OWN YOUR BRAND SHOW with Victoria Odekomaya

Diversity and Networking Strategies for Boss Ladies

• Victoria Odekomaya / Amanda Bonilla • Episode 34

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Join me on an inspiring journey with Amanda Bonilla, VP for Diversity and Community Engagement at Ivy Tech Community College. In this episode, Amanda shares her journey from First-gen College Grad to a Powerful Advocate for Equitable Education.  Plus, get ready for practical strategies to foster inclusivity and meaningful conversations.🎙️🌟

About Amanda:
Amanda is  the Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Community Engagement at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, is an equity-minded professional rooted in storytelling. She co-founded the Women's Equity Brunch (WE Brunch) and leads the Inclusion Consultant Network, helping organizations maximize their diverse potential.🎉🎊

Get your ticket to WE Brunch Happy Hour!
July 11th 4:00-8:00pm
Bitwell Event Center
950 S White River Pkwy Dr W, Indianapolis, IN 46221, USA

Follow Amanda,
Website: www.inclusionconsultantnetwork.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-l-bonilla/

//ABOUT

Victoria Odekomaya is a Nigerian American and former drug research scientist turned brand and marketing expert. Through her Creative Agency, LiMStudios, she specializes in brand photography, video creation, and strategic marketing. Victoria's mission is to empower female entrepreneurs to be SEEN, KNOWN, and HEARD, enhancing their visual presence and attracting their ideal customers to build a BANKABLE PERSONAL BRAND. Victoria's scientific background has honed her analytical thinking, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills, which she integrates into her branding strategies. Her 23-year journey to U.S. citizenship reflects the perseverance female entrepreneurs need to overcome challenges in branding and marketing. This fuels her dedication to empower women to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.

In 2022, Victoria launched the BOSS LADIES CAMPAIGN, giving participants a celebrity photoshoot experience to enhance their confidence and brand visibility. The campaign promotes these women through features in BOSS LADIES magazine, appearances on Victoria's 'OWN YOUR BRAND SHOW', and recognition at the BOSS LADIES GALA. The gala not only celebrates women but also raises funds for local non-profits, so far raising $19,000+ for Dove Recovery House for Women and PINK RIBBON CONNECTION.

For sponsorship/business inquiries, visit https://mtr.bio/limstudios or email hello@thelimstudios.com.

Speaker 1:

I never knew how to start. That was fun. Thank you, that was fun.

Speaker 2:

I think our kind of target audience is everybody right.

Speaker 1:

Imagine how much more we can do when we're together when we work together.

Speaker 1:

Exactly. Oh my God, this episode is brought to you by me. Yes, by me, victoria Odeokekumaya. I'm a brand photographer and strategist based locally here in indiana, and I love helping women, small business owners and professionals with side hustles build and elevate their brand. So if you're in the market looking for someone that would thoroughly help you create a beautiful imagery for your brand and help you connect to your target audience, I'm your girl. So why choose me? Because I offer a beautiful, luxurious celebrity photoshoot experience for all of my clients. The celebrity experience includes professional hair and makeup, wardrobe styling, I serve wine and chocolate covered strawberries and I'm playing your favorite music, because it's important to me that you look and feel great to create the images that we know will truly connect with your audience. So what are you waiting for? If you're looking for photography to help you elevate your brand, call on your girl, because I got you.

Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Own your Brand Show. Today I am very excited to have my second guest on the show in-person guest on the show and it's none other than Amanda Bonilla. And I have to read this bio because I kept thinking what can I take out of this? To kind of make it, make it short, but there's really nothing. So I am gonna pick it up and I would read it, because I think that this woman right here, she's a boss lady, okay.

Speaker 1:

So Amanda is an equity-minded high education professional, rooted in storytelling, who works tirelessly to create and advocate for inclusive learning environments. Currently, she serves as the vice president for diversity and community engagement for Hy-Vee Tech Community College here in Indianapolis. She is also the co-founder of Women Equity Branch and if you know, you know, I know there's some very exciting plans and things you have coming up, so we're going to talk about that. And then also, you are the CEO and founder of Inclusion Consultants Network. It's a consulting company that specializes in experimental learning for transformative inclusion and has helped several organizations across multiple sectors maximize their diverse potential. So when I read that and I, you know, experimental stands out at me, because to me, because I started my career as a scientist, so I was like, oh, okay, let's talk about experiments, but I think I'd love to, you know, hear about how you do all of that, because I think that's important and that's, you know, interesting too. So, without much ado, we're going to jump right into it. And, amanda, welcome on the show.

