Episode Description:

Have you ever struggled with deciding to leave a job?

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Dr. Tequilla Brownie, CEO of TNTP. TNTP sits at the cross-section of education practice, research, policy, and community to disrupt education inequities so that America can deliver on its promise of education being the great equalizer.

Growing up as a Black female and poor in the deep South, Tequilla shares how her grandparents and teachers instilled in her high expectations, the value of education, and that she can choose her own path. She applied to two colleges, including Yale, because her uncle and guidance counselor had recommended it. After graduating from Yale, Tequilla was a school social worker, then a leader focused on teacher effectiveness for nearly a decade in Memphis City Schools. 

This is where she hit her rock bottom moment. The organization was facing a merger and the culture between adults was difficult. Tequilla found herself no longer gratified. But the work was not yet complete. Should she stay or go? 

Tequilla shares the principles that guided her to eventually decide to leave:

1. She had self-awareness that she had a choice. 
2. She knew her worth. She would not be driven by fear. She was confident she could find another role and organization where she could have impact and values alignment.
3. She asked herself… If she were 20 years old and white, what would she do?
4. She made a list of what was most important to her: be able to contribute her strengths, learn and grow, feel gratified…
5. She also knew that she could find a manager and organization that had her best interests at heart and could provide her psychological and mental safety.

In Women of Color Rise, we talk about how breakdowns can lead to breakthroughs. Tequilla shares her gratitude for this rock bottom moment because it led to her finding TNTP and catapulting her career to eventually become CEO.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-39-when-to-leave-with-tequilla-brownie-ceo-tntp

Women of Color Rise supports more diverse leaders at the table, especially women and people of color. We’ll be talking with CEOs and C-suite women leaders of color and learning about their leadership journeys.

Have you taken deliberate steps to heal from trauma?

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with African American leader Zawadi Bryant, President, Acute Care Pediatrics for Pediatrix Medical Group. Zawadi co-founded and was CEO of Nightlight Pediatric Urgent Care for fourteen years before the company was acquired by Pediatrix Medical Group in March 2021. 

Zawadi shares how she deliberately took steps to heal from her childhood. We might think, “We turned out ok.” But it’s important to take deliberate steps to heal trauma.

How?

Trauma is generational and bondage. We need to deliberately seek help and learn new tools.

Our parents did the best they could. It’s important to reconcile these relationships and not harbor hatred. There are some upsides to what we learned as a child. For example, Zawadi learned grit, determination, and the power of community..

We have the power to create new realities different from what we experienced as a child - new views on parenting, discipline, relationship with partner. 

We also have the power to create boundaries to be with the people we care about. For example, Zawadi created boundaries around giving her father money.

To heal, we also need to create affirmations of self-love and safety.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-38-steps-to-heal-from-trauma-with-zawadi-bryant-1

What is the secret to having it all?

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Erica Manuel, CEO of the Institute for Local Government, the nonprofit education and training affiliate of the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties, and the California Special Districts Association. 

As one of the few Black students at her school, Erica shares how her mantras used to be, “Never let them see you sweat,” “Be perfect,” “Work twice or three or four times as hard,” and “Never ask for help.” 

When Erica was a Stanford student working jobs to pay for school herself and she got an overdue credit card bill, she decided not to ask for help, moved out of the dorm quietly over break, and leave Stanford. Without a degree, Erica struggled to find a job. She ended up becoming an intern and wowed leaders with her work ethic, and was offered multiple jobs. 

Erica later graduated from Stanford and married early. They had a son and later divorced; Erica’s advice – make sure you know yourself and find a partner who can grow with you. 

Erica has found that she can have it all – as a mom and leader. How? 

In Women of Color Rise, we talk about the power of knowing yourself, believing in yourself, and leading as yourself. Erica is a great example of this. Erica shares the importance of knowing what is most important to being happy, living your life based on what you want written on your tombstone, and being confident to let go when your team or organization doesn’t allow you to lead as yourself.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-37-ep-37-you-can-have-it-all-with-erica-manuel-ceo-of-the-institute-for-local-government

Do you deliberately seek out opportunities where you might fail?

