May 28, 2025 • 14 mins
Alex Ebanks, VP of Communications at Fiserv, shares her journey from Spelman College to leading major brand communications on a global stage. From her early PR internships to handling media at the Essence Festival and the Super Bowl, Alex talks about the power of storytelling and branding in corporate leadership. She discusses the transferable skills that helped her navigate industries, the importance of mentorship, and how effective communication can shape a brand’s legacy. Whether you’re in PR, marketing, or corporate leadership, Alex’s insights offer inspiration for making bold career moves and excelling in new spaces.
Guest: Alex Ebanks
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Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music / Roj & Twinkie
Guest: Alex Ebanks
| Powered by The House of Joy |
Subscribe & Follow:
Don’t miss an episode of "Stay A While"! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Stay connected and get the latest updates by following us on Instagram @StayAWhileShow and follow our host Tommi Vincent @cheftommiv. Watch full episodes on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@ChefTommiV
Join the Conversation:
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Share your insights and stories with us using #StayAWhilePodcast on social media.
Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music / Roj & Twinkie
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to a special edition of Stale Wild, recorded live
on Radio Row at Super Bowl fifty nine. I'm your host,
Tommy Vincent, and we are going to be hearing some
dynamic conversations with phenomenal guests here on Radio Row.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So take a seat, get comfortable in stalewall.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
This episode is sponsored by the House of Joy. Hi everyone,
it's Tommy Vincent, your host of stale Wild podcast, and
today I have joining me at the table Alex Ebanks.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hey, Alex, how are you? I am great, I'm just
happy to be here with you today.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Absolutely. So let me just tell you a little bit
about Alex. She is the vice president of communication at
five Serf and five Serf can you please just tell
everybody what that is.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It's a global fintech company.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
You probably are using it in your homes and your
day to day lives. And also five Serve owns the
Clover brand that if you think about different payment systems
that you're going up to every day when you're purchasing
products from around the world, it's probably a Clover device.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, and well, listen, if people are still spending money
because stuff is getting so expensive, I don't know, they
might not be using the Clover systems, and we're excited
to be here this weekend, in particular because Clover is
the only payment.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Processing system in the Supernome.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
So all seventy thousand plus fans that are going to
be catching the Big Game this week will actually be
using the device.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
So beyond the Super Bowl, is that the payment system
that's just there like it's it's it's a part of
the Super Dome as a fixture.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yes, okay, yes, but for many years now, so essentially
it is there twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
It just happens to be a super Superdome for the
Big Game this week. How did you get into communications?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
So my love for communications starting when I was a
student at spell In College in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Wait a minute, another spell Listen. I just had someone
from Spelling filming on the couch. My daughter is currently
at Spelman. Okay, what year she is a sophomore. Wow,
that's a great time. Yeah, great time. But I'm sorry,
go ahead about Spellman.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
So when I was at Spelman, i became an English
major and I was like, what am I going to
do with this degree? The options normally are teaching, and
I was like, maybe not maybe not teaching?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
So I started interning.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
You learn more about opportunities and I fell in love
with popopulations. Of my first internships was actually at BT
at the Monique Show and I got to really see
from these publicists that would bring a lot of their
talent to come to interviews with Monique every day. And
I was like, this is what I'm going to do.
How do I figure out how to get into it?
And I did seven internships while I was in college,
(02:45):
so I busy managed seven time in turn every semester
and every summer.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And it lucked out because when my first job was actually.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Through an internship that I had specifically in the TV
and film and entertainment sector at a publiclation the agency,
and then from there I just was able to get
such great opportunities. I've had the time at coc Cola
where I was able to lead communications for the co Cola,
Sprite and Dye Coke brands. I went on to start
the global consumer PR division at Xbox. At Microsoft, I
(03:18):
went to be the head of communication the Essence brand
that we all love and Legacy brand, and now I'm
currently at Visor.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
How Like, So you just mentioned all of those different
entities that you worked at from the position of communications.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
How do you.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Transfer and they're different, those entities are different, very different.
