In a sales career that spans more than a decade, I’ve been the only Black woman on the team 99% of the time.

I never challenged that reality in any meaningful way while in those roles because I was afraid it would jeopardize my job or the camaraderie I wanted to have with my teammates. So I accepted the status quo that caused me to shrink myself, swallow pain, and laugh awkwardly at jokes that were not funny- jokes in which simply being black was the punchline. I did it because seeing so few people who looked like me or shared any measure of commonality with my frame of reference reinforced the feelings of not belonging that had always characterized my life in white spaces. I was coping, having accepted that this was just the best we could do as an industry and as a country. I felt lucky to be there and not really there at all.

But as my accomplishments and influence grew, so too did my confidence to take action. I’d started publishing content and building communities around the deeply held belief that attracting, supporting, and retaining diverse talent is a professional and personal imperative.

That got me here… and I guess it’s what brought you here too. So let’s work together on creating the inclusive, diverse respectful future that naysayers never believed in…and let’s invite them along for the journey.