WEBVTT - Black Women Navigating Generational Wealth from AfroTech Executive Brooklyn 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:05.640 At both the beginning and end of the day. This 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:08.400 podcast is about helping you find your way as a 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.960 black person to wealth, generation of wealth, in fact, wealth 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:17.800 that allows you to employ people, acquire assets, leave inheritances, 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.959 and liberal phenomenal life yourself. And we can't have a 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.439 conversation about wealth in the black community without highlighting how 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:28.480 black women build it. As there's nuance it's different for 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.800 Black people to build wealth and it is for white people, 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.159 and it's different for Black women than it often is 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.919 for black men. So today's conversation is one between more 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:40.480 and the bond who see your at Bravity And she's 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:44.920 talking with Samantha Tweeting, the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, the 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:48.760 coalition of black leaders and aligned advocates who are committed 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.880 to economic progress and prosperity in the Black community, and 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:57.400 the Trevia Smith Wilson, chief Marketing Equity Officer at Horizon Media, 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:01.600 which is the largest US media agency. Let's listen to 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.600 this conversation. So this is Samantha Tweetie um that she 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:11.399 is the first president of the b A Foundation. So 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:13.040 I'm gonna let you explain a little bit about b 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:17.679 A and b A Foundation so people know what's going on. Well, First, 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:20.840 thank you Morgan, thank you, Apporte, thank you, beautiful room. 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:22.560 It's so good to be here with you all today. 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:27.320 The Black Economic Alliance Foundation is focused on building generational 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:29.679 wealth for the Black community at large. We do it 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.600 through policy work, we do it through partnerships that cross 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.760 public private sectors. And what we're trying to do is 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:39.520 flip the infrastructure. We're all living within the current economic 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.440 infrastructure of this country that as we all know, has 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.120 been set up since the beginning to leave us behind. 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:47.160 And that's the most play way that I can talk 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.120 about it. And so what we're trying to do at 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.040 the b A Foundation is to figure out how we 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.880 build a new economic infrastructure, one that PRIORITIS has is 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.880 building black wealth. Amen, we can get a clap for 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:04.600 at you don't have to be shy. And next I 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.080 have lab Triette Smith Wilson Welcome, good to see you, 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:15.359 Thank you, and please introduce yourself. I am Latreviette Smith Wilson. 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:19.680 I am currently Chief Marketing and Equity Officer at Horizon Media, 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.880 which is the largest US media agency and the largest 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:26.280 independent in the world. So helping marketers drive business outcomes. 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.720 If you are familiar with media agencies and what they 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.280 do that is horizon. UM and I am in what 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:37.640 is an industry first role that is focused on bringing 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.280 and putting d E and I at the core of 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.760 the business. So rather than sitting it in HR as 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:47.280 it has historically set as an enterprise function, it is 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:50.920 in the marketing function under me, so that we can 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:55.400 actually show how it's driving business outcomes. So powerful, these 0:02:55.400 --> 0:03:00.799 are two powerhouses right here. So for before we get 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:03.320 into it all and we're gonna talk about wealth, we're 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:05.200 going to talk about our own career journeys because we 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:09.560 both have had quite the careers before your current roles today. UM, 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:14.079 what were your biggest takeaways from that incredible conversation with Ursula? 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:18.000 There were so many, but what Yeah, what's sticking with 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.000 me is basically, you can do what you want. You 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:22.920 can show up, you can sit at any table, and 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:24.080 you can do it in the way you want to. 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.720 But don't call yourself a black director, don't call yourself 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.400 a black CEO, don't call yourself a black foundation leader 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.080 if you're not about it for our people. And I 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.240 think that was so strong because it just gave all 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:41.000 of us permission and in different times, in different spaces 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.280 to do different things, but also to note if you're 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.320 claiming it, then you have to be bringing the rest 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:51.000 of us along with you. That's right. We are at Blavity. 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:53.880 When we were first starting the company and we were 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:57.040 building out our team, we had this metric that we said, 0:03:57.160 --> 0:03:59.080 is this person about it? About it? That was what 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:01.280 we said. You know, we've been sitting in a room. 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:03.960 We'll be like, Okay, they have the technical skills, yes, 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.880 the chrismatic, can they leave people, etcetera, etcetera. And I'm like, okay, 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:09.400 but are they gonna be about it about it at 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:11.520 the end of the day. And some people were not 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:13.640 and they did not get the job. You know, that 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:15.840 X factor was really important that you were going to 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.200 bring other people with you along the way and that 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.200 you were motivated by that because we knew that this 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:23.560 job was a privilege. You know, the work that we 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.240 all do is a privilege, and it's our responsibility to 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:28.720 bring people with us to who much has given much 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.560 is required. That's it And that's one of the things 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:35.400 I loved most And just how always shows up right. 