Speaker 2:

Thank you and thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here.

Speaker 1:

No, I am excited to have you on because I feel like this conversation is super important for us generally to be talking about. I think you know we said earlier on, both of us connect as being first generation college graduates. We're also immigrants here to the United States, so tell us, where did your journey begin? So?

Speaker 2:

tell us where did your journey begin? Yeah, so I am from Indiana and I think that that's like a really important piece of my identity. My parents identify as Latino, my dad is Puerto Rican, my mom is Mexican. Talk about diversity. Yeah right, I'm Mexican, all things Latino. The yeah Right, I'm Mexican, um, all things Latino. The best of both worlds, I like to say. But I think what's a little bit different for me is that I'm not a first generation immigrant, I'm actually fourth generation. Oh wow, and that's a different story that I think isn't all often told.

Speaker 2:

Um I always say from my Mexican heritage that we didn't move. The border moved because that part used to be Mexico.

Speaker 2:

And that's just part of a narrative that often isn't told, I think a lot of times people assume that people are first generation immigrants and that is a really powerful story, but it's not my story and, of course, my dad's Puerto Rican, which, that's, a US territory. So, yeah, my identity is very salient to me as a Latina, and where the first generation piece comes in for me is I'm the oldest and the first to do everything. So oldest grandkid of like 19, first to go to college, first to do all these things.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, that is incredible. So how did you get into? So you're vice chancellor at Ivy Tech. That's a pretty big deal. So tell us how that happened.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So I like to say I went to college as a freshman and then I never left, so I like to say I went to college as a freshman and then I never left Nice.

Speaker 2:

I really found myself in my undergrad experience when I changed my major to sociology and I really started to learn about people and society and the socialization of the haves and the have nots have-nots, and how systems are set up to have certain people just not be as successful solely based on who they are or where they come from. And at a fairly young age in college it really ignited something in me and I felt like, as a 5'10", light-skinned, non-accent Latina, I had a lot of privilege that people that I loved and cared about didn't have access to, and so I felt a really strong sense of responsibility for advocacy, for storytelling, for creating platforms for people to share their stories so that they had access to be successful for whatever it meant for them. And so I got really involved in undergrad lots of student organizations and then was involved as a student advocate to hold the university accountable, to make space for black and brown students. And through that advocacy and student activism I had a mentor tell me you should consider going into higher ed and I was like well, that's what I'm fighting right now. I'm fighting for the university to be better. And they're like exactly so you could be part of the solution and that was something that I had never thought about before. And so I went to Indiana University to study higher education student affairs and that's where my kind of career path started. So it was bringing together the career path for working in higher education along with the kind of activism and advocacy with a lens towards justice.

Speaker 2:

And I worked at clemson university in south carolina for a while, learned a lot down there, and then came back to indiana, came back home to work at um iupui or the institution formerly known as right now it's IU Indy and I worked in social justice education there for about seven years, starting a scholarship program to help students that had this passion, that were paying attention to what was happening both locally, nationally, internationally and wanted to do something about it.

Speaker 2:

So it was social justice leadership Did that up until the pandemic and then really was like love.

Speaker 2:

Students had been working with them kind of face to face, hands on for better part of a decade and with the pandemic and everything just kind of changing, I was ready for the opportunity to move into administration and start again back to that systems piece right, really looking at how, policies and procedures and different things are made that allow again back to that who's in, who's out, who's right, who's wrong?

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, joined iv tech in 2020 and working for the systems office and learned a lot more about the state and creating a lot of programs and services across the state. And then the opportunity opened up to kind of come back home, if you will, to focus on Indianapolis service area, which is Marion Boone in Hendricks County, and bring together two things that I really love, which is diversity, equity and belonging, but then community engagement. So that's like the best of both worlds for me, because it's doing it with people and finding out what the community needs, and oftentimes at a community college, those stakeholders are your first generation, students of color, low income, you know special populations, and so I'm actually coming up this month on two years in this role and it really is like the perfect blend of all of my work.

Speaker 1:

That's amazing. So, as you were saying that, I was thinking there's no way you could do diversity work without the community, exactly. So you're right, it's a perfect and you love that. So that's a perfect combination. So you're also the co-founder of Women Equity Branch. Tell us about that, because it's a really big game in Indianapolis.

