):
yeah. And I just think, you know, for me, I
look I kind of going back towhat I was talking about when we
first started, you know, I tryto always reflect back on, you
know, where I am today, andwhat, what, what I envisioned my
life to be like 10 years ago or15 years ago, and and the person
that I was 10 or 15 years agoand the person that I am today.
(31:29):
And I'm a whole different personin a good way, but I'm all, I
mean, if you, if you haven'tspoken to me in the last five to
10 years, you don't, you don't,respectfully, you don't know me
anymore, and part of that isbecause I've grown. I've had,
you know, lessons learned. I'vemoved different places, I've
experienced different cultures,I've my exposure has grown, and
(31:52):
so it's just made me the personthat I am today, in a good way.
And so I encourage people tojust give yourself that
opportunity never, neverdiscount that in in your
journey, you know, just gettinguncomfortable and stepping out
and doing something for yourselfthat could really be life
changing.
Angela Harris (32:12):
Yeah, and I would say there are no wasted
experiences. There's alwayssomething that you can learn
from that situation or somethingthat you can leverage in the
future as you're advancing yourcareer, absolutely 100% it all
makes sense. I always say, trustthe process. It might not make
sense while you're going throughsomething, but at some point,
it'll all come together. Andalways,
Ashlee Davidson (32:32):
always does.
Angela Harris (32:36):
I want to touch on the story. I know we had a
conversation before ourinterview today, and you shared
a story about a time whensomeone introduced you as the
Vice President of Sales and thekey point of contact, but the
client still came up to you andasked Who was the vice president
of sales when they didn't wantto acknowledge that a black
woman was in that role. How didyou respond in that moment?
Ashlee Davidson (32:59):
Yeah, that is one that I think, as much as it
was, I can feel myself beingback in that whole situation all
over as I'm recounting it now,and I hope that that's not an
experience that I have to haveagain. It is one that definitely
(33:20):
impacted me as an individual andin my career forever. So a
couple of years ago, when Ifirst stepped into this specific
role, you know, part of my roleis going out to trade shows and
major customer engagements, andagain, to your point, sort of be
(33:40):
in the primary face or point ofcontact for the company, for
different engagements, and inthe VPC. And so a lot of times,
when there are major news andmedia outlets that want to come
and cover a story or get youknow the latest updates on on
what's happening with ourportfolio, I'm their primary
(34:03):
point of contact, their theirtheir interface should be with
with the VP of Communications.And so given that I was new in
the the seat at the time, somepeople knew at least my name,
but didn't know the face. And sothis was one of the first major
engagements where you were goingto see me in person. And so just
(34:27):
to give you know, a little bitof context, so nonetheless, the
the reporter that you'rereferring to came up to our
booth, and they immediatelyrecognize one of, one of my team
members who works on my team,who they had interacted with
before, and so that person youknow, took the initial
(34:47):
conversation and said, Yeah, youknow, Ashley's here. Definitely
want to make sure that you getan opportunity to sit and
connect with her, a to buildrelationship, but also because
she's got the latest drum beatand you know, so on. So forth.
So they came and and got andpulled me. I was in more of an
informal conversation on the onthe booth space. They came and
pulled me, and I'm like, yeah,absolutely, let's have the
(35:09):
conversation. And so they hadsaid that they were going to go.
They told that reporter theywere going to get the VP of
communication, they bring meback to make the formal
introduction. They introduced meas the VP of Communications.
Person shakes my hand and says,very nice to meet you. You know,
(35:30):
very nice to meet you. Thank youfor, you know, taking the time.
I was really hoping that I wouldget an opportunity to speak to
the VP of Communications. Andfor a second I was like, wait a
minute, did did my did mycoworker not make that
introduction? Like, is it me?Did it? Did they not connect the
dot? And so I said, Oh, youknow. But then I realized, yes,
(35:53):
they they intentionally did, andthey intentionally told me that
they were making thisintroduction. So I said, okay,
this person definitely has biasand and also has blinders on,
right? And so they are lookingat me as a black woman, right,
wrong or indifferent, and thatnot being the narrative or
(36:16):
perception that they'reaccustomed to. What am I
supposed to do in this moment?And so it was almost like I had
an outer body experience for asecond. And it was like, do I
get do I get bothered and upsetand throw you know, attitude and
Sass at the situation, or do Iunderstand this is a moment of
(36:39):
learning for both of us, but Ihad to really take, you know, I
didn't want it to becomeawkward. So I had like, two
seconds to figure this out,right? And so it was like a two
second, maybe little bit longerbreath that I took, and I said,
Oh, I'm Ashley. I'm I am the newVP of Communications, but it was
(37:01):
the way I kind of emphasized, Iam the new VP of Communications.
And you could see, almost inthat moment, you could see their
whole perception. It was almostlike they there was a moment of
reflection, shock, you know,they didn't really know what to
do. And so he took a pause andsaid, Oh, okay, okay, okay,
(37:23):
okay. So help me, you know, helpme understand is the has, has
your role changed? You know, isthe reporting structure. I said
it's the same role. I'm, I'mjust the new person in the role.
So even then, there was stillthis whole like, did they break
the roll up? Or, you know, doyou have somebody else that
(37:43):
you're reporting to? Like therewas still this questioning that
I had to gracefully walk and soI said to him, if you like, to
have, you know, the conversationabout X, Y and Z, I've got a few
minutes now. You know, we can goahead and do that. You know,
we've got conference rooms andspaces, and sort of reluctantly,
(38:04):
he he was, you know, agreed toit because I had the story that
he needed, and so we had theconversation. He got the
information he needed. He couldclearly tell by the end of the
interview that I wasknowledgeable and that I had the
presence and that I was the keyperson, right? But the fact that
(38:25):
I had to go through that much toget to that point was was very
eye opening for me. And so acouple of things on that. So we
left, what we left? And I couldtell at that point he's like,
okay, she, she really is the VPof Communications. So he said to
me, you know, I appreciate thistime today, and you know you're
(38:46):
super knowledgeable, and youknow it's great to have you in
the role. I look forward toengaging with you again. And so
I've since experienced him acouple of times at different
points. And it's alwaysinteresting to me that as much
as, you know, we got past that,that bridge and and, you know,
he knows who I am, and we havegood relationship. When he
(39:06):
introduces me to one of hispeers, it's almost like he feels
like he has to over introduce melike, almost like, can you
believe? Like he'll, he'll say,this is, this is Angela. She's
the she's the VP ofcommunication. Almost like, can
you believe? Can you believe? Imean, wow. Like, look what
Lockheed Martin has done. Lookwho they put in the seat. And so
(39:29):
it's almost like a little bitcondescending, you know. And
it's, it kind of brings me backto the point I was making about
my daughter, like, I don't wanther to have to experience that.
You know, she doesn't
Angela Harris (39:43):
have to experience that now in the in
2024 right? All the progress I'musing AirPods, the progress that
we've made over the years atyou, and we're still, you
shouldn't have to be placed inthose situations. And it said
that at the level in which.You're operating, you still have
to prove yourself.
Ashlee Davidson (40:03):
We're still right here, right so for as much
as we've made inroads, we arestill right here. And these
things are things that are stillbeing experienced, whether
they're talked about or not. AndI think that sometimes,
especially for black women, weexperience these things, and
(40:24):
then we decide, You know what,corporate America is not for me,
or this role is not for me, orI'm tired like I'm not fighting
this battle. I'm gonna go dosomething different. And I
respect that, because it's itcan be exhausting. It can be
mentally, emotionally exhausted,right? But I also, but also for
(40:47):
me, because I have thosemoments, I have those moments,
but then I also, you know, Ipray I get myself back in the
right space, and I say, You knowwhat? I was placed here for a
reason. I was placed here to dogood work. I was placed here
because I'm knowledgeable. I wasplaced here because I have the
skill set. And I was placed herebecause, even in 2024 if this is
(41:08):
what we're doing, we need tomake inroads to change it. And
so for me, it's always like evenjust me having these
interactions with people andshowing them that, yes, I am.
