BsquaredC Podcast: Amplifying inspirational stories of ambitious black women in the corporate world

Welcome to the last reflection episode of 2023! 

As we wrap up the year, a huge SHOUT-OUT to our incredible community for continuing to tune into the podcast! 🎧 We cannot wait to tell more of your stories.  

🚀 Are you ready to strategically expand your network and forge meaningful connections? Then this episode is for you! 

Inspired by our last guest of the year Salome Chingaira, who navigated herself to a prestigious scholarship and a career across three countries through making powerful connections,  in this episode Nancy and Akosua share their own approaches to networking. Discover how your personality can shape your networking experiences, the most effective approaches to connect with people, the incredible power of curiosity in building relationships, and the crucial importance of following up with your connections.

 Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua: 

1. Be strategic and targeted in your networking, be it on or offline

2. When in conversation, be genuine and curious about people, it takes you a long way 

3. Follow up and nurture your connections consistently 

Tune in for a dose of inspiration, practical tips, and real talk about the magic that happens when you cultivate a network that propels you forward! 🌐💼

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

This month, we are absolutely thrilled to share the awe-inspiring journey of Salome Chingaira! 🚀 . Starting her path as the lone girl in her entire electrical engineering class at her university, Salome stretched her talent outside of work and found impact in giving back to society through charity work. This extension of her life, opened up a world of opportunities for her, including gaining a prestigious scholarship to the UK to study her masters. Along the way, Salome also became part of One Young World, an organization that empowering and developing young leaders creating impact around the world. This experience has exposed her to  notable figures such as Meghan Markle and given her a chance to contribute to some world changing conversations. 

In this episode Salome shares powerful insights from her personal and professional journey so far, shedding light on how she continues to grow her career in engineering while maintaining a commitment to impactful endeavors beyond the 9 to 5.   

Three wisdom gems from Salome:

1. Carry yourself with confidence and continue telling the story of who you are

2. Continue to be curious and don’t stop reading

3. Don’t take yourself too seriously

The Chevening scholarship that Salome had: https://www.chevening.org/scholarships/

More information on One Young World: https://www.oneyoungworld.com/

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

🌟 Are you itching for a change in your career? Does making a career change seem like an uphill battle? 🏔️ Then this episode is for you! 🎙️🚀

Join us this month as we draw inspiration from our incredible guest, Tosin Aniwofose, who made a remarkable shift from geology to tech recruitment! 🚀 In this episode, our hosts Nancy and Akosua open up about their personal career pivots, shedding light on the critical elements that guided their transitions.  Amongst other things, they discuss the importance of knowing your WHY, being able to articulate your transferable skills and the actionable steps that one can take to work towards a new career path.

💎 Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua: 

1. Knowing your WHY opens up a spectrum of options of potentially fulfilling choices for your career.  

2. Education is an effective career pivoting tool 

3. Articulating your transferable skills is key to position yourself in a new area

Tune into this episode and be inspired to take action to find a fulfilling career path. 

🌍🚀 From Geology to Tech Recruitment: HOW DID SHE DO IT? 🌟

This month, we're thrilled to share the incredible journey of Tosin Aniwofose! 🇳🇬 Born in Nigeria, Tosin is a dynamic tech recruiter and entrepreneur now thriving in Berlin. 🌆 Though she began her career in geology, Tosin fearlessly charted a course to a new country and even transitioned into a completely different industry through self reflection, humility, and resourcefulness. 🗺️✨But she didn't stop there! Tosin went on to carve out her own niche, using her extensive experience in tech recruitment to create a platform called Dear Candidate. 📚💡 With it, she's not only making a powerful impact but also leading the change she envisions! 🌟💪

Dive into this episode to be captivated by Tosin’s journey and the profound philosophies that underpin her remarkable career. 🎙️🌠 When was the last time you reflected on your own 'why'? 🤔🌱 

Three wisdom gems from Tosin:

1. Be authentic and embrace your own uniqueness and flavor

2. Continue to develop and expose yourself to new things

3. Know your why at every point of your life

Tosin’s platform: https://dearcandidate.org/

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

🎙️ Are you a job seeker? Are you looking to expand your network online? Then this episode is for you!  LinkedIn can feel like a jungle, but it can be an organized jungle with the strategic tips we are sharing in this episode.

