I Know I Belong When...

Innovation Unbiased
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Management

Bold voices. Curious stories. Authentic Impact.What does it really mean to belong?Not just to be invited... To be seen. Heard. Needed."I Know I Belong When…" is more than a podcast; it’s a movement. A mirror. A megaphone. It’s where raw truth meets radical hope.Each episode brings you unfiltered conversations with people who’ve wrestled with the question of belonging in the spaces that shape our lives: workplaces, schools, communities, and digital worlds. From the boardroom to the breakroom, from the sidewalks to our living rooms, our guests share the exact moment they knew they were in, and the moments they knew they weren’t.______This is not about feel-good soundbites. It’s about radical accountability.We explore:~  Where equity is the foundation, not a divider.~  The steps it takes to build diverse cultures, not only to survive, though to prosper.~  Ensure inclusion is not just a checkbox; it is a commitment.~  Where accessibility is not an afterthought, but the amplification to thrive.______At the heart of our conversation is the Belonging Formula:"Belonging = (Inclusion × (Diversity + Equity)) ^ Accessibility."It’s not just math; it’s a mindset. A blueprint. A challenge to every leader, builder, and changemaker: Are you creating spaces where every identity is not only welcomed, however, is valued and respected?______Here’s how we do it:[ We Say Names ]Names are not nicknames. They carry legacy, identity, and power. Inspired by #AlwaysChristopher #NeverChris, we explore how honoring someone’s name is the first act of belonging.[ The Moment of Belonging ]A defining story. A turning point. The moment our guest knew: I belong here. We unpack how that moment shaped their confidence, creativity, and connection.[ Navigating Non-Belonging ]We don’t shy away from the hard stuff. Guests share what it felt like to be excluded, erased, or underestimated, and how they reclaimed their space and voice.[ Sustaining Belonging ]What does it take to keep that feeling alive? We explore the systems, rituals, and leadership practices that make belonging a daily reality, not a one-time event.______Why it matters:This podcast is for anyone who’s ever asked: Do I really belong here?And for every leader who’s ready to answer: Yes, and here’s how we’ll prove it.Whether you’re building inclusive teams, designing accessible tech, or rethinking your own role in equity work, these stories will challenge you to show up differently. To lead with intention. To listen with humility. To act with courage.Because belonging isn’t a destination, it’s a practice. And it starts with listening.

  1. 1d ago

    Joy is the fuel, not the reward: rethinking leadership, home, and self with Greg De Koker

