On the forty-first installment of Tristan's Tips, our special guest Tristan Layfield talks about how you as a job seeker can maximize your holiday break. Since many of us get a little more time off around the holidays, it’s a great opportunity to get all your ducks in a row to make some major moves for next year!Connect with Tristan on LinkedIn, IG, FB, and Twitter!Visit our website!TRANSCRIPTTristan: What is going on, y'all? It's Tristan Layfield of Layfield Resume Consulting, and I've teamed up with Living Corporate to bring you all a weekly career tip. This week let’s talk about how you as a job seeker can maximize your holiday break.For many us, searching for a job is a tiring chore when you’ve already been working for 8, 10, or 12 hours. But the holiday season offers us a couple of breaks that we can fully take advantage of to be ready to hit the ground running on our job search next year. Here are a few things you can do to leverage that downtime.First, update your resume. Review and edit everything - your contact info, your summary, your education, the way you sell the results you’ve driven or the value you’ve provided, etc. This is also a great time to analyze a couple job descriptions to identify and incorporate keywords. Since many of your friends or family are off from there jobs this is a prime opportunity for you to get another set of eyes on the document to make sure things sound good and to correct any spelling or grammar errors. If you need help, check out my free resume update checklist at the link in my Instagram bio.Next, update your LinkedIn and build your network. Make sure that your profile represents not only what you’re currently doing and the results you’ve driven but also what you are looking to do in the future. Check out the job seeking settings they have, I talk about these on episode 141 on this podcast. Also, go beyond just your profile. The key to LinkedIn is engagement. That means you should start posting your own posts as well as liking, commenting, and sharing other’s posts.Lastly, take the time to reach out and reconnect with lost connections who may be home or visiting. The holiday season is a great time to rekindle connections with people you may have lost touch with since they may travel back home or back to the area. These people can provide you with a wealth of knowledge as I talked about in my tip on episode 138. They typically have access to knowledge and information that our immediate circles aren’t privy to.Since many of us get a little more time off around the holidays, it’s a great opportunity to get all your ducks in a row to make some major moves for next year!This tip was brought to you by Tristan of Layfield Resume Consulting. Check us out on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at @layfieldresume or connect with me, Tristan Layfield, on LinkedIn!

On the fourteenth installment of The Link Up with Latesha, our incredible host Latesha Byrd, founder of Byrd Career Consulting, talks about how therapy has made her a better entrepreneur, a better professional, a better friend, and better to herself. Having a relationship with yourself is crucial to your growth and development, and it will allow you to build self-awareness as you are constantly improving and working towards achieving your goals. Let's normalize the conversation of going to therapy!Learn more about Latesha on the BCC website or connect with her through her socials! LinkedIn, IG, Twitter, FBStop by LateshaByrd.com!Check out Latesha's YouTube channel!BCC's socials: LinkedIn, IG, Twitter, FBVisit our website!TRANSCRIPTLatesha: What's up, everyone? Welcome to The Link Up with Latesha on Living Corporate. This podcast is for young professionals that need some real advice, tips, and resources to navigate corporate America and dominate their career. If you're looking to upgrade your brand, get the knowledge you need to level up professionally for your future, you are in the right place. I'm your host, Latesha Byrd. So let's get into today's episode. I'm so excited to just share this very important topic with you all today. I am going to be talking about how therapy has made me a better entrepreneur, a better professional, a better friend, and better to myself honestly. [laughs] So, you know, as working professionals or entrepreneurs that are highly driven and ambitious, we have a hard time with giving ourselves grace. I hope that you can relate to this, [laughs] because our mental health is so, so crucial to success. Having a relationship with yourself is crucial to your growth and to your development, and it will allow you to build self-awareness as you are constantly improving and working towards achieving your goals. So what I'm gonna be sharing with you all is my journey with therapy, why I started going to therapy, how I started going, and how it has essentially changed my life. If you follow me on Twitter, I am always talking about therapy. I love going to therapy. It's not easy, now. [laughs] It's not easy. It's not, like--I don't know if I would categorize or label my therapy sessions as fun, but I enjoy going because it stretches me and makes me uncomfortable and makes me call out the biases and the lies [laughs] that I'm telling myself. So I'll start with why I started going to therapy. Actually, let me just--before I talk about why I started going to therapy, I want to just share that, you know, PTSD is real from working as the only person of color, or one of the few, in a predominantly white workplace. I've talked to women particularly--and there's some men as well--you know, black women that have been discriminated against, that are treated unfairly, that are blamed for things that they have--that they've never even touched before. I've heard of women being, you know, let go for things that their co-workers maybe just got a little slap on the wrist for, you know? I have heard stories of us feeling uncomfortable walking into work or feeling like if we share a little bit of ourselves, they will take that and use that against us. I've heard all of your stories, and I've--it really, really hurts, and it angers me to hear the experiences of the trauma, you know, that we have to deal with in the workplace, and I do think that is why going to therapy is extremely important. Know one that you are not alone. You are not alone in this, and it's important to have someone that you can talk to about it. Now, my personal reasons for going to therapy--I'm not going to get into too much detail as to why I started going, but it was really for me based on some deeply rooted issues within my family that I had been experiencing and the trauma that I went through as a child, as a young adult, in college and even, you know, post-graduation from college, and hell, I'm still dealing with some [BLEEP]. [laughs] But we cannot, you know, choose our family, but I also kind of grew up thinking "Okay, well, your family is your family. You have to respect them. You gotta just deal with them, even if it's your parent, because that's how it's supposed to be. You gotta respect 'em." You know? And so I just thought, like, I had to deal with a lot of BS because they, you know, were my family members. So that's why I started going to therapy, just to kind of figure out, you know, how I can relieve some of the stress and the heartbreak that I have experienced. I have a--just to share a little personal anecdote, I have a very distant relationship with my mother because of a marriage that she's--a very toxic marriage that she's been in for about 10 years. So I very--I rarely see her. Actually, I haven't seen her in years. Honestly, I don't talk to her. I want to be in her life, but I have been shunned. And I grew up in a single-parent household. She raised me. So that has been so hard for me to just get--to get through, you know? I love her, and I will be there whenever she needs me, but I've realized in conversations with friends that they said, "Yo, like, your situation, that's not normal, and that's not okay, and we need you to really get some help." There is a stigma in the black community that if you are, you know, going to therapy you're quote-unquote "crazy," right? Or that means that something is wrong with you, but it is so important for us to--and I'll be honest, I thought that. I mean, it was literally ingrained in me, and so I was conditioned to think that if you go to therapy, "What? What's wrong with you?" You know? [laughs] But I've been going now for--let's see, starting in May, so about six months, and it has literally changed my life. So without further ado, let me just tell you all what I have learned from therapy. It has--one, I've learned that I need to give myself more grace, giving myself grace, and also working on self-compassion. My first therapy session I was super nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I was like, "Okay, what if she doesn't like me? What if I don't like her? What if I--" Like, I just had no clue what to expect. [laughs] So, you know, I kind of went in there and she said, you know, "What made you come to therapy?" And I'm like, "Wait, what? I don't--I don't know. I'm here." And she's like, "Okay. Well, just tell me about yourself." So that's kind of how we started. The first thing--the advice that I would give about going to therapy is you definitely will have to be vulnerable and transparent if you want to get the most out of it. Vulnerability is something that I also struggle with as someone that is a leader. Naturally I have a lot of people that look up to me, and my clients and friends, and so showing weakness, showing that you don't have it all together, ooh, you can't do that, right? I have learned though, from watching Renee Brown--I probably have talked about her a lot on previous