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:37.800 She called it like I'm real right, but there's there's 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.479 something to that, and and she even said, you know, 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:44.200 if this is not you, don't try to be me, right. 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:48.320 So I think so often we we feel as though 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:52.600 we have to assume other personalities right to succeed, or 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:54.400 we say, okay, this is how this person did it, 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.480 and that has to be the recipe, right, that has 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:00.240 to be the map to get there. And really the 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:03.479 map to get there is what you saw sitting in 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.520 the seat when she said, if this doesn't work for you, 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.320 don't do it right, just be you. When there's something 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:12.760 in that that is so you know, we hear all 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:17.520 the time authenticity, authenticity, authenticity. Okay, what does it really mean? 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.880 In a world right where we're told right, we're pushed 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:24.640 often to be something else. And I think that was 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.080 just one of my biggest I was like, yes, please, 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.880 can we get more of that? It is be you. 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:31.440 You don't have to be Ursula, you don't have to 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:33.279 be La Tribe yet. You don't have to be Samantha, 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:36.080 you don't have to be Morgan, be you, and and 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:40.080 I promise you it'll be more than enough. Absolutely. So 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:43.400 let's start with wealth. This is a conversation about um 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:47.400 black women not being rich but being wealthy. What does 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:55.240 wealth mean to both of you? I'm sure it's financial security, 0:05:55.720 --> 0:06:02.080 it's generational wealth. It is the ability to wake up 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.240 in the morning and to do what we want to 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:09.000 do and not what we have to do right, um 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:13.480 and and for me, the generational wealth pieces is the 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.839 biggest That's what I'm working for right now. Right. It 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:21.320 has so little to do with the individual sitting here 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:25.560 or the immediacy of oh oh I can know m. 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:31.200 My thinking is real different now, um and I wish 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.680 I had the benefit of the knowledge that I have 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:40.120 now in my mid twenties versus my late forties, right, 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:46.840 and so having the opportunity and the benefit to hear 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:50.320 from people like us and so many more who are 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:55.320 awakened right to what it really means, to to why 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:57.240 we have had the plight that we have had, and 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:00.520 what we have to do to change it going forward 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:06.080 to ensure rich means nothing right. Wealth is the goal, 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:11.040 So yes, all of it. I think for me, it's 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:15.240 really about that agency piece. It is the agency to 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:20.160 do what you and your family need and want. And 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.800 I think one of the biggest problems is that still 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.640 when folks think about wealth and let's be real. Particularly 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:30.000 when they think about black wealth, black women wealth, they're 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:34.720 thinking about vacation houses, right, They're thinking about fancy cars, 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:37.240 And when it comes to our community, they're thinking about 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:41.960 things that they don't think are good. And so long 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.160 as we allow that to stay as the definition of wealth, 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.200 we're just going to be adding to the uphill battle 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:50.640 that we're fighting. We need to be really clear when 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:53.560 we talk about wealth. We're talking and it's simplest terms 0:07:53.960 --> 0:08:00.200 about owning more than you owe. How can that be 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:04.800 something that's still is the exception instead of the rule 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:09.200 for any community in this country in how can that 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:11.760 be the case? So I think a part of this 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.320 is in our conversations with each other, because even there 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:18.120 is necessary. But certainly anytime we're talking to anybody who 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:21.800 has the influence and the power to make systemic change, 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.480 what we have to be saying is, let me spend 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:28.400 twenty seconds on what I mean by wealth. Right, It's 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.040 being able to buy at home and pass it on 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:33.800 to your kids. Right, Maybe start a business where you 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.280 can hire folks from your community, pay them well. And 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.760 let's just not pause when we say wealth, because we 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.120 know the pictures that are in folks heads when we 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.560 do that, especially when we talk about it for us, 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.600 and we need to change those pictures if we're going 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.520 to change the way that people are prioritizing generational wealth 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:57.720 building and what is right for our community. Absolutely, okay, 0:08:57.760 --> 0:08:59.760 So walk us through your career and the work that 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:01.760 you've done to get to where you are at b 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.600 a foundation. So I'm going to just make a bunch 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.720 of assumption assumptions here, But I would assume that, like 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.360 many of you, you know, in my house, education was 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.120 it and it wasn't just it for us. I mean, 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.280 that was the legacy of our family. My grandmother left 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.000 home and put herself through college when she was sixteen, 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:23.880 went on to get married, have five kids, raised those kids, 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:26.120 and then go back to law school, and then spend 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:29.480 her legal career litigating to make the school system in 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:32.800 Philadelphia more just right for kids who look like us. 