The VP of Communications ishelping us to break this, this
narrative that sometimes goesuntopped about, because we want
(41:29):
to make it seem like it doesn'texist anymore, but it does. You
know, it's a real thing that Ithink we we have to be real and
honest about, but also we haveto figure out how we continue to
shift.
Angela Harris (41:43):
Yeah. So I guess, what was your message be to I
guess, like, you know, corporateAmerica or allies is based on
the story that you share. Like,what's the message? What's the
call to action?
Ashlee Davidson (41:55):
Oh, man, the call to action is to continue to
to educate your work a couple ofthings continue to educate your
workforce on the power ofdiversity, not just diversity of
race, because diversity of raceis is one big piece of it, but
(42:16):
also diversity of thought. I'mgetting myself educated now on
more diversity and understandinghow we can empower and equip
different employees who havedifferent disabilities, making
sure that they haveopportunities to really advance
(42:37):
in their careers, you know, andequip them based on what they
need, based on their disability.So all of these ranges of
diversity of thought, you know,capability, race, gender, all of
that we need to we need tocontinue to educate our
workforce, continue to educatecorporate leaders on all of all
(43:01):
of the ranges of diversity thatwe bring to a workplace, because
that is what's really going topropel us forward, is that
diversification of ourworkforce. And I think the other
call, call to action for me isin particular for people of
color and for black women. Youknow, I I cannot state enough
(43:24):
that there is space for you,there is space for you, there is
room for you. Your talent isneeded, your face is needed. And
when you show up, people takenotice, and when they take
notice, make sure they takenotice for the right things,
because we are, we are thefuture of the workspace. We are.
(43:47):
I mean, if you look at thedemographics of this nation, and
you know, the populations ofpeople and the different colors
of people in terms of who'swho's actually, over the next 10
to 15 years really going to bethe majority. We are the
demographics, right? And solet's make sure that that's
(44:08):
reflected at the table. And theonly way to do that is to
advocate for yourself. Advocatefor yourself, get the right
mentors, make sure that you'reagain, going back to what we
said before take in those leapsof faith, but also make sure
that you're equipping yourselfso that you're ready for that
next position. And the finalcall to action that I would just
(44:32):
say is, you know, for those whodon't necessarily look like me,
be open to those who don't looklike you and I, I've, I've been
fortunate, you know, with a lotof my peers who don't
necessarily look like me, we'vegotten, we've built really good
relationships now where I cantell that there are points where
(44:54):
I've just educated them on blackwomen, you know, I, I've in a
positive. Way, right? Like Ieducate them on, on culture. I
educate them on, you know,different different things that
I do, or different things thatare cultural, culturally
important to me, that I bring tothe table, that they may just
not have knowledge on. And soit's knowledge that they're
(45:18):
receiving and they're interestedin, but they didn't have anybody
they've never experiencedanybody like me to have those
right levels of conversation,right? And so it's almost like I
can't fault you for not havingthose experiences based on your
upbringing, or not havingsomeone like me sit next to you
at the table. But now that youdo, and you're willing to have
(45:40):
those conversations, you'rewilling to lean in, you're
willing to understand myperspective, like, let's do it
together. Let's, let's buildthat together. And so I would
just encourage, you know,corporate leaders and just just
people that are at the tablethat don't look like me, to just
lean in. Just continue to leanin and be open. Have a growth
(46:01):
mindset and be open to learningand growing, because I think
there's really, that's where thegoodness is, for sure,
Angela Harris (46:09):
like what you said about being open, but also,
like to your point about, youknow, education. You know,
educate yourself. Don't expectthe person of color to do all
the educating you. There's tonsof resources out there available
so you can educate yourself, andlike you said, with the growth
mindset, be be open and curious,and come with your questions
Ashlee Davidson (46:27):
100% and I think as long as people know
that you're coming from a goodplace and a pure place where you
know you want to beknowledgeable, you want To make
an impact, you want to help bethe change that we need to see
people like myself. I'mreceptive to that all day long,
(46:47):
you know, because I know that bydoing that, I'm helping to
create a path for someone else,you know, who, who may one day
sit at a similar table?
Angela Harris (46:59):
Yeah, you well, Ashley, thank you so much for
sharing your insights today.Before we wrap up, I do have one
final question I would like toask you, what do you do to
recharge when you aren'tfearlessly leading?
Ashlee Davidson (47:15):
I am always, always, always, always. I I
tease my girlfriends, and I say,you know, as much as I'm busy
doing all the things, I like tobe a well kept woman, and I
encourage women to be well kept.Like, no matter your budget,
(47:36):
take care of yourself, right?Like, if you if you can't afford
to, you know, alwaysprofessionally, get your hair
and nails done. Figure out howto do that stuff for yourself,
right? But be well kept. Be wellkept, because when you look
good, you feel good. And so I amas much as I'm busy and I'm
(47:58):
ripping and running and doingall the things I am very guarded
about, things that are aboutself care for myself. You know,
I've, I have a wonderfulesthetician who is educating me
on the importance of gettingfacials a couple times a year.
Just right? It's so and I'vedone it the last few years, and
(48:19):
like it's been, it's so good formy skin, and I didn't even know
it. And so, you know, that'spart of me being well kept but I
also, you know, I'm also onewho, when I start to feel that
my body is run down, you know,you gotta listen to your body.
So when you start to feel thatyour body is run down. It's okay
(48:42):
to take a nap. It's okay. It'sokay to take a nap. It's okay to
take a nap. It's okay to tellyour girlfriends I can't make it
this time. It's okay to giveyourself grace. We are. We love
to go to church every Sunday asa family, but every now and
then, there's a Sunday where Isimply watch on my couch with my
(49:05):
tea, and I might be braiding mydaughter's hair, but I need a
second right? And it's we haveto be okay with those moments of
self care to be well kept,because the world expects a lot
of us. The world expects a lotof me and expects a lot of you,
and if we don't take moments torecharge for ourself, no one
(49:28):
will. No one's going to tellAngela, go take a nap. Angela,
you look super tired, and I knowyou need a rest, and I know you
need a facial you know no one'sgoing to say that to you. So I'm
very mindful, and I live by thiswhole thing of like I always
want to be well kept. And when Istop, when I stop feeling well
kept, I figure out, you know, acouple of hours or a half day,
(49:52):
or whatever I need, and I don'tfeel selfish about it, because
once I'm back to self, I canpour in and do 100 And 10% of
what I do every single day as asuperwoman. So that's my biggest
thing about recharging. Andevery week doesn't look the same
for me, but I try to figure outways to make sure that I'm, you
(50:12):
know, recharging and refillingmy cup when I can. Yeah,
Angela Harris (50:16):
I resonate with that as well. I love my facials,
massages, and I guess a hack forthe listeners. I know you talked
about, everyone may not be ableto do that for you know,
financially, there's beautyschools out there, so if you do
want to get a facial, you can goto a student who's an aspiring
esthetician and get a reducedcost facial or reduced cost
massage. So there, there'soptions out there, 100% or,
Ashlee Davidson (50:38):
you know, yes, I resonate with that. And I also
tell as well yes, another way,yes. I even tell my interns, I'm
like, Listen, go to Ulta and geta $20 face mask, you know, lay,
lay back and and put a twocucumbers on your eyes, and feel
beautiful for 20 minutes, right?Like figure out, but you will
feel so much better, and youwill be taking care of yourself,
(51:01):
and you're pouring intoyourself, and that alone will
help you recharge and be able tobe your best self.