Speaker 2:

It is. It's very exciting. So same kind of thing. While working at Ivy Tech, I was having a conversation with a co-worker and we would say things like, oh, do you know Victoria? And she would say no. And then I'd say, well, do you know so-and-so? Or she would ask me and I would say no.

Speaker 2:

And both of us had gone to undergrad in Indianapolis and had been in the city and doing diversity work for the better part of over 10 years and we didn't have the same networks. And so we thought, well, why don't we do something to bring the networks together? Because oftentimes women, and particularly women of color, are the only ones in their role. Right, they might be the only one in senior leadership, or they might be the only diversity person or the only woman, and so we wanted to especially coming out of the pandemic right bring folks together to have that opportunity to create their network, and the network be local. So when we did the first one, it it really was utilizing our resources. I've been doing event planning for a really long time, and so the idea of do we know a florist, do we know a caterer, do we know a venue, and women just started really wrapping their arms around us and helping us put the first one together, and it sold out in three days. Wow, three days Wow.

Speaker 2:

Three days and we were like, okay, this is, this is a need for the community. And how many tickets did you sell? A hundred, oh my God. A hundred tickets in three days. Three days, yeah, it was wild, wow, it was wild. And it was supposed to be a one-time thing coming out of the pandemic and that was four years ago. So I think, again, it blends that idea of community and networking. But I think the other kind of special sauce about it is we don't bring in national speakers that really create a sense of empowerment. There are a lot of great organizations around here that do that, around here that do that. We really are trying to fill the gap of saying who are the women in various sectors that have different skill sets that folks can continue to work with after our events. So we've brought in wealth managers and CPAs and lawyers and marketing firms and then afterwards they're continuing the conversation or they're utilizing services, or you got to bank anyway, so you might as well bank with a woman, things like that.

Speaker 2:

So that has really been the heart work outside of my full time gig to really create this network, almost like an ecosystem within the city of women across sectors, being able to find each other to have hard conversations and get dressed up right who doesn't love brunch? I know right, uh and being able to engage in space. You know, together, which women we know do better in community. We are social creatures. We really struggle in isolation we do, and the pandemic really messed us up. Exactly, exactly, and I think our kind of target audience is everybody right all women at all levels.

Speaker 2:

We've had c-suite women who've been in their careers for 30 plus years, and then we have the grad student who just wants to be in the space and has never even seen anybody that looked like them that was doing the work. So we really have created something special that I'm very, very proud of.

Speaker 1:

Look, I am so proud of the work that you're doing and a lot of the things that you say I resonate with, because when I was planning the first Boss Ladies Gala, that was my thought process too, and even the second one too. I was just thinking of a way to bring women together. We have so much talent here locally, you know, and unfortunately we don't know each other. We're not able to, you know, use our services and do things together. So I wanted us to come party but then also get to see each other and know what we're capable of bringing to the table.

Speaker 1:

But the one thing that was very fascinating to me was that the amount of support from the community was incredible. Like you know, like you said, the florist, like people were just like what do you need, can I help you with something? Like it's like wow. And I think that as women, we're such givers. We just, you know, and so what you're doing is so important in like we, we cannot do it alone. It alone we're not an island. So all the more reason why we need to imagine how much more we can do when we're together, when we work together so.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, oh my God, so powerful, yeah, ok, so then you also have your own consulting company.

Speaker 2:

I do, I do and that really came out of the power of women. So back in 2016, I had a dear friend of mine who reached out and works at another organization and said, hey, I need a training on athletes in poverty.

Speaker 1:

And.

Speaker 2:

I used to play volleyball as a Division II athlete and I thought well, that's easy.

Speaker 2:

I can just tell my story and I'm going to be very honest, right, because we want to make sure that people know and learn. I got a really big check for the first time and it screwed me in taxes, oh my God. And so I was talking to somebody else about it and they were like, girl, open an LLC and do this and do that, and it was all women, right. So this is a constant theme, and so my partner, who had helped me, kind of put everything together we co-founded it in 2016 and worked for really large companies doing.

