Voice Is

Julie and Casey sit down with Hetal Jani, founder of SPEAK Mentorship, to discuss the power of names, the power of saying your name with pride, and what we lose when people don't try to get it right (and gain when they do). Along the way we'll get into Bollywood, growing up between two cultures, and what her organization is doing to Support, Prepare, and Empower Aspiring Kids.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

• Our names hold immense power - they're not just a collection of sounds, they're a representation of our identity. When someone gets your name wrong, you almost become a different person.
• Growing up between two cultures is not unusual in the US - but it's particularly tough on teenage children of immigrants when they and their families don't get access to the unspoken "Culture Code" of how to succeed in the dominant culture.
• If you interact with someone with an "unusual name" (and really, what's unusual? But we digress.), taking the time to ask them how they'd like it pronounced and PRACTICE getting it right is one fundamental part of creating psychological safety and true inclusion in any space. By getting it wrong (especially repeatedly), you telegraph that you don't care. Don't be that person.
• All languages have a "library" of sounds within them - often where we trip up on names is when they include sounds that our lips, teeth, and tongue aren't used to. The good news is that you can learn how to make these sounds - it'll just take some practice!
• Your name - like your body, your voice, and your ideas - deserves to take up space in the world. Join us, Hetal, and the #speakingmyname campaign on June 16th, and post a video of you pronouncing your name on social media.

HETAL JANI (she/her/hers) is a first generation South Asian American and New York City native, which has colored her experience as an educator and her interest in how culture, society, and interpersonal relationships affect people's development. As the Founding Executive Director of SPEAK Mentorship, a nonprofit that ensures all individuals have the means to achieve personal and professional goals, Hetal develops youth of diverse backgrounds into future workforce leaders by bridging social support and opportunity gaps in their lives and giving them the tools to lift up their communities. For this work, she was honored as a 2019 L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth and a 2020 Daily Points of Light. She also holds a Bachelors in Behavioral Neuroscience from Lehigh University, a Masters in Psychology from Queens College of New York, an MBA from IE University, and a Masters in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she received the distinguished Intellectual Contribution award . Her life's work involves developing a person's unique voice and empowering marginalized communities to achieve whole person success. She proudly furthers this mission by serving on the board of the New York Chapter of the New Leaders Council, and as a Council of Urban Professionals fellow and Coro Leadership New York alum.

Episode cover photo by Nilaya Sabnis for L'oreal Paris USA

Julie and Casey chat with Miracle Olatunji (an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and speaker who happens to be a 20-year-old college student) about the power of finding your purpose and owning your story, what it's like to be a role model, how to deal with being "the only" in the room, and the mindset of going after what you want without "self-rejecting" first.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

• "People say 'Oh, you're fearless', but being fearless isn't the absence of fear, it's acknowledging the fear and finding ways around it." - Miracle Olatunji
• When you're writing a rough draft, don't expect perfection or you'll end up with a blank page. It's a ROUGH DRAFT.
• Being a role model doesn't mean you have to be perfect.
• Imposter syndrome often comes when you are the "only" (woman/person of color/LGBTQ person, etc.) in the room . . . dealing with that has an internal component and an external component. The internal part is the only part you have some control over. The external component takes real, collective effort to change, and the work is only beginning.
• Positive self-talk is a great way to influence your thoughts - but get specific as you create it. What do you need to hear from yourself as you become your own best advocate?
• Optimism is about imagining and planning and working for the future you want to see, even when the future is unclear.
• Technology has allowed us to forget that there are (often underpaid and poorly treated) humans doing the hard work of the apps that make our lives so much easier.
• Don't "self-reject" by not going after the opportunities that you want.

Miracle Olatunji is a student at Northeastern University, an entrepreneur, public speaker, and author of Purpose: How To Live and Lead With Impact. In high school, she founded OpportuniMe, an award-winning organization which connects youth with summer enrichment opportunities that empower them to learn about different career paths, build their skills, and ultimately, realize and reach their full potential. At Northeastern, Miracle is a finance and accounting major with a passion for entrepreneurship, technology, social impact, health & wellness, fashion, and innovation. She's been honored as one of The Tempest's 2019 40 Women To Watch Who Are Changing The World, a Young Futurist and Game-changer, a Young Global Leadership Scholar, and her work has also been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, Technical.ly, BostInno, The CEO Library, and other publications.