episodes, but I've learned a lot from her about vulnerability. So check out her TED Talk. She also has a Netflix special, and she talks about, you know, that--she talks about how vulnerability is bravery. So I am learning to be vulnerable, but anyways, in that first session, the main thing that came out was self-compassion and having a relationship with yourself. And I did not have a relationship with myself. Like, I did not. I was kind of going through the day-to-day, going through the motions, you know? Going to my office and talking to clients and working, coming home and working more, and not really checking in with myself to actually ask myself, "Hey, are you happy? How are you feeling?" You know, "How is your energy?" Right? And so that was the first thing I learned was one, I had to give myself self-compassion and know that, one, I'm not going to be perfect. [laughs] The people around me are not going to be perfect, and see, because I did not practice self-compassion, I also wasn't compassionate with others. With my team, you know? With friends. I didn't give other folks grace because I did not lend that to myself. So I've had to learn how to be kinder with the words that I'm speaking to myself and also make sure that I'm constantly checking in to see how I'm feeling, and if I need--maybe I'm working too hard or going too hard and I need to take a break, you know, or maybe I'm having, you know, some negative thoughts. That means that I need to take a step back and say, "Okay, why am I feeling this way?" So it's been really interesting, you know? I love learning more about myself. I feel like I am coming into myself, and I think that becoming is better than being, and I learned the difference between being and the difference between becoming. I journal all of the time now. That took me some time to actually get used to. I mean, I've journaled before in the past. Like, in the morning--I have a stoic journal that was gifted to me by a friend where we have guided journal questions or prompts, but I have now transitioned more into self-reflection, journaling my emotions throughout the day, journaling how I feel about my relationship with myself and then with others. So I've learned to give myself self-compassion. That has, you know, allowed me to be more compassionate with others. That's allowed me to be more empathetic. The way that this has helped me to change my life and business, or business specifically, is because I would go into therapy sessions, and the first thing I would say--when she'd ask me how things were going I would say, "Oh, man. You know, entrepreneurship is so hard." [laughs] Which it is. Like, real talk. Everybody knows it's hard. But I was like, "Man, business, running a business is just hard," and she looked at me and she said, "You understand that this is your business, right?" Like, it's your business. This is what you wanted. This is what you signed up for. You are in control here, so I'm going to need for you why or what's making it so hard and go ahead and start working on making some changes. And she asked me why it was so hard, and I was telling her about the workload, and, you know, she told me how she ended up, you know, just kind of downsizing, and she thought that she wanted to grow a very large company and realized that that's not what she wanted. And it made me take a step back because I was working--I mean, there's 24 hours in the day and your girl was working about 17 hours, sleeping and getting up and working again, going to the office, going to meetings, speaking, you know? I also teach at a university. And, I mean, I would--I was driving myself crazy, and I was unhappy. I was so unhappy. My team was stressed out. And I ended up changing my whole business model, because I realized that I did not want a company where I had to work myself to death and my team had to as well. So the shift that I made, I'll tell you about that. Originally, you know, when I started my company, if you listened to the episode a couple weeks ago, I talk about how I started my company, where it was mostly doing resume writing, and now it's shifted into career coaching. So I've pretty much changed the business model. 75% of my business, approximately 75%, is solely 1-on-1 career coaching and business coaching. Prior to that--and I made the shift a few months ago. Prior to that, you know, it was focused on resume makeovers, LinkedIn makeovers, interview coaching, and we had about 30 to 40 clients--whoo, just the thought of that gives me--[laughs] just the thought of that just kind of gave me a real quick headache. 30 to 40 clients a month. I was keeping my prices somewhat low so they could be competitive in the market, and that's fine if that's how you want your business model to operate. Lower price point means more clients, right? Well, I don't want to say that that's exactly what it equates to, but that was my thought process. And so we were working with about 30 to 40 clients, you know, probably about 15 to 18 simultaneously, and it was hard. Like, it was very hard. I was stressed out. My team was stressed out. It was hard to keep up with everyone. And then I had to take a step back and ask myself, "Is this truly what I want?" "Is this really what I want?" And sometimes you do have to do that, you know? Check in with yourself regularly. And I realized that it wasn't, and so because of that I shifted my business model to career coaching. I had a launch strategy. I built a brand new website. I did that on my own, which I am so proud of, on Squarespace. Check it out - LateshaByrd.com. I'll probably link it in the show notes as well. And so--now don't--I know there's a lot of listeners out there in the tech industry, so if y'all have some tips on my site let me know, okay? I am not [laughs] a coder, but I worked very hard on it. So anyways, I shifted my business model. I had a launch strategy, and I ended up getting 15 coaching clients to start coaching with me from October to December. Most of them paid me upfront for the three months, but I had my revenue goals, and I said, "If I can charge this amount, if I can hit this number of coaching clients, I'm good," and that's what I did. Everything has been so wonderful. I do have a three-month coaching program, so now I will have recurring coaching clients every quarter. So I'll have new coaching clients starting in January. So going from January to March, the next group going from April to June, and starting again in July and then October. I love that because I didn't have that level of organization and efficiency in my business the way that I have now where before I would just enroll coaching clients whenever they wanted to start, and so now everyone is on the same schedule, they're going through the same type of information, and so it has been wonderful. I have gotten so much of my time back, and I also realized that if I am preaching to other people about just living the lifestyle that you deserve but I'm over here stressed out, you know, I'm kind of being a hypocrite, right? And so I had to take a tough look at myself, and I fundamentally decided this was the best thing for me to do. I have gotten so much time back, and because my business is now at this level of, you know, organization, I am able to focus on other areas of my life. So now I'm focused on my physical health, going to the gym and eating healthy. Still working on that. [laughs] And, you know, I think I said my budget, so I'm just trying to work on my finances as well, but because now I have this one area of my life in order, it has allowed me to focus on other areas. Hopefully for those business owners out there that are listening to this, if you don't go to therapy, I highly recommend it. Let's normalize the conversation of going to therapy. Let's talk about what we learned. You know, let's just all focus on mental health, you know? We get a lot of negative content kind of fed to us on a daily basis, and there's a lot of the--you know, we all kind of compare ourselves to each other on social media, things of that nature, but get your mental health in order please, because that is going to hold you back from really just being your fullest and truest and happiest and your best self. Other things that I learned outside of self-compassion - giving myself grace, you know? Asking myself the tough questions and checking in with myself, and making changes was, again, just taking that ownership, you know? Taking that ownership and understanding that I cannot change other people. I can only set boundaries. So I'm working on setting boundaries. Communicating my needs and my expectations in all of my relationships. You can't control what someone else does. You can tell them how you want to be treated, and if they act accordingly or not, then you will know what it is that you need to do. So that is my spiel. If you have any questions about therapy, let me know. You know, this is a very important just time in our lives as we're growing in our careers to make sure that we do have a relationship with self. If you don't have a relationship with yourself, then let's start there, because that's gonna be, you know, the #1 factor to building, as I mentioned earlier, that self-awareness. You have to know who you are, what you need to work on, and who you want to be so that you can know what changes need to be met and so that you can also know where you want to go professionally. All right, guys. I hope this was helpful. I look forward to hearing your feedback and your comments about this. Again, therapy has changed my life. It has made me a better entrepreneur, has made me a better friend, and I'm so incredibly grateful to be on this journey, and I'm really excited to share this with you all. So talk to you all next week.