🌟 Inspired by our guest this month, Grace Kibwana, who masterfully harnessed the power of LinkedIn to navigate her career across diverse industries and geographies, Nancy and Akosua excitedly share their own LinkedIn journeys! 🌍🚀. They've been using this incredible platform to soak up knowledge, cultivate their thought leadership, and in Akosua's case, even land fantastic job opportunities! 💡💼

🎉 As a bonus, Akosua, a seasoned talent professional, generously offers invaluable tips for job seekers in this episode. 🌟 Stay tuned for some golden nuggets of career advice! 💫 

💎 Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua 

1. Through a combination of manual work and leveraging LinkedIn features, you can curate and optimize your experience of the platform 

2. When it comes to engaging with other people’s posts on LinkedIn, don’t overthink it. Keep it simple and just do it! 

3. Posting original thoughts on topics as well as your own consent helps you to  establish your own voice on LinkedIn.

🚀 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐑? 🤔💼

🎙️ This month's guest is the fearless Grace Kibwana, a seasoned risk management professional who has skillfully maneuvered her career across diverse industries and geographies 🌍. In this episode, Grace shares her journey from starting out her career in Nairobi, how she found her advancement opportunities and her eventual move to Berlin. Her biggest ingredient for success? 🤫  Being strategic and intentional in everything, from  building relationships and how she navigated the online professional world🤝. 

🔍 Tune in to this episode for and be inspired by Grace’s BOLD journey marked by resilience, determination and an unwavering belief in herself. Discover practical strategies for finding mentorship and how to harness the power of LinkedIn for your career success! 🌟🚀 🌐.  Let Grace's intentional approach in this space  ignite your own career leaps! 

Three wisdom gems from Grace:

1. Be intentional about the relationships you create 

2. Honor people and so many doors will unlock for you

3. Go for what you want and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise 

🚀 Don't miss out on this opportunity for inspiration. 💪. 

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about our latest initiatives, groundbreaking episodes, and empowering content. Sign up for our  newsletter using this link: https://bit.ly/BOLDmailinglist

Nominate yourself or another BOLD black woman you know for a chance to be featured on the podcast: https://bit.ly/Boldnominations.

Follow BsquaredC on our socials with the links below: 

🎙️ Welcome to the first reflection episode of Season 3 of BsquaredC Podcast!  🎉

Every month Nancy and Akosua will be digging deeper into the conversations with our guests, sharing their own experiences and stories on the themes illuminated in each guest episode.

 In this episode they reflect on the gems shared by our powerhouse guest this month, Katekani Mabasa. So much of her stories resonated with the ladies, including the discussion on resilience of black women in career growth and how she harnesses her strengths for career success. Nancy and Akosua share their own experiences with resilience and delve deeper into the reservoir of their own strengths, exploring how these very strengths have taken tangible form in their professional trajectories. 🚀💼

Buckle up an insightful conversation and actionable tips to apply to your own career. 

💎 Three wisdom gems from Nancy and Akosua 

1. Embrace every opportunity you get even if it's not what you want at that time. Make the best of it while keeping your eye on your north star. 
2. Taking tests like the 16 personalities test, are a great way to illuminate your strengths and understand yourself better
3. Success comes from being aware of who you are and your strengths  inform your value.

Listen to the related episodes below: 

🎉Season 3 of BSQUAREDC Podcast is  finally here! 🎉

After over a year and a half hiatus, we are thrilled to announce the long-awaited return of BsquaredC! 🎉🎊 We're back on the mic, ready to embark on another incredible journey of sharing the inspiring stories of black women in the corporate world. 💪💼.  Tune in to this episode to catch up on everything that's happened since our last episode in December 2021. 🗓️ Discover our fresh approach to the podcast and the BsquaredC space, along with some exciting twists that will make this season an unforgettable experience! 🌟

As mentioned in the episode, you can read Nancy's mental health crisis story on this link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/slowing-down-my-mental-health-crisis-what-i-am-from-nancy

If you loved this episode, buy us coffee, wine or water with the link below!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Happy end of 2021 BsquaredC squad!

2021 was a year of a lot of personal growth for me in many ways. Besides the honor of telling stories of so many brilliant black women, I myself also learnt a lot through reflecting on these conversations. In this episode I am sharing my  personal top 3 lessons of the year from the podcast whose messages I will be carrying proudly into 2022. They are on the topics of purpose, confidence and impostor syndrome.