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.560 And so it just was the expectation and such. It 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:40.640 was so rooted in all of us that education was 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:43.720 path to liberation and freedom for black folks. And I 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:47.120 spent much of my career fighting for that, you know. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.839 I went off and went to law school and litigated 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:52.880 to make the school system more fair I opened a school, 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:56.199 all girls school. I became an executive, you know, at 0:09:56.240 --> 0:10:00.040 a big organization that was building school serving kids. It 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.120 is from the lowest income communities across the Northeast who 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:06.560 were graduating from four year colleges right at rates that 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:09.360 were as high as kids from the highest income households 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:11.800 across the country. But the data kept slapping me in 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.280 the face, because what the data tells us is that 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:19.960 to date, right our average black college graduates are earning 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:24.599 less and amassing less wealth than our average white Americans 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:31.480 who dropped out of high school. So something is wrong 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:35.720 in how we are approaching fixing the problem. And it's 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.240 not just about what we earn and about how much 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.920 wealth we have. It's about every aspect of our well being, 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:43.679 in our livelihoods. Right in the city we're in right now, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:47.360 one of the wealthiest in the country. Black women eight 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.599 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:56.360 related causes than white women. But again same trend. Black 0:10:56.400 --> 0:11:00.480 women who have graduated from college more likely to die 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:03.800 than white women or women of any race who have 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.720 not graduated from high school. So what that says to 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:11.920 me is we can't keep expecting to educate our way 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:17.440 out of this. All right, it won't work. It won't work. 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.439 That's a tough reality for many of us, it is, 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.120 and so Black Economic Alliance Foundation, what we're trying to 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.280 do is say, you got to be laser focused on 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.600 asking the question around wealth building. You can't look at 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.040 all the other pieces and expect it to get us there, 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.120 because with the data tells us is that if you 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.920 apply a solution across everyone in this country, it's going 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:40.400 to keep leaving us behind. Also though, and this is 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:42.280 the harder part. I gotta be honest. I got a 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:44.400 six year old daughter named Stokely, I got a three 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.040 and a half son named Ever. Guess what what do 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.480 I clap for them for their school work? Right? What 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.200 do I talk to them about college? Right? It is 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:56.439 so ingrained in us that that is how we as 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.440 individuals and we as a community you're gonna thrive. And 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.040 so what I'm trying to also do is figure out, 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:03.840 as a mama, how do I change that for my 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.720 kids so they see the world and have that leg 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.160 up to know that that can't be It's necessary, but 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.680 it's not sufficient. How did they know that from the start? 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.880 Mm hmmm, Well, we can come back to that. That 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:20.040 was a lot. Vitrio. Well, no, I wanted because you 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:22.640 are from the on the private side, right, and I 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.920 think that your career, um, you know, you've advocated for 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:30.360 black women consistently through your career sun Dial and as ventures, 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:34.760 and so walk us through your career choices as well. Absolutely. 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:40.960 Um So I always say that if someone in any time, 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:42.559 I'm asked, you know, how did you get here? I 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:48.120 did not have a roadmap, right, There was nothing that 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.240 said I'm going to make this choice and this choice 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.240 and this choice to get here. What I've always done 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:59.040 is follow my purpose first and then my passion. Right. 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:03.640 So I actually started my career in journalism, and in 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:07.000 the late nineties when this noble profession that I thought 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.760 was there to serve others and tell the stories of 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:14.840 those untold, right, was really about sensationalism and sweeps and 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:16.600 everything that I was seeing in the news room at 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.600 the time, I just decided, I have to be able 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:21.080 to look at myself in the mirror when I wake 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.240 up in the morning and I'm not feeling this, right, 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.160 So what is it? What's next for me? And I said, Okay, 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:32.880 there's a skill set that I have right strategists, communicator, 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:37.280 maybe I'll try this agency pr thing, and I thought 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.240 I'd be back in the newsroom in six months because 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.520 there is nothing about me that was appealing to go 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:46.560 to a nine to five right, So not necessarily an entrepreneur, 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:52.000 but always had quite the