On the thirteenth entry of The Link Up with Latesha, our incredible host Latesha Byrd, founder of Byrd Career Consulting, speaks about effective career planning - working on your career versus in your career. With 2020 right around the corner, this is a great opportunity for all of us to make some fundamental shifts that we have been maybe kind of putting off in our careers or in our businesses. Hear the five questions Latesha suggests asking yourself that are key to unleashing your career potential next year!Learn more about Latesha on the BCC website or connect with her through her socials! LinkedIn, IG, Twitter, FBCheck out Latesha's YouTube channel!BCC's socials: LinkedIn, IG, Twitter, FBVisit our website!TRANSCRIPTLatesha: What's up, everyone? Welcome to The Link Up with Latesha on Living Corporate. This podcast is for young professionals that need some real advice, tips, and resources to navigate corporate America and dominate their career. If you're looking to upgrade your brand, get the knowledge you need to level up professionally for your future, you are in the right place. I'm your host, Latesha Byrd. So let's get into today's episode. Today on The Link Up with Latesha we are talking about effective career planning - working on your career versus in your career. Now, if I have any entrepreneurs listening, I'm sure you all are very familiar with the term of working in your business versus working on your business and how many entrepreneurs get caught up working in their business--meaning just handling the day-to-day tasks of actually running the business versus actually working on the business, which is centered around, you know, strategizing, planning, really thinking about the future of the company, thinking about scaling strategies and et cetera. However, this is a really important topic for entrepreneurs, but what about working professionals? This is why I wanted to talk about this. I've never heard someone use it in the terms of working in your career versus working on your career, but it's super, super similar, and I've realized through my coaching, as a career [and life?] coach, [that] most of us--I don't want to say most and make that assumption or generalization, but many of us don't really work on our careers, we work in our careers. That being said, we typically just go through the day-to-day of getting the work done, you know? Getting the work done, doing our jobs, going home, right, and then when it actually comes time for evaluations, promotions, talking about, you know, longevity with the company or upward mobility with that company, we could be a little confused or maybe a little bit unclear as to what our future with our company or even in our careers and what that looks like. Now, this can be dangerous, and I think that there should be a balance of 1. having a plan in place, but 2. also being flexible, you know, and knowing that, hey, your desires, your dreams, your goals, those may change over time. So there is a fine line of okay, having a plan, you know, having that being structured, but also having some willingness to change if needed. So how do you actually effectively plan your career, A.K.A. how do you actually effectively work on your career versus working in your career? So I think it's important to 1. just kind of differentiate the two. Working in your career is, you know, essentially going to work each day and doing your day-to-day tasks, completing projects, working with clients, responding to emails, putting together deliverables, you know, implementing processes. Examples of working on your career is again around that career management, career planning. Setting goals, long-term goals. Understanding what it actually takes to be successful in your role. Understanding what it actually takes to get to that next level that you would ultimately like to go in, and that's different than sending out some emails or working on a deliverable. It takes a different--it takes a different mind muscle, if I can say that, meaning you're really gonna have to think strategically about your career from a long-term standpoint than "Okay, what do I have to get done today? What do I need to get done by the end of the week?" So I hope that makes sense, and I wanted to 1. just talk about how do you actually begin to work on your career. You don't want to, you know, work work work every day, and months down the road you look up--or years down the road, to be honest, and look back and say, "First of all, why am I still at the same point?" [laughs] "Why am I still at the same salary 5 years later? Why have I not been promoted? Why are there others that have came in after me at lower levels that are now at higher levels?" Right? That's because you have not taken the time to work on your business. So how do you do that? I want to make sure that you feel that you have complete ownership over your career, that you are in control, and that it's not up to these employers or these companies to tell you what, when, how, where to move. This should all be within your control, and you should be able to understand, like I said earlier, what it takes to get to that level that you want to get to, what do you need to do, but actually what does that level look like. So that takes me to the first thing: I want you to ask yourself, "Where do I see my career in 5 years?" So we are embarking on a new year very, very soon, 2020, which is a new decade. I am super excited about this new decade and this transition in life and age and time in the world. I'm super excited about it. This is a great opportunity for all of us to make some fundamental shifts that we have been maybe kind of putting off in our careers or in our businesses. So thinking about where do you see your career in 5 years, in 2025. What do you see for yourself, for your professional self? Do you see yourself in a leadership role? Do you see yourself traveling the world? You know, do you see yourself leading global teams? Do you see yourself retiring? [laughs] Do you see yourself retiring? Launching that business? Maybe taking that side hustle to a full-time hustle. Hopefully if you are an entrepreneur you listened to my last episode on how I actually took my side hustle to full-time. So then thinking about where you see yourself in your career in 5 years is important, okay? And then hey, maybe 2 years. So 2025, 2022. What about 2021 or by this time next year? So by November of 2020, where do you see yourself in your career? I am going to loop you all in on a secret--it's not really a secret. It's moreso of a method [laughs] that I follow with my clients. So, you know, my objective as a career coach is to help my clients get three things, which I call the three Cs. #1 is clarity, getting clarity on what you actually want for your career, what you want out of your life, how you actually show up, meaning, well, how you want to show up professionally. When you are operating at your best, truest, highest self professionally, getting clarity on what that actually looks like. And then also, once you get that clarity, getting clarity on what it actually takes to get there. So working through that strategy plan, you know? Really putting some goals down and knowing that "Okay, I gotta do Step 1 here first, then Step 2, then Step 3." So having a strategy, having a plan that actually makes sense and is not overwhelming so that you can start to move forward. That's the first C, clarity. So clarity on what it is that you want, and then I would say the other part of this clarity is clarity on what companies are looking for, employers are looking for, based on where you want to go, so that you know what you actually need to do within yourself to actually make that transition happen to land your dream job. So that's for clarity. The second C is confidence. So building up confidence in your skills and your experiences and understanding how what you have previously done and what you currently do is aligned with where you actually want to go and fully believing in that and owning that, because if you are not confident in yourself--I probably say this every single episode, [laughs] but if you're not confident in yourself, these employers are not going to be confident in you. These recruiters are not going to be confident in you. Your team--if you are a leader, your team won't be confident in you. So, you know, #1 clarity, #2 confidence, and then #3 is control. You guys know I love to talk about having that control, feeling empowered, having ownership over your career and really feeling like you have a good pulse on where you're going and what it takes to get there. So those are the three Cs. But in my coaching program--I'm going to break down five key steps that I follow or walk my clients through. So the first thing I already mentioned. Where do you want to be? So thinking about where you see your career in 5 years, in 2 years, even a year from now, okay? And then #2 is where are you right now? And really coming to grips with where you are. If you aren't where you want to be that's okay, but you really have to take a step back and say, "Okay, where am I in my career? Am I in a company that I see myself growing with?" Or "Am I in a toxic work environment and have I just been putting up with BS just because of this paycheck?" You know, you really have to come to reality with that understanding of where you are now. Based on where you are now, what do you need to get to where you want to be? What are those resources that you need? For example, are there certain certifications that you need? Are there certain skills that you need to develop? What about your social capital, you know? Who's in your network? Who do you need to know? This is important to think