Miracle is also the founder of Her Wallet Media, a new platform for women and girls to gain knowledge and resources on the topics of building their "net worth, network, and self worth" through content, community, and coaching. She was honored as an EXTRAOrdinary Woman by Boston.gov during the International Women's Day Celebration at City Hall. Miracle was recently part of Barbie's #YouCanBeAnything #MoreRoleModels campaign aimed at closing the dream gap and inspiring women and girls around the world. She was also part of Melinda Gates and the Harvard Business Review's 'Equality Can't Wait' campaign.

Julie and Casey sit down with master executive coach Katia Verresen of KVA Leadership to talk all about leadership, your zone of genius, how "optimizing" can be related more to fear and anxiety than productivity, and most importantly all about the power of PLAY.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

• Your "zone of genius" is your super power. It needs to be nurtured with awareness, noticing, and codification.
• Being generous and generative is the answer to the zero sum power game of "I win, you lose".
• Fight or flight is diametrically opposed to your zone of genius. Soothing your nervous system is critical to your best thinking.
• Good leadership inspires rather than commands followers.
• The shadow side of "Optimization" is deep dissatisfaction
• And bonus: What being an gen x'er can teach us about boredom, and why during Covid -19 it can be your friend.

Julie and Casey sit down with Georgia Lee Hussey - artist turned financial planner and founder of Modernist Financial - to talk about another taboo subject: money. We learn about "money stories", "punk damage", whether it's possible to reconcile progressive values with financial success, and figuring out what you REALLY want.

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Your money stories are the inherited and unconscious beliefs you have around money, and they are always pulling the strings in the background. Excavate and examine to make more empowered decisions.
• "Punk damage" = the idea that all wealth and success is inherently bad. Spoiler: it ends up upholding traditional power structures.
• The questions to ask are "how can I make decisions in line with my values within the structure that I exist in, and how can I work to change those structures."
• It's time to update the money story of the "American Dream".
• We can use down times to nurture our anxiety or to nurture our future. Investing in yourself and in your future is an empowering choice, even now.
• Maybe you don't need a vacation HOUSE. Maybe you need a VACATION.
• One of most radical things we can do as creatives and entrepreneurs is build ourselves into our own budget.

Georgia Lee Hussey is the Founder and CEO of Modernist Financial, a B Corp wealth management firm dedicated to helping progressive people structure their wealth around their values. Her mission is to build a world where smart, creative people feel permission to enjoy today while providing a stable financial base for our common future. Before launching Modernist, Georgia worked for national and local financial firms as a CFP. Prior to working in finance, she was a sculptor and writer.

Julie and Casey Zoom in the midst of the pandemic with Katie Dutcher (of Monterey Bay Meditation) to talk all things meditation, mindfulness, COVID-era Coping, and introversion.

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Meditation is mindfulness, but mindfulness is not limited to meditation
• Mindfulness and presence are strong coping strategies for... well, right now.
• Compassion is key for the world right now. We are all fighting hard battles, personally and collectively.
• How introverts are leaning into their strengths and managing physical distancing.
• How build habits around small steps, ritual and pleasure.

This is a good one for our current times.

Also, RIP Bill Withers.

About Katie:

Katie Dutcher is a mindfulness coach, teacher of meditation, and author of two workbooks, Courage Amidst Uncertainty and Transform Your Relationship to Anxiety. A co-founder of Monterey Bay Meditation Studio and creator of its new online community, Katie believes that cultivating present-moment awareness is key to living a more satisfying life. Katie lives in Monterey, California with her husband, where she spends as much time as possible in the woods and by the sea.

Follow Katie on Instagram and Facebook.

Join Monterey Bay Meditation Studio's new online community and follow on Instagram and Facebook.

Julie and Casey chat with angel investor Fran Hauser (author of Audible's Best Business Book of 2018, The Myth of the Nice Girl) about building relationships, rejecting the idea that being nice makes you weak, how to stand up for yourself, the difference between "nice" and "people pleaser", and why founders need to take care of themselves.

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Being successful in business is all about relationships
• You don't have to choose between being nice and being strong.
• If you're a founder/entrepreneur, are you jumping ahead to business model, marketing, partnerships, etc. before making sure you have an awesome product that consumers are delighted by? You're skipping the most important step.
• Taking a breath, taking the time and energy to care for yourself and others makes the WORK better. Compassion for ourselves and for other people makes us more productive, not less, and we need to bring more of it into our professional lives.
• You don't need to be the smartest kid in fifth grade (i.e. have all the answers all by yourself). Build out your community and your network.
• Nice is a superpower - its "evil twin" is people-pleasing. Know the difference, and know when to stand up for yourself.

