Kingsman Come to Save the Day.

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0:00:01.0 Announcer: We've been about this work, diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, shared through the voices of a White woman and a Black man, we bring lived experiences. We have pursued DNI progress for most of our professional lives. We use Crazy and The King to cover news, potential colleagues and hosts, incredible guests. Listeners count on Julie and I to transparently drive the conversation. We thank you, for rocking with us. Check it. Julie, kick off the show.

[applause]

0:00:43.1 Julie: Welcome to Crazy and The King.

0:00:45.1 Torin: Woooo! Let me tell you, there's a little bit of sunshine behind me, but we'll get to that in a moment, because there might be a lot of sunshine behind you.

0:01:00.4 Julie: There is definitely a lot of sunshine behind me.

0:01:00.7 Torin: And mountains. Rivers...

0:01:04.7 Julie: Mountains and oceans...

0:01:06.1 Torin: Oh, I'm sorry, you said oceans, so let's stay with the oceans.

0:01:07.8 Julie: Forests.

0:01:10.7 Torin: Not paddle boats, but they got a lot of canoes. Something like that, right?

0:01:17.9 Julie: Well, they got big boats and little boats and fishing boats and kayaks, the whole nine yards.

0:01:22.9 Torin: Let me tell you guys, let you in on a little secret. Jay and I are planning some of our fun episodes for the year, and one of our fun episodes that we have that we're going to explore is grabbing a group of folks who no longer live in the US, and capturing what that experience is like for each and every one of them, because as you can see, Julie's happy, she's smiling right now. I don't think... Are you planning on becoming an expat or you just wanna be a dual citizen?

0:01:58.9 Julie: Oh yeah. Well, I wanna be a dual citizen. We'll have both.

0:02:02.5 Torin: Both? Yeah, yeah.

0:02:03.7 Julie: Yes, yes.

0:02:04.4 Torin: It's an exciting time for you though. This is really, really fun. And I gotta tell you, when you first said it to me, it's not that I didn't believe you because I did, I just didn't... I didn't know how fast it was going to go. You were... Well, you two were not playing around.

0:02:24.2 Julie: No. We've been looking at doing this since 2019, and then pandemic hit 2020 and that just both set us on to like, "Let's go, let's go, let's go." And as soon as we found the place, it was time.

0:02:37.7 Torin: What's been the biggest thing for you? And when I say the biggest thing, the biggest surprise, the biggest happy moment. What's been that thing for you that really surprised...

0:02:50.9 Julie: I think it's just the community here, everyone is friendly and kind, and there's just a way of supporting each other, even lots of different nationalities, lots of expats here, lots of native Portuguese, it's just really refreshing, I would say.

0:03:07.8 Torin: Would this be your first time living outside of the country? Yeah.

0:03:12.9 Julie: Yeah, yeah. So it'd be actually, pretty much my first time living outside of Indiana. [chuckle]

0:03:16.7 Torin: Okay, okay, okay. Now, that's a whole another thing too.

0:03:19.7 Julie: Yeah. [chuckle]

0:03:20.8 Torin: And see... So here's a funny little thing, people would say, "Well, Torin, you didn't go to college, so how is it that you communicate with these leaders, you sit in the room with the highest of highest or none of those things really bother you?" And I said, "Everything hinged on my decision to travel abroad." And when I traveled abroad at 18 young age, I'm seeing what other cultures are experiencing, what other people have to endure. I remember, Julie, when I joined the military, I think our pay... Don't get me wrong, but I think our pay was like $530, maybe $600 every two weeks, I think it... Maybe it was a month, I can't even remember now, but it was... The money was really nothing, and yet we were living like kings when we were in the Philippines. And so I just felt like... I always felt like if I could navigate and move inside of those rooms and connect with every single person, that life would be a little bit better for me, and it has been a formula that has served me well, and to hear you say community, that's a beautiful thing.

0:04:38.9 Julie: It is, it is, and I couldn't agree with you more. I think the very one critical piece of raising our children was making sure that they had a European experience. And as you know, our oldest is now living in Budapest, and we took the kids to Europe for a few weeks. I think just as, well, you and I were doing the podcast, hadn't been doing it for very long, and it just... It changes the way that you view the world, that education.