through in and out of the workplace. In your current company, if you see yourself moving up there, staying there for, you know, the long haul, you need mentors and you really need sponsors. I will be talking about mentors versus sponsors in a future episode, and I was just reading an article last night that was talking about how black women are mentored--we got mentors, but we are not getting sponsored. So, you know, we are not getting promoted to these leadership levels that we should be. However, we are coming in knocking it out the park. Killing it. Most educated, you know? But we aren't getting to those levels of leadership that our white male counterparts are because we are not being sponsored. So more to come on that, but it is important to think about who do you need in your network. You need sponsors. What about outside of your company? You need to know people in your industry outside of work. That's important, because you want to make sure 1. you are staying ahead of the curve in terms of skills that are needed to be innovative in your industry, and you also want to make sure that you are staying competitive. So, you know, again, #1 - where do you want to be? #2 - where are you now? #3 - what do you need to get there? What resources do you need to tap into? Who is in your network that maybe you have not reached out to in a long time, or who is that person you have been stalking on LinkedIn or stalking on social media because they're doing something that you know you want to do or you want to be in that place. Why haven't you reached out to them? Social media makes it super easy to build relationships with folks. It's so important to be super intentional about 1. how you are establishing yourself and your brand online, but how you're going about developing relationships. I have gotten so many clients through Twitter. Follow me at Latesha_Byrd. I tweet a lot of career advice. I've gotten so many clients through Twitter. I've gotten friends through Twitter and even LinkedIn. Instagram not so much for me. Instagram, you know, people I follow I've known since college or, you know, maybe over, you know, the years being involved here in the Charlotte community as an entrepreneur, but a majority of my clients come from Twitter and they come from LinkedIn. That's where I ultimately spend most of my time in the online world. But saying all that to say think about who do you need in your network. We can't do anything without people, and I'm realizing that relationships probably are the most undervalued thing [laughs] when it comes to effective career planning and management. Okay, so what do you need to get there, all right? What are the roadblocks? This is #4. What are the roadblocks that are keeping you from getting there? What I mean by that is--let's say you have a manager that is an ineffective leader. They don't know you. They don't care about you. [laughs] Y'all don't have a good relationship, but your manager is a decision-maker in getting you that promotion. That is a roadblock. Or maybe you know you want to get this certification, you've been planning on taking it, but it's the money thing. Like, you just don't want to dish out, you know, that 1,500, that 2,000, 5,000. Some certification are very, very expensive. Maybe it's money that you need to get certifications or certain classes that you want to take, you know? Conferences that you want to attend. Or maybe it's mental. Maybe it's the mindset. You know, what is holding you back? What are those roadblocks, mental, financial, you know, emotional, spiritual? What are those roadblocks that are keeping you from getting there? If you can identify those roadblocks, then you can start to think through "Hm, what do I need to do to overcome these roadblocks? What do I need to do to knock down these roadblocks?" If your manager--going back to this example--if your manager is not an effective leader, but you know that your manager is a decision-maker, you know what? You may have to really work on establishing a better relationship, and you may have to do some intense managing-up. Maybe there's other folks within the organization that you need to start establishing relationships with. You need sponsors. Maybe you should identify who could be some potential sponsors in your organization that you could start to build those relationships with. Going back to the example of money, maybe it's money, okay? Like, you might have to start saving up. [laughs] Putting away, you know, 100 bucks a week. That might be, you know--for, you know, ladies, maybe we don't--I don't even want to say this 'cause it hurts my heart, but, like, maybe we don't, you know, get our nails done for just a little bit of time. [laughs] When I first quit my full-time job to focus on full-time entrepreneurship I stopped getting my nails done. But, you know, think about where can you cut from a financial standpoint if it is that money that you need. Start saving. Thinking about where you can cut. Maybe you don't go shopping. I love me some Nordstrom, and I really try to stay out of Target 'cause Target is really on the up-and-up with the quality of their clothes and just the prints and just how it--I just love Target. [laughs] You know, I know we see this posts online where it says you go into Target and you come out with a whole cart full. Like, that is so me, so I try to stay out of Target. Maybe, you know, try staying out of Target. That might be the answer to this. [laughs] But seriously, think about what resources do you need to tap into that can help you with overcoming those roadblocks. Get a career coach. I mean, hey, I'm a career coach if you don't know any. [laughs] But seriously, get a career coach. The two most important investments I have made in my career was getting a career coach and then getting a therapist. Actually, getting a therapist was the best decision I've made in my entire life. [laughs] But, you know, start thinking about what do you need to invest in to help you. So I'm gonna run through this 5-step process again, or 5 questions. Like I mentioned, this is a process that I follow or take my clients through. #1 - where do you want to be? Where do you see your career in 5 years, in 2 years, next year? #2 - where are you right now? And being very honest and real with yourself. #3 - what do you need to get to where you want to be? So if you think about a diagram--if you're a visual learner maybe you can draw this out somehow, you know? #4 - what are the roadblocks that is keeping you from getting what you need to get there? And #5 - how do you overcome these roadblocks? One more time. #1 - where do you want to be? #2 - where are you now? #3 - what do you need to get there? #4 - what are the roadblocks that's keeping you from getting there? And #5 - how do you overcome these roadblocks? Last thing I will say here is to set some goals, all right? Start setting them for 2020. I'm not saying that you need to set some goals for, like, Monday of next week, but, you know, take some time this week, over the next couple of weeks, maybe in the morning when you first wake up and you're refreshed, [and] just kind of journal. I'm a huge, huge fan of journaling. I take my journal with me everywhere, and I will legit be, like, in the middle of, you know, reviewing a client's LinkedIn and "Let me pull out my journal real quick," 'cause I have a lot of thoughts and things running in my mind, so I'll just pull it out and whip it out any time, but [laughs] journaling is big for me. It helps me to just kind of get my thoughts all out and do a brain dump so I can kind of try to organize what I'm thinking. But, you know, start thinking about how you want to show up in the world professionally in 2020. Visualize and mentally place yourself into the position of success that you want to be in. In order to do that, you have to know what success looks like to you. It may not be a title. That's perfectly okay. Maybe you don't want to be in this high, visible, you know, leadership role where you're managing large teams, and you may have to come to terms or come to grips with that. I know at one point for me as an entrepreneur, I thought I wanted to, you know, scale my business by having multiple locations and having a team of 50 people and different career coaches and different resume writers, and I realized that that was not how I wanted to define success for me and that wasn't the only way that I could define success for me as an entrepreneur. So I'm scaling my business in other ways - by creating digital products, by building an online brand. The goal is, in 2020, to have a full-fledged online career shop with courses and e-books and guides that will help you navigate your career. And I'm okay with not having a team of 50 people, but you have to think about what success looks like for you, and it's okay to redefine success as needed. Maybe it's not a certain, you know, salary amount. You know, maybe it's the feeling of being able to empower your patients, if you're in healthcare, you know, or being able to empower your clients. Maybe it's just that feeling of knowing that you made a difference in the world. I know that sounds a little cheesy, but seriously, you know? Money is not everything, and so you just want to make sure that you know what success looks like for you. And also - for you, okay? Not what your mom, what your parents, you know, what society is telling you in order to be successful. And when I think about success too, I equate that to happiness and being emotionally stable and happy. Seriously. So I hope that this was helpful. Again, in 2020, we are working on our careers, not just working in our careers. So let's get it, and I will talk to you all soon. Peace.