Top takeaways are

Embrace and own your journey- My  episode 14 guest Busi Sizani, a woman who knew her purpose since she was a kid inspired me to reflect on my own purpose journey. I love my job in the healthcare industry and my mission in it is to bring equity to how vulnerable populations access and experience healthcare. For a while I thought I would only have the impact I aspired to when I reach the pinnacle of leadership in my industry. However, having clarity on my purpose has expanded this view to that I am living out my purpose and having the impact I wish for now as a 9-5er and entrepreneur. I need to stop and embrace my journey! Check out episode 15 for this reflection! https://bit.ly/BsquaredCReflection15

Other people’s perception of your confidence do not have to phase you-  Inspired by my conversation with Stephanie Goseine in Episode 12, who believes everything is hers for the taking, I got to reflect on the phenomenon of confidence and the battle of perception that often mars people from marginalised groups when it comes to it. For example the same behavior coming from men is not perceived the same when coming from women, let alone women of color. In episode 13 I shared  my top tips for staying grounded in your confidence in the middle of the perception battle we often are in as women of color.  Check out episode 13 for this reflection! https://bit.ly/BsquaredCReflection13

Impostor syndrome is more a systemic problem than an individual one- My guest Faith Opiyo from episode 16, who often experiences self doubt as a brilliant woman in tech, opened the door for me to explore impostor syndrome beyond the individual and think about its root cause. For too long all the solutions for impostor syndrome have been about fixing individuals and too little is discussed on  why people feel like this in the first place. The root cause of impostor syndrome is toxic environments riddled with systemic bias and we need to challenge them to truly fix this problem. Check out episode 17 for more on this. https://bit.ly/BsquaredCEp17

This month we are reflecting on tone policing and the angry black woman stereotype.

Our guest this month, Odelia Djoe used to stand up for herself against racial comments from her classmates when she was younger. Unfortunately this was interpreted as behavioral problems by her teachers, a phenomenon that is common for a lot of black girls even when they are just being “normal”  kids and teenagers.  According to a study by the New York Times, black girls are over five times more likely than white girls to be suspended at least once from school. This is the beginning of the experience of tone policing for a lot of black women and it follows black girls throughout their lives, manifesting as the "angry black woman" stereotype. A lot of black women, from Michelle Obama to Serena Williams to all of us have battled this stereotype in many ways. It ranges from microaggressive comments about how loud we laugh to being told to calm down in moments of passionate contributions. The angry black woman stereotype  is one of the many reasons why a lot of black women feel like they cannot show up their full selves in predominantly white spaces.

Up until now, this podcast has leaned heavily expat because that is largely the network we have access to, but I finally landed a native Dutch guest!

I are excited to introduce you to our November guest,  Odelia Djoe; Surinamese by birth and grew up in the Netherlands. Odelia has been designing her life on her terms while navigating her black Dutch identity, an often complicated topic in this culture. Our conversation covered all sorts of ground, including her upbringing and navigating the NL education system as a black kid, how she stepped into the corporate world and her passions outside of this space. Besides being a corporate badass in change management. Odelia is also a writer, passionate about song writing and education. She dedicates one day of her work week to that, as part of the 4 day work week phenomenon that is common in the NL, and she had interesting insights into that too. Odelia is an incredible ray of sunshine and positivity and a must hear story for a perspective of how it is to live life on your terms and embrace your identity, despite the systemic challenges she grew up in as a person of color. Have a listen to the episode for more.

Our guest this month is the incredible Faith Opiyo who has proven over and over again that she is the master of her own fate! Born and raised in Kenya, Faith’s journey has taken her to Russia where she lived for 10 years, through several career pivots and into where she is now as one of the few black women in cybersecurity. In this conversation amongst other things, we talked about Faith’s experiences with racism as a black person in Russia, how she started her career and pivoted industries to chase new goals, being a black woman in tech and fighting impostor syndrome. She is also a co- host on the podcast, Out of Band, where they are making careers in cyber security accessible for all with some great interviews of professionals in their space. Faith is a true go-getter with immense resilience and she has been using her voice more and more as she continues on her journey. Have a listen to Faith’s story.

Inspired by the incredible story of my guest for this month, Busi Sizani, who knew her purpose from such  a tender age, in this episode I reflect on my own purpose journey. I only discovered my purpose much recently through a series of experiences and in this episode I share how I got to this realization.