How do you take that skill set and apply it
in those different places and it works?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yes, So I'm all about transferable skills. I always tell
everyone when I step into a new job. It's not
only an industry I've never worked in, never thought about
working in before.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I know nothing about even taking this job.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I started reading about global payments because I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
As familiar with it.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I used my phone and I paid Apple Pay like
everyone else, but I was not as in the know
of the industry to do a lot of reading. But
with transferable skills such as writing, being able to just
properly communicate, even if it's a simple email, I've been
able to take those with me to every single job.
And because I've been successful at those transferable skills, once
(04:27):
I learned the industry, I'm able to.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Really utilize that to do the work that I'm people
living on.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
My son actually just was speaking with someone about, you know,
his his career path and opportunities opening up for him,
and the person that was mentoring him said, you're ahead
of the game today as a young person if you
just know how to compose an email? Yes, yes, And
I think that that is bizarre that that would be
(04:56):
something that people would be like, Wow, you know how
to write an email? And I know you're an advocate
for writing skills. Why do you think that's so important?
And what do you think has happened where that skill
now is sought after versus just a given. So I
think it's social media.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
We're all shortening words, shortening you know, phrases and sentences,
and that then just translated over to emails in the
professional work environment, which it's not as easy to do
as on your on social media because you really have
to communicate a different type of way and so the
art of even writing an email is so important, but
sometimes seems to get lost. So even when you're interviewing
(05:37):
for a job and you see you send a thank
you email, that email is something that as hiring managers
we look at and we say, okay, can they actually
write an email that has proper spelling, has set a structure,
because then they can write a press release. They can
then write a messaging document for an executive. And that's
really a skill that we need in communications.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
When you we're doing your work with Essence and like
you said, it's an iconic brand that many of us
know and love. For you, what was your most memorable
moment in that experience that's treasured to you.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I would say the thirtieth university of the festival, so
twenty twenty four in March, thirty years of the Essence
Festival of Culture. And to be able to lead the
communications efforts there we had four hundred reporters for around
the world to ten of the record number, four hundred,
four hundred reporters, record number, I think. To be able
to be a part of the strategy and the planning
(06:36):
for such a major moment in our culture. To be
able to see Frankie Beverly close out Essence Festival for
what was the last time at what we thought, given
that time that was for his career, because he said
he wasn't going to be performing anymore. We unfortunately then
saw that it was the last time that he performed on.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
A stage ever. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So to just be a part of that moment and
witness it and be a part of just the planning
of it was probably the most psychaic thing I think
I could ever have done in my career and really
special to me.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, yeah, No.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I the first concert ever took my daughter to and
she I think she was like ten.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
It was Frankie Beverly.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And you know he was a cultural icon, but it
was at the Bronner Brothers hair show in Atlanta, Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So I just love just the experiences we get to
have culturally. Yes, that for us, it just really becomes
like staples in our communities.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Even if you never attended, you know about it.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
You know somebody who attended, and their like these conversations
that live forever. Yes, and you've been instrumental in allowing
those conversations to come forward beyond just the ones we're
having at the kitchen table, because you're part of the
strategy and all of.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
It's so to be able to sit in that predict
position I was in at the time and say we
have to have Frankie Beverly, like he has to close
it out thirty years he performed sixteen, sixteen years, thirty years.
It maybe seventeen, because I think last year maybe been
the seventeenth, but at the time it was sick about
sixteen okay years that he had closed out are been
a part of the festival in some way, so to
(08:20):
be able to see him close it out, and again
no one, of course knew what was going to happen
a few months after the festival ended.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
But to even be able to see him close.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
It out for the last time in his performing career,
which is you know he had announced, was really really, really.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Special and then you know, unfortunately what happened, But.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
The legacy lives on and he was fantastic and I'm
looking forward to seeing what they do for this year
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Absolutely, so at five Serve in your role and responsibility
here at the Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (08:51):
What are you responsible for?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So five Serve has a ton of really cool stuff
with the Clover brand happening this week. We partner with
a bunch of restaurants in the city, retailers, anything you
can think of. So as attendees are here visiting, coming
to watch the game, they probably will interact with a
Clover device at some point, whether they're scheduling time to
eat at a restaurant and they're paying a checkout, whether
(09:16):
they're stopping by a local nail salon, whether they're attending
the Big Game and going to be interacting with the
devices that way to actually purchase those concessions and you know,
sports gear and things of that nature that they're going
to be buying.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
So throughout the week, we're really excited.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
To amplify what Clover is doing, but also we're giving back.