On the thirty-seventh installment of Tristan's Tips, our special guest Tristan Layfield talks about networking in a way that most of us don’t consider or sometimes downright avoid - reaching out to old high school, college, and work friends that we've lost touch with. Tristan shares how they can open up whole worlds we didn't even know existed and more.Connect with Tristan on LinkedIn, IG, FB, and Twitter!Visit our website!TRANSCRIPTTristan: What’s going on, y'all? It's Tristan of Layfield Resume Consulting, and I've teamed up with Living Corporate to bring you all a weekly career tip. This week, let’s talk about networking, but in a way that most of us don’t consider or sometimes downright avoid.Often times when we hear the word “networking” it brings up images of rooms filled with people that we don’t know and the anxiety of having to participate in small talk for the next two hours. But what if I told you there another way to connect with people that is not only a bit easier for most, but research shows tends to be more beneficial?Many of us overlook the value in reaching out to old high school, college, and work friends that we’ve lost touch with. These connections are known as dormant connections. But the research shows that reaching out these people can open up a whole new world of resources. Just think about it, these people aren’t running the same circles as you which means that they more than likely have access to information and resources that you and your current circle aren’t privy to! They've been meeting different people and learning different things in the last few years, so they can open up whole worlds you didn't know existed.Also, you typically already have had a relationship with these people so it tends to be easier to reach out to reconnect. Just don’t dive into asking for favors right away, take some time to research what they’ve been up to, try to find a way to be of service to them, and simply ask for insight. You’ll be amazed at what they may come back with!This tip was brought to you by Tristan of Layfield Resume Consulting. Check us out on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at @layfieldresume or connect with me, Tristan Layfield, on LinkedIn!

Zach has the pleasure of speaking with Glenn Newman, VMware's Global Diversity & Inclusion Program Manager, in this episode focused around all things D&I. Glenn is a professional with over seven years of diversity and inclusion, campus recruitment, and talent management experience. In his current role at VMware, Glenn is working to take VMware's Power of Difference communities (PODs) to the next level by helping them achieve business and D&I program objectives. He shares with us what he's most excited about when it comes to his role and VMware in 2020 and so much more. Check out Ijeoma Oluo's book, So You Want to Talk About Race, on Amazon!Connect with Glenn on LinkedIn!Visit our website!TRANSCRIPTZach: What's up, y'all? It's Zach with Living Corporate, and you know what we do. I say a little thing, I go on with a joke, and then I say something about how we amplify the voices of black and brown people at work. Shout-out to all of our listeners, our first and last time listeners, you know what I'm saying? The millennials, the Gen X'ers. The--what's after the Gen X'ers? The Baby Boomers, and then also some of y'all Gen Y--them Gen Z's, rather. Excuse me. Gen Y is another word for millennials. You know what I'm talking about. If you're new here, you know what we do. We do this through--we amplify voices through authentic, accessible discussions with black and brown leaders. Today is no different as we have Glenn Newman with VMware. Hold up, now. Glenn Newman with VMware? I gotta go ahead and give just one quick air horn for that. [air horn sfx] Yes. We out here. We out here. We out here. Glenn is a D&I and talent professional with over seven years of diversity and inclusion, campus recruitment, and talent management experience. In his current role at VMware, Glenn is working to make VMware's power of difference communities - they call those pods, y'all - to take them to the next level by helping them achieve business and D&I program objectives. He is also focused on building inclusive manager and leadership capabilities as the company works to increase representation of underrepresented minorities and women by fostering a more inclusive culture, okay, where employees feel like they belong and they can bring their authentic selves to work every day. Okay, now listen, y'all, that was a whole bunch of, like, corporate talk to say Glenn is out here trying to make it better for black and brown folks at VMware to do what they do, okay? That's all that that was saying. But, you know, they gotta--in this D&I space, we have to kind of pretty things up with these, like, really flowery and colorful languages, but that's what he's doing, okay? Now, look, previously Glenn managed the overall recruitment of associates and consultants for BCG--okay, what's up, BCG? Hold up. ["ow" sfx] But this ain't a BCG podcast. I'm just saying. He also had a talent in D&I roles at Travelport, Accenture, Visa, Google--as a contractor--see, I like... you know what? Glenn is an honest dude, man. So he sent me over this copy, right, and on the copy it says "contract" in parentheses. Glenn, you ain't gotta be that honest.Glenn: [inaudible, both laugh]Zach: And he began his career as a communication and change management analyst at Towers Watson. Man. With all of that being said, Glenn, man, welcome to the show. How are you doing? [kids cheering sfx]Glenn: Thank you, thank you. I'm good, I'm good. How about yourself? Zach: Man, I'm doing really well. I'm excited to have you here. You know, we had to take some time, you know, but you back in town and we're having a conversation. I'm excited about it. So let's--you know, we did a little brief intro about you where I kind of gave, you know, your LinkedIn picture, but what else would you like to tell us about yourself?Glenn: I mean, I guess honestly you captured most of it in terms of, like, the bio and kind of what I'm working on at VMware. I mean, outside of that I'm an Ares, so I'm a hothead.Zach: I got you, I got you.Glenn: I like to ask the difficult questions, and I feel like anybody who has worked with me before would definitely tell you that I have a tendency to ask difficult questions, but also ask the questions that other people feel like they probably shouldn't ask or they don't want to ask, and I feel like I help keep people accountable, you know? So I think it's important to be that voice and to have that voice and to push the envelope a little bit. So hopefully I can disrupt for the betterment of others.Zach: Come on, now. Disrupt? I love that, man. So you said you're an Ares. So I'm a Virgo. Actually, you know, Beyonce and I have the same birthday. Glenn: I did not know that. I did know she was a Virgo though.Zach: I'm saying. So, you know, I'm out here as well. I'm trying to disrupt things as well. So okay, okay, okay, so you're a global diversity and inclusion program manager. What does that mean practically, and what prompted you to take this role at VMware?Glenn: Yeah. So I mean, quite frankly, I was looking for a role where I could have an impact, and I really--so a lot of my career has been in campus recruiting and diversity campus recruiting, right, and I really wanted to pivot from more of the acquisition side and the talent attraction into the, you know, development, the retention, promotion, engagement, et cetera, right, of underrepresented groups, and so I was looking for opportunities, and I was interviewing for a few, but quite frankly I wanted to stay in Atlanta, and the good thing about--one of the good things about the VMware role is it allowed me to stay in Atlanta, and I'm thankful for that. I'm always grateful, because I get to work in tech, I get to work at a pretty large, pretty well-known tech company, but I get to do it in Atlanta, and I don't think a lot of people can say that same thing. I think the other part of it is I was really looking to have a seat at the table, and I can honestly say that, you know, my manager who's a director and [my?] VP. Like, they want to know what I think, I mean, but they want to know what everybody else on the--what everybody on the team thinks, and so, like, that's important to me because I've been in places before where my voice didn't matter or it was overshadowed by people who were more senior or people in the business. I mean, you know, you've worked in personal services, so you definitely probably know what that's like. [Well?,] you've worked in personal services, so you know what that's like. And so I think, you know, just throughout my interview process it felt like the right