0:05:05.6 Torin: So why European experience?

0:05:11.6 Julie: Well, I guess that's probably where I just default to, but I wanted them to see something that was so much older than what we could see, at least in the United States. I wouldn't care if it was Asia or Africa or... But I guess I default to Europe because that's where I wanted to get to.

0:05:27.6 Torin: Yeah. I got you. I got you. Awesome. I appreciate that. Well, the journey is only beginning. I know you all are at the forefront of this very long and life-long journey, but it's exciting. And we'll get to a little more stuff that's exciting a bit later in the show, because right now we gotta talk about Managing a Polarized Workforce. What a surprise. Can you imagine that some people are still in polarized workforces? People struggling to have honest conversations, people struggling with this whole diversity and inclusion thing because they just don't wanna say they're all... And actually, you know what, Jay, let me even... Let me scratch that from the record, 'cause this has nothing to do with diversity and inclusion, this has everything to do with relationships and peer-to-peer, a subordinate to boss, leader, manager. This is just that. So forget diversity and inclusion, people struggle with polarized relationships.

0:06:35.8 Julie: Yeah. And this is a great article from the Harvard Business Review that found in 2021, a survey found that conflict is, ha, ha, an inescapable part of work-life for employees at every level. I think we all know that. With 89% of the US respondents, from a ton of different companies and industries reporting, experiencing it to some degree. And the article even went on to say that people reported spending up to four hours a week, managing...

0:07:10.5 Torin: Avoiding.

0:07:11.4 Julie: Or avoiding as their way of managing conflicts in their workplace.

0:07:14.7 Torin: Yeah. And I wanna stop you there for a moment, because I think about some of my clients, some of the clients that I work with, and two of them come to mind right now. And I know in their culture, it's almost taught in the culture, it's a tacit understanding in the culture, "We are not going to give negative feedback, we're not going to be confrontational, we're not going to hard charge on some of these offensive interactions, if you will. Is there a way for us to smooth them over without them blowing up?" I have two clients right now where that is their issue, and I'm trying to coach both of them, like, "It's okay for you to have friction, you address the friction and you keep moving." Do you find that to be an issue in the work that you are doing over at Disability Solutions, where folks are afraid to say the word "disability"?

0:08:23.5 Julie: Yeah. Oh God, yeah. Why do you think we have all these handy capable and capabilities groups and...

0:08:26.5 Torin: Back up. "Handy capable"? I've never heard that.

[chuckle]

0:08:31.6 Julie: Yeah.

0:08:32.0 Torin: I've never heard that phrase.

0:08:32.6 Julie: Really? Oh God...

0:08:33.5 Torin: "Handy Capable"?

0:08:36.9 Julie: Yes, yeah. It's more of an old-school one, but differing abilities, different abilities, people are just... I always say like, "If I was Black, you would just say I was Black, just say the damn word." It's not a big scary thing, but people feel that a lot. And just even, if we can't have the conversations that are non-DEI related, about why you didn't get something done, why you pissed me off, why you do this, why you did that. How can we expect that our leaders are going to be able to have really tough conversations that involve huge parts of our identity?

0:09:16.1 Torin: So, that was one of the things that was really a learning for me when you and I started recording. One of the phrases that I would say often, and I had to break myself from saying it. I don't think I've said it now in a little more than a year, but it took some time for me. That phrase was "differently-abled," and I never knew... I never understood why it would be heard as being offensive, like, "Well, why am I different?" So now, you know what clicked for me? You would share it every once in a while, but the othering that we do. So I connected differently-abled with othering people, and I was like, "That's it, that's why we don't say differently-abled, that's why we don't say some of these other phrases." So how do you all... How do you address that, Julie? When you are with... Let's just take it to the sales team for a moment. They may be reaching out to a client who has no disability program or solution in place as it relates to the hiring, let alone promotion, how might you all... Maybe what's one thing that you all might do to help them kind of get comfortable with saying the word "disability," or people with disabilities addressing the community?

