Sway Them in Color

In this episode me and my guest Aurora Higgs have such a rich conversation that beginning with Aurora’s experiences and insights as a transgender individual, activist, and performer. Aurora is an activist and advocate, appointed to Virginia's LGBTQIA+ Advisory Board and elected Vice Chair, and is a scholar studying for a PhD in Queer Black Media Representation, as well as a performer and content creator hoping to uplift Black trans voices and challenges.

In this conversation we explore

+ How radical self-acceptance is the first step to real healing 

+ Why we need to separate morality from appearances and how people look

+ How pressures to conform ultimately harm people and how courage is really about honesty

+ Why intentionally building affirming community can save us in a time of alienation

his episode is all about loss. Trigger warning we talk about death, covid, and overcoming with my guest Ada Chen, who is the founder of Chuan’s Promise, a sustainable natural skincare line. Her mission is to make the world a better place through leadership, empathy, and driving cultural change. She was inspired to start Chuan’s Promise by her experience of caregiving for her late dad, and is committed to changing the beauty industry from the inside out by pioneering innovative sustainability practices and donating 5% of all sales to social justice nonprofits. 

In this conversation we explore:

+ navigating being your parent’s caretaker 

+ using values to make tough decisions during unpredictable transitions 

+ how adversities and tragedy can provide unexpected inspiration for your personal mission

+ how our workplaces can play a better role to support people who are caregivers or experiencing loss 

In this episode my guest Nike Anani and I speak about her journey of leaving a cushy corporate job in London to move back to Lagos, Nigeria to work in her family business.  Nike is an international award-winning entrepreneur, succession specialist and a legacy planning expert for future-focused business families. She is on a mission to help businesses move from lifetime to legacy, such that they build family enterprises of the future.

With over a decade of family enterprise expertise in Nigeria, Nike helps owners lead their family organizations to long-term legacy and impact. Her inside experience as a second generation family business owner and family office pioneer birthed a passion to help other families in building enterprises that would outlive them. Nike is the Author of "Lifetime to Legacy: A New Vision for Multigenerational Family Businesses" and the host of "The Connected Generation" podcast - a top-10 Family Business podcast globally that is dedicated to NextGens that are seeking how to navigate building generational enterprises whilst leaving an impact.

In this conversation we explore:

+ bridging divides between older generations and younger generations in the workplace.

+ how to get someone to buy into a change or new idea they may be resistant to.

+ the three things every entrepreneur needs especially if they want to work with family. 

In this episode my guests Misasha Suzuki Graham and Sara Blanchard are founders of an amazing podcast titled Dear White Women. Misasha is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, a practicing litigator for over 15 years, who is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion. She is a facilitator, writer, and speaker regarding issues of racial justice, especially with regards to children, the co-author of Dear White Women: Let’s Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism, and the co-host of Dear White Women, a social justice podcast. 

Sara Blanchard helps build community and connection through conscious conversations, which she does as a facilitator, TEDx speaker, writer, and consultant. After graduating from Harvard and working at Goldman Sachs, Sara pursued the science and techniques of well-being and is a certified life coach, author of two books (Flex Mom and Dear White Women: Let’s Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism), and co-host of Dear White Women, an award-winning weekly social justice podcast. 

In this conversation we explore:

+ why so many people are resistant and uncomfortable with naming whiteness as an identity 

+ why DEI work is really about power 

+ why understanding history will make you a more conscious, and inclusive person 

+ how social change is not about appealing to the most hateful person in the room

In this episode we explore authenticity in all its varieties and understandings. Sherri is a leader, Speaker, and Author who lives to help others see their own authentic gifts and then teach them to use it to level up their lives and their businesses. She’s the CEO of Dymond Enterprise and the Business Development Director for a charity that empowers youth to see beyond their circumstances to lead authentically.

In this conversation we explore:

+ Defining what authenticity really means when we have so many vague definitions 

+ why we don’t need safe spaces but brave spaces to even be authentic 

+ how we can reframe and overcome the fear of rejection when being our authentic selves 

In this episode we explore when my guest Janet Alexandersson created 40 frameworks on topics like justice, conflict, power, which she thought would take years but was able to achieve this goal in just created in 4 months. She holds a master of laws degree and her strategy and negotiation acuity is the combined result of 15+ years of multi-faceted experiences in the legal field.