Articles referenced:

On the culture of over-work, and how it holds both women and men back - https://hbr.org/2020/03/whats-really-holding-women-back

Gender bias in performance reviews - https://hbr.org/2017/04/how-gender-bias-corrupts-performance-reviews-and-what-to-do-about-it

Vague vs specific feedback - https://hbr.org/2016/04/research-vague-feedback-is-holding-women-back

Fran Hauser is a long-time media executive, startup investor, keynote speaker and best-selling author of The Myth of the Nice Girl. She's held senior positions at some of the world's largest digital media businesses, including PEOPLE, InStyle, Entertainment Weekly and AOL. Now a startup investor who largely invests in female founders, Fran was named one of Business Insider's "30 Women in Venture Capital to Watch in 2018." Fran and The Myth of the Nice Girl have been featured on a wide range of outlets including NBC's Today Show, CNBC, PEOPLE, Fortune, TIME, Fast Company, Oprah.com, Business Insider, Elle, and many more. The Myth of the Nice Girl was named Audible's Best Business Book of 2018 and one of Amazon's Best Business and Leadership Books of 2018, among other accolades. Fran is a frequent speaker on women's leadership and writes a regular career advice column for Refinery29.

Julie and Casey touch bases cross-country under shelter in place, and talk with powerhouse and wonderful human Cyndie Spiegel on how women can stop competing and support each other, what authenticity really means, developing community, and going through "the goo". More than a few F-bombs are dropped- for those with kids at home right now, we'll call this one "R" for language.

Top Takeaways:

• Women are conditioned to compete with each other, but it doesn't have to be that way.
• The superpower of authenticity is not about not caring what people think, it's about not giving your power away.
• Sometimes wonderful things unfold, even without chasing them.
• Women over 35 have experience and battle scars. They are voices to be listened to.
• The reason why no one else can do the work for you and tell you what your process should be.

Bio:

Cyndie Spiegel is an igniter of powerful conversation and an aspirational voice within women's leadership and culture. She is a commanding keynote speaker [who sometimes drops the F-bomb casually and also uses words like "manifesting" and "belonging"]. She is an innate connector, community builder and all-around truth teller on a mission to empower folks to live more boldly and refine their mindsets for good. She is a professional speaker and also the author of "A Year of Positive Thinking". (And she's super cool.)

Julie and Casey sit down remotely with Jennifer Dziura, founder of Get Bullish and the Bullish Conference, and key figure in their origin story. Prepare yourselves for some serious patriarchy smashing, some VERY strong opinions, a meditation on fragile bodies (and how anyone on Star Trek uses a bathroom), and a dose of no holds-barred advice on badassery. (Strong language)

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Human bodies are fragile, ridiculous meat sacks. Conference organizers should plan accordingly. Breaks! Bathrooms! Sufficient seating! And for goodness' sake, real food.
• When you're used to people disagreeing with you with well-reasoned arguments in a formal setting, it's hard to get riled by gross people on Twitter. (Debate team FTW)
• John Stuart Mill's theory of the "marketplace of ideas" doesn't hold much water in the year of our lord 2020 - people don't change their minds via well-reasoned argument (usually they just entrench further). But a "buffet of ideas" where everyone can come and take what they want might be more realistic and more feminist!
• Setting up your business so you don't have to deal with toxicity is a great way to have leftover energy to deal with toxicity in your life. (It's also a compelling case for entrepreneurship.)

Jennifer Dziura is the founder of GetBullish, a blog about careers and business from a feminist POV, and the annual Bullish Conference. GetBullish's online shop now sells over 4,000 items, including the signature "We will dance on the graves of the patriarchy and drink the bitter tears of mediocre men" travel mug. She lives in Brooklyn and her name is pronounced "Di-ZUR-a."

Casey and Julie sit down with Monica McCarthy - talented actor, entrepreneur, writer, and philosopher - to talk, well, all the things, from good acting to theatre history to the meaning of life, to favorite philosophers.

TOP TAKEAWAYS -

1. You can change your mind- whether you feel called to do something else, or something in your life just feels constricting, you have the right to change your story.
2. Theatre is a playing ground for exploring humanity.
3. Philosophy can help us build better, more self-aware lives.
4. Studying structure, whether in language or ideas, gives you something to embrace or push against.
5. If you don't see what you are looking for out there, create it.