0:10:47.3 Julie: Yeah. The very best thing we can do, and the very best thing leaders can do in this situation, and even overarching, is just to model the behavior. We tell our stories, we talk about our community, we give tons of education. Honestly, if I'm sitting in front of a group of people who make hiring decisions, I'm gonna tell my story every single time, because it starts to normalize. And I think the reason that people avoid talking about disability a lot of times is because they're uncomfortable and they don't wanna muck it up, they don't wanna do it wrong. And so rather than just addressing the disability in the room, they just pretend that it doesn't exist, and that's the very best practices, modeling behavior that's not afraid to recognize people for who they are.

0:11:39.8 Torin: Yeah. So the article that Julie mentioned is titled "Managing a Polarized Workforce: How to Foster Debate and Promote Trust" by Julia A. Minson and Francesca Gino. It comes from the magazine. It's probably going to come out later this month. It says it's the March-April 2022 issue, so I know it's going to come out some time over the next several weeks. And what I really liked about the article... And Julie, you're right, it was a good article. But what I really liked is that they didn't just highlight the problem, they actually... They addressed some of the myths. And one of the myths that they put out was, people who disagree with us do so because they are uninformed or unintelligent. And I really, really, really had to pause on that because oftentimes when we get in these polarized situations, I think politics, I think race, I think some of the social injustices that have come up, I think about our conversations we've had around apolitical organizations. I think to myself like, "You gotta be smarter than that." I'll say that to myself, if I'm in a debate with someone and they're really planting their flag heavy on this topic, "You gotta be smarter than that." So the myth is, it's not that these people are uninformed and it's not that they're unintelligent, they actually are quite informed, and in many ways quite intelligent.

0:13:18.4 Julie: Oh, yeah. I think that's the easiest thing to... And this is something I've really struggled with is, especially when it comes to the politics, if we're talking about work disagreements, I can do education, I can manage those, but when it comes to things that are heated, to not just go like, "You just must be fucking stupid," is hard for me, and it's something that over the last six months or so, I've really been working on. And even though, I would even take that just a step further, Torin, and say that it's also trying to always assume positive intent. And that's not always possible. But at least if I go into the conversation thinking, positive intent, "They're not coming to me from a place of attack," or whatever it is at that moment, and I find that that helps a lot, but when it's really heated, that's probably the hardest time to bust myth number one in our actions.

0:14:18.1 Torin: Yeah. Myth number two was disagreement will make people defensive, and myth number three in the article was that disagreement is bad, most of us think of conflict as negative and go to great lengths to avoid it, which is what we've talked about. But then the article kind of ended on a note of, "Listen, this is how we can work through." And I wanna just share something it said, it says, "There is much research suggesting that disagreement when managed well gets greater results than avoidance does, it can spur better ideas, creativity, and innovation, helping businesses gain a competitive edge. The operative word is 'when managed well'."

0:15:04.7 Julie: Exactly. And it goes on to say, "Although people generally approach disagreements hoping to persuade," which is what I usually do, "the other side, it's more helpful to adopt the goal of learning and to assume that our partners in that conflict are also there to work. "

0:15:21.0 Torin: Again, Managing a Polarized Workforce, Harvard Business Review, we encourage you to give it a read. Now, I'm wondering, you get the luxury of working from home for the most part, you did go into an office... You know what? Forget the working from home thing. No, no, no, no, we can't forget that. We gotta be honest here. I'm just gonna put it out there. I know your director, director, director might be listening. Do you take naps when you're working, throughout the work day? Let me make sure I got you on camera because I wanna see this.

0:16:05.4 Julie: So, no...

0:16:05.7 Torin: You don't?

0:16:06.1 Julie: I don't. And it's not because I don't want to, because I definitely want to, but I'm not a person who can take a nap and then get back up.

[laughter]

0:16:17.5 Julie: Once I'm out, I'm out, I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow, I don't care if it's noon, the next four to eight hours are just mine. What about you?