So we partner with Marshall Fault, NFL Legend, New Orleans
hometown legend. We actually stopped buying surprise and restaurants locally
yesterday in the city with Marshall Fault to surprise them
and give them a bit of game as they gear
up for their busy week, because we know, I mean,
(09:52):
with all these thousands of people in town, they're hungry,
and they're stopped by some one of these amazing restaurants
that are in New Orleans, and he was able to
just kind of give them some pointers. He bought some
Clover resiliency packs to just get them ready for a
very busy week, and he had to spend some time
talking to the restaurant owners to just tell them more
about not only what he is gearing up for us.
(10:13):
He was a Super Bowl champion himself, but also he's
a small business owner and so he was even gave
them Kip some tricks on how he's his clover to
really empower his small business as well.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Now you may not know this about me, but I
am a chef.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
So my question is, you were doing this tour with
Marshall at these restaurants. Did you try any of the restaurants?
In which one are you recommending to me?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (10:38):
That's a great question. So everything was amazing and I
did make sure to try everything. They're probably like, who
is this girl eating everything? But I'm addis here in
New Orleans. It's amazing Ethiopian food. The family that owns it,
we spent some time with them, the wife, the husband,
the son. They were absolutely fantastic. It's black owned, and
(11:02):
I would say that one. That one's my recommendation for
me right now. I'll try to swing back by there
at some point this weekend if I can.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Okay, okay, I'm going to check that out.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Now. Just based off of our interaction here, you strike
me as someone that is focused in your career and
you have some milestones.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
And objectives you are going to pursue.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yes, So what is next for you from a career
development perspective for yourself that you have your eyes set on?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
So I think right now, I'm really about building up talent.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I think one of my passion points from even discounity
boards I sit on is really bring ushering in and
bring in the next generation of people that look like
us that are in the communications industry. I participated pretty
frequently with the public place side of America's National Diverse
and Inclusion Board, and one of the biggest things there
(12:05):
is to allow a space for people that look like
all of us, whether American, Asian, Fanic, American LGBTQ, to
really be in those rooms at these companies in the
communications field. I've oftentimes in my career have been the
only like of any ethnicity in those rooms. And so
the goal I have this is my career right now,
(12:26):
is like, how do I bring others in so that
that room is definitely more different than I've seen it
in the past. And anytime I have the opportunity to hire,
I really look to see who are the best candidates,
but also making sure that we have as many diverse
minds in the room as possible, because that really brings
the best ideas and the best results and outcomes.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, I couldn't agree with that more or I think
that that's what's lost in the conversation. When you bring diversity,
you get diversity of thought as well.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yes, And to your.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Point, now, the ideas go, they multiply in ways that
benefit the organization, and that's where we should desire to
be when we want to build successful entities.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So I love that, and I just know, just based
off of my interaction, I'm like, oh, okay, I got her.
I can tell that you are a woman that is
really focused on what you're focused on, and you do
what you want to do, what you set out to accomplish,
You're going to get it done. So I'm looking forward
to watching your career to continue to flourish and blossom.
(13:28):
And I'm really excited that you're a Spelman. Yeah, because
now when we finish in this conversation here, I'm going
to go introduce you to Hadassa so she can connect
with her big sister.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yes, I would love that.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Spell And I on campus a lot, checking in on
my mentees and all sorts of fun stuff.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Absolutely, So I want to thank you so much Alex
for joining me here on stalewall and just know that
there is a seed available for you at my table anytime.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Thank you. I really appreciate that invite absolutely, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I hope you felt the love and connection in today's conversation.
