Pause On The Play

The recent social media controversy swirling around a particular white female empowerment brand isn’t new. But, if the “influencer’s” bad behavior is shocking to you, then the question isn’t, how could she? Instead, ask yourself, why am I so surprised?

In this solo discussion, Erica proposes a series of questions to help us redirect that attention toward profound introspection rather than performative outrage. 

In this discussion:

• Old habits, new controversy
• It’s not the bad behavior; it’s what comes next
• Questions to ask yourself that support imperfect action, imperfect allyship
• Collecting data through engaged watching and listening
• Moving from outrage to introspection so we can do the work 

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Visit the website for the full article at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep103.

Keep The Dialogue Going

Ready to put Erica’s propositions into practice? Join Pause On The Play The Community to support your imperfect action and strengthen imperfect allyship.

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In the wake of yet another mass shooting after the horrific hate crime in Atlanta which impacted the AAPI community, Erica and India confront the disturbing adversarial reactions they’ve seen some white people direct at underserved communities. They also use this opportunity to outline positive steps you can take to champion empathy and understanding within your sphere of influence and support humans in those affected communities.

In this discussion:

• The effects of othering on marginalized communities
• How accusatory tactics deflect from concentrating on your own work
• Performative vs. empathetic action
• The (sometimes free) economics of support
• The myth of limited resources

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Visit the website for the full article at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep102.

Keep The Dialogue Going

Join us over at Pause On The Play The Community.

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So often, people think of values work as a one-and-done activity. Not so!

As we transition through our many iterations, the values we hold dear transform, becoming more developed and recognizable. However, the full scope of our personal growth is often lost on us in a forest of nuance. In this solo conversation, Erica plots her own evolutionary process - from cosmetology school to DEI professional - highlighting moments that reinforced her commitment to the work.   

In this discussion:

• Musings on conversational camaraderie and solo topics
• Our values in our backstories and everyday experiences 
• The beauty industry as a microcosm of systemic racism
• Living our beliefs in the name of good trouble

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Visit the website for the full article at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep101.

Keep The Dialogue Going

Our next From Implicit to Explicit masterclass is filling up fast. The journey begins Thursday, April 22nd. 

Head over to Pause On The Play to sign up. 

Want to see what past participants are saying about this program? Visit our Instagram feed to check out the conversation. 

Acknowledging and trusting our evolutionary journey is a vital piece of this work. Our values define us and it’s these beliefs that we send out into the world through our words and our actions. Making that connection is one of the principle reasons why Erica and India lead From Implicit to Explicit. 

We would absolutely be honored for you to participate in and experience, firsthand, the process, allowing Erica and India to accompany you as you wrap your brain around the values that matter most to you and ways in which you chose to project them out into the world. It’s truly a transformative experience.

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Supporting a favorite cause - and acknowledging that support - is an essential part of who you are and how you choose to show up. For some, an unlimited choice of causes to support can lead to overwhelm and an inability to pick just one.

So, how do you create a give-back component in your business? How do you vet the companies and organizations? How do you ensure that your assistance has the desired effect? Erica and India share best practices and examples from both their individual and combined give-back activities. 

In this discussion:

• How to align your values with your give-back initiative
• Debunking the “correct way to give” myth 
• The why behind Erica’s and India’s individual and combined support efforts
• Actionable steps for advancing your give-back actions

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Visit the website for the full article at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep100.

Keep The Dialogue Going

One of our favorite features of becoming a member of Pause On The Play The Community is the onboarding process (yes, really!) because you get to pick a cause. Our algorithm allows you to connect with other people aligned with that same cause more easily. 

Join us today over at Pause On The Play The Community.

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In 2019, Erica and India got together to discuss India’s experiences at Afropunk, the summer festival of Black art and music. In the midst of what she describes as a place of love and support and people coming together celebrating their own identities, she also had an encounter that shook her - something she might once have considered part of the normal experience of being a Black woman.

Looking back on the event revealed to India just how far she’d come on her DEI journey, and now, Erica and India bracket their original conversation with fresh appreciation and the wisdom of hindsight.

In this discussion:

• An introduction to the unique experience of Afropunk Festival
• What it means for people within marginalized identities to feel safe and joyful in their self-expression
• Taking up space in ways that help you feel whole, and in ways that are problematic
• Finding language to describe everyday experiences you now see in a new light
• Practicing awareness in spaces where you’re not the intended audience
• Measuring progress on the DEI journey, even when growth is not immediately recognizable

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Visit the website for the full article at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep99.

