Are You Culturally Intelligent? From Local to Global Impact (w/ Bisila Bokoko)

Bisila Bokoko says that our purpose is not defined by what we do...but by who we are.

Growing up in Valencia, Spain with mixed Spanish-African heritage came with a heavy dose of discomfort. But these experiences drove her to learn more about her heritage…to become what she calls “culturally intelligent.”

Cultural intelligence has been the key to Bisila’s success as a founder. By becoming culturally intelligent, she’s learned how relationship building can scale businesses like Mango and Zara through her company Bisila Bokoko Embassy International (BBES). 

She’s landed monumental jobs like Executive Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and the Director of Valencia’s foreign exchange in New York. She’s been featured in Vogue, Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair. And today, she’s Chair of the Executive Board of the United Nation’s EMPRETEC Women in Business Awards. She even has her own Spanish wine brand.

In this episode, we answer questions like: how do you become culturally intelligent? What’s the overlap between building relationships and building big businesses? And how can I discover my unique value proposition as a person, and communicate that value to others?

Bisila talks about:

• How to go from local to global
• Helping other women to climb ladders
• Growing up visibly different in Valencia
• The trip to Africa that changed her worldview
• Why she has no employees (but plenty of collaborators)
• Getting hired (and fired) as Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce

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Hosted by Katherin Vasilopoulos. Made by Cansulta and Ethan Lee.
Music by © Correspondence and © Chris Zabriskie, published by You've Been a Wonderful Laugh Track (ASCAP). 

Songs used in this episode include: 

• Chris Zabriskie - "Air Hockey Saloon," "I Am Running Down the Long Hallway of Viewmont Elementary," "Your Mother's Daughter," "Is That You or Are You You?"  "Short Song 011723," "Short Song 020323," "Land On the Golden Gate," "Everybody's Got Problems That Aren't Mine."
• Correspondence - "On Again (version)," "Expanding Cycle," "On + On," "On Again," "In Copenhagen," "Longshore Drift (fragments)."

Used under the Creative Commons 4.0 International License