Every woman you heard from has faced the impossible and
emerged stronger. This is your personal invitation to stale while
longer at Tommy V dot com. That's t O M
M I V dot com for more inspiration for your mind,
body and soul and let's not forget your belly. You're
(14:26):
always welcome at my table. Please be sure to subscribe,
make yourself at home and stale wild
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Gone, Stale
Welcome to a special edition of Stale Wild, recorded live
on Radio Row at Super Bowl fifty nine. I'm your host,
Tommy Vincent, and we are going to be hearing some
dynamic conversations with phenomenal guests here on Radio Row.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So take a seat, get comfortable in stalewall.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
This episode is sponsored by the House of Joy. Hi everyone,
it's Tommy Vincent, your host of stale Wild podcast, and
today I have joining me at the table Alex Ebanks.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hey, Alex, how are you? I am great, I'm just
happy to be here with you today.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Absolutely. So let me just tell you a little bit
about Alex. She is the vice president of communication at
five Serf and five Serf can you please just tell
everybody what that is.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It's a global fintech company.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
You probably are using it in your homes and your
day to day lives. And also five Serve owns the
Clover brand that if you think about different payment systems
that you're going up to every day when you're purchasing
products from around the world, it's probably a Clover device.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, and well, listen, if people are still spending money
because stuff is getting so expensive, I don't know, they
might not be using the Clover systems, and we're excited
to be here this weekend, in particular because Clover is
the only payment.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Processing system in the Supernome.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
So all seventy thousand plus fans that are going to
be catching the Big Game this week will actually be
using the device.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
So beyond the Super Bowl, is that the payment system
that's just there like it's it's it's a part of
the Super Dome as a fixture.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yes, okay, yes, but for many years now, so essentially
it is there twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
It just happens to be a super Superdome for the
Big Game this week. How did you get into communications?
Speaker 3 (01:53):
So my love for communications starting when I was a
student at spell In College in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Wait a minute, another spell Listen. I just had someone
from Spelling filming on the couch. My daughter is currently
at Spelman. Okay, what year she is a sophomore. Wow,
that's a great time. Yeah, great time. But I'm sorry,
go ahead about Spellman.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
So when I was at Spelman, i became an English
major and I was like, what am I going to
do with this degree? The options normally are teaching, and
I was like, maybe not maybe not teaching?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
So I started interning.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
You learn more about opportunities and I fell in love
with popopulations. Of my first internships was actually at BT
at the Monique Show and I got to really see
from these publicists that would bring a lot of their
talent to come to interviews with Monique every day. And
I was like, this is what I'm going to do.
How do I figure out how to get into it?
And I did seven internships while I was in college,
(02:45):
so I busy managed seven time in turn every semester
and every summer.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And it lucked out because when my first job was actually.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Through an internship that I had specifically in the TV
and film and entertainment sector at a publiclation the agency,
and then from there I just was able to get
such great opportunities. I've had the time at coc Cola
where I was able to lead communications for the co Cola,
Sprite and Dye Coke brands. I went on to start
the global consumer PR division at Xbox. At Microsoft, I
(03:18):
went to be the head of communication the Essence brand
that we all love and Legacy brand, and now I'm
currently at Visor.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
How Like, So you just mentioned all of those different
entities that you worked at from the position of communications.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
How do you.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Transfer and they're different, those entities are different, very different.
How do you take that skill set and apply it
in those different places and it works?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yes, So I'm all about transferable skills. I always tell
everyone when I step into a new job. It's not
only an industry I've never worked in, never thought about
working in before.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I know nothing about even taking this job.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I started reading about global payments because I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
As familiar with it.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I used my phone and I paid Apple Pay like
everyone else, but I was not as in the know
of the industry to do a lot of reading. But
with transferable skills such as writing, being able to just
properly communicate, even if it's a simple email, I've been
able to take those with me to every single job.
