Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Casey Ariel Thobias to Intentional Conversations!

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

** Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing. **

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• BLAZE means Building Leaders and Accepting Zero Excuses®️. 
• Entrepreneurship frameworks that we see in the Black community, we don't call entrepreneurship.
• Black entrepreneurship is pervasive in our community- we need to tell our own stories, with our own language.
• In the last 10 years, we’ve seen big business pick up the speech of Black women, even though Black women have had to scrub themselves away in big business. 
• Organizations need to listen better and reflect on what’s already working and then change. Use creativity to lift communities. Don’t use mainstream form of thinking to try to change a community that businesses weren’t meant for. 
• Big challenges for Black women: lack of funding- less than 2% receive grants, business loans, or crowd funding 
• Banking industry solution- if a Black woman opens a business account, then tell them they receive business banker... tell people what they need to know 
• Entrepreneurship Mental health is a huge issue we don’t talk about- 4 out of 5 report elevated stress 
• We need to do a better job articulating the challenges of entrepreneurship 
• There is a price to scaling your business. 
• It’s difficult to scale relationships, but the hope is to scale culture. 
• It’s not cheap because it’s cheap. It’s cheap because someone is being exploited. 
• AI engineers biases are being engineered into the products. Use a third party to check those biases. 
• I want marginalized communities to have what they need, not what I want them to have. 

CONNECT WITH CASEY:

Participate in the 2024 State of Black Women-Owned Businesses Report: blazegroup.io/survey

Learn more about Blaze Group at blazegroup.io

CONNECT WITH DR. WHITE & NWC:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

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Visit the NWC website

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Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Paul Ladipo to Intentional Conversations!

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Nice racism - don’t talk about things that are not nice. But being nice isn’t a way to end racism. If you don’t understand racism, nothing is fixed.
• We need to understand what racism means, it’s not just "I don’t like somebody because of their skin color", it’s a system of inequity.
• Start now! It doesn’t matter who is in office, DEI is always going to be needed.
• Anti-DEI folks are committed and have shown it by repealing affirmative action. Don’t let who’s in office determine if you do the work or not.
• I believe it is going to take another moment that shocks people to get people back on track.

CONNECT WITH PAUL:

On LinkedIn

Visit his website

CONNECT WITH NIKA WHITE CONSULTING:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (New videos and more weekly!)

Visit the NWC website

Get your copy of Inclusion Uncomplicated

Get the weekly newsletter!

Want to be the first to know about upcoming events, tips and more? Sign up for our SMS list. We promise no spam, just the good stuff!

Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Amber Ontiveros to Intentional Conversations!

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM AMBER:

• Understand Your Woundings: Recognize and heal the four core woundings: "I am not worthy," "I am not enough," "I have to win," and "I don't have enough."
• Mindful Listening: Use this technique to understand underlying beliefs within your conscious mind, aiding emotional regulation and empathy.
• Manage Your Emotions: Slow down your mind to soothe your emotions by focusing on your breath and practicing mindfulness.
• Belief Shapes Reality: Beliefs create thoughts, which generate emotions and lead to actions.
• Self-Empowerment: Taking back your power and practicing self-love is crucial for healing.
• Empathy in Communication: Approach difficult conversations with empathy, compassion, and love.
• Question Assumptions: Challenge how policies and behaviors are formed by asking if they are written for you or based on someone else's understanding.
• Awareness of Self: Be self-actualized to recognize and understand unfolding situations.
• Emotional Signals: Emotions are signals from your higher self, prompting self-awareness.
• Positive Self-Talk: Speak to yourself kindly, especially during failures and mistakes, as these moments are key for growth.

CONNECT WITH AMBER:

On LinkedIn

Visit her website

RESOURCES:

Heal the Four Woundings: Amazon Link

CONNECT WITH NIKA WHITE CONSULTING:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (New videos and more weekly!)

Visit the NWC website

Get your copy of Inclusion Uncomplicated

Get the weekly newsletter!

Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Desireé B. Stephens to Intentional Conversations!

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• You can't hustle healing!
• In a colonial project, you are treated like you are perceived.
• Your oppression may not be the same as someone else, but it is a problem we are all facing.
• Hire the people that you are trying to make inclusive - we don’t need a spokesperson, we need access to spaces.
• You cannot be an ally to all people.
• Co-creators is a word that works, ally is fighting the system.
• The first marginalization that shows up in a white society is your race, when you can get the white people engaged in their own oppression, now you’ve got a fight.
• Boundaries are what you do to protect yourself.
• Decolonialization work is about collaboration work.
• Always choose you!

CONNECT WITH DESIREÉ:

IG | TikTok | LinkedIn | FB | YouTube

Visit her website

Desireé's Books

CONNECT WITH NIKA WHITE CONSULTING:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (New videos and more weekly!)

Visit the NWC website

Get your copy of Inclusion Uncomplicated

Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Julia Rock to Intentional Conversations!