    Most of us were taught to earn joy. Land the results, hit the numbers, and then maybe you get to feel good. Greg De Koker spent a career proving that this is backward. On this episode of I Know I Belong When…, Christopher Bylone sits down with Greg De Koker, a brand and culture transformation expert, a bestselling co-author, and the mind behind the forthcoming book Joy Squared: The Hidden Power of Joy in Leadership.  Greg carries a mission with a number attached to it: forty-four million people living, working, and leading with more joy, on purpose. That mission grew from a pattern he could not ignore across hundreds of stakeholder interviews. He named it the global joy deficit, and then he built an ecosystem to help close it.  This conversation moves from the boardroom to the family cottage and back again. Greg reframes joy as strategy rather than a perk, and he shows how a single childhood moment reshaped what home means to him. This is a story about building belonging and creating belonging in everyday life, across self, home, community, and work.  [MUST-HEAR INSIGHTS & KEY MOMENTS] • Why joy is the fuel for performance, not the reward that arrives after it  • The global joy deficit, and what any leader can do to reduce suffering at work  • Culture by design or culture by default, and why intention beats hoping for the best  • The day a lost ten-year-old learned that home is a feeling, not an address  • Calling people up instead of calling them out, and why judgment rarely helps anyone grow  • The one honest question at a gathering of friends that opened a door for everyone in the room  • How Greg caught his own bias in real time and chose curiosity over a quick verdict  [GREG’S STANDOUT QUOTES] • “I think it's the most renewable source of energy and the most underutilized asset, and the biggest competitive advantage, and the best strategy a leader can embrace, which is joy.”  • “Every company does. It's either by design or default.”  • “Home isn't just a physical dwelling. It was a feeling and I could just feel it in my body.”  • “I like the expression of calling people up versus calling them out.”  • “In that moment, people don't need more judgment. They're already judging themselves.”  • “If I'm feeling that way, maybe some of the other guys are, too.”  • “When I feel at home, that's when I know I belong.”  [WHY THIS EPISODE MATTERS] Belonging is not a workplace program. It is the value a person adds to their family, their community, their team, and themselves. Greg gives listeners plain language for that truth, drawn straight from his own life. When leaders treat joy as strategy and treat people as though they already know they belong, culture changes. When parents create that same knowing at home, children carry it everywhere they go. This episode connects authentic leadership, strategic inclusion, and human-centered innovation to something anyone can practice today.  [WHO SHOULD LISTEN] This one is for anyone working out who they are and where they add value. It is for parents and people building a home or a chosen family. It is for community builders, organizers, and friends who want to check in more honestly. It is for HR leaders, people managers, and inclusion practitioners who care about people's experience, inclusive culture, and belonging in the workplace. And it is for anyone searching for language to name a sense of belonging in their own life. Everyone has a reason to listen, not only people leaders.  Press play, and ask yourself the question Greg leaves with all of us: what have you been putting off that would bring you joy? An Innovation Unbiased Production https://www.iknowibelongwhen.com/about-the-show

    Joy is the fuel, not the reward: rethinking leadership, home, and self with Greg De Koker

  2. Jul 20

    The cost of staying: Knowing your worth in every room with Öykü Api

    Belonging is bigger than any office. It begins in the quiet knowledge that who you are is already enough, and it follows you into every room you walk into for the rest of your life. In this episode of I Know I Belong When, host Christopher Bylone sits down with Öykü Api, a thought leader in inclusion, change, and leadership whose story stretches across self, home, community, and work. Öykü spent twenty years inside corporate finance and walked out with three published books, a Cornell credential in women’s leadership and diversity, a law degree, and a passport stamped on all seven continents, Antarctica included. Underneath the resume sits one clarifying thesis: when a career, a relationship, or a place stops serving your growth, the cost of staying becomes higher than the cost of leaving. This is a conversation about knowing your worth in every room. Öykü reframes a sense of belonging as something a person carries inward first, not something a title, a team, or another person’s validation hands over. She gives listeners language for belonging that reaches from the self outward, into chosen family, into community, and into the daily work of building inclusive culture. Through her first-person story you will find new words for authentic leadership, strategic inclusion, and the quiet courage it takes to leave a room that no longer fits. This is storytelling as strategy, and proof that creating belonging in everyday life begins with you. Must-hear insights and key moments: The thesis that staying can cost more than leaving, and how Öykü applies it to career, relationships, and home. Why belonging begins with the self, and how she separates acceptance from the deeper knowledge of belonging to yourself. The internal question “I deserve better,” and how it surfaces at every major turning point. Why she traded a bucket list for a “best moment list,” and what that reveals about a life worth remembering. How her name, which means “story” in Turkish, shapes the way she sees the humanity in every stranger she meets. What standing on unfamiliar ground, including Antarctica, teaches about adapting and knowing you belong anywhere. Her honest reflection on the most expensive room she stayed in too long, and the promise she made to herself at forty-five.  Öykü’s standout quotes: “I cannot confuse belonging with staying in something that no longer feels true and alive for me, because life is, I think, too short and precious for that.” “You belong to yourself, your truth, your values, your passions more than anything else.” “Instead of having a bucket list, I keep what I call a best moment list for myself, a collection of the moments that made me feel like truly alive, present, happy, being me.” “I actually think that’s not a sentence, but that’s more like a question we should all ask ourselves from time to time.” “Curiosity doesn’t let you settle into just one version of yourself, so it keeps nudging you, and there’s always more to explore.” “I love carrying the name Story because it reminds me that everyone I pass by is a living story with the richness and with the complexity.” “When you belong to yourself first, you don’t need to fit into every space. You can show up as the way you are anywhere, because you are comfortable in your own skin.”  Why this episode matters This episode frames belonging as the outcome of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility work, not as one more pillar to manage. Öykü offers practical language for belonging and a model for authentic leadership rooted in self-trust rather than position. Her story shows the difference between belonging and inclusion, and it carries that difference across every arena of a life, from the self to chosen family to community to work. For anyone building belonging in remote or hybrid teams, or simply at their own kitchen table, it is a fresh, human-centered take. Who should listen This conversation is for anyone working out who they are and where they fit. It is for parents and people building a home or a chosen family, for community builders, organizers, and people of faith, and for HR leaders, people managers, and inclusion practitioners shaping a stronger people experience. It is for the career changer weighing a leap and the founder building something purposeful. If you are searching for language to name belonging in your own life, or another word for belonging that finally fits, Öykü’s story will meet you where you are.  An Innovation Unbiased Production https://www.iknowibelongwhen.com/about-the-show