0:16:22.5 Torin: Yeah, you're done, you're done. Let me just say, I don't, because I'm like you, if I do that like 5-minute power nap thing, it kind of messes with my flow. And I feel like when I do that... Now, I will say this, I might take a late morning start, so when I drop the king off at school, when I get back to the house, I may decide to lay down for another 30 minutes or an hour before I take my first meeting, but it's hard for me in the middle of the day to take a nap. And the reason I asked that question is because Fast Company actually put out an article earlier this month, it says "Are naps coming back with us to the office?" And given all that we are experiencing in these conversations around the great resignation, the great reset, how we look at the new normal, I just wonder how many people are finding some degree of affinity in this fun article over on Fast Company. But they actually put some research in that, that says that it could be a good thing for us to do. I'm just not a person who can do that.

0:17:37.3 Julie: Yeah. You know Joel Cheesman of the Chad and Cheese Podcast?

0:17:39.5 Torin: Yeah. Really?

0:17:40.6 Julie: He is a napper. He naps everyday, he does the 15-minute power nap, literally, and then he's back and he's refreshed. And he's a guy who's worked for himself or worked from home for a long time, and so he built that into his routine. I thought the article was kind of funny, it's like I can't just... I can't imagine going into my office, and even if they had sleep pods like they do at Facebook, Google, wherever, and going in there and not thinking the whole time that someone watched me come in and someone's timing how long till I come out. It would be impossible for me to relax.

0:18:12.7 Torin: Exactly, exactly, exactly. Maybe this is one of the things that we can do when we are over in London together this July, there's a London-based consulting group called ProNappers, they were actually founded in 2020, and they go around and illustrate to businesses how napping can be beneficial. Maybe we can reach out to them and see if we can get them to come sit and talk to us when we are at RecFest, which we'll talk to you all about in a couple of weeks, but Julie and I are about to be in the same place, same time, same energy. Man, 2019, we killed them. It was so much fun being in so many different places.

0:18:52.4 Julie: Oh, that was so fun. So fun.

0:18:56.0 Torin: So let's see if we can get the London nappers to come out to RecFest in July of 2020. What do you think?

0:19:05.9 Julie: I'm 100% in.

0:19:06.0 Torin: 100% in. Alright, in a flash. Perhaps your job is stressful, you can learn about one man who quit at 38 and went from a law firm to be in a lifeguard. Law firm, to lifeguard. Story is over on the Business Insider. And The New York Times staff members walked every street in Chinatown to see the bilingual signs that still exist, and they recorded ones that have been replaced. Now, why that's important? Find the story and give it a read over at The New York Times. And while there, learn about Cynthia Choi, a San Fran activist combating anti-Asian hate. And this week, this week, this one, this is the week that we mark the tragic one-year anniversary of the Atlanta spa shootings wherein eight people, six of Asian descent, were killed.

0:20:01.6 Torin: Remember, it's not enough to put up pretty post, slick marketing messages and perform social media takeovers, you have to really do the work. And while at it, know that substance also means more than fancy job titles. Speaking of which, Brainfood Live, episode 147, will discuss optimum times to drop job postings later this week. It's a must watch for anyone who wants to increase applicant flow. It happens on Friday, the 18th, head over to Recruiting Brainfood on Twitter. And the jury is still out. Humanity is what's on trial. Do your part to help them return with a "We are going to be all right" verdict. Quick break, Julie and I will be right back.

0:20:56.4 Julie: Alright. So I know that on everyone's minds, are a lot right now, we keep going from crisis to crisis in our adult lives in this country right now, and a lot of us are thinking about Ukraine and the war there, and the refugee crisis. As of, I think earlier this week, there were at least 2.3 million Ukrainians who have fled their homes, their lives, a very beautiful and cosmopolitan city, and in Kyiv, and a lot of young families have been separated as young men go off to fight, so that their wives and children can return to those loved ones. And we see that on the news, you see lots of women and children and elderly people running for their lives, and rightly so, and it's horrifying. And what I learned over the last few years of doing this work and being a part of this community in a way that I hadn't thought of before, and I don't think a lot of other people have, is that there's another group that is often left behind and unplanned for in humanitarian disasters like this, whether it's war or natural disasters, and it's people with disabilities, who are often completely unplanned for. I think that's the best way that I can say it. And Ukraine is just another great example. And we wanna bring you guys some awareness because...

