Embracing Only: Workplace Culture & Career Development for BIPOC Leaders Archita Fritz , Olivia Cream and Meha Chiraya

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we’re taking a look back at one of our favorite episodes. Join us as we delve into some leadership lessons with former fighter pilot turned keynote speaker and best-selling author, Kim "KC" Campbell. Discover how you can build trust within your team and lead with courage in times of uncertainty and adversity.
 
Kim served in the United States Air Force for 24 years as a fighter pilot and a senior military leader. In 2003, Kim was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. As a senior military leader, Kim has led hundreds of airmen both at home and abroad in deployed locations, enabling them to succeed in their missions. 
She takes this experience and inspires so many more in corporate spaces to lead with that passion for leadership. She feels strongly that leaders earn trust by leading with courage and connecting with their teams.
 
Key Discussion Points:
02:59 Do It Scared: Fear is not a negative thing. It is a normal reaction to a stressful circumstance. It’s what you do in the face of fear that matters.
10:21 Preparing for Change: Trust doesn’t happen overnight. As we are facing so many uncertainties right now, it is important to build trust within your team early.
17:48 Building Trust: As a new leader, you can build trust through active listening, seeking input, and showing vulnerability.
22:59 Wingman Culture: We do not succeed on our own, we succeed by working together as a team. Does everyone on your team understand the role that they play and how that role is critical for shared success?
26:36 Setting Yourself Up for Success as a Leader: The leadership role can be lonely. It’s important to have some sort of support, whether that is a mentor, coach, or a trusted member of your team.
30:51 Navigating Failing Forward as an ‘Only’: Everyone makes mistakes, what matters is how you respond to the mistakes you have made. What is your mistake mindset?
40:10 Leading With Courage: If you want to thrive in whatever environment you are in, it comes down to leading with courage and persevering through hard times.
 
In Summary: Kim "KC" Campbell challenges us to lead with courage, to deliver imperfect action, and to go on and thrive in every single space we occupy. She urges us, as leaders, to create teams built on trust.
 
Resources from this episode:
Follow Kim on Linkedin or check out her website.
Flying in the Face of Fear: A Fighter Pilot's Lessons on Leading with Courage by Kim Campbell
 
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 taking action to be anti-racist with Mary Waweru, an influential voice who educates professionals on anti-racism, DEI, inclusive communications, social impact, and colonialism. It is not enough to simply be not racist. You need to take action and commit to being anti-racist.
 
Mary is the CEO and founder of Crest Impact, where she guides organizations to build safe and inclusive cultures, practices, policies, and communications. She has facilitated diversity training workshops and designed and delivered anti-racism and DEI courses online, in-person, and internationally. Her anti-oppression journey started in her homeland of Kenya with gender equity work and the 2015 protests in Nairobi against gender and child-based violence.
 
Key Discussion Points:
03:48 Building Your Brand: Don’t let your brand be defined by the logo on your business card, rather let your brand be defined by your name so you can lean on it in times of transition.
09:15 Highlighting the Value of Racial Equity: If organizations don’t take anti-racism work seriously, it is going to affect the people within the organization, people externally, and people who want to partner with them.
13:37 Creating Safe Spaces for Conversation: Normalize hard conversations and allow people to be unsure and make mistakes.
18:21 Not Racist vs. Anti-Racist: How does being not racist benefit a society that has issues based on race? It doesn’t. There needs to be action, commitment, and learning. 
28:00 Fighting Confirmation Bias: We need to believe how certain groups of people represent themselves rather than how colonialism represents them.
33:54 Learn to Say No: As an individual who does not belong to the global majority, you need to learn to say no when people are making too many accommodations for you.
 
In Summary: Mary Waweru challenges us to commit to one action today that will further our anti-racism journey. She urges people to adopt an I want to learn attitude and encourages leaders to understand that it is their responsibility to make sure that the people working in their organization are safe.
 
Resources from this episode:
Follow Mary on Linkedin or check out her website.
Mary has three anti-racism courses:
1. Introduction to Anti-Racism
2. Anti-Racism for Leaders and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advocates
3. Dismantling Neo-Colonialism in Anti-Oppression Work
Find them here.
 
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 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.
_________
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.
_________
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.
_________
Produced by Ideablossoms