I am a multi-hyphenate corporate healthcare professional, entrepreneur and storyteller who is passionate about equity. I get a lot of energy from solving problems around how to create opportunities, resources, spaces and platforms that connect and support the goals and dreams of systematically excluded groups, women and people of color in particular. Having clarity on my purpose has freed me in so many ways. It has allowed me to embrace that everything happens for a reason. I have embraced my own journey and stopped comparing myself to others. Most of all it has helped me shift my mindset from the rat race I thought I was on to get to the top in the corporate world. I am no longer in a hurry, because I realised my impact is actually happening now. I am living out my purpose as we speak. Most of all it gives me time to make calculated moves towards my corporate leadership goals without fear of not ever having a legacy. Listen to this episode for more!

Our guest this month is the incredible Busi Sizani, who has been stepping into her power since she was one of the fIrst black kids attending a previously racially segregated school, in post apartheid South Africa. From such an early age, she understood that her presence in the spaces she was privileged to access was an opportunity to educate those around her about her experiences, and has embraced this purpose ever since.

Busi went on to navigate her career from studying engineering and theology, to the creative industry, where she produced a film and became one of the few black women in sports live broadcasting in South Africa, before starting her journey in the corporate world. Living in Amsterdam now, she is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion professional who continues to disrupt spaces with her presence and wisdom. In this conversation Busi shares the lessons she has embraced along the way which includes taking risks, asking critical questions and being comfortable with creating her own lane. Her biggest advice to all women of color in the corporate world out there, “You are the superpower your organization has been missing!”

Busi’s company: https://www.theinclusioncompany.com/

My guest this month, Stephanie Goseine moves through the world with incredible confidence, believing everything is hers for the taking. Showing up like this as a woman and a person of color, specifically in predominantly white spaces can be treated with mixed reactions due to bias stemming from sexism and racism. This often leads to more than often, women of color being perceived as arrogant as opposed to confidence.There is a difference between arrogance and confidence and it has a real impact on professional growth, but when you apply the lens of prejudice often used on WOC, it becomes blurry.  Additionally, there are real consequences for the career progression of women and people of color that stem from this phenomenon,  including how women are less likely to self promote or negotiate their value in fear of the negative backlash of them taking up space in this way.

In this episode we will talk about the difference between confidence and arrogance and I will share my experiences with this concept as well as the practical ways I keep myself grounded in my confidence!

Our guest this month is the lovely Stephanie Goseine, a woman with so much audacity when it comes to her goals and her place in the corporate world as a woman of color.

An island girl from Trinidad and Tobago, Stephanie has navigated her career from engineering to consulting and currently, she is making moves in change management. Amongst the many gems in this conversation included identity politics of mixed-heritage people like Stephanie and picking your battles when it comes to inclusion and diversity conversations as a WOC. Above all Stephanie is emboldened to take up space, something that she and a lot of WOC do not grow up believing in! She strongly believes she deserves success as much as the next person and her story and how she continues to do this, will ignite a fire in you to believe in your right to your dreams as well!

Have a listen to the full episode for more on Stephanie's story.

My episode 10 guest Omena shared very candidly about her experiences with mental health and this week I am reprising the topic with my own experiences with it!

I also had to grow into an understanding of the importance of this topic, as I culturally did not connect to it and I grew up believing so much in the strong black woman narrative. I had to unlearn some behaviors and I love the woman I am becoming through therapy.  Taking this topic to the workplace, in this past year mental health and wellbeing became  front and center as we all lived through a pandemic and social justice distress.  A lot of companies really stepped up in supporting their workers on this. In this episode I share my personal favorite practices of tackling mental health at work that I have experienced. These include good foundational trainings, resources for helping people when they struggle and storytelling around mental health. Have a listen to the episode for more!

In lieu of our normal programming on the podcast, I bring you this bonus episode discussing the recent debacle of racism in England directed at three black players, Marcus Rashford, Jardon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who missed penalties in the final game. This incident was something every black person saw coming from a mile away and it is exhausting once again to watch the shock wash over most white people as the latest arrivals to the fight against racism. Additionally people keep referencing the charity work these players have done when defending them, perpetuating a narrative that black people only deserve grace when they are excellent. In this episode I unpack my own feelings about this incident and how it parallels experiences people of color have in the corporate world. I root for everybody black every time because anytime you see a black person striving for something and for excellence, you bet they have reservoirs of fortitude beyond your imagination. Much respect to black football players and sending lots of love, strength and grace to all people of color out there!