And because I've been successful at those transferable skills, once
(04:27):
I learned the industry, I'm able to.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Really utilize that to do the work that I'm people
living on.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
My son actually just was speaking with someone about, you know,
his his career path and opportunities opening up for him,
and the person that was mentoring him said, you're ahead
of the game today as a young person if you
just know how to compose an email? Yes, yes, And
I think that that is bizarre that that would be
(04:56):
something that people would be like, Wow, you know how
to write an email? And I know you're an advocate
for writing skills. Why do you think that's so important?
And what do you think has happened where that skill
now is sought after versus just a given. So I
think it's social media.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
We're all shortening words, shortening you know, phrases and sentences,
and that then just translated over to emails in the
professional work environment, which it's not as easy to do
as on your on social media because you really have
to communicate a different type of way and so the
art of even writing an email is so important, but
sometimes seems to get lost. So even when you're interviewing
(05:37):
for a job and you see you send a thank
you email, that email is something that as hiring managers
we look at and we say, okay, can they actually
write an email that has proper spelling, has set a structure,
because then they can write a press release. They can
then write a messaging document for an executive. And that's
really a skill that we need in communications.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
When you we're doing your work with Essence and like
you said, it's an iconic brand that many of us
know and love. For you, what was your most memorable
moment in that experience that's treasured to you.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I would say the thirtieth university of the festival, so
twenty twenty four in March, thirty years of the Essence
Festival of Culture. And to be able to lead the
communications efforts there we had four hundred reporters for around
the world to ten of the record number, four hundred,
four hundred reporters, record number, I think. To be able
to be a part of the strategy and the planning
(06:36):
for such a major moment in our culture. To be
able to see Frankie Beverly close out Essence Festival for
what was the last time at what we thought, given
that time that was for his career, because he said
he wasn't going to be performing anymore. We unfortunately then
saw that it was the last time that he performed on.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
A stage ever. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So to just be a part of that moment and
witness it and be a part of just the planning
of it was probably the most psychaic thing I think
I could ever have done in my career and really
special to me.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, yeah, No.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I the first concert ever took my daughter to and
she I think she was like ten.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
It was Frankie Beverly.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
And you know he was a cultural icon, but it
was at the Bronner Brothers hair show in Atlanta, Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So I just love just the experiences we get to
have culturally. Yes, that for us, it just really becomes
like staples in our communities.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Even if you never attended, you know about it.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
You know somebody who attended, and their like these conversations
that live forever. Yes, and you've been instrumental in allowing
those conversations to come forward beyond just the ones we're
having at the kitchen table, because you're part of the
strategy and all of.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
It's so to be able to sit in that predict
position I was in at the time and say we
have to have Frankie Beverly, like he has to close
it out thirty years he performed sixteen, sixteen years, thirty years.
It maybe seventeen, because I think last year maybe been
the seventeenth, but at the time it was sick about
sixteen okay years that he had closed out are been
a part of the festival in some way, so to
(08:20):
be able to see him close it out, and again
no one, of course knew what was going to happen
a few months after the festival ended.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
But to even be able to see him close.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
It out for the last time in his performing career,
which is you know he had announced, was really really, really.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Special and then you know, unfortunately what happened, But.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
The legacy lives on and he was fantastic and I'm
looking forward to seeing what they do for this year
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Absolutely, so at five Serve in your role and responsibility
here at the Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (08:51):
What are you responsible for?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So five Serve has a ton of really cool stuff
with the Clover brand happening this week. We partner with
a bunch of restaurants in the city, retailers, anything you
can think of. So as attendees are here visiting, coming
to watch the game, they probably will interact with a
Clover device at some point, whether they're scheduling time to
eat at a restaurant and they're paying a checkout, whether
(09:16):
they're stopping by a local nail salon, whether they're attending
the Big Game and going to be interacting with the
devices that way to actually purchase those concessions and you know,
sports gear and things of that nature that they're going
to be buying.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
So throughout the week, we're really excited.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
To amplify what Clover is doing, but also we're giving back.