Speaker 2:

What to me just came really natural was bringing people that are different from each other in the same space to have a conversation to optimize their performance at work, and so, you know, cross-generational conversations. What does work mean to the boomers versus gen x, versus millennials? Yeah, and now you're supervising each other, and so we we have different expectations, but how do we create space to have those conversations and then get to work Right? I oftentimes say like when I have better understanding, I'm able to give more of myself to Right, and so, yeah, that was back in 2016. Back in 2016, have been kind of all over the country working with higher education institutions, nonprofits, strategic planning for organizations, keynote speaking for heritage months, different things of that nature, and then more recently have brought on different consultants to help kind of spread out the opportunities to do more.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I can hear the passion in your voice. You know, like you said, it comes natural to you, so you're one of the lucky ones to find where you're natural at, and just you know and making money doing it. So that is a blessing.

Speaker 2:

I have had really great people around me. I think I have always been again I think that's my athletic side Like I've always been very coach-like, very team leader. I want us all to win. I studied sociology and so to me I just really believe in if you win, I win. And I always say this that if my neighbors are starving, then I'm also not going to be in a good space because they're going to need resources.

Speaker 2:

So why not share it? Go learn, Go figure it out, Be culturally curious about difference, and it just makes for such much more of an enriching life and experience. So, yeah, it's just the fabric of who I've been and I don't know how to be anywhere anyone else. And because I've been supported in it Right, I feel comfortable standing up for people and standing up for myself and I understand and really, really value the power of storytelling. Like if you just create space for someone to tell you who they are and be in spaces where you're the only one Right, when you're the temporary minority. There's so much power in the learning of that.

Speaker 2:

And it can help kind of level out a lot of of the issues that we see.

Speaker 1:

You know it's so I, I. That's very interesting, because a lot of people are afraid of having this conversation, especially when it comes to race and many other things too. But what I'm hearing from you is like you know, just be open to learn and listen and tell your stories, because that's where we get comfortable with each other, and then we then realize that we're no different from each other.

Speaker 1:

We have so much more in common than you know, and speaking of the generational differences in the workplace, this is not workplace related, but I was just talking to my son, because I've been hearing these conversations a lot about how, you know, we say the Gen Z as like you know, and then we the millennial, because I'm a millennial, yeah, yeah, and you know, and we're like you know, we just don't understand them or they're not hardworking.

Speaker 1:

You know all of the things that we think you know. So I, so I was in a conference or like a summit on last Saturday, but I was sitting with the generation before us and so we were having this conversation. I said do you think your parents have the same ideas about you? Like I'm just curious if they said something similar about how this generation is such and such and such you know. And they were like you know, I don't, and in certain things, so, and I was telling my son this morning, I was like I just need you to help me understand, you know, because he's generation alpha and I'm like can you help me understand what you know, all the slangs and all the things like, so we can have a conversation.

Speaker 1:

I want to get to know you more.

Speaker 2:

I want to get to know you more. I want to be able to have a kind of work. I love that.

Speaker 1:

He was kind of looking at me like I don't think I'm not sure if I've sold him yet, but I want to keep trying, but you planted the seed right, and that is the power of vulnerability.

Speaker 2:

So, you're in a position if I could kind of pull on that a little bit.

Speaker 1:

No, absolutely, you're in a position as mom right.

Speaker 2:

You and you can tell him what to do. But I think when you come with humility and like vulnerability to say, I don't understand, teach me, then it gives them the opportunity to decide if they want to participate Right.

Speaker 2:

But, also probably marinate on that, a little bit like, okay, so she doesn't know and that might be annoying, but also she's willing to try. So let me try a little bit so that brings us a little bit closer and closer, and closer, so that we then have this kind of common understanding, because you've been vulnerable it allows them to be vulnerable.

Speaker 1:

That's so true Because I feel like a lot of times I'm always telling them what to do Do this, do this do this and I'm sure they're probably like oh mom, yeah, yeah, and there's a time and place for that too, right, your mom? Right, yeah, I get the right.

Speaker 2:

I have the right to do that.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, thank you for helping me see it that way, because I'm coming to him from a point of vulnerability. I think I'm hoping that that helps us get closer.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

That is so good. Okay, so let's talk about diversity, how to even implement all of this in the workplace, because, as a small business owner, I'm clearly not thinking about that yet, because I'm still solo.