entrepreneurial spirit and joined an 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:56.920 agency that thankfully also was rooted in entrepreneurialism. It was 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.640 the largest private agency, it's actually the largest our agency 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.560 now in the world, and I was able to follow 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.560 my purpose and my passion there right. So it was 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.720 in corporate for a while. Then I built up what 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:14.120 they were then calling the Diversity Solutions multicultural practice. But 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.360 for me, it was always about how do I use 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:21.400 what I have to serve the community that I love, 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.520 and that's really the place in the center in which 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:30.160 I sit. UM went on heading Global Diversity and Inclusion 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:34.520 for American Express. Um father passed, decided I was taking 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.880 a sabbatical, started a consulting company, did that for a 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.760 couple of years, and then joined friends of mine at 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:45.480 Sundial Brands if you're familiar also the makers of Shame moisture, 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:50.160 and I joined about six months before we did our 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:53.760 first p deal and that was bringing Bain on in 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:59.280 twenty fifteen. UM from that continue to grow the company scale, 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:04.320 expand Africa Nigeria. We were kind of the growth of 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:10.520 that company in five four years was phenomenal. A lot 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.520 of you know the story UM, but what was it 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.480 that drove us right? That was the story of when 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:22.560 you are serving and of service and building community, right, 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.640 you you can sell any we were making soap, in lotion, 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:31.880 in shampoo, in conditioner, right, but there's this amazing community 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.600 of people that we were in service to who rallied 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:41.000 around us, right, and so everything from you know, UM 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:45.280 co ops in in Ghana who you know through the 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:47.720 work that we were doing with them and producing the shape, 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.640 but are we're able to to start their own micro 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.600 lending right within their communities, to bring running water in, 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.920 to send you know, an education right for their girls, 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.080 to all of these things. But it was rooted, right, 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:04.240 if you see a threat, it's rooted in passion and 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.200 in purpose. And so following the seal of of sund 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:10.440 Out to Uni Leaver, we started another company called Essence Ventures, 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.880 used that to acquire Essence UM and I spent the 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:19.240 last four years helping to stand essence Again, this is 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.160 about community, right, This is about serving us. This is 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.600 what is the content that we need? It's not just 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:26.800 the products that we need. What is it that we 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:31.400 need as a community to be feel okay? Right, and 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:34.760 not just to survive, but but to thrive. And so 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.960 that is what I have spent my career, in all 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:44.560 of its various iterations doing because that is my my center, right, 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.880 that is the place and every decision that I make. 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:50.360 Can I really make impact? Here's impact and its people 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:54.040 And it's especially that at this point, right, Like, if 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.240 I can't make impact and it's not with people who 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:01.400 I believe believe in what I'm doing, I'm not interested. 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:07.560 Fast forward to Horizon right, very different um than Sundial 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.960 in essence and essence ventures, but with people who I 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.680 believe believe in what I'm doing and who are going 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:17.200 to allow me to take the fullness of what my 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:22.679 experience has been to impact, right, not just their agency 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:25.920 but an industry. How do you feel like you had 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:28.760 to convince people that it was important for your role 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.040 to exist because the role didn't necessarily exist before you 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:34.840 were there. No, So they were separately looking for CMO 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.639 and a cdo and they had called me about the 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:41.080 CMO role and after learning about my background, said you know, hey, 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:43.160 are you interested in the CDO role? And I told 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:47.199 them no. And I said no because you know, we 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:50.400 always say the definition of insanity is doing the same 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.040 thing over and over and expecting a different result. And 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.199 I said, if you look at the trajectory of of 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:59.120 D and I, over the last thirty years, companies right 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:03.720 have been doing the same thing right and then question 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:06.840 why there's not the return that they thought or why 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.360 this didn't happen and stuff. Then it becomes a failure 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.280 and so there's less investment in there versus saying, maybe 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:16.360 we're just going about this the wrong way, right. And 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:22.040 so I wrote a whole kind of um uh, my 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.200 hypothesis on what it should be and what the role 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.440 should be, and I really I was like, I think 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:31.160 I probably just stalked myself out of a job. Uh. 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:33.639 And I was okay with it though, because again, I 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:35.800 only want to be someplace where I feel I can 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.560 make the impact. And they came back and they were like, 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.439 if you are willing to do what we are willing 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:45.359 to do it with you, Oh wow, that's beautiful. I 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.400 want to talk a little bit about passion and purpose. 