So we partner with Marshall Fault, NFL Legend, New Orleans
hometown legend. We actually stopped buying surprise and restaurants locally
yesterday in the city with Marshall Fault to surprise them
and give them a bit of game as they gear
up for their busy week, because we know, I mean,
(09:52):
with all these thousands of people in town, they're hungry,
and they're stopped by some one of these amazing restaurants
that are in New Orleans, and he was able to
just kind of give them some pointers. He bought some
Clover resiliency packs to just get them ready for a
very busy week, and he had to spend some time
talking to the restaurant owners to just tell them more
about not only what he is gearing up for us.
(10:13):
He was a Super Bowl champion himself, but also he's
a small business owner and so he was even gave
them Kip some tricks on how he's his clover to
really empower his small business as well.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Now you may not know this about me, but I
am a chef.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
So my question is, you were doing this tour with
Marshall at these restaurants. Did you try any of the restaurants?
In which one are you recommending to me?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (10:38):
That's a great question. So everything was amazing and I
did make sure to try everything. They're probably like, who
is this girl eating everything? But I'm addis here in
New Orleans. It's amazing Ethiopian food. The family that owns it,
we spent some time with them, the wife, the husband,
the son. They were absolutely fantastic. It's black owned, and
(11:02):
I would say that one. That one's my recommendation for
me right now. I'll try to swing back by there
at some point this weekend if I can.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Okay, okay, I'm going to check that out.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Now. Just based off of our interaction here, you strike
me as someone that is focused in your career and
you have some milestones.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
And objectives you are going to pursue.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yes, So what is next for you from a career
development perspective for yourself that you have your eyes set on?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
So I think right now, I'm really about building up talent.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I think one of my passion points from even discounity
boards I sit on is really bring ushering in and
bring in the next generation of people that look like
us that are in the communications industry. I participated pretty
frequently with the public place side of America's National Diverse
and Inclusion Board, and one of the biggest things there
(12:05):
is to allow a space for people that look like
all of us, whether American, Asian, Fanic, American LGBTQ, to
really be in those rooms at these companies in the
communications field. I've oftentimes in my career have been the
only like of any ethnicity in those rooms. And so
the goal I have this is my career right now,
(12:26):
is like, how do I bring others in so that
that room is definitely more different than I've seen it
in the past. And anytime I have the opportunity to hire,
I really look to see who are the best candidates,
but also making sure that we have as many diverse
minds in the room as possible, because that really brings
the best ideas and the best results and outcomes.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, I couldn't agree with that more or I think
that that's what's lost in the conversation. When you bring diversity,
you get diversity of thought as well.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yes, And to your.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Point, now, the ideas go, they multiply in ways that
benefit the organization, and that's where we should desire to
be when we want to build successful entities.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So I love that, and I just know, just based
off of my interaction, I'm like, oh, okay, I got her.
I can tell that you are a woman that is
really focused on what you're focused on, and you do
what you want to do, what you set out to accomplish,
You're going to get it done. So I'm looking forward
to watching your career to continue to flourish and blossom.
(13:28):
And I'm really excited that you're a Spelman. Yeah, because
now when we finish in this conversation here, I'm going
to go introduce you to Hadassa so she can connect
with her big sister.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yes, I would love that.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Spell And I on campus a lot, checking in on
my mentees and all sorts of fun stuff.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Absolutely, So I want to thank you so much Alex
for joining me here on stalewall and just know that
there is a seed available for you at my table anytime.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Thank you. I really appreciate that invite absolutely, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I hope you felt the love and connection in today's conversation.
Every woman you heard from has faced the impossible and
emerged stronger. This is your personal invitation to stale while
longer at Tommy V dot com. That's t O M
M I V dot com for more inspiration for your mind,
body and soul and let's not forget your belly. You're
(14:26):
always welcome at my table. Please be sure to subscribe,
make yourself at home and stale wild
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Gone, Stale
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