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Nothing wrong with a 9-5. Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone and that’s ok. 
• Often, companies try to solve the problem, once employees get there. You must ensure alignment before hiring. 
• Employers must ask, are you providing meaningful work?  
• Optimize what you are testing in the interview process to find alignment instead of dragging it out and asking people to just have conversations. 
• Where are you in your leadership journey? A new and seasoned leader needs different training.  
• Assess if leaders want to be leaders. Many are just made leaders because they have the technical skills or have been at a company for a while. 
• Employees want leaders with integrity, authenticity and courage to take up for employees. 
• People don’t understand the responsibility they have when becoming a leader. You can now impact employee livelihood and mental health. 
• Before shifting careers, discover and be able to discuss transferable skills. 
• Before shifting careers, create a strong desirable brand. 
• Don’t suffer in silence. 
• Assess staying at a company by asking: What can I do, what will do and what won't I do? 
• Companies can’t continue without productive, engaged and motivated employees. Don’t forget you have just as much power as an organization. 

CONNECT WITH JULIA:

On Instagram | X

Visit Rock Career Development

CONNECT WITH NIKA WHITE CONSULTING:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (New videos and more weekly!)

Visit the NWC website

Get your copy of Inclusion Uncomplicated

Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Dr. A.C. Fowlkes to Intentional Conversations! Right at the beginning of the podcast, Dr. F said, "It is hard to hate up close." That struck us all deeply and the rest of the podcast was full of so much wisdom.

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

It is hard to hate up close.

When we engage with people who are not like us, we give ourselves the opportunity to learn and grow and become better people. There is beauty in not being just like other people.

My goal is no longer assimilation, it was at one point, but now it is I want to show up 100% as myself and for that to not just be ok, but valued and honored.

Not all trans people, transition.

Medical, legal and social transition - 3 recognized forms of transition

Medical transition is what the media promotes, social transition is what we experience the most, legal transition is the change of your name, etc… People will transition in some of the ways, but not all. And sometimes they don’t transition in any of the ways, but it doesn’t make them any less trans.

Dispel the myth that trans folx are trans… trans is about gender not about transitioning.

More important than that is being a good human being. We do that by holding space for everyone.

It is important to ask the question, does this need to be gendered? There are so many things we gender that don’t need to be gendered.

It’s very important for us to understand that transgender folx, although they experience a lot of maltreatment in the workplace, what we know from research, is they don’t report it.

We need to stop relying on our employees to teach us. We need to invest in education and subject matter expertise. We need to compensate people for their expertise.

• We have to normalize the sharing of pronouns.
• Honor a person’s chosen name.
• Not all trans people transition.

Dont’ just talk about it, be about it.

CONNECT WITH DR. A.C.:

On LinkedIn

Visit the website

CONNECT WITH DR. WHITE & NWC:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (New tips, vodcasts and more!)

Visit the NWC website

Get your copy of Inclusion Uncomplicated

Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Dr. Shinika McKiever to the Intentional Conversations co-host chair and just wow! Dr. Shinika has shared so much wisdom in our time together. We wanted to share a couple of quotes that really resonated with our community:

"My light warms, it doesn’t burn!"

"Confidence is a stain that can’t be wiped off. Know who you are and be confident in that!"

If you are an entrepreneur and working daily to realize your dreams or maybe you haven't quite gotten there yet, this intentional conversation will encourage and inspire you to keep going!

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

RESOURCES:

Empower Her Summit

The Brown Girl Collective

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• What happens when you wait? Everything you thought you were gonna do, the complete opposite of that happens... The journey of Plan B! 
• When you’re supposed to move, you become uncomfortable. 
• Where are you feeling stuck? Awareness of self, awareness of culture, awareness of how you’re showing up in your community; what is the purpose of your business, alignment which is around aligning your purpose and passion with your individual talents.
• You have to have passion around business, it cannot be motivated by making money. 
• People don’t leave jobs, people leave people.
• Lead in a way that feels comfortable for you as an individual. 
• You have to learn you're not always gonna be everybody’s cup of tea, but you still have to respect it. 
• With white women glass can be broken, but with women of color, concrete has to be penetrated. 
• Community is important to be around like-minded people you can trust and bounce ideas off of. If the space doesn’t exist, create your own. 
• Perfection is unattainable in entrepreneurship. 
• As women entrepreneurs, we hold ourselves to crazy standards; learn to give yourself some grace. 
• If you’re not willing to make the investment in your business, it’s gonna show up! 
• You have to be willing to take the risk on yourself. 
• Everybody is not made for a management role. Recognize there is a big difference between leadership and management. 
• Seeking to make a meaningful impact? Show up and be willing to take a risk. What we think are challenges are often our biggest opportunities. Know who you are and fall in love with yourself. 
• It is very hard to be an imposter in a system that wasn’t designed for you. 
• GO where you are celebrated, not tolerated. You have to learn and value what you bring to the table. Know your worth and don’t compromise. 
• If you're the big fish in the pond, you can only adapt and expand so much, but when you’re the big fish in the ocean, you’ve got all the room in the world! 
• Recognize that you were called to do something, nobody else on earth has the talent or ability to do what you were called to do. 