Have you ever met someone and their energy just swept you away? That is Omena Ukeleghe, our guest for this month. She is a walking testimony of all things black women that make me so proud to tell our stories on this podcast and platform. Resilient, passionate, courageous and loudly living her life and purpose. Omena has navigated herself from studying fashion and working in the fashion industry, into other roles before last summer taking on being the lead of  Diversity and Inclusion at a big 4 consulting firm in Amsterdam. She is also the founder of Creative Jam Session, a space for people in the creative industry to connect and inspire each other in the Netherlands. Wondering how Omena skirted the career pivots in her life and how all of the things she does connect? Have a listen to this episode for more.

Check out Omena’s community, Creative jam sessions. https://www.creativejamsession.nl/ 

My Ep. 8 guest Soraya and I chopped it up about lots of things, including career pivoting. I was particularly enamored by Soraya’s bold moves in her career, that took her from Austria, to London and now to Amsterdam and the fact that she quit her big time job in the middle of a pandemic to join a startup. Soraya is adaptable and versatile and has pivoted her career as needed. In this episode, I share my reflection on this topic and what career pivoting has looked like for me. My biggest lessons include, the power of a mindset and environment that allows you to think about changing your path, the importance of focusing on your transferable skills and lastly how graduate school transformed me on my path, in particular getting an MBA. Listen to this episode for more.

Meet Soraya Hausl, a badass data scientist born in Austria and now living in Amsterdam. Soraya’s love for math and numbers as a kid led her into a career of being a data scientist who has been traversing industries applying herself in different ways, and her most current gig is about hair care for black women. Soraya is officially my first European native guest, so a black person born and raised in Europe, and we ended up talking about the concept of a shared black identity in Europe, like being in community with other black people and supporting each other,  something she did not grow up seeing a lot of. She shared her experiences of how she viewed race growing up vs now, how the concept of spaces for black people has evolved in Europe and the impact of BLM on all of this discourse. Listen to this episode for more of our illuminating conversation.

Check out the communities of black people I belong to in the NL

OMEK: https://myomek.com/

Black in Tech Berlin: https://blackintechberlin.com/

Netherlands Black Women: https://netherlandsblackwomen.com/

Bongi Mataure moved to the Netherlands from Zimbabwe to pursue her education in aeronautical engineering and then decided to stay. In our conversation, Bongi and I explored what belonging means as a black person in foreign countries  through her many experiences, that included studying and living in the NL and working in France. She is actively shaping her life as a combination of cultures, between the things she loves about being Zimbabwean and what she enjoys about the Netherlands. Besides being a badass engineer she also loves cooking and is the founder of AfruZim, a fusion food experience that combines her Zimbabwean heritage and her new home of the Netherlands. Have a listen to this episode for more.

I am on a mission to create a space for black women in the corporate world to connect, inspire and support each other as we navigate our careers. I am strongly convinced of our presence in the corporate world to influence how companies reach our communities with their products and services. BsquaredC is more than just a podcast, and in order to allow myself time and space to extend the idea, I am changing the frequency of this podcast from weekly to bi weekly. That means having one interview and one reflection episode per month every two weeks. I am excited to start bringing to life the vision I have for this platform. Listen to this bonus episode for more.

Here is the article about people of color in the VC world that I talked about.

Also follow BsquaredC on:

Following my great conversation with Courtney Bradwell about moving to the NL as a black professional today, I am reflecting on one of the key things that helped my guest Courtney to position herself in her new job market, and that is investing in yourself.

She spent a pretty penny on coaches who helped mer translate her skills from the American job market to the Dutch job market and more. Putting money on it, is one way to invest in yourself. Some of us fail to even just make the time to learn new skills towards our career. In this episode I reflect on this topic and give you three ways to think about investing in yourself. It does not always have to take money but it is about investing time to plan things that help you level up in your career journey. This includes utilizing your company development resources and budgets and seeking out strategic side gigs. Have a listen to this episode for more.

