Embracing Only: Workplace Culture & Career Development for BIPOC Leaders

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we are featuring one of the most impactful moments from episode 47, with guests Fabia Ogunmekan, Zanele Khanyile, and Mai Khidir. How do you navigate power structures in male-dominated workspaces? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode.

Fabia is a lawyer and corporate executive passionate about the pursuit of development in Africa. Zanele is a strategic collaborative leader with experience in cooperative banking, corporate governance, and small enterprise development. Mai is driving change forward via the Al-Sudaniya mentoring program. They are all How Women Lead Fellowship graduates.

This episode is just a short snippet that highlights the best and most powerful learning moment from a past episode. You can listen to the full episode (filled with more wisdom) here: Episode 47: Embrace your fierceness.

Key Discussion Points:

01:00 Navigating Power Structures: Mentorship, sponsorship, female allyship, and having a strong support system are all integral to navigating power structures in male-dominated workspaces.

03:48 The Value of Mentorship: Don’t underestimate how important it is to be surrounded by inspiring women who can support and help move you forward.

04:42 Mentorship vs. Sponsorship: We need to do more than just help shape other women's journeys. We need to raise our hands and pull them up in the invisible spaces they don't have access to yet.

07:26 Moving Beyond Mentorship: A formal mentor-mentee relationship is a structured process. Sponsorship moves beyond this.

In Summary: Fabia, Zanele, and Mai urge us to move beyond mentorship and into sponsorship. Don’t just guide others behind closed doors, fully support those individuals and help them access spaces they don’t have access to yet.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Fabia on Linkedin.

Follow Zanele on Linkedin.

Follow Mai on Linkedin.

If you happen to be a woman of color and you are looking for a community of like minded women, join Olivia here: https://www.mysistersshoulders.com/

Ready to make a change?

→ If you are struggling to navigate your corporate career but are ambitious and have goals you want to accomplish quickly, Olivia is the coach for you.

Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit oliviacream.com.

→ If you are ready to leave corporate or you want to start a profitable side brilliance, Archita can guide you through a successful transition to entrepreneurship.

Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit architafritz.com.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

_________

Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we are featuring one of the most impactful moments from episode 61, with guest, Sibil Patri. Sibil gives us insight into her transition out of corporate life, how she has had to overcome fear and adjust her priorities, and the importance of rest and alignment in achieving sustainable success.

Sibil is the founder and CEO of In Pursuit Collective - an initiative that reflects her commitment to advocacy and empowerment, focusing on coaching, collaborating, and storytelling to uplift marginalized and racialized communities. Before this, Sibil spent 20 years as an award-winning financial services corporate strategy executive.

This episode is just a short snippet that highlights the best and most powerful learning moment from a past episode. You can listen to the full episode (filled with more wisdom) here: Episode 61: Achieving Moral Clarity in the Pursuit of Liberation.

Key Discussion Points:

00:57 Transitioning from Corporate Life: There are benefits to working in corporate but don’t let the fear of losing these benefits stop you from leaving a harmful situation.

03:53 Adjusting Your Priorities: A transition out of corporate life means you may have to adjust your priorities. Take the time to identify what is most important to you.

06:53 Changing Your Definition of Safety: What does safety mean to you? Is it financial security or is it being free from a toxic workplace?

08:40 The Importance of Rest: Rest is a significant component of your pursuit of liberation if you want to do it sustainably.

10:57 The Value of Alignment: Think less about action and more about alignment. When your actions are in alignment with your values, you will become extremely productive.

In Summary: Sibil Patri urges us to take action despite our fears. She challenges us to look at what we are prioritizing to ensure that this is in line with what is actually important to us. She emphasizes the need for rest and alignment for long term success.Resources from this episode:

Follow Sibil on Linkedin or check out her website.

Ready to make a change?

→ If you are struggling to navigate your corporate career but are ambitious and have goals you want to accomplish quickly, Olivia is the coach for you. She can help you reach your goals.

Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit oliviacream.com.

→ If you are ready to leave corporate or you want to start a profitable side brilliance but you’re unsure of the next steps, Archita can guide you through a successful transition to entrepreneurship.

Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit architafritz.com.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

_________

Produced by Ideablossoms

Olivia Grant-Cream is a U.S. Veteran born and raised in Jamaica, and is one of the first Black female Engineer Officers of a major Coast Guard cutter to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy. Olivia has spent the past decade working in the healthcare industry in Human Resources, and is passionate about changing the face of Corporate America. Recently, she started a coaching practice to help under-represented high performers discover their why and win in the workplace. Olivia is also writing a book - "The Only: A survival guide for under represented employees in Corporate America."

In this episode, Olivia challenges our listeners to ask the right questions in the pursuit to discovering their individual 'why', especially when part of an underrepresented community. She also reflects on her experiences in the U.S. Coast Guard and how we should empower ourselves with our intentions.

Episode 28: From First Black Woman Engineer Officer in The U.S. Coast Guard to Corporate America

About Embracing "ONLY"

Welcome to Embracing Only, the podcast dedicated to empowering women in the workplace by sharing inspiring stories from diverse women who’ve defied the odds in their careers.

