BsquaredC Podcast: The Black Woman Corporate Career "Brownprint"

Our guest this month is the incredible Busi Sizani, who has been stepping into her power since she was one of the fIrst black kids attending a previously racially segregated school, in post apartheid South Africa. From such an early age, she understood that her presence in the spaces she was privileged to access was an opportunity to educate those around her about her experiences, and has embraced this purpose ever since.

Busi went on to navigate her career from studying engineering and theology, to the creative industry, where she produced a film and became one of the few black women in sports live broadcasting in South Africa, before starting her journey in the corporate world. Living in Amsterdam now, she is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion professional who continues to disrupt spaces with her presence and wisdom. In this conversation Busi shares the lessons she has embraced along the way which includes taking risks, asking critical questions and being comfortable with creating her own lane. Her biggest advice to all women of color in the corporate world out there, “You are the superpower your organization has been missing!”

Busi’s company: https://www.theinclusioncompany.com/

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My guest this month, Stephanie Goseine moves through the world with incredible confidence, believing everything is hers for the taking. Showing up like this as a woman and a person of color, specifically in predominantly white spaces can be treated with mixed reactions due to bias stemming from sexism and racism. This often leads to more than often, women of color being perceived as arrogant as opposed to confidence.There is a difference between arrogance and confidence and it has a real impact on professional growth, but when you apply the lens of prejudice often used on WOC, it becomes blurry.  Additionally, there are real consequences for the career progression of women and people of color that stem from this phenomenon,  including how women are less likely to self promote or negotiate their value in fear of the negative backlash of them taking up space in this way.

In this episode we will talk about the difference between confidence and arrogance and I will share my experiences with this concept as well as the practical ways I keep myself grounded in my confidence!

Listen to Stephanie’s  episode here: : https://bit.ly/BsquaredCStephanieEp

Google I am Remarkable workshop: https://iamremarkable.withgoogle.com/

Article on a confident mindset: https://www.inc.com/andrew-thomas/10-ways-extremely-confident-people-train-their-minds-every-day.html

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Our guest this month is the lovely Stephanie Goseine, a woman with so much audacity when it comes to her goals and her place in the corporate world as a woman of color.

An island girl from Trinidad and Tobago, Stephanie has navigated her career from engineering to consulting and currently, she is making moves in change management. Amongst the many gems in this conversation included identity politics of mixed-heritage people like Stephanie and picking your battles when it comes to inclusion and diversity conversations as a WOC. Above all Stephanie is emboldened to take up space, something that she and a lot of WOC do not grow up believing in! She strongly believes she deserves success as much as the next person and her story and how she continues to do this, will ignite a fire in you to believe in your right to your dreams as well!

Have a listen to the full episode for more on Stephanie's story.

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My episode 10 guest Omena shared very candidly about her experiences with mental health and this week I am reprising the topic with my own experiences with it!

I also had to grow into an understanding of the importance of this topic, as I culturally did not connect to it and I grew up believing so much in the strong black woman narrative. I had to unlearn some behaviors and I love the woman I am becoming through therapy.  Taking this topic to the workplace, in this past year mental health and wellbeing became  front and center as we all lived through a pandemic and social justice distress.  A lot of companies really stepped up in supporting their workers on this. In this episode I share my personal favorite practices of tackling mental health at work that I have experienced. These include good foundational trainings, resources for helping people when they struggle and storytelling around mental health. Have a listen to the episode for more!

Listen to Omena’s episode here: https://bit.ly/BsquaredCOmenaEp

Listen to the Bonus episode here: https://bit.ly/BonusReflectionEuros

Energy management article: https://hbr.org/2007/10/manage-your-energy-not-your-time

Psychological safely article: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/psychological-safety-and-the-critical-role-of-leadership-development

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In lieu of our normal programming on the podcast, I bring you this bonus episode discussing the recent debacle of racism in England directed at three black players, Marcus Rashford, Jardon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who missed penalties in the final game. This incident was something every black person saw coming from a mile away and it is exhausting once again to watch the shock wash over most white people as the latest arrivals to the fight against racism. Additionally people keep referencing the charity work these players have done when defending them, perpetuating a narrative that black people only deserve grace when they are excellent. In this episode I unpack my own feelings about this incident and how it parallels experiences people of color have in the corporate world. I root for everybody black every time because anytime you see a black person striving for something and for excellence, you bet they have reservoirs of fortitude beyond your imagination. Much respect to black football players and sending lots of love, strength and grace to all people of color out there!