Links to mentions in the episode:

Courtney’s episode: https://bit.ly/BsquaredCCourtneyEp

Meet this week’s badass black corporate woman, Courtney Bradwell. Having been raised in Ohio, she always dreamed of traveling the world,  but she didn’t have many examples of people that looked like her  making such bold moves. This perspective changed with  a trip to Europe in 2014 that opened her up to the possibility to call this continent her second home at one point. In this conversation we went into Courtney’s journey of moving to the NL, including cracking the NL job market and navigating cultural differences between the US and NL as a black professional. Give this episode a go and listen to the transformation of who we now get to call Courtney Bradwell, a dreamer, a badass black woman that goes after her dreams in spite of it all.

Links to mentions in the episode

OMEK community: https://myomek.com/

Netherlands black women community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/weouthereamsterdam/

Article on black professional migrating out of the US: https://fortune.com/2020/08/10/black-african-americans-leaving-us-moving-abroad-professionals-race-opportunity-careers/

Courtney's coaches

Ashley Cash: https://www.ashleyncash.com/

Magali Toussaint: https://udiverseglobal.com/

If you loved this episode, buy me a coffee on here:

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

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Welcome to the first reflection of season 2!

Following my riveting conversation with the insightful Kelly Morales, in this episode I am bringing back the topic of feeling invisible in predominantly white spaces as a person of color for more exploration.

As Kelly pointed out on Ep 2, feeling like you are invisible is a common phenomenon amongst black women including Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris. People sometimes treat us like we are not there and actively ignore our opinion and experiences.The experiences women of color have with this phenomenon range from being ignored in meetings and people taking credit for our ideas, all the way to life and death situations.For instance, black women are 3-4 times more likely to die during childbirth, because healthcare professionals, who are often non-black, just do not listen to us or take our pain seriously. We almost lost Serena Williams to this issue. 

 Listen to this episode for my experiences  with the phenomenon of visibility and some tips that have worked for me to actively gain visibility in the workplace.

Read more about this topic on the links below:

Article on invisibility of Black women: https://www.inc.com/magazine/202009/teneshia-carr/black-women-invisible-discrimination-racism-employee-customer.html

Article on allyship: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-can-we-become-better-allies-each-other-nancy-kasvosve-mba-mph/

If you loved this episode, buy me a coffee on here:

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

Also follow BsquaredC on:

Welcome to the first interview episode of season 2 of BsquaredC podcast!

Meet our opening badass, Kelly Morales an ambitious, entrepreneurial Colombian woman whose discipline and life philosophy is awe- inspiring to say the least. After moving from Colombia for her studies, Kelly found herself  liking the Netherlands a lot and 8 years later is still here and chasing her dreams in corporate NL. Her long term vision is to lead innovation in the Fintech industry and impact her home, Colombia. Get your notebook ready because this conversation was just filled with gems on gems on gems!

Kelly took us through the roots of her work ethic and life philosophies, that included a beautiful story about her upbringing and her mother. We also talked about experiences like feeling invisible in predominantly white environments and how that led her to start the Black employees inclusion group, BEING at her company, way before the black lives matter events of last year. Kelly is also passionate about giving back to her home of Colombia, and is the founder of tuma codes, an organization teaching the youth to code in the pacific coast of Colombia, where she is from, as a means for upward social mobility. Tune in to this episode for more wisdom from the incredibly refreshing Kelly Morales!

Check out Kelly’s organization on the link below and donate to support it. https://tuma.codes/

If you loved this episode, buy me a coffee on here:

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BsquaredC

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We are back baby! Welcome to season 2 of BsquaredC podcast!

This season we are celebrating stories of women of color in corporate Netherlands, my new home. As you all may know I have since settled in the Netherlands two and a half years ago. I am excited to highlight the black women who have crossed my path and to experience new ones as I continue to build my network here and make my home.

In this episode, I am setting the context for the season, in particular the differences in how race is viewed in the European/Dutch context vs America. There are far fewer people of color in the corporate world in the Netherlands than America, and it is not a coincidence. While the Netherlands is one of the most progressive countries on many issues, including gender and sexuality, religious freedom and use of soft core drugs, there is massive denialism about the extent of racial prejudice in this society. This is in my perspective, partially due to how badly the education system here addresses the dark history of this country’s contribution to past and present global racial inequalities, and the lack of collection of racial ethnic data that goes back to post WW2 practices.The result is the masking of racial inequality and the perpetuation of the false narrative that racism is exclusively an American problem.