    The cost of staying: Knowing your worth in every room with Öykü Api

  3. Jul 13

    When everyone in the room is seen: Human-first leadership with Dean Carter

    What does it mean to lead so that everyone in the room knows they belong? Our guest has spent more than 25 years answering that question, and his answer reshapes how we think about people, work, and life. Meet Dean Carter. He has served as chief human resources officer four separate times, at Fossil, Patagonia, Sears and Kmart, and Guild, earning national recognition for reinventing the future of work. His book, "Employee Experience Design: How to Co-Create Work Where People and Organizations Thrive," became an Amazon number one bestseller. Now he leads Instill, an AI-native culture operating system built on a single, human-first conviction, that technology should protect people and culture rather than thin them out. In this conversation with host Christopher Bylone, Dean shares the story of when he knew he belonged and the harder moments when he did not. He moves from a Texas office under the sodomy laws, to a community that once shut him out, to a Santa Barbara theater where shy kids sang off-key and knew they belonged. His through-line is human-first leadership, the daily practice of making sure the quiet person, the new mother, and the overlooked kid are seen. This is belonging as a whole-life reality across self, home, community, work, and society. Must-hear insights and key moments Why Dean believes in regenerative HR, and how Patagonia's shift from doing less harm to saving the home planet reshaped his view of people experience.The sentence he repeats in every room, that for what you put into your work, the company should return equal or greater value to your life.The Pearle Vision moment under the sodomy laws, when a leader named Roy told him he was safe, and Dean knew he belonged.The day his own community excluded him, and what it taught him about strategic inclusion and who gets left out.The nursing-companion benefit that told working mothers they belonged without anyone saying a word.The AHA Santa Barbara story, where a community gave its most overlooked kids a standing ovation.A simple, human-centered habit anyone can use this week to help one person know they belong. Dean's standout quotes “For what I put into my work, I believe the company puts back equal or greater value to my life.”“I wanted to be head of HR that day so that someday when I sit in this seat, make sure everyone feels like they belong, like Roy.”“I feel like I have to always speak up for the person in the room that it doesn't feel like they belong because it's just the right thing to do.”“Everything you have for your right to say that I am a cisgendered, straight passing gay white male, that I can't come into the room, I fought for every one of you in this room.”“Just that single thing says, as a working mom, I belong.”“Tell me what's the ROI of your parking lot. Do you have one?”“Find the person no one's talking to. Find the awkward person.” Why this episode matters Belonging is bigger than the workplace, and Dean's life shows why. His story connects the courage to come out, the work of building an inclusive culture, and the quiet systems that tell people they are wanted. It reframes belonging as the outcome of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility, rather than as another pillar on a slide. It models authentic leadership grounded in lived experience and what creating belonging in everyday life asks of us. Who should listen This episode is for everyone, not only people leaders. It is for anyone working out who they are and where they add value. It is for parents and people building a home or a chosen family. It is for community builders, organizers, and people of faith who widen the circle in civic life. It is for HR leaders, people managers, and inclusion practitioners who want human-centered innovation. And it is for anyone searching for language to name a sense of belonging in their own life, across self, home, community, work, and society. An Innovation Unbiased Production https://www.iknowibelongwhen.com/about-the-show