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Taiwanese American Melissa Wu, CEO of Education Pioneers. Melissa believed the myths about meritocracy, striving for achievement, achievement as the ultimate in fulfillment, and to avoid risk and failure at all costs. But then Melissa discovered the truth - things aren’t fair by design, achievement doesn’t lead to fulfillment, and if she really wanted to learn, that would mean deliberately seeking out opportunities where she could fail. 

Melissa shares her failures and how as hard as they were, they allowed her to stretch and grow. By deliberately seeking out opportunities that were more risky, she also opened a surprise door to becoming a CEO of Ed Pioneers. Melissa also shares her tips on being both a CEO and a mom, specifically setting boundaries and prioritizing doing enough of the most important things at a “good enough” level. 

Get full show notes and more information here:https://analizawolf.com/ep-36-the-beauty-of-seeking-out-risk-and-possible-failure-with-melissa-wu

Hate Networking? 5 Steps to Becoming a Social Butterfly.

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Melisha “Mel” Jackman, Executive Director of Brooklyn Kindergarten Society. Mel shares how she wanted to rise and have more impact, but she couldn’t just depend on hard work. She needed to stop playing small and invest in her social capital and network. 

How did she go from a person without a LinkedIn profile to becoming a social butterfly? Try these 5 steps.

Step 1: Be aware of how you feel about networking. Get to the root - Do you like it or not? If you do not like it, then there's some work that you have to do. For Mel, she needed to overcome her fear of rejection.

Step 2: Practice your elevator intro.

Step 3: Before you go to an event, have an intention, and do your research. Are you going to be in a corner looking at folks or are you going to jump in? Understand who will be there. Do your research, and find an organic way to start a conversation. Know why you want to meet the people that you're meeting. How would you add value to them and vice versa? It has to be two sided. 

Step 4: Follow up with anyone you interact with through an email. Try to get a connection. Be clear about what you are going to talk about. Are you pitching something or are you genuinely invested in their organization? Are you looking for a job? 

Step 5: Finally, at the very end of the day, you have to be confident. If you are nervous about networking, you’ve got to dig deep. What is that about? When you get your mindset in the right place, you can feel much more comfortable networking and building relationships.

In addition to networking, Mel  also shares the power of community and how participating in Boss Mamas helped her have a safe space to help and be helped by others.

Listen to this story here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-35-how-to-network-with-melisha-mel-jackman-executive-director-of-brooklyn-kindergarten-society

How can you create a rhythm of work and deep rest?

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Haitian American Guerschmide Saint-Ange, Chief Operations and Talent Officer,National Association of Charter School Authorizers. Guersch’s commitment to equity in education stemmed from her upbringing. She experienced firsthand how children of color were not given equal access to great schools. Guersch channeled her anger and became a classroom teacher, then later a student recruitment leader, charter school authorizer, and charter school Executive Director. A graduate of Hampton University (bachelor’s and master’s) and Harvard University (a master’s degree in education policy and management), Guersch loves traveling the world with her husband and daughter.

In Women of Color Rise, we talk about the importance of self-care. Guersch is a great example of how she learned to release perfection and prove herself and now has deliberately created a rhythm that allows her to work and deeply rest (which includes consistently getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep).

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-34-create-a-work-and-rest-rhythm-with-guerschmide-saint-ange

How do you become a leader in a male dominated field? When people tell you no, how do you respond? 

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Kange Kaneene, Vice President of SAP.iO Foundries North and Latin America, SAP’s no-equity ask external startup accelerators. Kange shares how during her career, many people would signal or explicitly tell her no. Yet, she would respond with YOLO, You Only Live Once. 

Kange has been the one and only or one among a few. At age 12, she was the only female on a tackle football team. Later, she was one of the few Computer Science majors at University of Michigan. Today, she is one of the few female leaders of color in venture capital. 

How did she do it? Kange walks us through the steps she took: 

1. Deliberately deciding to take on the challenge
2. Networking and building authentic relationships 
3. Being humble and learning on the job
4. 4) YOLO - going for it, even when faced with racism and sexism. 