Angela Harris (51:08):
And also, also the spatials at Ulta. Oh, I
haven't done that. Oh, yeah,that's another you can get
patients at Ulta, not alllocations, but some of them do
facials. Okay, good to knowexactly. Well, how listeners
stay connected with you. Ashley,yeah, thank
Ashlee Davidson (51:23):
you for that. Angela, so again, I mentioned
very briefly, I, aside from thiswonderful job that I have, I
also have a new, fairly newconsulting business that I've
started. It'swww.speakaberrant.com. So it's
speak aberrant, A, B, E, R, R,A, N, t.com, and I'm also on a
(51:47):
few social handles, but in inparticular, Instagram is is the
main place where I post a lot ofcontent, and that that handle is
just simply @SpeakAberrant. So Ilook forward to connecting with
your listeners, Angela and Ireally appreciate the
opportunity to be a part of ofyour wonderful podcast.
Angela Harris (52:06):
Well, thank you for being here. I really
appreciate it as well, and I'llmake sure I include all your
information in the show notes,so the listeners will have it.
Great.
Ashlee Davidson (52:15):
Great. Well, thank you for the time. Great.
Angela Harris (52:18):
Well, to our listeners, thank you for tuning
in to this episode of the flowpodcast as a reminder. Episodes
are released bi weekly onWednesdays, and the podcast is
available on all majorplatforms. If you have a
suggestion for a topic or aguest, I'd love to hear from
you, and you can send me anemail at
angela@angelavharris.com, untilnext time, take care. Hey,
(52:43):
fearless leaders, it's thefourth quarter of 2024. Are you
ready to finish the year strong?Whether you're looking to land a
new job, set clear goals or takeyour career to the next level.
Now is the time to make ithappen. As an executive
leadership coach, I specializein helping professionals like
(53:04):
you break barriers, buildconfidence and achieve their
career goals. Let's worktogether to create a customized
plan that ensures you close out2024 with success and momentum.
If you're ready to explore how Ican support you on your journey.
I invite you to book a freediscovery call today visit
(53:27):
www.angelavharris.com to bookyour call. Thank you for
listening to the flow podcast aswe wrap up today's episode,
always remember your uniquepath, your voice and your
leadership matter. If you lovedwhat you heard, subscribe now to
(53:51):
stay updated on our latestepisodes. Take a moment to leave
a review and share this episodewith someone who can benefit
from these conversations. Youcan stay connected with me on
Instagram at@theflowpodcastwithangela, or
visit me on the web atwww.angelavharris.com Until next
(54:15):
time, take care. Stay inspiredand keep fearlessly leading in
your own way.
Unknown (54:28):
And.
Music. Welcome to the flow podcast, fearlessly
leading our way. This podcast isa space dedicated to
spotlighting the unfilteredvoices of black women in their
unique leadership journeys. I amyour host, Angela V Harris, I'm
(00:26):
an award winning coach, speaker,author and champion from black
women. Make sure you like andsubscribe to this podcast to
stay connected to ourconversation, let's get ready to
flow.
(00:53):
Hey, fearless leaders, welcometo another episode of the flow
podcast. I am your host, AngelaV Harris. In this episode, I sit
down with Ashlee Davidson, acommunications executive at
Lockheed Martin with nearly 20years of experience in aerospace
(01:13):
defense and corporatecommunications, Ashley shares
her remarkable journey tobreaking barriers in a male
dominated industry, we dive deepinto her early aspirations,
overcoming imposter syndrome,and how mentorship played a
critical role in her career.Ashley opens up about the
(01:34):
challenges of being a blackwoman in corporate America,
navigating bias, and how sheadvocates for greater diversity
and inclusion, plus she sharespowerful insights on executive
presence, finding balance as aleader, and the importance of
self care. This is a must listenfor anyone looking to push past
(01:55):
limitations, claim their spaceand lead with authenticity. Tune
in to hear Ashley's inspiringstory and the lessons she's
learned along the way. Welcometo the show, Ashley.
Ashlee Davidson (02:09):
Thank you for having me.
Angela Harris (02:12):
Well, I'm glad to have you here today. Well,
first, can you tell thelisteners a little bit about
yourself?
Ashlee Davidson (02:17):
Yes, I'd be happy to. So I currently reside
in Dallas, Texas, and I'mcurrently Vice President of
Communications at LockheedMartin's missiles and fire
control business. And that role,this current role that I've been
in now for almost three years,my entire background of almost
20 years now has been all inaerospace defense and all in
(02:41):
some form of corporatecommunications and marketing.
I've always enjoyed writing,been passionate about speaking.
So this, this particular careerjourney and this role that I'm
in to date is one that I dreamedof for years. So really a big
milestone for me. And aside fromwhat I do day to day for work,
(03:05):
I'm also married, and we havetwo wonderful children who are
three and five, so pretty busyperson to catch on a day to day
basis, between what I do forwork and also what I do in my
quote, unquote free time with mymy family, my growing, young
(03:26):
family, but really blessed inwhat I do, both professionally
and also personally, in terms ofjust building the life that, you
know, I look back and I washaving a conversation with one
of my girlfriends, just the lifeI dreamed of. You know, for
many, many years, they're reallyblessed to be in the position
that I'm in today. Well, thank
Angela Harris (03:45):
you for making time to do this interview with
with with your busy schedulethat you have, and you talked
about this being the life thatyou dreamed of. What career did
you envision for yourself whenyou were a child? Oh
Ashlee Davidson (03:56):
so funny. Okay, so I actually when I was very
young, probably around the agethat my son is now, you know,
five or six, I wanted to beWhitney, Houston. That's who I
aspired to be, okay? That'swhat. That was the goal. And
very quickly, I love my mother.She she told me that, she let me
(04:17):
know in so many words that thatsinging probably, you know,
wasn't going to be my strongestsuit, but I did have the gift of
broadcasting, you know, being infront of people that, you know,
the public speaking. I was notafraid of the stage. Was not
afraid to speak. And so I thinkthat she helped me kind of grow
(04:37):
a love for poetry and just thelove for, you know, having stage
presence. And so throughout mychildhood, I was, you know,
acting and dancing and doing alltypes of things just to kind of
put myself out there in avariety of ways. And and I
quickly turned that attentionto, okay, now I want to be Oprah
Winfrey. And so as I kind of.Entered into high school and in
(05:02):
college, I leaned a lot more onthe broadcast journalism side.
That's that's even what I wentto school for. And in my early
years of college, I wasintroduced to a program called
inroads. The program is stillaround today, and the program
essentially places minorityyouth with a certain GPA into
(05:23):
internships with Fortune 500companies. And so I got placed
through inroads with SikorskyAircraft, that's an aerospace
and defense company in theircorporate communications
department. And for me, I waslike, Okay, this is a win. You
know, it's got communications,and they're going to pay me. And
so I ended up doing that themajority of the summers. You
(05:45):
know, through college, theyoffered me a full time role, and
it was just, it was just veryeye opening. Angela, I feel, I
felt like, for me as a minorityyouth growing up in the inner
city, you don't really hear alot about these big corporate
jobs and, you know, you hearabout these fortune 500
companies, but if you don'thave, you know, parents and
(06:05):
other folks who are in thoseindustries or in those corporate
seats, you may not really knowwhat's happening in those
offices, right? And to have theexposure and know that you can,
you can, actually, there's apath for you there. And so
inroads provided that for me.And it was a game it was
literally a game changer. Idecided, you know, when they
(06:25):
offered me a full time role as asenior in college, that I was
going to go and really make acareer for myself. And I think
within the first couple years,just with people that really saw
potential in me, mentored me,coached me, supervised me, and
kind of let me know like, hey,not only is there a path for
(06:46):
you, but you could be reallystellar in this space, and that
was something that I didn't evenknow. And so I'm really thankful
for that foundation, and for meagain, that was a game changer.