    When everyone in the room is seen: Human-first leadership with Dean Carter

  4. Jul 6

    The behaviors we built, on purpose: A season 3 look back

    Belonging is not built at the office. It is built wherever a person is, at the dinner table, inside a circle of friends, in the places we worship and organize, and at work too. Season 3 of I Know I Belong When… proved that twelve times over. In this special season 3 recap, host Christopher Bylone, Principal Strategist at Innovation Unbiased, brings every guest from the season back together to examine what it takes to be fully inclusive. Twelve guests. Six behaviors. One question asked again and again: what does it actually look like to build a place where people know they belong? The answer frames the episode and its title. The question is never whether a person fits. The question is what they add. This is not a highlight reel. It is a language lesson in building belonging across every part of life, anchored by the Inclusive Behaviors Framework and the Belonging Formula that ground all of Innovation Unbiased's work. You will hear a bank CEO lead with her humanity before her title, a hip hop journalist find belonging in a circle that asks what you bring, and a leader living with blindness move the barrier off the person and onto the design. If you have ever searched for language to name belonging, in yourself, your home, your community, or your team, this episode hands it to you in the voices that earned it. Must-hear insights and key moments Belonging is built, never handed over, usually in a moment small enough to miss.The question is what they add, not whether they fit. Dr. Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander reframes difference as what makes the whole picture warm.Brooke Sullivan shows that listening is the work, the small act that costs nothing and changes everything.Accuracy is not the same as care. Sarah A. Scala separates a name spelled correctly from a person who chose to learn it.Silence is not neutral. Mike Davis names why hesitation quietly sides with whatever already holds power.Access is a design choice, not a favor. Daniel Hodges and Simona Scarpaleggia move the barrier off the person and onto a world we can redesign. Season 3's standout quotes “I have also learned the importance of pieces that don't seem to fit together, that do, and end up creating a huge, big, wonderful, warm, comfortable whole.” — Dr. Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander“There's a human sitting across from you, whether it's virtual or in person, and sometimes you're the first person that listened to them all day.” — Brooke Sullivan“Accuracy doesn't always equal care. Belonging requires intention.” — Sarah A. Scala“Hesitation isn't being neutral. Hesitation is taking the side of the current power structure and the current way things are. Silence is not neutrality.” — Mike Davis“Remember to leave everything and everyone a little bit better than you found it today.” — Joe Machicote Why this episode matters Every episode this season was its own microcosm of learning. This recap connects those moments. Walking the arc across the full season, host Christopher Bylone shows how twelve different stories demonstrate the six behaviors of the Inclusive Behaviors Framework, and how each adds a piece of what it takes to be inclusive. In the episodes, the platform belongs to the guest, so the host stays quiet. Here, he connects the dots. If you missed an episode, this is your map back to it. Who should listen This episode is for everyone, not only people leaders. It is for anyone working out who they are and learning that who they are is enough. It is for parents and people building a home or a chosen family. It is for community builders, organizers, and people of faith who widen the circle where they stand. It is for HR leaders, people managers, ERG champions, and inclusion practitioners shaping inclusive culture on remote, hybrid, and in person teams. And it is for anyone searching for language to name belonging in any part of their own life. An Innovation Unbiased Production https://www.iknowibelongwhen.com/about-the-show

