Hey Fab Crew,

In this episode, Kishshana sits down with a longtime friend and amazing spirit, Maria Smith Dautruche to discuss the idea of just "being basic" as a Black woman.

Listen, friends, this episode will have you laughing so hard your sides will hurt.

Be sure to stick around until the end for this week's Kish Tip (Vitamin K)!!!

Married to Minister Lopez-Joel Dautruche, and mommy to Imena, Maria Smith Dautruche spends her time healing, cultivating, connecting, and agitating.

Maria has been a professional frontline fundraiser for more than 15 years. She is a member of the recently launched The Rooted Collaborative™ - a global community focused on the holistic evolution and advancement of female leaders of color in the social impact sector. She is currently a Senior Advisor to the President and CEO of the National Urban League after more than 5 years as Vice President in the Partnerships & Advancement Office of the historic civil rights organization. In addition to raising $51 million during her time as a Vice President at NUL, Maria played a critical role in shaping the organization’s current racial equity partnerships. Prior to this role, Maria was Assistant Director of Foundation Relations in the Central Office of the Smithsonian Institution during the organization’s history-making $1.5 billion comprehensive campaign.

Maria is also a proud co-founder of New Voices for Reproductive Justice – a powerful organizing force for the health and well-being of Black women and girls, women of color, and LGBTQ+ people of color at the local, state (PA and OH) and national level.

Maria is from Mount Vernon, NY where she is a member of the Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus and Community Voices Heard. Maria is an Elias Foundation Activist Fellow and led the organization of Westchester County’s first observance of National Day of Racial Healing on January 19, 2021.

• Profound jokes
• Honest observations
• Raising the monies
• Keeping it real
• Former shape-shifter and code-switcher
• I am also an exceptional friend

Social Handle: @MariaDautruche

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the Show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

This conversation takes place on a Zoom call for the Rooted Collaborative Retreat for successful women in leadership and business. In this conversation, Kishshana is joined by a long-time friend and inspiration, Ify Walker. Get your pen and notepad and take some notes! There are some gems shared by Ify that take authenticity to a whole new level.

Ify Walker is the Founder & CEO of Offor* - the national talent brokerage (www.offor.co). Clients come to Ify for her trademark no-nonsense counsel on building high-performing teams; debunking the meritocracy myth; abolishing performance reviews, and exploring how to ensure that the future of work is a virtual 25-hour workweek.

Her work has been featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fast Company, and PBS News Hour.

Ify is an attorney by training and a proud product of Nigerian parents, the original dairy state, and Head Start. She is a mother of two, a sister to five, and wife to the best decision she's ever made. When she's not questioning everything, you can find her running Mom's School of Excellence.

Follow her on Twitter: @ifywalker or on LinkedIn: #DearBlackWomen

She also writes on her blog, Pass the Baton (passthebatonbook.com/blog)

Fab Crew, make sure you stay tuned in until the very end for a new added segment, "Kish Tips".

Kish Tip of the day - "Black Women Are Made For More Than Work".

Book Recommendations

• Tiffany Dufu - Drop the Ball (available on Amazon)
• Adam Grant - Think Again: The Power Of Knowing What You Don’t Know (available on Amazon)
• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)
• Visit The Rooted Collaborative (https://www.therootedcollaborative.com)

Support the show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

Hey Fab Crew!!!

With only a week away, season 2 is fast approaching. In this upcoming season 2, Kishshana will focus on Professional Development. Kishshana is going to talk with armchair experts on authenticity, seeking out possibilities, and thriving.

Subscribe, Comment, Share & Rate us 5 Stars!!!

If you haven't already, catch up on season 1, and let's continue on this journey together.

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the show (https://buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

In this special bonus episode, we are gifted with the words of wisdom of none other than Kishshana's Jamaican Daddy, Bernard Palmer.

He breaks down his thoughts on the season and shares great gems. 

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

In this season closer, Kishshana recaps the lessons of the season from her guests and sends us into the spring with one charge own your Leadesh*t.  We are responsible for our lives. Our life is our choice and what we’ve done with these choices up until this point is done. So what’s next? Let’s talk about it.

Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

For many leaders, finding time to be creative can be tough. But making time to play feels impossible. Kishshana gets one of her best friends and long time Creative Director for the Kishshana & Co. family of brands, Rochelle Sodipo to talk about the magic (and necessity) of making time to play as an HOV lane to joy, rest, innovation, and fuel as a leader.

Where you'll find Rochelle:

Roseredd Etc. (rosereddetc.com)

and on Social: @rochellesodipo

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

After being booed up with her business for the last 5.5 years, Kishshana has decided she’s ready for love and calls up Dr. Cassandra Henriquez b.k.a. Coach Cass to talk about Love on the Leaderboard. Leaders need love too! Why does it feel so challenging to meet amazing humans the more successful we become? Coach Cass breaks down her Real Love success formula.

Find Coach Cass at:

Inspire Many (inspiremany.com)

and on Social: @inspiremany

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the Show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

This conversation with Kishshana and her guest Ajuah Helton (who happens to be one of her best friends) needed cocktails because THIS conversation explores women of color in the workplace and the winding road we take from honeymoon Helen to “have a nice life” Harriot. Get ready to unpack the “problem” women of color in the workplace and how companies and organizational leaders at every level have a responsibility to make sure we cut this destructive mess OUT!

Resources:

• Center for Community Organizations (coco-net.org)
• I’m Not Your Superwoman: Ways the Superwoman Complex Affects Our Life, Love, And Leadership (bit.ly/kishtedx2020)
• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

Kishshana gets on the phone with HR expert, Joy Pittman to talk about authenticity, exceptionalism, being an influencer from any seat, and why you never know what kind of effect you will have on people when you’re out in the world. How does your generation affect how your identity at work? Is Diversity Equity and Inclusion just lip service?

Find Joy at:

HR For the Culture (hrfortheculture.com)

and on social: @HRfortheCulture

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)

Kishshana picks up the phone to call her resident money expert, Tani Chambers to chat about legacy and significance, leveraging your legacy now and later. And what’s up with these MLM schemes claiming to build wealth? How do we use tools to build a financial legacy? Is that the only type of legacy we can build?

Find Tani at SaviMoni (savimoni.com)

Episode Resources:

• For more Management Mastery head over to ManageMint (https://managemint.co)
• Get our free eBook "Super Leaders Need Love, Too: 3 Hacks for Not-So-Great Days" (https://www.managemint.co/freeresources)

Support the show (buymeacoffee.com/managemintmadeeasy)