Each episode spotlights women in leadership, providing insights into their journeys and the leadership skills they’ve developed along the way. With a focus on career development for women of color, we offer actionable career advice for women to help them navigate challenges and thrive professionally.

Join us as we create a supportive community for women to rise, claim their power, thrive as "an only" in the workplace, and lead with purpose.

Ready to make a change?
→ Struggling with your corporate career but have big goals?
Reach out to Olivia on LinkedIn or visit oliviacream.com.
→ Ready to leave corporate or start a side venture? Archita can guide your next steps.
Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit architafritz.com.

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we delve into disrupting the status quo with Cindy Gallop, a trailblazing entrepreneur, brand innovator, and advocate for social change. Discover why identifying your core values and beliefs is key to living a much simpler and happier life. We’re also exploring Cindy’s most ambitious project yet, a sex education academy.

Cindy has been described as a woman who will change the way you think about sex and money. She’s the alchemist turning advertising lead into gold and the voice shouting ‘show me the money’ to a VC world that seems to have misplaced its checkbook when it comes to female founders.

Key Discussion Points:

02:44 Walking in Your Authenticity: Being your authentic self is how you are going to attract the network or village you will need along this journey.

05:22 Identifying Your Values: By identifying your values and beliefs, your life will be so much easier. This applies to both individuals and businesses.

11:37 Overcoming Fear by Taking Action: Micro-actions are a way to change behavior from the bottom up.

15:00 Getting Out of Toxic Situations: If you are in situations filled with micro-aggressions, do not stick it out. It is time to pivot.

21:17 Becoming a Role Model: You have a responsibility to become the role model you never had in order to create meaningful change.

30:02 Reinventing Industry Through the Female Lens: If you start your own business, you can design a culture that you want and that others want to work in.

35:37 Make Love Not Porn: Discover Cindy’s groundbreaking social sextech platform and her most ambitious project yet, an academy of sex education.

In Summary: Cindy Gallop challenges us to be our authentic selves so that our village can find us. She urges us to leave toxic situations, pivot, and start our own businesses to create cultures that other people would love to work in.

Resources from this episode:

Invest in Make Love Not Porn

Follow Cindy on Linkedin or check out her website.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

_________

Produced by Ideablossoms

Ready to make a change?
→ Struggling with your corporate career but have big goals?
Reach out to Olivia on LinkedIn or visit oliviacream.com.
→ Ready to leave corporate or start a side venture? Archita can guide your next steps.
Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit architafritz.com.

In this episode, we have the pleasure of interviewing retired Air Force Colonel, Kim "KC" Campbell, a fighter pilot who served in the Air Force for over 24 years. During her service, she flew 1,800 hours in the A-10 Warthog, including more than 100 combat missions protecting troops on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Kim was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism after successfully recovering her battle-damaged airplane after an intense close air support mission in Baghdad.

As a senior military leader, Kim led hundreds of Airmen both at home and abroad, and enabled them to succeed in their missions. She knows what it takes to be a successful leader, to inspire and empower high-performance teams to achieve success. Kim is passionate about leadership and feels strongly that leaders earn trust by leading with courage and connecting with their team.

In this episode, Kim shares her combat experience and leadership lessons that will motivate and inspire your team to be more confident when faced with adversity or uncertainty. She provides practical ideas and examples to improve trust and help your team prepare to face challenges in their personal or professional lives. Kim emphasizes the importance of preparing, practicing, and planning for contingencies to ensure we are able to respond in the face of adversity. And if we make mistakes or fail, then we need to fail forward by learning from our mistakes and figuring out what we can do better the next time.

Through her new book, Flying in the Face of Fear: A Fighter Pilot’s Lessons on Leading with Courage, Kim shares distinctive leadership techniques and principles different from what you might find in most leadership books. She teaches how to cultivate a wingman culture on your team, develop a fighter pilot mindset for failing forward and embracing risk, and create your own flight plan to find balance and fulfillment. Join us as Kim shares military combat stories and fighter pilot lessons learned that will provide the skills you need to prepare for adversity and debrief for success.

The key takeaways from this episode are:

• Fear is a natural response to stress, and it's important to face it in order to come out stronger on the other side.
• Effective leadership involves building trust, showing vulnerability, and listening to team members at all levels.
• Visualizing, rehearsing, and practicing for difficult situations can help create positive outcomes.
• Leaders should strike a balance between a strong overarching mission and clear, achievable goals for each team member.
• Leaders should encourage a culture of constructive feedback and dissent, cultivate self-awareness and self-care, and foster a culture of mutual support and recognition.

You can purchase Kim’s book using the link below, https://amzn.to/3kwA4zq

About Embracing "ONLY"

Welcome to Embracing Only, the podcast dedicated to empowering women in the workplace by sharing inspiring stories from diverse women who’ve defied the odds in their careers.

Each episode spotlights women in leadership, providing insights into their journeys and the leadership

Ready to make a change?
→ Struggling with your corporate career but have big goals?
Reach out to Olivia on LinkedIn or visit oliviacream.com.
→ Ready to leave corporate or start a side venture? Archita can guide your next steps.
Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit architafritz.com.