    The behaviors we built, on purpose: A season 3 look back

  5. Jun 29

    Make pretty good trouble: Authentic leadership in turbulent times with Chris Jones

    What happens when you combine a lifelong storyteller, a lifelong protester, and a leader who runs toward the work when everyone else is running away from it? You get Chris Jones. In this episode of I Know I Belong When, host Christopher Bylone sits down with Chris, co-founder of Spectra Diversity and a social justice warrior since 1970, to discuss authentic leadership in turbulent times. Chris has spent more than four decades writing in other people's voices, from documentaries on PBS and National Geographic to scientific work for Mayo Clinic and General Dynamics. Now she is using her own voice to do what she calls her last career: helping leaders measure and improve workplace belonging. While other DEI consultants quietly pivoted to safer industries, Chris doubled down. She launched a second year of her free webinar series, DEI For Real. She partnered with an employment attorney to help leaders navigate what is legal and what is not. And she keeps asking the question every people leader needs to face: Are you actually building belonging, or are you guessing? This is a conversation about creating a sense of belonging at work when the cultural tide pushes in the other direction. It is about the difference between box checking and real strategic inclusion. It is about why measurement matters more than mission statements. And it offers fresh language for belonging, drawn from one woman's story of 55 years of making good trouble in the service of an inclusive culture and human-centered innovation. Must-hear insights and key moments: Why measurement is the missing piece in most belonging strategies, and how exclusion shows up in the data "as plain as the nose on your face"The difference between organizations that double down on inclusive culture and the box checkers who quietly retreatedHow a name like Chris versus Christine reveals the everyday architecture of privilege at workWhy system changes outlast individual changes, and the bottom-up listening practice every leader can adopt todayThe honest counsel Chris offers employees whose assessment data surfaces exclusionWhere Chris herself feels her own truest belonging, and the 25-year community that has become her safe spaceWhat 55 years of protest signs taught her about authentic leadership, from Earth Day 1970 to No KingsChris's standout quotes: "I know I belong when touching base is mutual.""Make pretty good trouble.""The people who are not feeling like they belong... show up in the data as plain as the nose on your face.""Work at system changes rather than individual changes.""A lot of the box checkers are gone now.""I'm now much, much, much more aware of where I have my own privilege.""Find a place where you think that you would belong.""Things also need to go bottom-up."Why this episode matters: This is not a feel-good DEI conversation. This is what authentic leadership sounds like when the work gets hard, and the headlines turn hostile. Chris offers something rare: a leader who measures what others guess at, names what others avoid, and stays in the room when others quietly exit. For anyone building belonging inside an organization that is wavering, or leading teams who are watching to see if the values were ever real, this episode delivers the language and moral clarity to keep going. Who should listen: This episode is for the chief people officer, wondering if anyone is still listening. The DEI practitioner is watching budgets shrink and asking what is worth fighting for. The mid-level leader is trying to build a sense of belonging at work inside a remote or hybrid team. The founder is rewriting values statements with one eye on the news. And the longtime advocate who has been holding the line for decades needs a reminder that the work still matters. If you are leading people’s experience through this cultural moment, Chris will steady your hand. An Innovation Unbiased Production https://www.iknowibelongwhen.com/about-the-show

    Make pretty good trouble: Authentic leadership in turbulent times with Chris Jones

  6. Jun 22

    Scaling empathy moments that matter: Building inclusive cultures from day one with Brooke Sullivan