And I've I've stayed inaerospace, defense, stayed in
corporate America, been withFortune five country companies
ever since, and and really grownmy career.
Angela Harris (07:08):
That's amazing that you had individuals pouring
into you and kind of, you know,directing you and giving you
that career pathway guidance. Itsounds like from your first job
out of college, a lot of peopledon't have those opportunities.
Ashlee Davidson (07:21):
Yeah, yeah. And I, you know, I've, I always say
I was very blessed that, youknow, the right people showed up
at the right times and and I,you know, whether they
supervised me or, you know,experienced me in different
ways. And then said, hey, youknow, I want her to come join my
team or tap me on the shoulder.And said, We need you to go do
(07:42):
this special project, or come dothis role, so that you gain
skill sets, so that you become,you know, a better leader for
when you get to exposition, justthings that on my own I wouldn't
have branched out to do, orsaid, you know, I I should be
considered For, and so I make itpart of my charter today. You
(08:03):
know, in my seat, to be veryintentional about mentorship,
very intentional about givingfeedback, especially to people
of color, especially to women ofcolor, who, you know, tell me
that they aspire to one day. Sitin the seat. I'm very, I'm very
upfront with them, because Iwant them to, I want them to
(08:26):
make it, but I also don't wantthem to have blind spots in
terms of how they can get there.
Angela Harris (08:33):
That's really good, and actually a great
segue. I know, with you being aVice President of
Communications, you're certainlya unicorn in your field,
specifically in the aero defenseindustry. And there is research
out there for McKinsey andCompany from the black in the
workplace report that says a lotof black professionals face
what's called a double brokenrung. Then what that is, is the
(08:54):
inability to move from an entrylevel role to manager, then
manager to above. How did youmake your initial transition
into your first leadership role?Yeah,
Ashlee Davidson (09:04):
so I resonate with that tremendously. And so I
think, for me again, kind ofleaning back on mentorship, but
also I actually pushed my waythrough the door so I was in an
entry level I the first probablyeight years or so of my career.
(09:25):
I was in individual contributorroles, and I got to a certain
level in the corporate space,and realized that a lot of my
peers didn't look like me, whowere at that same level had made
that jump, you know, tomanagement space. And at the
(09:45):
time, there was an open role incommunications and marketing for
for a leader position, and I wasnot tapped on the shoulder for
that role, but I said to myself,knowing what I knew, the skill
sets that I had. Of why not me?And so I actually decided to
apply. I got some advocacy andendorsement from the right,
(10:09):
right people who had experiencedme. And I was even told, Angela,
that, you know, we're taking achance with you right like we're
taking a chance with you. And Iwill tell you every single role
I've had since that every youknow, I always get some kind of
soundbite like that, like we'retaking a chance. You know, this
(10:29):
is a leap of faith. You know,we're stepping outside the box
to give you this opportunity.I'm always told that in so many
words, so that's kind of becomecommonplace for me, and we can
talk about that too. Butcertainly, you know, with that,
I kind of took that as fuel,right, like that. I took that
as, okay, well, then watch me.And so from there, I kind of
(10:52):
stepped into the space and, youknow, just continue to gain the
right leadership skills. And I,I resonate with the saying, you
know, like, pick it to you makeit. Because I know that there
are a lot of people that don'thave all the tools in the
toolbox when they step intocertain spaces, but they they
enter those spaces, right? So,like, why not me? And so again,
(11:16):
mentorship, guidance. I'm alwayswilling to learn. I'm always
willing to say I haven'texperienced x, so how can you
teach me, or what do I need toknow? And I think making myself
vulnerable also helped peoplekind of get behind me to say,
okay, she wants to learn, butshe and she's got this the
capability, so let's make sureshe's knowledgeable and
(11:38):
competent in what she does. Andso that's really how I
transitioned early on from, youknow, an individual contributor
to a leader.
Angela Harris (11:46):
Okay, I definitely want to explore what
you said about being told thatpeople were taking a chance on
you. And I feel like a lot ofblack women have probably heard
that. And often times I feellike we count ourselves out,
like some people may see a role,or says that you have to have
global experience, or it saysthat you have to have already
done this, and so we may noteven apply, just because we
(12:07):
don't think that we will, youknow, meet the qualifications.
So what can we do about that?
Ashlee Davidson (12:14):
So I think, I think this is where, you know,
aside from the work that I do asas Vice President of
Communications, the Lord hasreally been like on me the last
few years about starting thisconsulting business that I
started called Speak aberrant.And really the the driver there
is because I wanted to make surethat I am being a vessel to help
(12:38):
women, and especially women ofcolor get past those barriers of
things that they they theyforesee as barriers, of things
they can't do, or things thatthey're told they that they
shouldn't aspire to, or when wesee a position and say we don't
have all the qualifications andcount ourselves out, because
there have been more times thatI've counted myself in and
(13:02):
gotten the role and got into thenext, you know, place in on the
ladder, than not. And so for me,I think the key thing that I
found is I'm okay with the factthat they're always going to
count me out. I'm okay withthat, because we haven't changed
(13:24):
that narrative. Because evenwith you saying to me, Angela,
that I'm a unicorn in the space,it's because we haven't changed
the narrative. I can't walkthrough the hall and see another
black female VP doing what I'mdoing, wearing, you know, her
braids, and showing up, you knowhow I'm showing up
(13:45):
professionally, right? I don'tsee that in my space, and I
think that we can change that.And so I'm always willing to
say, why not me, right? Like,you gotta tell me, why not? So
it's not that I'm forcing, Idon't force my way to the table,
but I certainly take up my spaceat the table. I certainly take
(14:05):
my seat at the table. And so mygoal is to really encourage
women to do just that. And sojust to pull that a little bit
further, you know, the last fewroles that I've had, maybe the
last 10 years, every single rolethat I've taken whether
someone's told me when I wasgoing to apply, that I've been
told, you know, that role is toobig for you. You know, you don't
(14:28):
have all the skill sets. I stillapply. I've gotten jobs, and
within the first week of gettingjobs, even the job that I'm
sitting in today, peers that Isit around the table with have
said, you know, you weren't theperson that I voted for. You
know, good luck in doing thisrole. I That, to me, is what we
(14:51):
experience, and I think that alot of times people think it's
okay to even make those.References to us even when we're
we have a seat at the table,almost as if they want us to
continue to shrink or feel lessthan even when we get to the
table. And so my biggest goal isto shift that right and to shift
(15:15):
it positively. So I'm alwaystalking about being the positive
disruption. So when I show up,you know, I show up in a way
that's positive. Even when Iexperience narratives like that,
my reaction is always positive.It's almost like, let me show
you. Let me show you who I am.Let me show you what I bring.