fit for me for a number of reasons. And so yeah, that's what prompted me to join, and I think, you know, since joining, I feel like, you konw, my expectations have been managed well, but I think I have been set up for success and I'm actually doing the work that we talked about doing in the interview, which is good.Zach: That is good, man, 'cause, you know, sometimes it's like you get a job and you think--especially in these D&I roles, right? And I've had these conversations, like, with other folks on the podcast, right? We've talked to Jennifer Brown and we've talked to Amy Waninger. We've talked to other people, right? We've talked to even DeRay Mckesson, and we talk about how, like, these D&I spaces are--they're slowly becoming decolonized, but, like, there's still a lot of, like, work to do to, like, really get stronger representation in these spaces, right? And you end up thinking--you know, you're over here like, "Oh, snap, I got this job, and they're about to, you know, really put me at the seat of the table and give me a voice," and you turn around and you're talking about ["haha" sfx] Like, not. Joke's on you, you know what I'm saying? You don't even have no seat.Glenn: It's so [?] though, and I think, like, just given my personality, and--I mean, I attribute this to professional serv--like, I grew up in professional services, right? Like, from Towers Watson, from working at Accenture for over two years, from the BCG. I mean, those organizations move quickly, right, and they're all about, like, high-caliber work, high-quality work, quick turnarounds, and so I think coming to VMware and industry in general--industry is a bit slower, right? And so I think I have to manage my expectations around what I can get done, what we can done, what the business is ready for, and so I think I'm definitely learning those lessons, you know? And I'm still working to manage my own expectations. [laughs]Zach: That's real. No, no, no. That's real, and it's crazy--it's crazy, man, 'cause sometimes, like I said, it just takes time. I think there's a lot of--and I've had this conversation multiple times too, like, I think it's easy if you don't have, like, black and brown people, like, in these roles, like, it's easy to forget, like, the emotional labor that it takes to do this type of work, right? Like, it's not just like--Glenn: [?]Zach: Right? It's human. Like, you're dealing with human beings, and you're dealing with human beings that look like you, have similar stories to you, that you're really trying to impact, so I definitely get that, and managing expectations is always important. Let's talk about this. Let's talk about this. You know, D&I continues to be, like, an area where organizations are focused on, especially in tech, so what do you believe, right, has been the motivation for VMware to continue to expand their D&I office? Because, like, I feel as if--I don't know. Like, you know, we've had some research--we have whitepapers, you know, on our website, like--oh, by the way. Hey, y'all. Check us out, y'all. We got whitepapers. Like, don't play with us. [straight up sfx] Okay? We got whitepapers. [both laugh] And in our research, everybody knows that a common statistic is that $8 billion a year is being spent, and I would argue wasted, in D&I today and that we're not really seeing tangible results. And especially as you think about, like the economy as it stands today. Like, why do you think, in this point in time, VMware is still expanding this space?Glenn: Well, I feel like a lot of the times we hear about, like, "It's the right thing to do" and "We're doing it for the business," right? So I hear that a lot, and not--and not specifically at VMware, but just in general, and I say that to say I think those are the reasons we're doing it, right? Like, we're doing it because we genuinely believe, right, across the company, especially from a leadership perspective, that it's important and that specifically, like, we call our pods that I mentioned earlier, the power of difference communities--like, we believe the power of human difference allows us to be better, to develop better products, to build better products, to better serve customers, to be better partners, right? And then to innovate. So I think there's definitely a business reason behind it, but then I also genuinely feel like there are leaders who think it's the right thing to do. And I think it's interesting because--you know, like, there's the winning the hearts and minds of change, right? So I think you have to [hit?] people with the pathos for the people who, you know, they relate to that, but then you have to have, you know, the practicality in the business perspective for others as well. [?] The data had showed that people--like, once they connect emotionally to diversity and inclusion, they're better able to kind of buy into it as opposed to just connecting to the business. So I think we definitely we have some more of that, work to do, to continue to pull at people's heartstrings, but then also make it real for them so that they genuinely buy in ,and not just because it's the right thing to do from a business perspective but it's the right thing to do from a human perspective.Zach: That's a really good point, and I do think it's both and, right? I think organizations often fail when they try to do one or the other, because, like, the reality is some folks are just not gonna care, right? But then you got other folks who are like, "Okay, I'ma care as much as it benefits my bottom line, so if you can point to me, like, how this can benefit my bottom line, then I'm all for it," right? I think the challenge--the challenge that I think, something that has yet to be quantified, is, like, the amount of time organizations waste in, like, really calculating turnover. So, like, we know the turnover data is bad, like, in tech. But, like, those numbers have yet to really be fully published. Like, I don't think any one organization has really, like, really, really gone into, like, the comparative analytics on their turnover data, but, like, I think if really one was to look at those numbers alone, they'd be like, "Ayo, we gotta do a better job, 'cause, like, this is crazy." I mean, it's just over here like [chaching sfx] But, like, opposite. Like, in reverse, you know what I'm saying? Like, it would be like that sound, but, you know. [both laugh]Glenn: Like a whomp-whomp-whomp. [both laugh]Zach: Right? You know what I mean. And then over time, you know, organizations are so, like, monolithic. They're so white. They're so straight. They're so male. You know, I'm looking on my job board--I'm looking at the job board, I might see a job--let's just say, like, I'm a person of color, I'm on the job board--because I know that this place isn't inclusive--I'm looking at that job like ["i don't know who this man is" Keke sfx]. [Glenn laughs] You know, sorry to this man. I don't even recognize--man, listen, Glenn, I've been so excited to use this soundboard, man. I've got some new [?]--Glenn: I love that. Oh, my gosh. If you knew how many times I say that, like, in a week. "I'm sorry. I don't want to sound foolish."Zach: "I don't want to sound ridiculous. I do not know who this is." And so let me pivot, right? So you talked about the power of difference and these communities. I really want to--now, look, I'm not trying to have you spill any secret sauce out, you know what I'm saying, but I want to learn more about the strategy of these power of difference [communities] and really--frankly, I want to talk more about this offline too. Like, what's the strategy with these pods? Like, what are y'all trying to achieve? What is this looking like? Like, how did this come about, and what--practically speaking, like, how does it fit into y'all's D&I strategy?Glenn: Yeah. I mean, like, honestly [in our?] D&I strategy overall there are three kind of key pieces. There's the representation piece, where we talk a lot about increasing representation and focusing specifically on underrepresented minorities and women, and what I often tell people is just because we're--just because we're saying we're focusing on does not mean--it doesn't mean that we aren't also working to increase representation of other underrepresented groups, and I say that because I really think it's important for people to know that we're doing both. So it's a yes and, and again, these things are not mutually exclusive. The other part of it is building a culture of inclusion, right? So focusing on culture and what that really means, and then the third piece is thought leadership. So how are we tapping into podcasts like this to let people know that "Okay, VMware is an inclusive place to work," and we're working to make it an even more inclusive place to