    What happens when you take fifteen years of startup chaos, a front row seat to the exact moment culture either takes root or falls apart, and a leader who gets excited about the hard conversations most people run from? You get this conversation with Brooke Sullivan, Director of People and Talent at Banyan Software, and a leader building belonging inside fast-moving companies. Brooke has spent her career inside software startups, building people functions from zero, from the "we do not even have an org chart yet" phase, and turning that scrappiness into something real. She has a gift for what she calls scaling moments, that critical twenty-to-one-hundred-person inflection point where inclusive culture either becomes the foundation or something you wish you had built. In this episode, Brooke shares the practices and small everyday moments that create workplace belonging long before a handbook ever could. She walks us through her Exercising Empathy programming, the one-on-one design choice that changed how leaders showed up for their teams, and the moment she realized the language a company uses for its people reveals everything. This is a conversation about authentic leadership, human-centered innovation, and what it takes to foster a sense of belonging at work when speed and scale are pulling in opposite directions. Brooke gives listeners practical language for belonging, grounded in fifteen years of building people experience. Must-hear insights and key moments Why the twenty-to-one-hundred-person window is the make-or-break moment for inclusive culture in scaling startupsThe Exercising Empathy programming Brooke built to give teams permission to talk about the hard things at workA one-on-one design choice, a green or red box at the top of the doc, that lets leaders see what is distracting their people without forcing the conversationThe Bechdel test for meetings and the question Brooke uses to surface who is missing from the roomHow the words a company uses for its people reveal whether belonging is real or performativeWhy friendship at work is one of the strongest signals of workplace belongingThe story behind Brooke's name and what it taught her about honoring the people who shape usBrooke's standout quotes "There's a human sitting across from you, whether it's virtual or in person, and sometimes you're the first person that listened to them all day.""If someone had a friend at work, they felt a deeper sense of belonging.""You are gifted to care for these people.""We talk about hard things here. We hold space for each other here.""If you don't have people, you have nothing.""My belonging comes from myself until it comes from that organization or that community.""I know I belong when someone shares something really personal with me."Why this episode matters Building a sense of belonging in fast-scaling companies is not a side project. It is the work. Brooke shows leaders, HR practitioners, and founders how strategic inclusion lives in the smallest design choices: the language we use, the questions we ask, the connection moments we engineer on purpose. This episode reframes belonging vs inclusion in plain terms and gives listeners a working vocabulary for creating belonging at work inside teams that are moving fast and figuring it out in real time. Who should listen People leaders, founders, HR and talent professionals, DEI practitioners, and managers building inclusive culture inside startups, scaleups, and hybrid or remote teams. This episode is for anyone scaling a team through that twenty-to-one-hundred-person window, anyone creating belonging at work without a playbook, and anyone who wants stronger language to talk about belonging in the workplace, authentic leadership, and people experience in ways their teams can feel. An Innovation Unbiased Production https://www.iknowibelongwhen.com/about-the-show

    Scaling empathy moments that matter: Building inclusive cultures from day one with Brooke Sullivan

  7. Jun 15

    Mother Nature humbles, AI exposes: Authentic leadership in motion with Sarah A. Scala

