In today's episode, we get to chat with a person who has faced serious adversity, but makes no regrets for the path he was placed.  In fact, this is a story of overcoming, creating generational benchmarks and annihilating the status quo.  If anyone can relate to overcoming childhood homelessness, maternal drug addiction and teenage relocation and then become nothing like their environment, it's today's guest.  There are often challenges that make or break a person and we hear from a real overcomer.  He gets real with us about growing up in an Atlanta environment in the 90's, the culture shock of moving from what is known as America's black mecca to Alaska...North Pole, Alaska that is.  But all is well that ends well, because he understands the value of looking at people for who they and taking care of them where they are.  He has seen alot of disparate treatment, but stays in the "Worlds Greatest Air Force" for one thing...in order to serve people. 

This one hits close to home as he has been a part of story in the Air Force and we share some of the same first mentors...SMSgt (Ret) Kevin Alexander, MSgt (Ret) Jimmy Scott, MSgt (Ret) Derek Carter and our First Sergeant at the time MSgt Gunny.  These leaders took no shortcuts and had great pride in building the bench and instilling legacy!  All the way from across the Korean peninsula, hear real conversation with MSgt Branden Johnson.

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1. Know yourself. 2. Extend Grace. 3. Be true to your 'Why. 4. Form your own opinions about folk. 5. Touch lives We keep it short and sweet on today's podcast; but the convo we have here is not to be missed!   

This South Carolina native, daughter of a single-parent home has made her mark in the Air Force and there is no doubt more to come as she continues to blaze the trails and ignite the fire for other women using her light to climb the ladder.  She is living out her promise to finish what her brother started and takes a minute to talk about bench warmers vs the players. #connected #protected #respected We're a little biased with this guest since she is a fellow personnel Airmen from the Force Support Squadron world (insert resounding round of applause).   Can we say 'we made it' ...all the way to the Wing leadership levels.  

Listen now to my very casual convo with the current 437th Airlift Wing Command Chief, Chief Master Sergeant Charmaine Kelley. 

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"What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here..." are not words you think you would hear when walking into a recruiting station. But that's exactly what happened to our guest today before she was pushed into learning about officer careers in the military as she sat in the recruiter's chair.

Just in time for Women's History Month we chat with an African American Female, Third-Generation American with a Bahamian background about her experiences in the US Air Force.  This South Carolina native, daughter of an Senior Non-Commissioned Officer talks about her first assignment all the way across the US to a culture that neither she nor it were prepared to experience.  We chat a little about our favorite four-letter word in the military right now...H_A_I_R and how her natural tresses cost her a briefing with a General Officer with no one willing to have that conversation about any of it.  We also talk about the reality of what happens when happenstance is left to determine common occurrences like who works in a section versus doing it with some intentionally and encouraging demographic variety.  She challenges listeners to tell their stories on whatever platform is available in an effort for diversity in all the ways it is available...thought, experience. background, etc...                                                                                                                                        

Major Lenora Alva is a boss, making strides in every circle she touches and brings a real-ness you're sure to enjoy.

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"When someone shows you who they are, believe them." - Maya Angelou

This sobering episode features a guest with a lot of credentials, but not a lot of credit throughout her career and her race is the reason.  We talk deeply about "the conversation" that continues to follow black officers and Senior Enlisted members of the Air Force weather they are just starting or closing out their career.  

From the Fourth Ward Houston projects to being a medical leader at Keesler Air Force Base, this fight nurse/instructor has overcome quite a few obstacles on her way to the top.  Not letting anything from a prejudiced Army recruiter to the preferential treatment of a sub-standard peer get in her way, we talk a lot about how you handle what happens to you and following God's destiny for a successful military career.  

This episode will cover the a full gamut of emotions so get your tissues and your notebooks as we march through a 20-year (so far) Air Force career through the lens of Lt Col Clementine Duke.

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Angry. Black. Female. Stereotype or personal microaggressions? 

She came in 1998 and saw her first black Chief Master Sergeant in 2012 on a deployment...

It's time to hear from a 21-year vet in the Active Duty game who reminds us that "it's OK to be a froot loop in a world full of cheerios."      

She identifies herself by her faith first, then her race, and lastly her gender and service in the US Air Force.   Her background from the projects did not prepare her for the racial and cultural diversity in the Air Force (and yes, we break down project culture vs military culture for those who are unfamiliar), but her strength in mathematics did land her in a mathematics-centric, but white male dominated Civil Engineer career field. 

Early lessons at Minot and Little Rock Air Force bases added to the culture shock of this black female who had grown up in the very locations deemed unsafe and unofficially off limits to Airmen who look like her.  She speaks about her first time making a friend who looks racially different than she does and how the combination of her friend's inner-city upbringing meshed well with her own background as they both battled preferential treatment of a white male counterpart in their workplace.  Not to be forgotten though, we talk about the beneficial lessons taught by white males to black females that allow some to keep their personality while serving professionally. 

We also chat about her trifecta of minority status with a category not often discussed in the Air Force, the RELIGIOUS minority...how are you accepted in a Friday night, drinking culture while staying true to your religious convictions? There is a way to do it.

