Embracing Only Archita Fritz , Olivia Cream and Meha Chiraya

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the Embracing “Only" podcast, we delve into mastering workplace negotiations with Dorothy Mashburn, a leading authority in negotiation. Discover how you can maximize your leverage and unleash your power, freedom, and true potential. It all starts by dreaming big.
 
Dorothy has a fervent mission to champion the underserved in corporate arenas, with a track record of negotiating pivotal deals with global giants and managing international teams. Her unique insights empower minorities and women to achieve their career aspirations. She brings that learning and leadership to everyone through her podcast, Salary Negotiations Made Simple. A podcast dedicated to debunking myths surrounding job search, career advancement, and salary negotiation.
 
Key Discussion Points:
02:48 Negotiating Against Yourself: If you negotiate against yourself, you limit your dreams. Your job is to dream big.
07:45 Changing Negotiation Power Dynamics: Go big and don’t fear the no, it is simply the start of the negotiations.
11:09 Negotiating a Starting Salary: When you are negotiating a starting salary, you have the maximum leverage. 
16:49 Asking for a Raise: While it may be limited, you still have leverage because you’re a high performer. Don’t only prepare around performance review season, start preparing now.
21:18 Negotiation Strategies for Minority Women: Minority immigrant women have a lack of social and political capital in the workplace. Dorothy shares a six step strategy for negotiations.
29:37 Forging Alliances as a Leader: Leaders can help move others along their path toward negotiating for themselves and claiming their true value.
33:23 Staying Aligned with Your Values During Negotiations: If you don’t spend time figuring out what you want, you will be unfulfilled no matter what negotiation outcome you receive.
 
In Summary: Dorothy Mashburn provides us with some actionable techniques that you can put into practice right now to ensure you maximize your leverage and have successful negotiations in the workplace. 
 
Resources from this episode:
Some of the websites and tools that Dorothy and Archita mentioned are Payscale, Indeed, Levels FYI, Team Blind, H1B Salary Database, and Fishbowl.
Reach out to Dorothy to claim your free 30 minute mini coaching session. Follow her on Linkedin or check out her website and podcast.
 
Connect with your hosts:
Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.
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Produced by Ideablossoms
 

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we delve into leveraging your uniqueness as an “only” for success in professional settings with Lisa Hurley, an entrepreneur, writer, and Anthem award-winning activist. Being an “only” gives you visibility and accessibility. Two things you need for success. Discover how you can flip the narrative of being an “only” and use it to your advantage.
 
Lisa’s work centers on Black women and encompasses self-care, community care, and Black joy. She is the Founder & CEO of The Great Exhale, an award-winning private membership community that is a soft, safe space for Black women. She is also the Founder of For The Culture And The Coins, a movement dedicated to inspiring Black people to build whole-life wealth. She is known for her warmth, wisdom, and wit.
 
Key Discussion Points:
04:012 Valuing Work and Compensation: Balancing the need for compensation with opportunities for a broader impact or reaching underserved communities.
10:03 Gender Bias in the Workplace: Women are socialized to prioritize likability and it is contributing to the gender pay gap.
15:14 Surviving and Navigating Corporate America: Corporations will take care of themselves, you have to make sure you are looking out for yourself.
25:31 Empowerment as an “Only”: You can leverage your uniqueness into an advantage despite feeling the weight of being an “only”.
28:17 Representation in Career Success: There is value in being surrounded by people who look like you but it is not a requirement for your success.
34:31 Delay vs. Denial: Whatever you want and whatever is for you in this life will not pass you by. Sometimes a ‘no’ may just mean ‘not now’.
40:01 Authenticity in Social Media: When you put your authentic self out there on social media, like-minded people can find you.
 
In Summary: Lisa Hurley encourages us to rethink our approach to being an “only” and to use it to our advantage. Utilize this competitive advantage instead of shying away from it.
 
Resources from this episode:
Follow Lisa on Linkedin or check out her website.
 
Connect with your hosts:
Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.
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Produced by Ideablossoms
 

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we delve into cultural intelligence in the workplace with Shiva Roofeh, a self-described organizational justice practitioner and curious rebel. Discover how you can confront prejudice in leadership and uncover your unconscious biases to ultimately make you a better and more just leader.
Shiva has been a refugee, an immigrant, and a migrant, and she's lived and worked in six countries across Asia, Europe, and North America. Shiva says that her lived experience is as valuable as her work experience. She leverages both to create mile-deep change and relationships with and for her clients. She's worked with Fortune 500 companies helping leaders be and do better by understanding their systemic collective and individual power so they can use it in service of the greater good.
 
Key Discussion Points:
06:08 Valuing Lived Experience in Corporate Spaces: Your lived experience is as valuable as your work experience. It provides you with a unique perspective that can inform your work.
10:18 Turning Passion into a Career: Start by examining your life and your resources and take small steps towards your goals.
15:31 White-Passing Privilege: As a white-passing individual, Shiva has come to understand the power and the privilege this gives her in different spaces.
22:30 Confronting Prejudice in Leadership: If a leader truly wants to help their team become as equitable as possible, it has to start with them.
29:05 Recognizing Unconscious Biases: In your journey of discovery, you have a chance to go back and reconcile with pieces of yourself that you can fix and heal to be better for others moving forward.
35:21 Equality, Equity, and Justice: Justice involves addressing systemic inequalities, rather than simply giving everyone resources to reach the same outcome.
 