    Most leadership advice about artificial intelligence promises the machine will solve your people problems. Sarah A. Scala is in the other room telling executives the opposite. Artificial intelligence will expose them, and she is staying long enough to help fix what surfaces. That is the conversation that Christopher Bylone, host of I Know I Belong When, has on this episode. Sarah is an award-winning diverse supplier, a global speaker, and a leadership consultant who has spent more than two decades turning inclusion into measurable performance. Not aspirational. Not vibes. Measurable. Fortune 10 companies have hired her. Out and Equal and Lesbians Who Tech have put her on their stages. Her work sits at the intersection most executives are quietly panicking about: emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and how a human leader keeps both alive in the age of artificial intelligence. This is a working session on authentic leadership, inclusive culture, and how building belonging in the workplace shows up on the bottom line. Sarah walks through what shifts when a coach treats strategic inclusion as a performance strategy rather than a values conversation, why bite-sized trust changes teams faster than any policy rewrite, and what kayaking, hiking, and Nordic skiing teach her about people experience that no boardroom can. Mother Nature humbles. Artificial intelligence exposes. Authentic leadership stays in motion through both. Must-hear insights and key moments Why Sarah stopped treating inclusion as values work and started treating it as a measurable performance strategyThe new question executives are asking now, and what it signals about people experience in the age of AIHow artificial intelligence exposes the people problems leaders thought they had hidden, and why empathy is the differentiatorWhy accuracy does not equal care when machines write your emails, and what that means for creating belonging at workThe smallest inclusion behavior that creates the biggest team shift, with a real example from a pharma executiveWhat changed when Sarah came out as a certified LGBT business enterprise and stopped translating herself in the roomWhat Mother Nature, a kayak, and 50 books a year teach about authentic leadership that no boardroom ever willSarah's standout quotes "With my clients, I measure outcomes, not intentions""AI can be a super speedy and helpful tool, and it can never replace people and effective leaders""Accuracy doesn't always equal care""It lacks that human behavior. It also can lack accountability""Look at it as more of a sidekick""What's most important is that everyone in that room knows I am safe to be themselves around""When my voice changes outcomes, that's the end game"Why this episode matters Most conversations about artificial intelligence at work treat people experience as the soft thing the technology will replace. Sarah names the opposite. The machine accelerates everything, including gaps in trust, missed names, and leaders who never learned to recover from a mistake. Authentic leadership in this moment is the practice of staying human and measurable at the same time. For anyone building belonging, leading remote teams, or working through belonging vs inclusion, Sarah hands you language and a next step you can use Monday morning. Who should listen This one is for executives, HR and people leaders, learning and development professionals, DEI and IDEA practitioners, and team managers who want a practical view on creating a sense of belonging at work in the age of artificial intelligence. It is for leaders coaching senior teams through trust and psychological safety. It is for founders and small business owners building inclusive culture from the ground up. It is for anyone caught between business savvy and empathetic, and ready to be both. An Innovation Unbiased Production https://www.iknowibelongwhen.com/about-the-show

    Mother Nature humbles, AI exposes: Authentic leadership in motion with Sarah A. Scala

  8. Jun 8

    Accessibility never meant lowering the bar: The win-win case for inclusion with Daniel Hodges

    What if everything you have been told about accessibility, inclusion, and the so-called trade-off between doing good and doing well is wrong? In this episode of I Know I Belong When, host Christopher Bylone sits down with Daniel Hodges — lawyer by training, nonprofit founder by calling, and living proof that when someone tells you no road exists, that is simply the opening line of your comeback story. As a kid, Daniel was functionally illiterate. A so-called Blindness Professional once told him the best he could hope for was canning chairs for a living. He went on to earn multiple advanced degrees, launch the Pieces of Me Foundation while still in law school, and build a career dismantling the false paradigm that organizations must choose between accessibility and profit, inclusion and merit. Daniel lives with blindness, chronic pain, anxiety, and depression, and he refuses to let any of those define his ceiling. His story gives listeners new language for belonging — language rooted in lived experience, authentic leadership, and the conviction that strategic inclusion is not charity, it is good design. Whether you are an HR leader exploring how to create a sense of belonging at work, a manager rethinking belonging in remote teams, or an executive curious about belonging vs inclusion, this conversation delivers practical insight inside one of the most powerful comeback stories you will hear this year. Must-hear insights and key moments The false paradigm myth: why accessibility and profit, inclusion and merit, were never meant to be opposing forcesBuild with, not for: how co-designing alongside disabled people produces human-centered innovation no one expectedThe professor moment: how one law professor's email redefined Daniel's understanding of inclusive culture and what it means to truly belong in a room of high standardsHigh standards plus human kindness: why lowering the bar is not inclusion, and what authentic leadership actually requiresInvisible disabilities and the toughness tax: how chronic pain, anxiety, and depression shaped Daniel's identity differently than blindness ever didCalling people in, not calling them out: the mindset Daniel brings into every room that is not yet ready for himDaniel's standout quotes "I try to help organizations find a way to break free of the false paradigm that makes them believe they have to choose between accessibility and profit, inclusion and merit.""I do not want to succeed based on somebody's pity. I want to succeed and fail based on how I show up, based on my gifts and talents.""Even failure is an opportunity to grow.""We focus on calling people in rather than calling them out, and meeting people where they are.""So often we are judged not by our own capabilities, but by other people's perceptions.""I know I belong when I am able to compete and show up and be judged on my gifts and talents, my successes, my failures — not based on bias, not based on barriers, but based on my ability to compete on a level playing field."Why this episode matters This conversation reframes accessibility not as a cost center, not as a charitable add-on, though as the foundation of strategic inclusion and human-centered innovation. Daniel gives leaders, people practitioners, and culture-builders the language they have been searching for to talk about belonging vs inclusion — with clarity, credibility, and lived authority. For anyone serious about building belonging in workplaces and remote teams, Daniel offers a model that is sustainable, repeatable, and rooted in dignity. Who should listen This episode is for HR leaders, IDEA practitioners, people experience designers, and managers actively asking how to create a sense of belonging at work. It is for executives wrestling with the business case for accessibility. It is for disability advocates who want an honest first-person story about navigating school, work, and parenting through chronic pain and invisible disability. And it is for leaders committed to creating belonging at work that does not lower the bar — it raises everyone over it. An Innovation Unbiased Production https://www.iknowibelongwhen.com/about-the-show