Keep The Dialogue Going

Examine the nuances of your DEI journey and learn how to put those experiences into words. Join us over at Pause On The Play The Community.

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Point of view is what connects your content to your people. Inviting people into your personal lived experience while providing space for theirs to breathe allows both sides to appreciate the other. Authentic content hits that sweet spot - the intersection of what we share, where we’re similar, and where our experiences diverge - every time. It allows both creator and audience to agree and, perhaps more importantly, how to disagree in a way that keeps the dialogue going.

Award-winning spoken word poet Jon Goode joins Erica to discuss and demonstrate strategies for utilizing lived experience, creative narrative, and humor to foster a stronger connection - even in moments of dissent - with your audience.

In this discussion:

• An introduction to Jon Goode and his work
• How to let go of pretense in everything you create
• Musicians and musical works that demonstrate exceptional communication tactics
• Agreeing to disagree - and still engage in effective dialogue
• Sharing insight versus contrarianism
• Serving meaning and message 
• Storytelling through the lens of  Black experience
• Getting comfortable with rejection

Connect with Jon Goode

Mydas

Conduit

Instagram

Facebook

The Moth

Jon Goode is an Emmy nominated writer raised in Richmond, VA and currently residing in Atlanta, GA. Jon’s work has been featured on CNN, HBO, BET, VH-1, TVOne, and used by several other networks and corporations. Jon’s work earned him the 2006 Promax Gold for the best copyright in North America. His collection of poems and short stories, Conduit, was #1 on Amazon for 16 weeks. Jon's debut novel, Mydas, was released on Sept 14th 2020. It debuted as a #1 new title on Amazon.com. Jon is a Fellow of AIR Serenbe and the current host of The Moth, Atlanta.

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Check out our full show notes for more at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep98.

Keep The Dialogue Going

Learn how to craft content that delivers your message through a variety of creative strategies and media. Join us over at Pause On The Play The Community as we continue to examine the lessons Jon shared during our March 2021 theme of the month.

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Noted romance and erotica author and editor, Tasha Harrison joins Erica to discuss attracting people to your community through authenticity. Part of that involves letting people in to know who you are, what it is that makes you the individual and the human that you are that can't be manufactured or replicated by someone else. Simply put, it’s your personality.

When preparing this topic for Pause On The Play, Erica knew immediately that her friend, Tasha, who is also the creator of the #20kin5Days writing challenge and the Wordmakers Writing Community, was exactly who she wanted to talk with about it.

Tasha and Erica also unpack misconceptions surrounding Black romance, showing up as you are with your full voice, and refusing to be categorized by other people’s expectations.

In this discussion:

• Attracting people to your work and your community
• Unleashing authentic personality
• The people-pleasing trap
• Building better communities
• Why pro-Black isn’t anti-white
• Fostering a healthy listening, learning environment
• Self-preservation over false choices
• Breaking free from limiting labels

Connect with Tasha Harrison

Website

Instagram

Twitter

Wordmakers Community

Hi! I'm Tasha L. Harrison! I'm a romance and erotica author, freelance editor, and creator of the #20kin5Days writing challenge and the Wordmakers Writing Community.

When I was 11 or 12 years old, I wrote a 20 line poem for my grandmother as a present for Mother’s Day. The title of this bit of iambic pentameter was "Grandmother, If You Lived in Biblical Times” and it told the story of how she would have been present and influential at all the big moments like the Great Flood, The Fall of Jericho, In the Lion’s Den with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo, etc. My mother helped me decorate and frame this masterpiece and it lived on the entry table at my Grandmother’s house for years. While this wasn't the first thing I wrote, it was the first thing I remember when people ask me ”have you always wanted to be a writer?”

Side note: I memorized that poem and can still recite it from beginning to end. If you meet me IRL and there's a glass of whiskey in my hand, I might just rattle if off if you ask nicely.

I no longer write faith-based poetry, but I do write about characters who know each other biblically. My erotic and romantic fiction allows me the space to explore the human condition and suss out what happens when that chemical known as love and lust hits our bloodstream and how it impacts our lives.