When there's a seat at the table, she encourages people like her to show up, be heard and be a boss!  

Talk with my friend, MSgt LaShandra Denson (Retired).

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What do you get when you mix a 4 year Marine Corps enlistment and an 11 year Air Force enlistment with a total of 22 years of active duty service? You get a powerhouse leader who has done a lot, seen a lot and here to tell us about it! We are entreated to speak with 1/2 of a power couple...seriously, we have the utmost respect for this guest and his wife because they walk the talk, have accomplished much and remain humble despite their obvious amazing contributions to the culture.  This legend in the making and father of two is the husband of Dr. Latisha Sims who is founder of The Orion Foundation https://www.theorionfoundation.org/, an organization who's mission is to preserve artistic identity and prevent suicide. ---Go check it out---

This legend in the making and father of two is the husband of Dr. Latisha Sims who is founder of The Orion Foundation https://www.theorionfoundation.org/, an organization whose mission is to preserve artistic identity and prevent suicide. ---Go check it out---

We talk about the conversation that begins in a lot of black homes that the military is not for people of color and how that mantra was supported early in his time as a Marine...he was called "the N* word" not once, not twice...but three times in his career! His leadership's response to these incidents left much to be desired. We also talk about the responsibility of (and also the gap of) minority senior leaders for the downward level mentorship of junior minorities.

Our guest's favorite quote "He who thinks he leads, but has no followers is only taking a walk" is totally embodied in his "why" for remaining in the service and having fun while serving his peers and those who may someday lead the people who lead the people who look like him.

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Who doesn't enjoy a little anonymity? This episode's guest appeared incognito, but we still get to the business at hand!  We discuss a little about the Bataan Death March where tens of thousands of starving American and Filipino Prisoners of War were forced to march 66 miles in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles.  Source: https://bataanmarch.com/   

We touch on the reality and unfortunate side of constantly getting hit on in male-saturated career fields and the verbalized perception that womanhood makes you weaker.  Why doesn't training for leadership include ways to manage inappropriate engagements when subordinates cross the line while maintaining your leadership influence?  Do other women leaders know the "small words" that signal a member of the opposite sex is making an improper imposition versus when genuinely in need of your help?  What's the best way to say "I care about you, but here are our boundaries."

Hear about how making small differences like representing well for yourself and your culture pays residual dividends and makes inroads to say "I AM HERE" and the beautiful benefit of not losing yourself as you gain friends and mentors in the military.

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405. That's the approximate number of females of African American heritage who can say they're part of the Air Force Academy Alumni and we had the opportunity to chat with one of them!  #girlpower #magic  The Air Force Academy allowed women to attend beginning in 1980 and the number of graduates to date, including the class of 2020 is about 405...that's about 10 graduates per year for the past 40 years!

This conversation is saturated with positive experiences of a BL-ASIAN female pilot graduate from the Air Force Academy who successfully completed the Academy in 2005 due to her supportive friends and classmates of all backgrounds!  She is an Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veteran, where she served as a mission commander in Baghdad, Iraq as a counterintelligence agent. She earned an accelerated promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and serves in the Indiana Air National Guard as the Commander of the 122d Communications Flight and Chief Information Officer (CIO). She loves flying and desires to develop and serve missionaries through aviation. 

We talk with Lt Col Jennifer-Ruth Green about her bi-racial background which allows her to roam between different racial groups...a bonus for someone as dynamic as she is, we talk about the first black bomber ACE, being qualified to stand on the shoulder of giants and her three-point mentor criteria that is race, gender, and orientation exclusive. 

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At the time of this recording, retired Army Reserves by way of the Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel/Lawyer/UNC-Chapel Hill Business Analyst was finishing his PhD (phew!) so we, at Cadence Convos, want to send a huge congratulations and many virtual hugs for accomplishing another tremendously significant milestone in an already impressive legacy-building career!  Join this '95 NC State University Alum in this sesh about  how the military connected him to his father who served in Vietnam and his older brother.  We talk about the normalization of racial traditions outside the military that found their way among the enlisted army ranks, showing themselves in the distribution of assigned duties and even impacted the officer promotion rates.  We talk about how mentorship matters at all ranks, especially when forging the not so familiar paths of military systems.

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A nation at war has no time for racial or gender separations...right?! And even if it did (have time) the 1% of people who dedicate themselves to Serving are probably pretty good humans and therefore wouldn't entertain such petty divisiveness...right?! In this episode, we get to dive deeper into our convos with this Active Duty leader who is a proud graduate of the infamous Little Rock Central High School (the one from the black history books circa 1957) and a proud Arkansas native. We talk about how her hoop dreams and talent brought her to the Air Force, the need to break the perceived glass ceilings with representation for little brown girl leaders of the future and how, without being told, she knew the unwritten code of behaving "properly" as a female in the military. We even talk about how, 16 years later, she is having the same conversation on race with younger Airmen that were had with her when she was an Airman. Come, join this conversation with MSgt Asua Rose! IG: @shebegreat  fb: Tamekia (Allen) Payne  Twitter: @cadenceconvo  Coming Soon: Morethanjustatulip.com