(15:36):
Let me show you the experience Ihave. Let me show you how I'm
going to show up so that you cannot be as naive, so that you can
have more substance about womenof color and what we bring to
the table, and why you need usat the table. And so I, I'll
leave you know, sort of thisquestion with with this, because
(15:56):
I, I talk about this often. Youknow, my daughter's three, and
so my, my biggest mantra, or my,my biggest goal is that no
matter what she wants to be in2020, 2030, years from now, I
want her to be able to walk intowhatever space, whether she
(16:18):
decides to shave half her headand wear braids on one side, or,
you know, go halfway around thecountry and all her glory. I
want her to be able to do itwithout even thinking. I gotta
worry about my skin color, or Ihave to worry about how
someone's going to treat mebecause of my appearance,
appearance, they're going toliterally look at her resume,
(16:39):
literally look at hercredentials, what she brings to
the table, and say she's themost qualified, qualified person
because of who she is. And so mybiggest goal is to just make
sure that I continue to to breakglass, walk through spaces, take
up space, so that herexperience, and all of the brown
girls who are, you know, juststarting out, have a way
(17:02):
different narrative than thanyou, and I still do today.
Angela Harris (17:07):
That definitely resonates with me as well with
you wanting to, you know, leavethe workplace better than you've
experienced it, and I candefinitely see why your daughter
would be a motivator for that.Yeah. So I'm curious, how do you
define executive presence, anddoes it look different for black
women in corporate America?
Ashlee Davidson (17:25):
It's a big question. So executive presence,
I think, takes on manydifferent, many different forms,
and I think that there's a fineline. I think that we walk with
executive presence. And I thinkthe pandemic has also done some
things to kind of shift whatpeople experience or expect as
(17:47):
exact executive presence.Because just like you and I are
having this conversation today,a lot of times people are not in
person, interacting with oneanother. So I always tell
people, you know what executivepresence boils down to how
people experience you, and whatpeople's perception of you is
when you leave a room, like whatwhat memory will they have? Or
(18:12):
what's the brand representationthat people have of you, even
when you're not there? And sothe biggest piece for me with
executive presence is, you know,you have to really always do
your homework about the audiencethat you're going to meet. Who
are you going to interact withthroughout a day. I find a lot
(18:32):
of times that that people that Imentor will say to me, you know,
I'm not really quite sure why Ididn't land that job, or I'm not
really quite sure why. So and Sodoesn't remember me like I had a
conversation with them. And I'llsay everything from, well, you
know, if it was virtual, did youshow up on camera? And sometimes
they'll say no. And I'm like,Well, if you don't show up on
camera, people, people need aface to be able to resonate
(18:56):
with. And then, you know, I'lldig deeper and say, well, when,
when you showed up, you know,for X, Y and Z meeting. How
prepared were you? Did you doyour homework? Did you know the
folks in the room? Andsometimes, you know, we get
mixed reviews about that interms of presence. I also tell
people, you know, be preparedfor the moment. So a lot of
times, young women that I mentorwill say to me, you know, I
(19:20):
don't have lots of money to goout and buy fancy suits and all
this, this stuff. And I'll sayto them, listen, when I was an
entry level associate, my momand I went to JCPenney and
bought three different suitsthat I could mix and match, and
I made those things work foryears, right with different
blouses and and whatever. Soit's not even about that. It's
(19:42):
about being mindful of how youwant to display yourself. And
one of the other things that Itell people about executive
presence is you're not dressingor behaving or showing up for
the job you have today. You'reshowing you should be. Going up
for the job that you want, thejob that you aspire for next.
(20:04):
And so that's been a big thingfor me, too, is that, you know,
as I've worked my way up theladder in in corporate America,
and even today, as much as I'mthrilled with where I've landed,
I'm I'm always thinking I shouldshow up as if I'm the chief
communications officer, and whatdoes that look like? Right? And
(20:26):
it's not to say that I'maspiring to take that seat
tomorrow, but when peopleexperience me, I want them to
experience me in a way that letsthem know that I'm ready, I'm
ready for that seat, right? Andthat's the narrative that I want
to leave with them. And the lastthing that I'll say on that this
is, I do think that we're at aninflux point where, and this is
(20:49):
something I'm really happyabout, where black women in
particular, we can show up andbe a little bit more authentic.
I'm starting to see that incorporate America spaces, for
instance, I, you know, 10 yearsago, wearing braids probably was
a little bit less commonplace,and now, I mean, it's hot here
(21:11):
in Dallas, so I'm not reallysure if I didn't have braids in
the summer, I don't really knowwhat I would do, but it's
perfect. You know, you can showup and that can be considered
professional and not somethingthat needs to be talked about.
And so I think we continue tomake inroads in that space, too,
in terms of us being able toshow up authentically without
(21:31):
that being countered to thenarrative of executive presence
that we want to bring indifferent environments. Now I
heard to talk
Angela Harris (21:39):
about, you know, the progress that you've seen
over the years, specificallywith people being more
comfortable with braids in theworkplace. I know we also have
the crown act now as well. Whatare some areas of opportunity
you see that haven't beenaddressed yet?
Ashlee Davidson (21:54):
Yeah, I think that there's still as much as
specifically with braids, youknow, and just our hair. I think
we are making inroads. I dothink that there's still some
work to be done there, and so Ithink we've still got a ways to
go. But I also think you knowthat in general, I was having a
(22:18):
conversation with a couple of ofmentees of mine, and they were
saying, you know, I don't wantto have I feel like it's
imposter syndrome, you know,that I can't fully show up to
work the way that I am. And Isaid, Well, why not? And they
were telling me that, you know,they want to be able to show up
(22:41):
and where they want to be ableto show up and wear certain, you
know, head wraps on their head,head, or they want to be able to
show up just different thingsthat, that, that we typically do
when we're not in corporatesettings. And I said, I think
there's a fine line to that,because at the same time that
(23:04):
that may be what you do outsideof work and how you show up when
you go somewhere with yourfriends or you brunch with your
girlfriends, think about anaverage white man, right? He
doesn't necessarily, even if,and I hate to be stereotypical,
but because my husband loves togolf too. So it's not even about
(23:26):
white men, but my husband, who'sa black man, is not going to
show up to his job with his golfshorts on and his golf polo,
right? Like that's not what he'sgoing to do. He's going to dress
for the job that he's assignedto do. And same for a white
male, if if golfing or fishingis his thing. So we have to
(23:46):
figure out how we strike morebalance and how we want to
represent ourselves again, kindof going back to what should be
acceptable, things that we dowith our hair that should not
even be a conversation, but alsofiguring out a balance with
that, because I think there'sstill something to be said about
corporate America is what it is,and there should be dress codes
(24:10):
that should be, that you know,that we should adhere to.
Angela Harris (24:15):
Also it depends on the culture as well. Like
some you know, workplacecultures, they are more casual
than others. It is acceptable tocome to work every day in jeans
and a T shirt speaker, yeah,
Ashlee Davidson (24:25):
yeah, and so. And to pull that a little bit
further right, like the theoffice that I work in is very
corporate, and so the thementees that I'm referring to,
like, they work in this officespace, and they and they tell me
that they want to one day sit inthe seat that I'm sitting in. So
going back to what you weresaying about like, executive
(24:46):
presence, I'm trying to help yoube ahead of the game, so that
when those opportunities arise,people are like, absolutely. We
see Angela. We see the valuethere. We see how she shows up.
You know, if. So if you aspireto be in that the specific
space, there are, you know,rules of the road that you kind
(25:08):
of politics that you kind ofhave to be able to navigate
through. But if that's not, youknow, the environment that you
want to be in, I'm good withthat too. And, you know, find
the environment that speaks moreto how you want, you know, the
culture that you're comfortablein, because those, fortunately,
those exist now, right? Andpeople can maneuver through
(25:31):
those too.