CONNECT WITH DR. SHINIKA:

On Facebook | LinkedIn

Visit the website

CONNECT WITH NIKA WHITE CONSULTING:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (New tips, vodcasts and more!)

Visit the NWC website

Get your copy of Inclusion Uncomplicated

Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Yvonne Alston to the Intentional Conversations co-host chair.

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• We should normalize difficult conversations.
• Arizona upholding an 1864 abortion ban has many implications. 1864 ruling brings us back to the last century when women couldn’t vote and slavery was upheld.
• There is a regression. Many people are using their privilege and power to create boundaries and limitations.
• We need to keep our foot on the pedal with a brick to keep DEI going.
• We are experiencing modern-day civil rights.
• Working in corporate America showed me that people (with awareness) are doing harm to others through bias or lack of self-confidence.
• The best version of us is the most innovative and empathetic - creating change takes that of us.
• I am an unapologetically authentic amplifier of DEI. Took me several years to get here because I was accustomed to code-switching and assimilating. I don’t diminish myself to make myself more palatable to others.
• We all have power and privilege. We need to acknowledge our shared history and level set. How does power and privilege show up… it’s not an “always” and “in always” thing.
• It’s uncomfortable to address inequality happening at the moment. Allyship should cost something.
• People are afraid to do the wrong thing, so they do nothing. We must do something to make a change.
• DEI can be a tool for meaningful change.

CONNECT WITH YVONNE:

On Instagram | LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH NIKA WHITE CONSULTING:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (and never miss new content! Coming weekly!)

Visit the NWC website

Get your copy of Inclusion Uncomplicated

Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcomed Tara Turk-Haynes to the Intentional Conversations co-host chair.

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• When you are in the room, how are you creating access for other people?
• Companies need to think about how to embed equitable practices in a practical way.
• Your customer base, which is your candidate base, is going to look very different in 20 years.
• We talk a lot about middle managers, but we don’t talk to them directly.
• Middle managers are winging it. Of course they’ll be terrified, they don’t even know if they’re saying the right things. How can we expect them to embed DEI into their meeting structure.
• Must have a mindset of continuous learning and it starts with middle managers.
• Manager training is asking how can you allow people to show up at the workplace so people show up and be their best selves?
• We need to standardize the training we’re doing so people are set up for success! Don’t roll your eyes when you have a company that cares.
• Data tells the story of what’s going on in your company! (ie. engagement surveys, talking to HR business partners, who is getting hired, etc.)
• Belonging means "Do I feel like I belong and contribute, and do I have a path forward?"
• People should not only look at their consultant partners as auditors, but look at them as partners for success. We can be automatically guarded, but they are not trying to show us what’s wrong.
• We are regressing in our conversations about equity and politics… it is important for company’s to be able to hold space. If you’re a people leader or a company, be mindful how you are taking care of people to be their best at work. What are you doing to help people exhibiting high amounts of stress in this political world? How are we taking care of each other?

CONNECT WITH TARA:

On LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter

CONNECT WITH NIKA WHITE CONSULTING:

Connect on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter / X

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (We ever miss new content! Coming weekly!)

Visit the NWC website

Inclusion Uncomplicated by Dr. Nika White

Welcome to Intentional Conversations, where we intersect diversity, equity, and inclusion with leadership and business.

This week we welcome Tiffany Castagno to the Intentional Conversations co-host chair.

So, grab your headphones 🎧, press play, and let the conversation begin!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel because we're all about keeping the great conversations flowing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• I don’t want people to fear HR.
• Leaders leaning into their own vulnerability and admitting they don’t have all the answers is important.
• You can’t just post and ghost as a leader.
• Getting to the root of things, hearing feedback, having hard conversations, and feeling not equipped, can cause leaders to shy away, but we need to do the hard things... We have to get to the root of things, or it will continue repeating itself.
• Privilege does not have to be a dirty word.
• Talent benchmarking and succession planning are important - the higher you go in an organization; the less diverse it becomes.
• Recognition and awareness are great places to start! Take a step back and understand who you want to be. Start with little things… asking questions and getting curious.
• My work is always about people!
• Just because you’re different doesn’t mean you have to treat people different.
• The power of community and the power of collectiveness is the strength as DEIB continues to be under threat. You don’t have to do it alone; we elevate it together.

CONNECT WITH TIFFANY:

On LinkedIn

On Facebook

On Twitter / X

Visit her website

CONNECT WITH NIKA WHITE CONSULTING:

Connect on LinkedIn

Be Facebook friends

Engage on X

Connect on Instagram

Subscribe to the NWC YouTube channel (and never miss new content! Coming weekly!)

Visit the NWC website

Get your copy of Inclusion Uncomplicated