Speaker 1:

I have a couple of small, you know, like virtual assistants, which probably I shouldn't be saying that because I already have a small you know a little group, but there's so many people that are still working solo and maybe they are um, maybe they're looking to expand or even in the people that they work with, like they are subcontractors and things like that. What are some of the things that they should be considering or think about to help improve that relationship?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think there are a couple different areas that you can focus on when you think about diversity, and so one is if you, you know vendors and supplies and all of the things that you're purchasing supplier diversity so, taking the time to be a conscious consumer, who are the organizations that you're working with? Who owns them? Are they minority-owned, women-owned, black-owned, veteran-owned, lgbt-owned?

Speaker 2:

And so then you have this intentional impact on where you're spending your money, right, and then I think taking it kind of to that next level is then the tracking of that to say, I've spent 80% of my fiscal year with all women owned businesses, and then you can kind of market that, that you're like an intentional, conscious consumer that is focused on what we call supplier diversity, so making sure that you're going to buy pens anyways. Why not take one more moment and buy pens from a organization that furthers your mission and your goals to expand and to support diversity? So I think the conscious consumerism piece is an easy way to do that when you're by yourself.

Speaker 2:

Now, sometimes it costs more because you're looking at smaller businesses and you know you're looking at different organizations and so maybe it's not in every avenue, but it's the conscious pause of instead of just being on autopilot and buying everything from big box. It's okay. Is there something in my organization, in my business, that I I could pivot to? Minority-owned, women-owned you know an XBE organization? I think the second piece is diversity in marketing. So if it's just a solo organization, how is what you're putting out into the atmosphere inclusive? Is it inclusive to different ways of learning? Is it inclusive to visually impaired individuals? What messages are you sending by what you're putting out there? Who is it for?

Speaker 2:

right if you have a target audience. Even so, if it's women, right, is it women with disabilities, women of color, lgbt women? Just again, that pause, that conscious pause of okay, this is what I'm doing. Now let me look at this through a diversity lens. If I look through it from a diversity lens, is there someone I'm missing or something that I missed or someone that might not have access to what I'm doing? And if I tweaked it a little bit different and or I had what I call um, you know, your board of directors, is your board of directors diverse? So you could say hey, amanda, look at this, what do you think? And I would say well, maybe that should be bilingual.

Speaker 2:

You have that skill. If you, you think, and I would say, well, maybe that should be bilingual, you have that skill. If you add just the option for it to be translated, it might entice a different market for you.

Speaker 1:

That's good, that's really good, okay, so I wanted to go back to the question of what is diversity? Only because, I mean, I guess I'm just assuming that a lot of people know what that means. Sure, but there's so many different definitions of how you can be diverse, and I'm saying this, maybe specifically for my Caucasian friends, where, you know, we've talked about race, we've talked about, you know, even chewing heights, and I was like, oh okay, well, that's different, yeah, but like it's not just the race.

Speaker 2:

It's not just the economic. You know socioeconomic status, thank you, but what are some of the things that you know could qualify for the diversity that may means difference when we think about it in terms of the social construct. We think about race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability status, veteran status. English language you know language, and I think education is another one.

Speaker 2:

There's. There's a big eight, but the simplest thing about it is people that are different from you, right? How are you thinking about the identities that you have and then just interacting with people that are different from you, right? If I'm Latina, making sure I have different racial friends and making sure I'm engaging with the LGBT community, making sure I'm engaging with men and just having that diversity? Of difference is, I think, probably the easiest starting point when you're thinking about those kind of social constructs of what is diversity.

Speaker 1:

OK, I have to ask this for myself. I do the bus ladies. A lot of my clientele are women. Yeah, and you just chewing like even thinking about men. So what is one way that I can, or anyone else listening, to start that conversation or start the process of including some you know, differences in their day to day?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think the start is you going into their spaces Right. And so I think if you start out saying, well, I want one of each for mine, right, that's self-motivating and it's not necessarily building relationships and building understanding from your lens, it's just kind of checking the boxes to make sure you have the representation, I think, the city and the county. There's a lot going on. There's a lot of amazing organizations. I think attending some events, going to something you wouldn't go to and for me this started really young, so in undergrad going to the Black Student Union events, going to the Asian Student Association events, going to the African Ball, going to different things and being like I don't know anything about this but I want to learn. And then, like we said earlier, finding those, those common threads.

Speaker 2:

So, I think the first part, the easiest kind of dipping your toe in, is just getting out and getting into different spaces and pausing and looking at what is already around you, like are all of your friends the same? Are they are where your kids go, you know the same Is everything kind of monolithic and there's not a lot of diversity, even if it's diversity of experience like music or even food.