Article about black excellence: https://www.bsquaredc.org/post/is-black-excellence-really-a-deterrent-to-racism

Articles on how you can support the black players: https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/anti-racism-charities-england-football-saka-rashford-sancho/

https://www.dw.com/en/euro-2020-racism-rears-its-ugly-head-again/a-58242666?maca=en-Whatsapp-sharing

My fav article on the conflict black people had supporting England in this final

https://blackballad.co.uk/views-voices/backing-england-for-the-euros-has-brought-up-complicated-feelings-about-patriotism?listIds=590867cea8c0bab2039c3ac5

Kimberly Brants ted talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberly_bryant_when_you_want_to_change_the_face_of_technology_the_risks_of_failure_are_not_equitably_distributed

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Have you ever met someone and their energy just swept you away? That is Omena Ukeleghe, our guest for this month. She is a walking testimony of all things black women that make me so proud to tell our stories on this podcast and platform. Resilient, passionate, courageous and loudly living her life and purpose. Omena has navigated herself from studying fashion and working in the fashion industry, into other roles before last summer taking on being the lead of  Diversity and Inclusion at a big 4 consulting firm in Amsterdam. She is also the founder of Creative Jam Session, a space for people in the creative industry to connect and inspire each other in the Netherlands. Wondering how Omena skirted the career pivots in her life and how all of the things she does connect? Have a listen to this episode for more.

Check out Omena’s community, Creative jam sessions. https://www.creativejamsession.nl/ 

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My guest Soraya and I chopped it up about lots of things, including career pivoting. I was particularly enamored by Soraya’s bold moves in her career, that took her from Austria, to London and now to Amsterdam and the fact that she quit her big time job in the middle of a pandemic to join a startup. Soraya is adaptable and versatile and has pivoted her career as needed. In this episode, I share my reflection on this topic and what career pivoting has looked like for me. My biggest lessons include, the power of a mindset and environment that allows you to think about changing your path, the importance of focusing on your transferable skills and lastly how graduate school transformed me on my path, in particular getting an MBA. Listen to this episode for more.

Listen to Soraya’s episode here: https://bit.ly/BsquaredCSorayaEp

Link to my coaching company here: https://www.zambukoadvisory.com/ 

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Meet Soraya Hausl, a badass data scientist born in Austria and now living in Amsterdam. Soraya’s love for math and numbers as a kid led her into a career of being a data scientist who has been traversing industries applying herself in different ways, and her most current gig is about hair care for black women. Soraya is officially my first European native guest, so a black person born and raised in Europe, and we ended up talking about the concept of a shared black identity in Europe, like being in community with other black people and supporting each other,  something she did not grow up seeing a lot of. She shared her experiences of how she viewed race growing up vs now, how the concept of spaces for black people has evolved in Europe and the impact of BLM on all of this discourse. Listen to this episode for more of our illuminating conversation.

Check out the communities of black people I belong to in the NL

OMEK: https://myomek.com/

Black in Tech Berlin: https://blackintechberlin.com/

Netherlands Black Women: https://netherlandsblackwomen.com/

If you loved this episode, buy me a coffee on here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

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Bongi Mataure moved to the Netherlands from Zimbabwe to pursue her education in aeronautical engineering and then decided to stay. In our conversation, Bongi and I explored what belonging means as a black person in foreign countries  through her many experiences, that included studying and living in the NL and working in France. She is actively shaping her life as a combination of cultures, between the things she loves about being Zimbabwean and what she enjoys about the Netherlands. Besides being a badass engineer she also loves cooking and is the founder of AfruZim, a fusion food experience that combines her Zimbabwean heritage and her new home of the Netherlands. Have a listen to this episode for more.

Follow AfruZim here: https://www.instagram.com/afruzimzw/

If you loved this episode, buy me a coffee on here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

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