Angela Harris (25:32):
Yeah, like I said, it's all about alignment
and finding, you know, culturesand organizations that align
with your personal values,right, right? So you feel
comfortable. I'm curious. I askyou, what's, what's the biggest
risk or leap that you've takento advance your career?
Ashlee Davidson (25:49):
Oh, man, okay. I think for me, the, you know,
I'll make it more general in thesense of, I'm I'm more. I was
born and raised in Connecticut,and love Connecticut. Shout out
to Connecticut and all my myfriends and family back there.
But it's a small town, you know,it gives you Connecticut gives
(26:11):
you very small town. Feel,everybody kind of knows
everybody. Base, you know,whatever city you grew up in,
everybody kind of knowseverybody. The circles end up,
you know, just kind of collidingbecause, because there's smaller
degrees of separation. Andgrowing up for me that was
great, you know, I feel like myvillage was strong. You know,
(26:32):
there were people that supportedmy parents, you know, the church
that we went to, everybody kneweverybody. It's that kind of
feel. But I also knew that, onceI got into this corporate thing
that I that I started to reallyget a taste for and realized how
(26:53):
much of a how much of a paththere was for me. I realized
that I was going to have to getuncomfortable if I really wanted
to get after it, because therewere tons of Fortune 500
companies, you know, outside ofmy sphere of comfort, in in
Connecticut or just the generaltri state area, that would
(27:14):
probably afford me some reallygood opportunities. And so for a
lot of people, that's toouncomfortable. That's too
uncomfortable to do. And forsome people, I I totally respect
that, you know, givencircumstance, some people have
families, they have to take careof things that tie them back to
certain areas peace. I get that100% and I don't take away from
(27:37):
that. But, or very early on, youknow, in my sort of mid 20s, I
said to myself, You know what?I'm at least going to, I'm going
to, at least going to get ataste of of what it would be
like to make a move for mycareer if I don't love it. You
know, I go back home and, do youknow, and be in my safe space.
And so in my mid 20s, I wasoffered my first opportunity to
(27:59):
go from Connecticut to West PalmBeach, Florida, to work at the
same company, but in apromotional role in
communications. And I shockedeverybody and said, I'm out of
here. I'm going to Florida, youknow, and, and I'm going by
myself, and, you know, I'm goingto, I'm going to see what this
is like. And it was souncomfortable. It was so like,
(28:20):
even in making the decision, Iwas saying to myself, What the
heck are you doing? Like, whyare you doing Why are you doing
this? Why are you going to getyourself this uncomfortable, not
know anybody you know, takeyourself away from everything
that's familiar. And it was, itwas the biggest challenge for me
to do, but it was the rightmove, because I grew
professionally, but mostimportantly, I grew person like
(28:43):
as a person. You know, I figuredout how to be comfortable with
myself by myself. I figured outhow to, you know, better, take
care of myself, and figure outhow, you know, to safeguard
myself as an individual. And soin doing that, I also, you know,
there were just many layers togrowing. And so from there, I
(29:05):
didn't shy away. I haven't shiedaway from opportunities to to
grow. There have been timeswhere people have asked me to go
places, and, you know, justbased on the role or what I'm
doing personally and where I am,I've, I've thankfully and
thoughtfully decline, but therehave been times where, you know,
I've said yes, it's a yes, it'sa yes for me and my family, and
(29:27):
so I'm thankful for my partnerand the journey that we're on.
And, you know, he and I haveagreed that at points when it
makes sense, if there'ssomething that we want to go do
together and explore, we'll takeanother leap of faith. But you
know, also, for us now, kind ofgoing back to what I was saying
about sometimes you, you know,you kind of stick to your realm
(29:49):
of comfort, I think for us rightnow, you know, Dallas is a great
space because of our kids andour you know, our kids are going
into our oldest is getting readyfor kindergarten. So. You take
those things into consideration.But I do think for me, the
biggest leap of faith has reallybeen stepping outside of what's
(30:10):
normal in terms of relocating.And so I encourage people when
you can look for opportunitiesto grow yourself, not only
professionally, but personally,and and do that? Give yourself
that opportunity to getuncomfortable and jump out the
window, and if you don't loveit, you know, you can say you
did it, but until I do it, youdon't know. You just don't know.
Angela Harris (30:34):
Just be open, and that that resonates with me as
well, like I am always open totrying new experiences and
trying new things personally andprofessionally. And I actually
did do cross country move oncefor a job opportunity. I lived
in the Seattle Washington areafor about three and a half
years, where I, you know, spentmy entire, you know, adulthood
on the East Coast, relocated tothe Pacific Northwest, and I was
(30:57):
open, you know, I was like, I'venever, you know, lived in that
part of the country before I wasopen to exploring it, found out
it wasn't for me, but I stillhad the ability to come back,
you know, I did, right? Yeah,
Ashlee Davidson (31:08):
yeah. And I just think, you know, for me, I
look I kind of going back towhat I was talking about when we
first started, you know, I tryto always reflect back on, you
know, where I am today, andwhat, what, what I envisioned my
life to be like 10 years ago or15 years ago, and and the person
that I was 10 or 15 years agoand the person that I am today.
(31:29):
And I'm a whole different personin a good way, but I'm all, I
mean, if you, if you haven'tspoken to me in the last five to
10 years, you don't, you don't,respectfully, you don't know me
anymore, and part of that isbecause I've grown. I've had,
you know, lessons learned. I'vemoved different places, I've
experienced different cultures,I've my exposure has grown, and
(31:52):
so it's just made me the personthat I am today, in a good way.
And so I encourage people tojust give yourself that
opportunity never, neverdiscount that in in your
journey, you know, just gettinguncomfortable and stepping out
and doing something for yourselfthat could really be life
changing.
Angela Harris (32:12):
Yeah, and I would say there are no wasted
experiences. There's alwayssomething that you can learn
from that situation or somethingthat you can leverage in the
future as you're advancing yourcareer, absolutely 100% it all
makes sense. I always say, trustthe process. It might not make
sense while you're going throughsomething, but at some point,
it'll all come together. Andalways,
Ashlee Davidson (32:32):
always does.
Angela Harris (32:36):
I want to touch on the story. I know we had a
conversation before ourinterview today, and you shared
a story about a time whensomeone introduced you as the
Vice President of Sales and thekey point of contact, but the
client still came up to you andasked Who was the vice president
of sales when they didn't wantto acknowledge that a black
woman was in that role. How didyou respond in that moment?
Ashlee Davidson (32:59):
Yeah, that is one that I think, as much as it
was, I can feel myself beingback in that whole situation all
over as I'm recounting it now,and I hope that that's not an
experience that I have to haveagain. It is one that definitely
(33:20):
impacted me as an individual andin my career forever. So a
couple of years ago, when Ifirst stepped into this specific
role, you know, part of my roleis going out to trade shows and
major customer engagements, andagain, to your point, sort of be
(33:40):
in the primary face or point ofcontact for the company, for
different engagements, and inthe VPC. And so a lot of times,
when there are major news andmedia outlets that want to come
and cover a story or get youknow the latest updates on on
what's happening with ourportfolio, I'm their primary
(34:03):
point of contact, their theirtheir interface should be with
with the VP of Communications.And so given that I was new in
the the seat at the time, somepeople knew at least my name,
but didn't know the face. And sothis was one of the first major
engagements where you were goingto see me in person. And so just
(34:27):
to give you know, a little bitof context, so nonetheless, the
the reporter that you'rereferring to came up to our
booth, and they immediatelyrecognize one of, one of my team
members who works on my team,who they had interacted with
before, and so that person youknow, took the initial
(34:47):
conversation and said, Yeah, youknow, Ashley's here. Definitely
want to make sure that you getan opportunity to sit and
connect with her, a to buildrelationship, but also because
she's got the latest drum beatand you know, so on. So forth.