Speaker 2:

I always say food, fun and festivities is a level one right, because it creates the cultural curiosity right if food is across cultures is an easy way to share um and learn, and then you can get a little deeper and a little deeper and a little deeper. And I think, when I, when people, you know, the highest level of that is that when my humanity is wrapped into yours, then we can move right, we can go further, and it's actually great that we're not the same right, we should value those differences. Check, you know, there's commonalities, of course, and there's threads of stories that are similar, but I actually don't want to be surrounded by a group of Amandas.

Speaker 1:

That would be real boring, right All the same, like no, we don't want that, right, right, okay. So I hear a lot of women say, oh my God, networking, you know, maybe it's the first time they're going in there, or like they have to go with a friend or whatever it is. So now we're telling them to go into a whole different community or people that are different from you. Yeah, how do you even get started with the conversation? So now you are there, you made the effort to go and reach out. Like what do you say? First, because you don't want to be offensive, you're also kind of scared in your, you know, I would imagine, like so what are some of the tips that you can give us to just be like yeah, I think sometimes the first step is getting into those spaces and just observing, right, don't expect people right away to teach you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's not their job, um, and I think just observing and learning and processing for yourself is really important and that idea of get comfortable being uncomfortable like I can remember the first time where I misgendered somebody and they told me and I remember thinking that was a gift that they told me, like you could have went and talked about me somewhere else and all the things I did wrong, but instead you decided to tell me that I made a mistake and I had to sit in that, right, I have to sit in the mistake and acknowledge it, not like that's not what I meant. I didn't mean to do that. I'm a good person, right.

Speaker 2:

I have a black friend, I'm good, right, and it's like no, no, no, Just it's okay, we're human Pause, acknowledge, receive and reflect and then do better. And I always say you don't know what you don't know, but when you know, you have the responsibility to do better, and getting that feedback is a gift. And so I think putting yourself in those spaces to be the kind of person that gets that feedback is really powerful.

Speaker 1:

That's so powerful. So I think was it last year or so. There was this talk about Congress passing some laws, about maybe taking out you know DEI, out of you know like tell us about that, because I don't know. What does that even mean? How is that impacting the? You know the, your area of speciality, like? What's that all about? What's that all about is?

Speaker 2:

a great question. I won't go too deep into that. Um, I won't go too deep into that. I will say that I think it's a complete misunderstanding of what critical race theory is, and I think it comes from fear. I think it comes from power dynamics shifting in the country.

Speaker 2:

And that makes folks nervous, nervous and so if we can remove education and we can remove access and we can um pump in a certain curriculum, then that's all people know right, and and I think that that that comes from a place of fear and and I think that folks don't like shifting power and I think the way that it manifests for me is, I mean, it's modern day civil rights right, this isn't the first time that our country and people have gone through structural racism and sexism and all the other isms that show up in multiple different spaces and different sectors of life education, medical politics, insert here the field and I think the way that it manifests for me as a professional is being aware of that and deciding what conversations I engage in and sometimes I mean I will decide not to engage and I think that's really important to say.

Speaker 2:

I think as a diversity professional people expect you or assume that you'll get in every single conversation and I think sometimes my existence is the resistance right, I think having people that look like me and are diverse and are othered in positions of leadership is part of that resistance, and so making sure that we're good and we have what we need to be successful and thrive versus survive combats all of that. So, obviously, as a professional, policies and procedures and laws that come down impact the work that I do and how we interpret that to support our students and support the work. But then also, I think, on the individual level, it's like making sure I have my kind of board of directors and we're having these conversations of okay, this is what modern day attack looks like, and so us having joy makes them upset, and it's not that that's what I'm aiming for, but it's more about how can we thrive versus survive.

Speaker 1:

Right, right. So, yeah, I think I can really see how it starts from, stems from from fear, and a lot of things also do too. So, and what I've heard from you today is you know, just go out there and put it, make be vulnerable, you know, even though, put yourself in uncomfortable that those were your words to in uncomfortable, be comfortable with being uncomfortable Exactly, and that opens a lot of doors, exactly. So I want to talk a little bit about Women Equity Branch, because I know it's a big deal. I'm coming to the next event, so I look you should too. Yeah, absolutely, I'm going to put all of the details in there. There's an event coming up in July. Tell us a little bit about that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, july 11th at the Bitwell Event Center on the near south side of downtown, we started out with the brunches and our very, very first one talked about women's pay equity, because an article had come out regarding the pay inequities sense of the dollar for men to women, and it even breaks down less for different races of women. So one of the one of our kind of responses to that was uplifting women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses. So we have the conversations at the brunch and now we're having a happy hour with women-owned vendors, and so it's five to eight at the BitWell and there'll be over 50 women-owned vendors. Again, we like to have equity in fun environments and so there'll be vendors. There'll be a DJ DJ Mary Jane, who's been with us from the beginning. She's amazing. She can spin all the cultural music. Okay.

