4 Ways to Own Who You are in the Workplace

What is it like to be the only one? The only woman, the only person of color or both. Imagine being the only black senior leader and woman of color directly reporting to a CEO. How about being the only black woman leader in your office and the most senior on the west coast under the digital practice. What about being the only black woman working in a sports department managing 36 million dollars worth of partnerships in an industry whose’s fans are more diverse than the front office?

It’s a reality for many people who occupy the workforce. However, no region has had the spotlight on the lack of gender and diversity representation like Silicon Valley. On October 17, the #L2LMixer made it’s a way to the Bay Area to discuss what it’s like navigating the workspace as a black woman in VC, digital media, marketing, and sports in partnership with NextRoll.

 

The common theme from our panel was “owning who you are” despite your differences and being underrepresented at work. Each woman used their uniqueness to create roles for themselves, opportunities to move up the corporate ladder, or find sponsorship for those opportunities. Here are four ways we can own who we are in the workplace.

 

Be Bold
How many of you can recall being told by an older family member or elder industry vet to go to work and keep my head down? Don’t try to go into places changing things and don’t draw attention to yourself. That advice doesn’t work in today’s workforce. Often our job roles become hard because there are no systems nor budgets in place for us to be effective. As minorities, we know too well the history of penalties people face when they are vocal. We shy away from being vocal about the things we need because of the way people may perceive us. Jeanette noticed the barriers in place that made her job difficult, so she boldly made her case to her CEO about the things she needed to be successful in her career. By being bold, she created an opportunity to solve the problem and work directly with her CEO becoming the highest-ranking woman of color and the black person at her company.

 

You deserve to be here
“Women don’t absorb and acknowledge our accomplishments,” shared Zenab. She shared how often she felt lucky to be in a room rather than how she deserved and earned her place. Despite her success navigating the sports world, her early start in the business meant taking a $24,000 coordinator job to get where she needed to go while working as a hostess in the evening. Instead of asking for more money, she went and got another job. Zenab recalled having to greet a director from her job while working at the gastropub, and two weeks later, she received a promotion. The director became her sponsor and shared with senior leadership during their weekly meeting that Zenab had beeing working two jobs leaving the President to insist that she receive a raise. “Even if you feel like you have lost your voice, you never know who is listening to it,” Zenab shared. Imposter syndrome will prevent you from seeing your worth or using your voice if you don’t believe you earned it.

 

Take up space
Early in Kayla’s career, she knew that her ideas were something her company needed, but it took her a while to get confident in being forward with her pitches. Through time she understood the value of her perspective and experiences. “I realized there are things that I know are different. I bring a lot of value to the table as a woman of color because there are people on our teams who aren’t thinking about it, and they don’t experience it,” she explained. Now Kayla works on the partnerships team for Instagram and is responsible for amplifying the most prominent global pop culture events like the Emmys, Met Gala, and the Oscars. However, she noticed the gap in the investment in sub-culture events like Afro Punk and ESSENCE Fest that present high impact. Data shows that “our communities over-index in video and love Instagram.” Therefore, Kayla decided to be vocal for communities that are not represented in the room.

 

Change the narrative
“If someone hasn’t told you to stop yet, you probably aren’t doing enough,” shared Sydney. She went on to share that people of color tend to feel like they have a set number of chips. “You have to plan ahead. You’re budgeting your chips, and maybe you think they will regenerate, but you don’t want to plan on it.” We are often afraid to take risks, and we play it small. She feels that she could be doing more to be an advocate for black entrepreneurs. Sydney suggests that if you bring a new perspective instead of repeatedly making someone feel wrong about the landscape of your industry, then you are productive and helpful in a way no one else can be. If you want something changed, you have to be the change. Sydney felt that being in VC and creating an organization to address the lack of representation within the industry lead her to “take ownership of the way VC looks.” “If no one is going to change it and if no one changed it before we got here, then we’re going to have to be the ones to change it.”

 

What are some ways you own your uniqueness at work?