Listen to this episode for more on this and subscribe to not miss upcoming episodes.

References made in the episode:

Nicaila Okome site: https://www.sidehustlepro.co/

Women of color podcasters site: https://wocpodcasters.co/

Paola’s site: https://www.paolasalvianophotography.com/

Article on challenging the lack of collection of racial ethnic data: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/16/france-and-germany-urged-to-rethink-reluctance-to-gather-ethnicity-data

Season 1 Episode 29: What Doing This Podcast Meant To Me- https://bit.ly/BsquaredC29

Season 1 Episode 30:  On Black Sisterhood, Corporate Ambition & 2020- https://bit.ly/Bsquaredseason1finale

If you loved this episode, buy me a coffee on here:

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To close off BsquaredC podcast season one, I am bringing you the wisdom of four past guests, Stephanie, Ruva, Brittany and Ru. We came together in the “zoom where it happens”  to reflect on the stories they shared on their respective episodes, the aftermath of it and their view of their futures in the corporate world. We communed on stories of how they heard from people they had not heard from in a while post their BsquaredC podcast appearance, their advice on showing up authentically; one of the biggest themes across all the conversations on this podcast this year, and the future of corporate #blacklivesmatter conversations. This episode is rich with introspection, celebration and wisdom and I am so proud and in awe of all of these women! I cannot wait to tell more of our stories in 2021.

Related episodes:

My guest from last week Arlyne Simon is a multi passionate genius, out there inventing, writing, starting up companies and inspiring all of us! However even as talented as she is she still has moments of doubting herself experiencing impostor syndrome.  She shared her experiences about this stepping into corporate America for the first time and this is a phenomenon that is common to a lot of people, mostly minorities and women. That is because it is about belonging. In the majority cis-white male corporate environment, it is easy to feel out of place and on this episode I shared my experience with impostor syndrome in my career and some of my favorite tips for combating these feelings. Have a listen to it!

Article on impostor syndrome: https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/IJBS/article/view/521

Article on impostor syndrome in minorities: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/smarter-living/dealing-with-impostor-syndrome-when-youre-treated-as-an-impostor.html

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? If your answer is no, according to my guest on the podcast today, Arlyne Simon, that's ok. She still doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up and she lives what she calls a multi-passionate life, as an inventor, biomedical engineer, an author, an entrepreneur and who knows what’s next? When she is not inventing or leading project teams developing medical diagnostic equipment, Arlyne is inspiring little girls into STEM careers through her writing. She takes them on science adventures with the main character in her books, Abby, a little black girl with huge afro puffs who is curious about the world and invents stuff she wants to see. Arlyne inspires me to dream the life I want  and I am sure she will light the same fire in you after listening to her story.

Three takeaways from this episode:

Bet on yourself- believe in yourself enough to put your passions and voice out there in the world and trust that it will bloom.

Your got this- your perspective is appreciated and welcome in all spaces and you belong in all of them

You don’t have to know what you want to be at all times of your life- follow your curiosity and don’t box yourself

Arlyne’s website: http://arlynesimon.com/

On the podcast this past week, amongst the many things we touched on, my guest Yinka and I talked about her experiences with diversity in the industries she has worked in, or lack thereof including consulting, banking and tech. We  discussed in particular the situation at Wells Fargo that went viral a few months ago. The CEO of Wells Fargo was caught up in a scandal about his comments citing the lack of diversity in the upper ranks of the bank was because there were not enough people of color to recruit for them. Facing criticism on it, he ended up apologising but his comments are not isolated. Many a CEO and HR executive has cited this as a reason for their lack of diversity and it is simply a myth. In this episode I talk about why that is for three selected reasons and what companies can do about it. Have a listen to my reflection on it here.

Article of black women at Wells Fargo: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/banking/article246012155.html

My guest on the podcast this week, Yinka Taiwo-Peters had me furiously taking notes throughout this interview from the pearls of wisdom she was dropping from her story. Starting out her journey applying to American colleges from Nigeria with little guidance and going on to becoming the youngest person in her graduating class, Yinka has been pushing the envelope at every step of her career journey. We sat down to chat about the lessons she has learnt on her path so far and her experiences with inclusion and mentorship amongst other things. Yinka found her home for now in the tech industry driving her passion for accessibility, but I have no doubt she is destined for so much more. 