Speaker 1:

We love her for that.

Speaker 2:

Right, you know appetizers and things. And then the opportunity to again learn about more women-owned businesses. Support them financially right, so putting our dollars where our mouth is, and then learning about the different resources that exist that women are leading, like to the way we started the conversation. Women are doing a lot of amazing things In central Indiana and if we can provide just even the smallest platform to uplift them, we want to do that and something that we added for our allies, for our men is that they can come.

Speaker 1:

Oh good, they can come.

Speaker 2:

The happy hour is open to everybody and I think again, if we're going to continue to move forward women's equity, we need everybody. We can't do it by ourselves.

Speaker 2:

And so our male allies and everyone is really important to have those conversations, and so the other thing I like to add is like OK, well, I can't go Right, so I can't support it. Well, that's not necessarily true. Think about who are the women in your organization that maybe wouldn't think to purchase a ticket to come Sponsor it as an organization and send a team right. It's also team building and coming and learning more about the businesses that are in central Indiana. So I think there's lots of different ways that you can support the event, even if you're unable to attend.

Speaker 1:

You know, as you were describing all that, I was imagining a room full of all kinds of people from all walks of life women, entrepreneurs, vendors and then we talked a little bit about how you can start, you know, getting to know all those different people. You know, expanding your, you know, your, your circle of influence. So that is one way to do that right. If you're, if you're afraid of reaching out, this is a great event to go because there's going to be a ton of people it's going to be fun, so it's a great way to get started in getting to know people of different, diverse backgrounds and things like that.

Speaker 1:

Before you know it, we're finding a lot more things that we have in common and we're doing even more together and you can leave with some really cute fun stuff.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Look at that. Yeah, because that's also a part of learning about the culture, or whatever it is you know like you'll learn oh wow, this soap or whatever it is. Like, let me try it and see, so that is amazing. So what else do you have coming up?

Speaker 2:

So the brunch is coming up or the happy hour is coming up in July. We have another brunch coming up in October. That one is focused on women in the workplace. I'm very excited about that. I feel like there's a huge shift in the workplace, where women are moving forward in their careers and they're advancing to kind of c-suite level positions.

Speaker 2:

But the same uh issues exist yeah, and so, um, there was an article that I had read it and I don't remember where it was from which was saying that, like, if there's five levels of an organization, with the fifth being the highest, and women are at level four, even if they're qualified sometimes for level five, they choose to stay at level four because the risk and the environment outweighs the benefit. So money isn't the only factor. Right?

Speaker 2:

I want to not be judged because I had to go pick up my kids early or I want to not come in a room when someone always comment on my clothes or different things like that, and so maybe at level five they're surviving right and versus thriving and that's something we need to talk about that's right so that's what um we'll be doing in october for the last brunch of 24.

Speaker 1:

That is exciting. I can't wait for that too, because those are really important conversations to be having. I mean so helping us to be ready for that next step. It's really good. Thank you so much for your time today.

Speaker 2:

Yes, thank you so much for having me. This is great.

Speaker 1:

Thank you All right, so I hope you've learned something. I think my biggest takeaway is like be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Go into those spaces and start the conversation, if you can, or at least listen and learn and, just you know, be ready to just observe. Also, if you're in central Indiana, make sure you get that ticket to the happy hour, because it's going to be lit and I'm going to be there.

Speaker 1:

We're going to be having a lot of fun and it's an also. It's also an a very good way for you to start those conversations and expanding your you know people on your um what did you call it? Your board of directors. So July 11, I'm going to put all the details in the comments. You already know how that goes, so we're not even going to go there. And make sure you reach out to Amanda. I'm also going to be putting your content you know your contact information out there, but until next time, make sure you also always find a way to include diversity in that that conversation of inclusion and equity in everything that you do. All right, take care.

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Victoria Odekomaya

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