Where do we go from here? Zoom Conversation with our Industry Experts
July 13, 2020 - I have been thinking about my own professional journey from a young African American woman to a hospitality industry entrepreneur and activist...
Corporate
o I started my career as a teenager with the mind-set given me by my parents. They told me that to survive in this world, you need to continue your education and climb the corporate ladder to retirement.
o I knew the corporate world was not for me. Even though I trained others who were promoted, I was consistently passed up for promotions. I would soon learn that to get ahead in the corporate world it wasn’t only about what you knew, it was also about who you knew and who you were perceived to be.
o Throughout my corporate career, I was consistently told things such as “your voice is too loud”, “I really like you, you’re not like the others” or “when I look at you, I don’t see color”… REALLY, I WOULD SAY….YOU DON’T SEE COLOR? REALLY?
Entrepreneur
o …fast forward. After 22 years in corporate, I decided to have a leap of faith and become an entrepreneur. I followed my passion and joined an industry I loved but knew very little about… Hospitality and Tourism. And I found that “seeing” color was also a big fact of life in the hospitality industry too.
o After attending a few networking events, and not seeing anyone in the room that looked like me…and after being handed marketing collaterals to market and promote the destination to drive diverse business into the city and not seeing anyone in the photos that looked like me… I let everyone know that this Would NOT Work! I refused to use their materials. I would say to them, you should try putting on my lens so you can see what I see…
o I thought, here you go again… we’re always having to put on their lens and see things their way. Life was just too “hard”, always trying to fit in or prove your worth. I said, ENOUGH ALREADY…I would continue to be my authentic self, raise my loud authentic voice …and campaign for a way for us to be seen as we are – as our authentic, valuable selves.
Activist
o My campaign to bring about political or social change led me to create Women in Tourism and Hospitality (WITH) International. WITH is the right platform at the right time in this moment of proclamations shutting cities down, quarantines shutting us in…and the horrific murder of George Floyd opening our eyes to injustice. I am hopeful that we are moving in the right direction in the wake of the protests for justice and equality. We must meet this moment, “use our authentic voices”, and have the hard conversations…Where Do WE Go From Here?
These sessions are specifically designed for WITH Unity members and WITH conference attendees to meet virtually with industry experts, leaders and WITH Advisors monthly on Fridays at 11am. Sign in and join our conversation. We would love to hear your input on our topic ‘Where do we go from here”.
Clara