Three takeaways from this episode:

-Own your career- Own the direction, own the opportunities, ask questions and perform well

-Negotiate for what you want- You are a resource that has value so go in there knowing what you are worth and claim it!

-Vulnerability is the key to unlocking great mentorship relationships- Being vulnerable allows you to really dig deep into your areas of growth

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My guest from last week Stephanie Joseph has an incredible story of tragedy, strength and resilience that includes surviving the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Despite these experiences, Stephanie still shows up with so much positivity in life and has made the circumstances she comes from, fuel for her life’s goals. Stephanie owns her story, and I identify with this so much because my life has unfolded similarly. I experienced some life changing traumatic events growing up that have become the source of the things I am passionate about. However how I show up only came with learning to own these experiences and live with them.  In this episode I share some of what I have learnt as I continue on my own journey with owning my story, including shifting my mindset from survival to thriving, giving myself the liberty to dislike my situations and struggling with impostor syndrome. Have a listen to the episode here. 

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I was all set to share with you all an incredible interview with one of my favorite Nigerian sisters but on reflection, I instead opted to park it, for a different conversation that I felt is important to have this week. It's about what showing up at work fully means for people of color.

2020 has been a traumatic year for people of color and we have been showing up to work with all of it. From covid hitting us worst to #blacklivesmatter going global it was already a lot. On top of that if you are African, the last few weeks have been heavy with #ENDSARS protests against police brutality in Nigeria, #shutitdown gender-based violence protests in Namibia and #congoisbleeding cries about the genocide in the Congo. As a black, African, woman, in 2020, I AM TIRED. Pre- 2020 people of color never dared to show up as our full selves at work, especially with the traumatic things going on about our identity outside of work. We checked our feelings and politics at the door, but the tide has shifted this year.

Let's continue making workplaces more inclusive and foster belonging, by creating spaces for dialogue about these tough things going on in our lives that we sometimes all walk around bearing. We are all human before we get to our desk and it is imperative that companies continue to see that and invest in that.Trends, technology and times in your industry may come and go, but your people will always be your biggest asset.

Sendings lots of love and strength to my Nigerian sisters and brothers out there and here are ways you can help

Donate to the following organizations to help with the #endsars

Rachael Gatling is a powerhouse of a woman who is not only kicking ass at a corporate job, in the fascinating medical devices e-commerce space but is also a strong inclusion and diversity champion being the chair of the Black Employees Resource Group(BERG) at Philips. Rachael’s  core beliefs that have carried her in her career are standing in her power and being her authentic self and she is the founder of a project called Change Your Story, where she is empowering others to achieve professional success by strengthening and utilizing their professional strengths.

Three takeaways from this episode:

- Study and appreciate yourself- Learn about yourself so you know what your triggers are and what you are good at. It is a great asset in your career

-Help another woman-  there is often a bad stigma of women tearing down each other in the corporate world. We gain so much more for helping each other up

-You are not for everyone- It’s ok to not be liked by everyone, focus on the people you get positive energy from

Link to Rachael church: http://www.firstchurchnyack.org/

Ru Nyambuya is a banker based in New York who is passionate about development in Africa and she immerses herself in this topic both at work and personally. Professionally she is at Standard Bank in New York selling Africa to corporate clients. Personally she is the fundraising chair of Education Matters Africa Foundation, an organization that we both came from,  dedicated to grooming future leaders of Zimbabwe through access to quality educational opportunities. Education matters is currently fundraising for a new school in Zimbabwe and you can find information about it on the links below.

Ru has a seemingly simple guiding light for how she has shaped and continues to shape her life and it is doing what she loves. She believes when you go after what you love, whatever is thrown your way is bearable and it is all worth it. We however disagreed on one thing though, while she attributes a lot of what has happened on her path to luck, I think actually it is more grit than luck. Especially as an immigrant black woman not born with the privilege to do what you want with your life, it takes a certain level of perseverance to go after what you love the way she has. People around Ru are drawn to that, including her passion and authenticity that comes with it, and that is really the secret sauce to her success.

Three takeaways from this episode: 

-Lift as your climb- take other people with you as you progress and it will give you so much purpose and make your success sweeter

-Do what you love- to the extent that you can do what you love and any strife you go through doing it, will be worth it

-You are your best marketer- Toot your  own horn! Be out there telling people who you are and what you are doing. It matters to your success.