So they came and and got andpulled me. I was in more of an
informal conversation on the onthe booth space. They came and
pulled me, and I'm like, yeah,absolutely, let's have the
(35:09):
conversation. And so they hadsaid that they were going to go.
They told that reporter theywere going to get the VP of
communication, they bring meback to make the formal
introduction. They introduced meas the VP of Communications.
Person shakes my hand and says,very nice to meet you. You know,
(35:30):
very nice to meet you. Thank youfor, you know, taking the time.
I was really hoping that I wouldget an opportunity to speak to
the VP of Communications. Andfor a second I was like, wait a
minute, did did my did mycoworker not make that
introduction? Like, is it me?Did it? Did they not connect the
dot? And so I said, Oh, youknow. But then I realized, yes,
(35:53):
they they intentionally did, andthey intentionally told me that
they were making thisintroduction. So I said, okay,
this person definitely has biasand and also has blinders on,
right? And so they are lookingat me as a black woman, right,
wrong or indifferent, and thatnot being the narrative or
(36:16):
perception that they'reaccustomed to. What am I
supposed to do in this moment?And so it was almost like I had
an outer body experience for asecond. And it was like, do I
get do I get bothered and upsetand throw you know, attitude and
Sass at the situation, or do Iunderstand this is a moment of
(36:39):
learning for both of us, but Ihad to really take, you know, I
didn't want it to becomeawkward. So I had like, two
seconds to figure this out,right? And so it was like a two
second, maybe little bit longerbreath that I took, and I said,
Oh, I'm Ashley. I'm I am the newVP of Communications, but it was
(37:01):
the way I kind of emphasized, Iam the new VP of Communications.
And you could see, almost inthat moment, you could see their
whole perception. It was almostlike they there was a moment of
reflection, shock, you know,they didn't really know what to
do. And so he took a pause andsaid, Oh, okay, okay, okay,
(37:23):
okay. So help me, you know, helpme understand is the has, has
your role changed? You know, isthe reporting structure. I said
it's the same role. I'm, I'mjust the new person in the role.
So even then, there was stillthis whole like, did they break
the roll up? Or, you know, doyou have somebody else that
(37:43):
you're reporting to? Like therewas still this questioning that
I had to gracefully walk and soI said to him, if you like, to
have, you know, the conversationabout X, Y and Z, I've got a few
minutes now. You know, we can goahead and do that. You know,
we've got conference rooms andspaces, and sort of reluctantly,
(38:04):
he he was, you know, agreed toit because I had the story that
he needed, and so we had theconversation. He got the
information he needed. He couldclearly tell by the end of the
interview that I wasknowledgeable and that I had the
presence and that I was the keyperson, right? But the fact that
(38:25):
I had to go through that much toget to that point was was very
eye opening for me. And so acouple of things on that. So we
left, what we left? And I couldtell at that point he's like,
okay, she, she really is the VPof Communications. So he said to
me, you know, I appreciate thistime today, and you know you're
(38:46):
super knowledgeable, and youknow it's great to have you in
the role. I look forward toengaging with you again. And so
I've since experienced him acouple of times at different
points. And it's alwaysinteresting to me that as much
as, you know, we got past that,that bridge and and, you know,
he knows who I am, and we havegood relationship. When he
(39:06):
introduces me to one of hispeers, it's almost like he feels
like he has to over introduce melike, almost like, can you
believe? Like he'll, he'll say,this is, this is Angela. She's
the she's the VP ofcommunication. Almost like, can
you believe? Can you believe? Imean, wow. Like, look what
Lockheed Martin has done. Lookwho they put in the seat. And so
(39:29):
it's almost like a little bitcondescending, you know. And
it's, it kind of brings me backto the point I was making about
my daughter, like, I don't wanther to have to experience that.
You know, she doesn't
Angela Harris (39:43):
have to experience that now in the in
2024 right? All the progress I'musing AirPods, the progress that
we've made over the years atyou, and we're still, you
shouldn't have to be placed inthose situations. And it said
that at the level in which.You're operating, you still have
to prove yourself.
Ashlee Davidson (40:03):
We're still right here, right so for as much
as we've made inroads, we arestill right here. And these
things are things that are stillbeing experienced, whether
they're talked about or not. AndI think that sometimes,
especially for black women, weexperience these things, and
(40:24):
then we decide, You know what,corporate America is not for me,
or this role is not for me, orI'm tired like I'm not fighting
this battle. I'm gonna go dosomething different. And I
respect that, because it's itcan be exhausting. It can be
mentally, emotionally exhausted,right? But I also, but also for
(40:47):
me, because I have thosemoments, I have those moments,
but then I also, you know, Ipray I get myself back in the
right space, and I say, You knowwhat? I was placed here for a
reason. I was placed here to dogood work. I was placed here
because I'm knowledgeable. I wasplaced here because I have the
skill set. And I was placed herebecause, even in 2024 if this is
(41:08):
what we're doing, we need tomake inroads to change it. And
so for me, it's always like evenjust me having these
interactions with people andshowing them that, yes, I am.
The VP of Communications ishelping us to break this, this
narrative that sometimes goesuntopped about, because we want
(41:29):
to make it seem like it doesn'texist anymore, but it does. You
know, it's a real thing that Ithink we we have to be real and
honest about, but also we haveto figure out how we continue to
shift.
Angela Harris (41:43):
Yeah. So I guess, what was your message be to I
guess, like, you know, corporateAmerica or allies is based on
the story that you share. Like,what's the message? What's the
call to action?
Ashlee Davidson (41:55):
Oh, man, the call to action is to continue to
to educate your work a couple ofthings continue to educate your
workforce on the power ofdiversity, not just diversity of
race, because diversity of raceis is one big piece of it, but
(42:16):
also diversity of thought. I'mgetting myself educated now on
more diversity and understandinghow we can empower and equip
different employees who havedifferent disabilities, making
sure that they haveopportunities to really advance
(42:37):
in their careers, you know, andequip them based on what they
need, based on their disability.So all of these ranges of
diversity of thought, you know,capability, race, gender, all of
that we need to we need tocontinue to educate our
workforce, continue to educatecorporate leaders on all of all
(43:01):
of the ranges of diversity thatwe bring to a workplace, because
that is what's really going topropel us forward, is that
diversification of ourworkforce. And I think the other
call, call to action for me isin particular for people of
color and for black women. Youknow, I I cannot state enough
(43:24):
that there is space for you,there is space for you, there is
room for you. Your talent isneeded, your face is needed. And
when you show up, people takenotice, and when they take
notice, make sure they takenotice for the right things,
because we are, we are thefuture of the workspace. We are.