Janet has been a startup legal advisor, legal marketing strategist, human rights lawyer, civil and family law litigator, nonprofit executive, grant writer, speaker, and workshop facilitator. 

In this conversation we explore

+ Why frameworks can change your life

+ How we each have different levers and layers of power we may not recognize 

+ why knowing your values is key to not be driven by fear and anxiety with every decision 

In this episode my guest is Umbreen Bhatti who decided to stop wearing a hijab after it was a central part of her identity for a significant portion of her life. We discuss this journey and process of reframing her commitment to faith in her personal and professional life. 

Umbreen Bhatti has had a career focused on answering the question of what might our most important institutions be able to achieve when they truly reflect their constituencies and the communities they serve? She’s explored that question as a lawyer, then through journalism and media, and now in higher education, with a goal of connecting people and ideas and creating generous, generative spaces and supports for great people to take great work to the next level.

She’s now the Director of the Athena Center for Leadership at Barnard College.

In this conversation we explore

+ how traditions around religion and community can influence our sense of self

+ how our self-expression and identity changes over the course of our lives.

+ surviving the microaggressions that can occur when expressing your authentic self outside of dominant cultural norms.

+ how we can make decisions and reshape faith from a place of abundance instead of fear.

In this episode my guest is Julissa Contreras, and after being laid off from WeWork in May 2020 she decided to file a police report about a sexual assault experience she had unconsciously buried in an attempt to stay focused on her career. This episode hits such a wide range of necessary ideas from safe relationships to redefining success for ourselves. 

Julissa Contreras is a Dominicana from the Bronx who works to facilitate dialogue and create art that raises overlooked experiences. With a focus on storytelling, program development, and community curation, Julissa collaborates with organizations and artists on opportunities that influence pathways for meaningful change. Previously Julissa was the former Community and Impact Program Manager at WeWork, Operations Manager at Donorly, and Adolescent Leadership Program Manager at Children’s Aid Society- Hope Leadership Center. She is the creator of Ladies Who Bronché the podcast and YouTube’s “Shit Spanish Girls Say” and continues her work as a creative writer, performer, and creative consultant.

In this conversation we explore:

+ the difference between using empathy as a weapon to shut down needed conversations versus practicing compassionate empathy that bridges divides

+ why generational survival techniques that worked in the past can harm us in the present 

+ why dominant narratives around gender hold us all back from our full potential 

+ the ways success can be redefined from hyper competition to abundance for us all to thrive

In this episode we explore when my guest Nancy Soni sought out a hypnotherapist to help her reprogram deep-seated beliefs from childhood that created mental blocks to building her professional brand.

Nancy is the CEO/Co-Founder of PathMatch, the first decentralized career management network for Gen Z.  They help today’s students navigate tomorrow’s workforce to build the skills and experience they need to be competitive while making it easier for companies to hire them for paid internships and great jobs. 

Previously, Nancy started a tech-enabled recruiting platform, to helped companies such as Warby Parker, Amazon, Snap, and Bonobos hire thousands of people. which was acquired in 2017.

Nancy holds a BA in Psychology from Emory University.

In this conversation we explore:

+ reprogramming limiting thoughts that can follow us from childhood.

+ the things that need to change in the venture capital world especially when it comes to how we treat women owned businesses.

+ why you need to think about building your own brand even if you don’t own or run a business.

In this episode we explore my guest Monisha Bajaj’s experiences with running relationship and sexual violence prevention programs that go against some of conservative cultural norms in Thailand where her organization is based. If you’ve wanted to understand how to address tricky conversations and conflicts in a community or group, or how to build safe relationships, this is your episode. Monisha is a strategy execution consultant and founder. She works with founders 1:1 to guide them through expanding their business' capacity while protecting their well-being. Before this, she founded Ruam Chuay Foundation, an organization that runs relationship violence prevention programs in Thailand. Monisha's career is dedicated to helping people create healthy businesses and safer relationships.

In this conversation we explore

+ the benefits and challenges of going against a cultural norm and social expectations. 

+ how understanding attachment theory (how your earliest relationships affect how you approach relationships) can improve how you connect with others.

+ how a business is a network of relationships and how we interact in those relationships create culture. 

+ why we shouldn’t avoid conflict and ways we can better manage it in a diverse group.