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:49.320 You know, many of us, you know, we all went 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.119 through a pandemic. Um for a lot of us, we 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.480 probably thought more and more about the work that we 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.520 do because of that. And um, how many of you 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:02.119 all switched jobs sometime in the last two years. Yeah, 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.840 keep your hand up if it was because you wanted 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:07.600 to feel more connected to the work that you did 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:13.600 every day and get paid more. Right. Also that I 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:18.480 cannot raise my hand, but I wanted to say that 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.520 because I think that a lot of us, especially Black women, 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:23.800 we want to feel good about the work that we 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:26.520 do every single day. It's not just about having a 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:29.119 job and collecting the check and then going home. Every day. 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:33.119 We throw our hearts into it. And so I wanted 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:35.119 you to share some advice with those women in the 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.800 room who are in their early thirties who are balancing 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:43.000 a lot, maybe some life decisions, some family decisions, um, 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:46.680 and also still are very committed to living their life 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:48.919 and purpose in the work that they do every single day. 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.840 What advice would you share to her? So, I think 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:55.439 one of the things that we have the opportunity to 0:19:55.560 --> 0:20:00.119 do in this moment is to redefine some of the 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:05.600 pieces that we have been forced to run away from. So, 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:09.760 for example, this idea of being strong right in so 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:15.320 many places that has been used to malign us. But 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.160 let me tell you now, I am committed to when 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:21.480 my daughter is our age, Yes, I'm I'm taking the 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:25.399 hour on this our age right, that she's not running 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:31.240 away from strong black woman because strength is power, it's beauty, right. 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:35.479 And so in this moment, what I'm thinking a lot about, 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:38.880 and hope we're all thinking about, is there was this 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.679 you know, there was this crack. COVID brought the country 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:45.199 to its knees, right, COVID brought the Black community doubly 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:51.119 to our knees. Right. COVID just crushed black businesses. But 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:54.760 are other folks in here from Bedstide living in bedste right, 0:20:56.040 --> 0:21:01.560 Tompkins Avenue, Tompkins Avenue in Bedsta right, Okay. As the 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:05.960 community has gentrified, Tompkins Avenue has continued to flourish as 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:10.960 this gorgeous, vibrant right business community led by black people, 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:15.960 led by black women. What happened in when COVID wiped 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:22.840 out of black businesses by April, the women right, the 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:29.680 black women of Tompkins Avenue banded together, work collectively, called 0:21:29.680 --> 0:21:31.800 each other and said, here's how you get those loans, 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:34.720 coached one another through the loans, helped each other figure 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.159 out how to change their businesses. Oh, you make clothes, 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:39.959 let's talk about making masks. We gotta figure out how 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:43.840 to be outside. Let's get creative about outdoor seating. Right 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:48.440 and fast forward. Now, Tompkins Avenue is thriving. Now if 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:50.800 we think about that and what it means for each 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:53.679 of us, look at the data and look at what 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:58.200 people think women behave act, work at home, at play, 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:02.480 more collaboratively in our at a collaboration is seen as weak. Right, 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:05.359 it's go at it alone, right, be at the front 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:07.840 of the pack, be the one individual who came up 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:10.600 with the idea, right, which so often is associated with 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:14.000 men and is more male behavior. Data shows right, that's 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:18.800 seen its strength. What is Tompkin happens Tompkins Avenue prove? Right? 0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:22.600 Is there a stronger definition of strength than what happened there? 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:26.120 And so, just as we're all moving into new jobs, 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:29.520 or new roles within jobs, or just new ways of 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.080 thinking ourselves in the work, I would just push all 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:34.800 of us to think about how instead of needing to 0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:37.080 run away from some of those things. We can lean 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:39.320 into redefining it, but we have to do it together. 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:42.760 So when after this there's like a happy hour and 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:45.280 a DJ right, okay, so right, we know people are 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:47.240 gonna ask who are you? To each other? Wait, we're 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:49.080 gonna go, We're gonna ask what do you do? Right? 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:51.680 We know, especially post COVID, a lot of us ask 0:22:51.760 --> 0:22:56.000 how are you? Let's all also ask what do you need? Yes, 0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:59.600 and let me tell you what I need? How can 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:02.639 I and how can you help me? And let's not 0:23:02.720 --> 0:23:06.120 see that as anything other than strength. That is not weakness, 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:16.800 That is strength. Beautiful. So in my early thirties, what 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:21.480 I wish someone had stressed for me was self care, 0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:26.560 and I just I have this thing now, right. I 0:23:26.560 --> 0:23:29.600 actually repeat it to myself almost on a daily basis. 0:23:29.640 --> 0:23:32.200 Self care is not selfish, right, It's just in my head. 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:35.680 Self care is not selfish. Self care is not selfish. 0:23:35.800 --> 0:23:39.959 Self care does not mean that I'm going, you know, 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:44.200