Monica McCarthy is an actress, emerging playwright, Shakespeare coach, podcast host, community impresaria, public speaker, and messaging consultant. She is the creator and host of the live monthly events series and podcast The Happier Hour: Philosophy To Help Your Life Suck Less. Monica was previously the impresaria for popular communities like Holstee, Impact Hub, Escape The City, and the 92Y, where she has curated and facilitated thousands of events including Holstee's Campfire Chats (on stage interviews with folks like Tim Urban, Gretchen Rubin, James Victore, and AJ Jacobs), Moonlight Society (a conversation series interviewing guests about life off the clock), 100 Days of Impact (in response to Number 45's first 100 days in office), and Escape Mondays. Monica frequently speaks on the topic of purpose and with organizations on the value of philosophy and community, including her TEDx talk Philosophy: The Life Hack Of The Future. Monica has facilitated numerous workshops on the topic of Creativity, Purpose, and Collaboration for organizations including: the United Nations Development Programme, AirBnB, Eileen Fisher, Starwood, Global Citizen and more. She has also authored and co-authored internal and external messaging around purpose for Uber, Starwood Hotels, Brugal Rum, and Broadway Bound Kids. She prefers her bourbon neat, her coffee black, and the window seat from which she has seen 52 countries on six continents.

Website: MonicaMcCarthy.net

Instagram: @MissMMcCarthy

Twitter: @MissMMcCarthy

Julie and Casey sit down with Rev. Dr. Courtney Pace to talk about social justice, racism and sexism within religious traditions, how to have difficult conversations, the powerful story of civil rights activist Prathia Hall, and how both faith traditions and workplaces can decentralize power and uplift everyone. And also figure skating.

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• To understand people who are different from us, we have to understand intersectionality, and how everyone carries multiple identities that often complicate their experience of discrimination.
• Sometimes, an environment doesn't have to TELL you to be quiet if it teaches you effectively to quiet yourself. And sometimes you don't realize how weird that is until you get out - the fish doesn't understand what water is, because it's just their world.
• Courtney's philosophy: the central deity in faith is working toward liberation and dismantling hierarchy where everyone treats everyone else with love - but because people think in terms of dominance and power, we project our own stuff onto God and create toxic systems.
• The worst thing that can happen if you ask a question (even of something as big as GOD) is that you don't get an answer . . . but often you find information that helps you understand and participate in the world in a richer way.
• Difficult conversations require practice. Telling people the truth is important (and sometimes the kindest thing you can do for the community and the individual), and how we do it and the intention with which we do it with is incredibly important.
• Prathia Hall (the subject of Courtney's book) was central to the story of the Selma march, a leading voice in the civil rights movement, and one of the most formidable minds of her generation.
• When people can be their real selves, they are happier, more productive, and more creative. When everyone has what they need, it leads to community thriving.
• Re: the patriarchy and/or toxic circumstances: "If my tombstone reads "That Girl Was a Problem", then glory be."

Mentioned in the episode:

Jes Kast https://www.revjeskast.com

Broderick Greer http://www.broderickgreer.com

Allyson Dylan Robinson http://allysonrobinson.com

Robyn Henderson Espinosa https://irobyn.com

Emmy Keggler http://emmykegler.com

Hear Prathia Hall preach:

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-stole-sisters-31041590/episode/rev-dr-prathia-hall-a-38236357/

https://soundcloud.com/dradambanks/01-between-the-wilderness-and

Read Courtney's work for Forbes.

Read "Freedom Faith: The Womanist Vision of Prathia Hall"

Courtney Pace is Associate Vice President of Talent at FedEx Credit Association, overseeing Human Resources, Training, Leadership Development, and Volunteering. She joined the invitation-only Forbes Human Resources Council in 2019. Her research interests include race and gender, Baptist history, the Civil Rights Movement, and social justice in American religion. Her first book, Freedom Faith (UGA Press, 2019), is the first ever biography of Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall, a womanist Baptist preacher and civil rights activist. She is currently completing an anthology of Hall's sermons and essays. She has a PhD in Religion from Baylor University (2014), a Masters of Divinity in Theology from George W. Truett Theological Seminary (2007), and an Honors Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Engineering, with minors in Mathematics and Psychology, from The University of Texas at Arlington (2004) and is the Prathia Hall Scholar in Residence of Social Justice History for Equity for Women in the Church. She is ordained through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and works closely with the Alliance of Baptists and Baptist Women in Ministry. She is a board member of Equity for Women in the Church, a non-profit organization that promotes the acceptance and placement of women in ministry as well as interracial and ecumenical cooperation, and is frequently invited as guest preacher to churches across the country. She is also the founder and chair of the Clergy Advocacy Board for Planned Parenthood of Greater Tennessee and North Mississippi. Rev. Dr. Pace also created popular podcast "Stole Sisters," which features women preachers representing multiple denominations, races, and regions.