    Accessibility never meant lowering the bar: The win-win case for inclusion with Daniel Hodges
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Bold voices. Curious stories. Authentic Impact.What does it really mean to belong?Not just to be invited... To be seen. Heard. Needed."I Know I Belong When…" is more than a podcast; it’s a movement. A mirror. A megaphone. It’s where raw truth meets radical hope.Each episode brings you unfiltered conversations with people who’ve wrestled with the question of belonging in the spaces that shape our lives: workplaces, schools, communities, and digital worlds. From the boardroom to the breakroom, from the sidewalks to our living rooms, our guests share the exact moment they knew they were in, and the moments they knew they weren’t.______This is not about feel-good soundbites. It’s about radical accountability.We explore:~  Where equity is the foundation, not a divider.~  The steps it takes to build diverse cultures, not only to survive, though to prosper.~  Ensure inclusion is not just a checkbox; it is a commitment.~  Where accessibility is not an afterthought, but the amplification to thrive.______At the heart of our conversation is the Belonging Formula:"Belonging = (Inclusion × (Diversity + Equity)) ^ Accessibility."It’s not just math; it’s a mindset. A blueprint. A challenge to every leader, builder, and changemaker: Are you creating spaces where every identity is not only welcomed, however, is valued and respected?______Here’s how we do it:[ We Say Names ]Names are not nicknames. They carry legacy, identity, and power. Inspired by #AlwaysChristopher #NeverChris, we explore how honoring someone’s name is the first act of belonging.[ The Moment of Belonging ]A defining story. A turning point. The moment our guest knew: I belong here. We unpack how that moment shaped their confidence, creativity, and connection.[ Navigating Non-Belonging ]We don’t shy away from the hard stuff. Guests share what it felt like to be excluded, erased, or underestimated, and how they reclaimed their space and voice.[ Sustaining Belonging ]What does it take to keep that feeling alive? We explore the systems, rituals, and leadership practices that make belonging a daily reality, not a one-time event.______Why it matters:This podcast is for anyone who’s ever asked: Do I really belong here?And for every leader who’s ready to answer: Yes, and here’s how we’ll prove it.Whether you’re building inclusive teams, designing accessible tech, or rethinking your own role in equity work, these stories will challenge you to show up differently. To lead with intention. To listen with humility. To act with courage.Because belonging isn’t a destination, it’s a practice. And it starts with listening.

Information

  • Creator
    Innovation Unbiased
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 I Know I Belong When...
  • Show Website
    I Know I Belong When...