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Check out our full show notes for more at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep97.

Keep The Dialogue Going

Context is drawn from conversation, and conversation is something that we use as a tool in Pause On The Play The Community.

Our conversations don't look any one way; they're not about any one topic, any one concern or cause. And our members don't all come from one specific background. Being able to figure out what it is to be more unapologetically you and have that discussion in a room of people that are there to cheer you on and advocating for you to be able to do this is so important. 

During our monthly calls, we support our community and help them figure out how to share what’s important to them. We help our members bring more of themselves to the forefront, clarify what matters to them, and broadcast that authentic message to their people. 

Join us over at Pause On The Play The Community  to be in the room as we continue talking March 2021 about visibility and how to get your audience to feel what it is that you want them to feel, and what you want them to know about you.

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DEI consultants are not a monolith. Erica and her guest, Kay Fabella, a DEI and remote team consultant based in Spain, discuss how personal experience, geographical location, and cultural context influence individual approaches to the work, while highlighting some of the key differences in anti-racism efforts abroad versus those in the US.  

In this discussion:

• The value of embracing a multi-hyphenate identity
• Wholeheartedly engaging in the DEI journey
• The importance of contextually appropriate DEI educational materials
• Problems inherent to applying a US-centric DEI strategy to global conversations when it comes to language, context, and culturally readiness
• Creating safe spaces for people to do the work
• Reconsidering your normal for a stronger foundation
• Showing up as a DEI practitioner - the personal is professional
• Questions to consider before engaging a DEI professional for your business

Connect with Kay Fabella

Website

Podcast  

Whitepaper 

As a Forbes-featured DEI Consultant & Remote Team Strategist, Kay Fabella has worked with companies like the IMF, Philips, Red Hat, and PepsiCo, to improve inclusive communication between diverse team members, to retain top talent and reduce turnover, and to build a culture of belonging to prepare companies for the future of work.

A Filipina American in Spain since 2010, Kay draws from her lived experiences as a “multihyphenate” woman of color, a daughter of immigrants, and an immigrant herself to build bridges for belonging.

She believes that more inclusive workplace cultures start with psychological safety to share non-linear stories — to embed empathy, expand worldviews, and increase employee engagement and innovation. 

While she finalizes her first book on DEI, you can listen to her industry insights and interviews on her 5-star podcast: Inclusion in Progress.

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Check out our full show notes for more at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep96.

Keep The Dialogue Going

Visit Kay’s website and download the whitepaper The Future of Work Culture: How Big Tech is Redefining DEI in a Remote World

Join Pause On The Play The Community, a safe space to be a part of conversations like this one.

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For business owners who want to transition away from the white supremacist structure of capitalism towards more equitable economic solutions, it can be difficult to know where to even begin.

Erica is joined by multi-disciplinary business owner and self-described free spirit Kate Strathmann to discuss approachable actions that business owners can take in support of an anti-capitalist operating strategy - without destroying their profitability. 

In this discussion:

• Capitalism’s relationship to white supremacy
• What is an anti-capitalist business?
• Moving beyond private wealth generation
• Anti-capitalist business models such as cooperatives, and profit-sharing
• Expanding access
• Fostering transparency 

Connect with Kate Strathmann

Wanderwell Consulting & Bookkeeping

[email protected]

Kate Strathmann is a multi-disciplinary business owner and rebellious spirit. She is the owner and director of Wanderwell, a consulting and bookkeeping practice that grows thriving small businesses while investigating new models for being in business. Wanderwell integrates financial expertise with an empathic, vision-forward approach, and leads with the belief that businesses can help create a more just world that centers people, community, and the environment.

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Check out our full show notes for more at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep95.

After the Episode

Sign up for Kate’s email newsletter at Wanderwell Consulting & Bookkeeping.

Integrating anti-capitalist strategies into your business can be tricky to navigate alone. Get the support you need to make an impact and remain emotionally whole on the journey by joining Pause On The Play The Community. Become a part of the change that you want to see.

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Erica invites you to approach Black History Month by taking time to learn about Black joy.

The full article is coming soon at https://www.pauseontheplay.com/potp/ep94.

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After the Episode

Download the Imperfect Allies Evaluation Checklist to continue your journey at EricaCourdae.com.

Join the Pause On The Play Community.

 Be sure to rate + review the podcast!