(43:47):
I mean, if you look at thedemographics of this nation, and
you know, the populations ofpeople and the different colors
of people in terms of who'swho's actually, over the next 10
to 15 years really going to bethe majority. We are the
demographics, right? And solet's make sure that that's
(44:08):
reflected at the table. And theonly way to do that is to
advocate for yourself. Advocatefor yourself, get the right
mentors, make sure that you'reagain, going back to what we
said before take in those leapsof faith, but also make sure
that you're equipping yourselfso that you're ready for that
next position. And the finalcall to action that I would just
(44:32):
say is, you know, for those whodon't necessarily look like me,
be open to those who don't looklike you and I, I've, I've been
fortunate, you know, with a lotof my peers who don't
necessarily look like me, we'vegotten, we've built really good
relationships now where I cantell that there are points where
(44:54):
I've just educated them on blackwomen, you know, I, I've in a
positive. Way, right? Like Ieducate them on, on culture. I
educate them on, you know,different different things that
I do, or different things thatare cultural, culturally
important to me, that I bring tothe table, that they may just
not have knowledge on. And soit's knowledge that they're
(45:18):
receiving and they're interestedin, but they didn't have anybody
they've never experiencedanybody like me to have those
right levels of conversation,right? And so it's almost like I
can't fault you for not havingthose experiences based on your
upbringing, or not havingsomeone like me sit next to you
at the table. But now that youdo, and you're willing to have
(45:40):
those conversations, you'rewilling to lean in, you're
willing to understand myperspective, like, let's do it
together. Let's, let's buildthat together. And so I would
just encourage, you know,corporate leaders and just just
people that are at the tablethat don't look like me, to just
lean in. Just continue to leanin and be open. Have a growth
(46:01):
mindset and be open to learningand growing, because I think
there's really, that's where thegoodness is, for sure,
Angela Harris (46:09):
like what you said about being open, but also,
like to your point about, youknow, education. You know,
educate yourself. Don't expectthe person of color to do all
the educating you. There's tonsof resources out there available
so you can educate yourself, andlike you said, with the growth
mindset, be be open and curious,and come with your questions
Ashlee Davidson (46:27):
100% and I think as long as people know
that you're coming from a goodplace and a pure place where you
know you want to beknowledgeable, you want To make
an impact, you want to help bethe change that we need to see
people like myself. I'mreceptive to that all day long,
(46:47):
you know, because I know that bydoing that, I'm helping to
create a path for someone else,you know, who, who may one day
sit at a similar table?
Angela Harris (46:59):
Yeah, you well, Ashley, thank you so much for
sharing your insights today.Before we wrap up, I do have one
final question I would like toask you, what do you do to
recharge when you aren'tfearlessly leading?
Ashlee Davidson (47:15):
I am always, always, always, always. I I
tease my girlfriends, and I say,you know, as much as I'm busy
doing all the things, I like tobe a well kept woman, and I
encourage women to be well kept.Like, no matter your budget,
(47:36):
take care of yourself, right?Like, if you if you can't afford
to, you know, alwaysprofessionally, get your hair
and nails done. Figure out howto do that stuff for yourself,
right? But be well kept. Be wellkept, because when you look
good, you feel good. And so I amas much as I'm busy and I'm
(47:58):
ripping and running and doingall the things I am very guarded
about, things that are aboutself care for myself. You know,
I've, I have a wonderfulesthetician who is educating me
on the importance of gettingfacials a couple times a year.
Just right? It's so and I'vedone it the last few years, and
(48:19):
like it's been, it's so good formy skin, and I didn't even know
it. And so, you know, that'spart of me being well kept but I
also, you know, I'm also onewho, when I start to feel that
my body is run down, you know,you gotta listen to your body.
So when you start to feel thatyour body is run down. It's okay
(48:42):
to take a nap. It's okay. It'sokay to take a nap. It's okay to
take a nap. It's okay to tellyour girlfriends I can't make it
this time. It's okay to giveyourself grace. We are. We love
to go to church every Sunday asa family, but every now and
then, there's a Sunday where Isimply watch on my couch with my
(49:05):
tea, and I might be braiding mydaughter's hair, but I need a
second right? And it's we haveto be okay with those moments of
self care to be well kept,because the world expects a lot
of us. The world expects a lotof me and expects a lot of you,
and if we don't take moments torecharge for ourself, no one
(49:28):
will. No one's going to tellAngela, go take a nap. Angela,
you look super tired, and I knowyou need a rest, and I know you
need a facial you know no one'sgoing to say that to you. So I'm
very mindful, and I live by thiswhole thing of like I always
want to be well kept. And when Istop, when I stop feeling well
kept, I figure out, you know, acouple of hours or a half day,
(49:52):
or whatever I need, and I don'tfeel selfish about it, because
once I'm back to self, I canpour in and do 100 And 10% of
what I do every single day as asuperwoman. So that's my biggest
thing about recharging. Andevery week doesn't look the same
for me, but I try to figure outways to make sure that I'm, you
(50:12):
know, recharging and refillingmy cup when I can. Yeah,
Angela Harris (50:16):
I resonate with that as well. I love my facials,
massages, and I guess a hack forthe listeners. I know you talked
about, everyone may not be ableto do that for you know,
financially, there's beautyschools out there, so if you do
want to get a facial, you can goto a student who's an aspiring
esthetician and get a reducedcost facial or reduced cost
massage. So there, there'soptions out there, 100% or,
Ashlee Davidson (50:38):
you know, yes, I resonate with that. And I also
tell as well yes, another way,yes. I even tell my interns, I'm
like, Listen, go to Ulta and geta $20 face mask, you know, lay,
lay back and and put a twocucumbers on your eyes, and feel
beautiful for 20 minutes, right?Like figure out, but you will
feel so much better, and youwill be taking care of yourself,
(51:01):
and you're pouring intoyourself, and that alone will
help you recharge and be able tobe your best self.
Angela Harris (51:08):
And also, also the spatials at Ulta. Oh, I
haven't done that. Oh, yeah,that's another you can get
patients at Ulta, not alllocations, but some of them do
facials. Okay, good to knowexactly. Well, how listeners
stay connected with you. Ashley,yeah, thank
Ashlee Davidson (51:23):
you for that. Angela, so again, I mentioned
very briefly, I, aside from thiswonderful job that I have, I
also have a new, fairly newconsulting business that I've
started. It'swww.speakaberrant.com. So it's
speak aberrant, A, B, E, R, R,A, N, t.com, and I'm also on a
(51:47):
few social handles, but in inparticular, Instagram is is the
main place where I post a lot ofcontent, and that that handle is
just simply @SpeakAberrant. So Ilook forward to connecting with
your listeners, Angela and Ireally appreciate the
opportunity to be a part of ofyour wonderful podcast.
Angela Harris (52:06):
Well, thank you for being here. I really
appreciate it as well, and I'llmake sure I include all your
information in the show notes,so the listeners will have it.
Great.
Ashlee Davidson (52:15):
Great. Well, thank you for the time. Great.
Angela Harris (52:18):
Well, to our listeners, thank you for tuning
in to this episode of the flowpodcast as a reminder. Episodes
are released bi weekly onWednesdays, and the podcast is
available on all majorplatforms. If you have a
suggestion for a topic or aguest, I'd love to hear from
you, and you can send me anemail at
angela@angelavharris.com, untilnext time, take care. Hey,
(52:43):
fearless leaders, it's thefourth quarter of 2024. Are you
ready to finish the year strong?Whether you're looking to land a
new job, set clear goals or takeyour career to the next level.
Now is the time to make ithappen. As an executive
leadership coach, I specializein helping professionals like
(53:04):
you break barriers, buildconfidence and achieve their
career goals. Let's worktogether to create a customized
plan that ensures you close out2024 with success and momentum.
If you're ready to explore how Ican support you on your journey.
I invite you to book a freediscovery call today visit
(53:27):
www.angelavharris.com to bookyour call. Thank you for
listening to the flow podcast aswe wrap up today's episode,
always remember your uniquepath, your voice and your
leadership matter. If you lovedwhat you heard, subscribe now to
(53:51):
stay updated on our latestepisodes. Take a moment to leave
a review and share this episodewith someone who can benefit
from these conversations. Youcan stay connected with me on
Instagram at@theflowpodcastwithangela, or
visit me on the web atwww.angelavharris.com Until next
(54:15):
time, take care. Stay inspiredand keep fearlessly leading in
your own way.
Unknown (54:28):
And.
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