In this powerful episode Brad and Cassie sit down with Harleny Vasquez to discuss an important topic. How to navigate the early stages of a career  as a person of color. So many incredible topics were touched on this this episode to highlight some of unique challenges that many BIPOC students and new grads face as they start their careers. Highlights of this episode include: 

• Harleny discusses her background and how she found her way to career coaching and her passion for helping MSWs specifically 

• It’s common for all professionals but especially young professionals to experience imposter syndrome when starting their career or a new job. She talks about how this can impact people of color specifically

• What young people of color can do to work through these feelings of imposter syndrome 

• She highlights how to use LinkedIn as a source to showcase self-confidence, reflecting on your skills and value and validating everything what you have to offer 

• She talks about her advice she has for young professionals around brining their authentic identity to work and inclusivity in the workplace 

• How BIPOC new grads build and leverage their network to advance career opportunities and combat a lack of belonging

• Bringing our full selves to work also comes with challenges. She highlights some of the common challenges that she has seen and how new professionals can handle those

• What is the best piece of career advice that she could pass along to our listeners

Guest Info: 

Harleny Vasquez is a Licensed Social Worker and a Latinx Woman of color. She is the founder of her business yourEVOLVEDmind, where she is a career coach helping aspiring and social workers in all stages build their confidence level to market themselves effectively, while learning all the tools needed to secure their next opportunity using the Linkedin platform. She is an experienced social worker with over 8 years working in social services providing trauma-informed care and now social work recruiter and MSW Student Affairs Coordinator. She serves as a board member for The Latino Social Work Coalition and Scholarship Fund. Harleny is on a mission to uplift and elevate the social work profession.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harlenyvasquez/ 

Website: https://yourevolvedmind.mykajabi.com/ 

Instagram: @yourevolvedmind