work, right? And then how are we sharing what we're doing and the impact of the diversity and the inclusion that is having on the business? So I say all of that to say our pods, the power of difference communities, are really our ERGs, right? So employee resource groups or business resource groups, and I think we are at a place where we are really trying to take those ERGs, known as pods, to be more BRGs, right? So how are they [?] business? Meaning how are the programs and the initiatives and the sponsorships and things like that contributing to the business? Whether that be in terms of professional development, of underrepresented groups, so that they develop and have talent moves and move into different roles and are contributing more to the business, whether that means we are attending various recruiting conferences and thinking about building pipelines in STEM and in tech of underrepresented groups, whether that be, you know, high school, college, what have you, you know, experienced professionals, or is that we're partnering with other non-profits in the space to, like, you know, talk about what we're doing and help other companies and partner with other companies? And then--or, you know, like, a lot of companies, especially companies who are B to C, right? So we think about, like, big consumer goods or just any product that sells products directly to consumers, they think a lot about and have a lot of conversations about "How do our products reflect our consumers?" Right? So if you think about some of the large consumer goods or CPGs or those companies, they're really thinking about those things, and so I think for us it's "How are we making sure that we're getting the opinions of our employees who are underrepresented or in underrepresented groups, and how are we leveraging that thought leadership, that knowledge, that know-how, to further develop relationships with our customers to build better products to innovate, right? And so I think ideally we want to get our pods to a place where we're doing more of those things.Zach: That's a really exciting vision, right? Like, so you're thinking--so basically these pods, I mean, they're almost like little--I mean, they're genuinely--if effectively strategized around and activated effectively--are real difference makers, and you have them basically stratified across the business. That's pretty exciting, man.Glenn: Right, right, right. Yeah, and I think--you know, I think it's easier for people in general to make that connection when you're walking into, like, a grocery store and you're picking up a product on a shelf and thinking, "How are people who look like me or are like me thinking about buying this product or consuming this product?" And so for us it's different because, again, we're B to B, and we have to think about it differently. So I do think it's--I do think it's ambitious, but I think it can be done, especially when you think about relationships and building relationships and, then again, innovating.Zach: 100%. Okay, so what are you most excited about when it comes to your role and VMware in 2020?Glenn: That's a good question. I think what I'm really most interested in is--so quite frankly we have--and this is public knowledge--so we have closed the acquisition of Carbon Black, and we are working to close the acquisition of Pivotal, so as a result of that our diversity and inclusion team is gonna be growing, and so I think what I'm--what I'm looking forward to is the growth of our team, which means 1. we can do more, and I think also I'm looking forward to the opportunity to partner more with the business and be more of a diversity business partner. So a lot of tech companies have started developing or creating these diversity business partner roles that sit in the business and/or [audio cut] plans that they then work with the business to execute those plans, right? So I think you can think about it from, like--there's a D&I engagement piece, which is around the pods, and then there's, like, the education piece around unconscious bias and how we--how are we educating our managers, our leaders, our employees, around inclusion and topics like privilege and microaggressions and things like that, right? And then there's sitting in the business and working with business leaders and managers to develop plans to actually move the needle, right, in a different way than on the--you know, the education and the engagement, that side. So I think that's what I'm looking for, to have an opportunity to really partner more closely with the business in 2020 as a result of our team growing.Zach: My goodness gracious. I gotta give you a Flex bomb for all that though. That sounds incredible. [Flex bomb sfx] That sounds awesome, yeah. So I was trying to play the "what it do, baby" before, but it was just too loud, so I'm gonna go ahead and do it right now based off of the fact that what you just said is incredible. [Kawhi "what it do baby" sfx] And shout-out to your acquisition as well. [both laugh]Glenn: Right.Zach: Okay, okay, okay. So, you know, you're talking about what you've been doing at VMware, you're talking about some of the strategic visioning around the pods. Again, it does sound really ambitious, but, like, I don't think--when I say ambitious... sometimes people say ambitious and they're really just hating, right? It's kind of like, "It sounds a bit ambitious, don't you think?" [both laugh] But I mean it's ambitious like, "Wow, this is very positive." Like, this is incredible, and I'm really excited for what y'all are trying to drive. This is my question though. What advice would you have for organizations really at the beginning of their D&I journeys, right? Like, maybe they don't even have ERGs or BRGs. And then what have been the lessons learned for you? That's kind of, like, the B part to that question.Glenn: Yeah. So I think, like, advice, I think for companies who are just starting, I don't know, I think it's like--I don't know. I always go back to, like, the change management, right, part of it, right? So, like, thinking about how are you really pulling in leaders, how are you having it--how are you having your efforts so that they are leader-led, right, and it really sits in the business and leaders are held accountable for. So I think that accountability is super important. And not just leaders, right? So it's like--if VPs and above are the only people who are held accountable, then what happens to other people who are directors, [?], et cetera, who lead teams and [audio cut] they're not held accountable? So I think accountability is big, and I think for companies who are just starting out in general, like, just starting out the company by having an inclusive culture and kind of ingraining that into people and educating people from the time that they join the company, but even before they join the company, like, through the onboarding and through the talent acquisition piece, right? So I think that's the advice I would have, and then really just kind of walk the talk, right? Because I'm one of those people--I really, really value honesty, and I think I'm really good at sensing BS, right? A lot of us are, and I think we know [someone, audio cut] is being honest with us and when they're just kind of, like, giving us the "Well, this is what we're working on," and it's like, "Mm, that's not really what you're working on. Just be honest with me," right? If you have room to grow, say, you know, "These are the two things we're doing. However, we need to be doing these five, and we're working on it," right? Like, I'd rather somebody tell me that than to say, "Oh, well, we have these amazing initiatives," and it's like "Mm, do you really have those initiatives or are you just talking about it and is it just lip service?" So that's my advice. And I think--in terms of, like, lessons learned for me personally, we talk a lot about, like, people of color and underrepresented minorities and black and brown people, right, in corporate America, but, like, I'm not--yes, I'm a black man at VMware, but I'm not just a black man. Like, I'm a gay black man at VMware who is a part of a global team that is not just thinking about bringing in and developing and retaining and promoting more black and brown people, but we're thinking about underrepresented groups more broadly and thinking about making VMware a place where everyone can come and thrive and, I like to say, be safe, seen and connected, or feel safe, seen and connected, right? So I say that to say that a lot of the things that I've learned personally [audio cuts]--I advocate for people who don't look like me or who don't--or who I don't identify with from a, you know, race, ethnic background or other parts of my identity, right? And it's just really