Kange’s mission to support diverse founders goes beyond SAP.iO Foundries. Kange is an angel investor with Pipeline Angels group, a group of female investors who invest in female founders. She is also a mentor for entrepreneurs as a volunteer for Defy Ventures, a non-profit organization that invests in founders who are currently or formerly incarcerated. 

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-33-how-to-thrive-in-a-male-dominated-career-with-kange-kaneene

How can you be the best leader you can be? Be yourself!

For this Women of Color Rise episode, we talk with Mala Batra, CEO of Aspire Public Schools. A self-proclaimed introvert who never planned to be a CEO, Mala shares that the secret to thriving and sustaining as a CEO has been leading as herself. This has meant speaking out - but in ways that are authentic to her, like recording a video of herself on her living room couch sharing why it matters that Aspire talks about the George Floyd murder with their students. It has also meant working hard but also saying no to the “extras”, those networking events at night that drain her and take her away from her family. It has also meant Mala leaning deeper into her community and surrounding herself with coaches and friends who understand personally how tough her job is and offer encouragement and vulnerable stories too.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-32-lead-as-yourself-with-mala-batra-ceo-of-aspire-public-schools

Are you a curious leader?

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with African American leader Aimée Eubanks Davis, Founder and CEO of Braven. Braven works to ensure underrepresented college students develop the skills, confidence, experiences and networks to get strong first jobs after graduation. Aimée spent the majority of her career at Teach For America leading the organization's groundbreaking work around its human capital and diversity efforts. After graduating from Mt. Holyoke College, she taught sixth grade and led the Breakthrough New Orleans site. She is a 2019 Obama Foundation Fellow, Pahara-Aspen fellow, and lives in Chicago with her husband and three children.

While Aimée did not set out to become CEO, one of the keys to ascent was her curiosity. She was curious about the problems around her: how to make her Breakthrough local site one of the most effective sites in the country, how to scale best practices to all sites, how to address Teach for America’s diversity problem, and how to help underrepresented college students thrive at their first job. She even applied curiosity to her personal life - setting an intention to find a partner who was mature enough to know themselves and plan out how to set up childcare so that she could continue to rise in her career.

In Women of Color Rise, we talk about the importance of Knowing Yourself, knowing what gives you energy and surrounding yourself with people with shared values. Aimée is a great example of this - she did not have a set career path, and instead stayed open and curious following what excited her and the “gray” stretch opportunities with people she admired like Wendy Kopp, Founder and CEO of Teach for America.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-31-be-curious-with-aimee-eubanks-davis-ceo-braven

How do you go from bankruptcy and bulimia to CEO and invited guest of the Dalai Lama? 

Most of us would keep these hidden in a deep dark cavern. But not Nichol Ng, CEO of X-Inc Private Limited, the parent of a group of companies in the food business since the 1930s. At age 19, when the bank came to take away her family’s home, Nichol promised that if she was able to save the family business, she would help as many families as she could. 

Today the business is thriving with 200 employees, and Nichol has made good on her promise. She founded The Food Bank Singapore, which distributes food to over 300,000 underprivileged. Nichol was named to The Peak Magazine’s The Peak Power List 2016, Forbes Asia’s 2017 Heroes of Philanthropy, and Harper’s Bazaar’s The Power List 2018. 

What about her two decade secret struggle with bulimia? Nichol shared it with as many people as she could - on TV and throughout Singapore. She wanted people to know how normal eating disorders are and that they can damage your body, including Nichol’s struggle to get pregnant. Thankfully Nichol is now a mom to four kids. 

How does Nichol make it all work? In Women of Color Rise, one of our tenets is to Be Yourself. Nichol is a great example of this. She shares that one of her secrets to success has been to Be Herself - at work, home, and life. This has allowed her to release the myth of being perfect, to be vulnerable and share her struggles, to ask for help, and to let go of the need to control others. 

Get full show notes and more information here:https://analizawolf.com/ep-30-from-bankruptcy-bulimia-to-guest-of-the-dalai-lama-with-nichol-ng