In Summary: Shiva Roofeh reminds us that it is an honor and a privilege to lead people and impact their lives. She challenges us to remain curious when doing the work on ourselves even when we are triggered by our learnings.
 
Resources from this episode:
White Supremacy Culture by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun
Follow Shiva on Linkedin or check out her website.
 
Connect with your hosts: Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.
_________
Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we delve into embracing the unpredictable nature of life with Rupal Patel, a CIA agent turned CEO. In a world that often forces us to conform, Rupal’s journey of embracing her uniqueness stands out. Rupal shares her insights on owning your weirdness, finding your tribe, and embracing the uncertainties of life.
 
Rupal’s career is notably defined by her remarkable tenure at the CIA. Her service and dedication were recognized with warzone service medals and a prestigious commendation from the CIA director for her superior support to the President of the United States, highlighting her critical role in shaping national security decisions. She transitioned from her impactful career at the CIA and leveraged her insights and strategic acumen into the business world. And she has founded her first award-winning business. 
 
Key Discussion Points:
02:35 Owning Your Weirdness: The things that make you unique and that you may not like about yourself are things that can empower you.
09:34 Advice for Women Struggling to Fit In: You will find your tribe if you are willing to look, and they may not look like what you expect.
16:41 Commit to the Process, Not the Outcome: If you care enough about something, then you have to commit to the repetition, the tedium, and the trade-offs required to get it. 
27:58 Moving Through Fear: Our minds tend to go to the darkest places. Instead of worrying about theoretical situations, concentrate on the facts and the things that you can control.
35:25 The “Let’s See” Approach: Nothing in life is certain or predictable and you never know where your next breakthrough is going to come from. You have to be open and willing to try things.
45:44 Investing Your Time: We only have a certain amount of time on this planet so be intentional and thoughtful with how you spend this precious asset.
 
In Summary: Rupal Patel reminds us that nothing in this life is certain, but if you enjoy your life experience and work hard to try new things, you never know where those paths will take you.
 
Resources from this episode: Follow Rupal on LinkedIn or Instagram, or check out her website.
From CIA To CEO: Unconventional Life Lessons for Thinking Bigger, Leading Better and Being Bolder by Rupal Patel
My Unexpected Discovery About Working at the CIA | Rupal Patel | TEDxManchester
 
Connect with your hosts: Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.
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Produced by Ideablossoms
 

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we are recapping some of the common themes that have been coming up between our recent guests. In the current political climate, something that continues to come up is being brave, being bold, and stepping out of your comfort zone to create an impact not only on yourself but on the people around you. At the same time, you have to have boundaries in place and honor saying no—so you can embrace saying yes.
 
Key Discussion Points:
01:24 Who Are You Fighting for? Creating space and opportunities for other people while you are journeying through your own career as a minority.
12:03 Speaking Out and Showing Up: Privilege, its impact on speaking out in the workplace, and showing up the way it best serves you.
18:51 Transforming Companies: It is not your responsibility to do the DEI work at your company. There are other spaces for activism work that can have a much greater impact.
23:58 Prioritizing Rest: Schedule in time for rest and do not attach your worth to your output. When you build rest into your schedule, your productivity increases.
35:13 Dealing with Haters: Every time you are on a path to something big, there will be haters. When you are triggered by haters, you need to turn inward and figure out why it is affecting you.
 
In Summary: Archita and Oliva encourage us to embrace activism in a way that best serves us. They highlight just how important it is to have boundaries and make time for rest so that what you do say yes to can have the greatest impact.
 
Connect with your hosts:
Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.
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Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the Embracing “Only" podcast, we delve into pursuing the liberation of your time, love, and freedom while achieving moral clarity with Sibil Patri, a dynamic and visionary leader whose career spans over two decades across finance and strategy. Sibil shares her experience of leaving a harmful corporate culture and how you can claim back your power and break generational curses.
Sibil’s work focuses on impact-driven coaching, speaking, and collaborating and she uses her 20 years of financial services industry expertise and lived experiences as a POC to create a systematic movement in corporate, non-profit, and academic environments.
 
Key Discussion Points:
02:39 Liberating the Mind: Recognizing the harm of corporate culture and taking action to prioritize mental and emotional well-being.
09:33 Recharging Your Energy: Rest and alignment are key to unlocking productivity, creativity, motivation, and fulfillment.
15:43 Personal Sacrifices for Pursuing Social Justice: Breaking free from societal norms to advocate for fundamental human rights and dignity.
24:19 Speaking Your Truth: Gaining resilience and clarity through speaking truth to power, despite initial fear and anxiety.
29:33 Unlearning People-Pleasing: Knowing who you are, seeking validation from internal sources, and breaking generational and systematic traumas. 
41:19 Prioritizing marginalized groups in leadership development: Helping the most marginalized person on your team is only going to make your whole team stronger.
 
In Summary: Sibil Patri challenges us to recognize that true liberation comes from belonging to yourself, finding validation from within rather than external sources, and claiming your identity and purpose.
  Resources from this episode: Follow Sibil on LinkedIn and Instagram, or check out her website.
 
Connect with your hosts: Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.
Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.
_________
Produced by Ideablossoms