interesting because I think by being vulnerable and by being empathetic, I am really able to do that. But it's just interesting how, you know, I can be on a call with people who have a completely different identity than me, but I'm advocating for them. And so I'll give you a real example. A lot of people don't know about the model minority myth, right? So I've read this book by Ijeoma Olu called "So You Want to Talk About Race." I love the book. It's amazing. I would completely, like, totally recommend it. And she has a chapter where she talks about the [model minority myth,] and I think it's important because a lot of people--what the model minority myth is, and, you know, I'm not, like, speaking verbatim here, but it's really around the fact that people think about those who are Asian-American or Asian as the model minority, and they have all of these stereotypes about Asians to include--like, they're super smart. They're really--like, you know, they want to be in, like, STEM. They're really good at math. Like, those kinds of things. A lot of people might think they have a lot of money, but that's not the case. Like, when you look at the data, especially of some Asian-American or Asian cultures, that's just not the case. Like, the degrees or the degree attainment from some of the Asian cultures, those numbers are significantly less than Hispanic/Latinx or African-American and black cultures and black identities, right? So I think that's one of those things, by me just kind of educating myself, reading that book, and then I was on a call, and I literally had to stop someone and say, "Well, you know, actually, the model minority, this is what it is, this is why it exists, and this is why we need an Asian at VMware's power of difference community." It's important because there are also people in this community who aren't rich, who aren't, you know, science, math, STEM, et cetera, majors, and who didn't come from a home where both of their parents were doctors, lawyers, you know, computer scientists, et cetera, and that's what a lot of [audio cuts]--for me and having the opportunity to really advocate for people who aren't like me.Zach: Man, I love that, and you're 100% right. So I'm just gonna start at the top of what you said. So you were talking about the fact that you're not just one thing, right, like, you're not just one identity, and I think a lot of times, like, we really do fail to be, like, intersectional in our D&I work, and, I mean, we just had Lionel Lee, who is a diversity leader over at the Zillow Group, and we were talking about the fact that, like, when you look at a lot of work today in these D&I spaces, they're mostly, like, focused on gender. So, like, even the fact that, like, we're talking about race and gender to me is a win, because a lot of times we'll say things like--we'll kind of dismiss race and then say things like "diversity of thought" or just other--like, just generalized things, but I think you're absolutely right, especially when it comes to the LGBTQ space, because--Glenn: Exactly.Zach: This is what I've learned. So I'm a cishet black dude, right? And as I've been having conversations--and this was, like, earlier, like, last season. We were talking to Janet Pope, who is the diversity and inclusion leader over at Capgemini, and we were talking about how, like, it's important to make sure that you're being intersectional with the LGBTQ spaces, because if you're not, those spaces can end up being, like, largely white, and, like, you end up missing out on a lot of different black and brown experiences within that space.Glenn: You're so right. I mean, like, think about--again, like, going back to a gay black man who works in tech, like, there's not a lot of us, right? Especially when you think about the LGBTQ community in general. So I was at the Pride parade in Atlanta for the first time, and, I mean, it was just interesting for me to, like, think about being the only in a place where there are a lot of people like me, right? So whether there were LGBTQ or allies or what have you, I was still the only black man there, right? Like, and so--and when I say there, I mean specifically with the company who came out to the parade. Like, I'm sure there are others there. There may or may not be, so I don't want to falsely assume, but it was just interesting again, like, looking around and being like, "Okay, Glenn, you're still the only in this group of people who are like you because of intersectionality," right? And I think lately there has been a lot of conversation around intersectionality in terms of, you know, you looking at women of color, specifically black women, and looking at Asian women, for example, and then also again, from an LGBTQ perspective, there has been a ton of conversation lately around the importance of intersectionality, and I was telling the team--because last week, like, one of the reasons we had to postpone this was because I was at Out and Equal, which is an LGBTQ workplace summit. It's, like, a huge--it was amazing. I loved it, and I think there was this undercurrent of people getting on stage and really being advocates and allies and talking about how trans women of color are being murdered and no one is doing anything about it. I don't think enough people are having those conversations. So it will be interesting to see the shift in how people are having more conversations, but then also taking action over the next few years.Zach: Man, this has just been a super dope conversation, man. I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to join us. Before we let you go, any shout-outs? Parting words?Glenn: [laughs] Shout-outs and parting words? Hm. I don't know. Like, honestly, in all seriousness, I would encourage people to read that book - "So You Want To Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo. Like, I think everybody should read it, no matter how you identify, because, like, again, going back to, like, a lesson learned, like, I literally--I mean, of course I knew I had privilege. Like, I'm able-bodied. I'm educated. I went to a really good school. Like, I've had the opportunity to go to really great schools, you know, even in middle and high school, and so I reached out to one of my friends and I was like, "Girl, we got privilege," and, you know, we were having a conversation about it, right? So, like, even though you might be an underrepresented minority or a member of an underrepresented group, I think just realizing those things and being self-aware are helpful. So I would encourage people to read that book and just start to have conversations with people who are not like you to increase your understanding.Zach: Y'all... my goodness, y'all. I just--you know what, man? I gotta--let me see here. Let's see here. What are we gonna do, man? We gotta--I just gotta give a [raucous applause sfx] I gotta thank you, man. I just gotta let you know, bro, 'cause I'ma tell you the truth, man. Sometimes, you know, I have some of these conversations with some of these D&I leaders, and they--you know, they really--and not on Living Corporate though. I make moves, so I talk to people, right? Let me tell you, they'll be talking to me, and in the back of my mind I'm over here like [fraud sfx, Glenn laughs]--it's a fraud. Glenn: Yeah.Zach: But I appreciate you being authentic [and] taking the time to, like, really share a bit, right? Not just about VMware, but about yourself. So yeah, man, so blessings to you, and that does it for us, y'all, on Living Corporate, you know? You know what we do, man. We post this stuff, like, three times a week. We've got these regular interviews, then we've got Tristan's Tips, and then we've got The Link Up with Latesha, all really to amplify black and brown voices at work. Make sure you check us out on Twitter @LivingCorp_Pod, on Instagram @LivingCorporate, and then, you know, just Google us, you know what I'm saying? We out here, right? Like, we--you know, Glenn, like, we're really making moves, man. We got livingcorporate.co, livingcorporate.tv, livingcorporate.org, livingcorporate.net, you know? Livingcorporate... what else? We've got pretty much all of the livingcorporates except livingcorporate.com. Now, livingcorporate.com is owned by, like, Australia, right? So I don't know. I don't know what's going on with that one, but we also have living-corporate--please say the dash--dot com. So just check us out. We out here. Let's see here. What else? Housekeeping, housekeeping. Shout-out to Ellen, who was on mute this entire time, but Ellen was here to make sure that I didn't get Glenn or VMware sued, so shout-out to you, Ellen, and yeah. This has been Zach. You've been listening to Glenn Newman, mover, shaker, D&I leader at VMware. 'Til next time, y'all. Peace.