0:22:37.7 Torin: I didn't mean to cut you off but I just... I think about that, and I say to myself, "But why?" And this right here is extreme. It's war. It's extreme. I think about natural disasters, and people always say, or often say, Julie, "Why don't they just leave?" But you may not have access to a vehicle. You may not have resources to put gas in a vehicle. You may not have family in another place, you may not have a credit card to be able to check into a hotel, if you were to go to another city. There are so many reasons why a person can't just leave during a natural disaster. Here we are, war, and the question to me is... Let me see if I can form this the right way. Was it on the Ukrainian government to say, "We know that this is about to happen, let's put provisions in place for all of these various audiences, our people, our people, collectively?" Who should answer that question?

0:24:06.7 Julie: No, I mean, it's a great question, and I think it goes back to the heart of, "Why does this happen?" And I think Ukraine is an example that is unusual, but not so much of an outlier that it can't give our listeners a realistic perspective of whether it is a war, a ground invasion, a hurricane, an earthquake, whatever it is, is that the people in power, and in this case, let's start with the Ukrainian government, did not fully account for how to evacuate all types of people, including potentially the most vulnerable people, which are people with disabilities. But as you said, and I think Ukraine is still an example of this, is sometimes people can't get out before a disaster strikes, they can't get out for whatever reason. And that then comes to aid organizations like the Red Cross, like the Salvation Army, like all of those organization's that go in and they do disaster relief as a core function of their organization. And at the core function of those organizations, proactive planning on getting people with disabilities out and prioritizing that evacuation doesn't happen.

0:25:39.3 Torin: Yeah, and again, you have to ask yourself, why? They've been at this for... Is it an expense issue? Is it a... I'll use the word "accommodations," for lack of a better term. So for instance, if I have 100 people in my nursing home, or I have 1000 people in my zip code or in my community that are in wheelchairs, are we saying that as a relief organization, we have not thought about transportation and where we could place 100 people in wheelchairs within a 50-mile radius, a 100-mile radius? Is that what you're saying? Because that's what it sounds like you're saying to me.

0:26:32.7 Julie: Yes, that's what I'm saying, is after what? 50, 75 years of the Red Cross and Salvation Army doing this work, is that they still do not prioritize people with disabilities to get out. And when I say don't prioritize, they also just don't plan for. It's not that I'm asking for us to be the first in line...

0:26:57.3 Torin: Yeah. Part of the plan. Part of the plan.

0:27:00.6 Julie: Just asking us to be in line. Yeah. And so, it continues. We saw a lot of this in COVID. We saw a lot of this in the way that the CDC director spoke about people who continue to die from COVID is it's like the othering, of those people. But they don't really matter because they're not really fully human, if I go that far. And I think that the only thing that the community can take away from 75 years of disasters of not being included in the plan is that these organizations have decided that we don't matter.

0:27:37.5 Torin: I just... I'm sitting here shaking my head right now as I'm listening to you, because again, we started this with Ukraine and we're gonna go back to Ukraine. But I think about all of the technologies that we have that allow us to live, work and play, that allow us to just be. I think about how we brought these platform companies in to our lives in many ways, Jay, are... They're central to so much of what we do. Platform companies are central to so much of what we do. Where is that solution? To me, it really seems like, as I'm talking to you, that it should be there. We should have an App. Remember, it wasn't you and I, it was on SiriusXM. I can't remember the guy, he had an App that listed all of the places so that as a person with a disability, particularly in a wheelchair or some other, you could plan a night out. I cannot remember the name of his App. And all of it happened because he had a motorbike accident, broke his neck.

0:28:56.9 Julie: Yep.

0:28:58.1 Torin: That needs to be celebrated, and we need more of that.

0:29:01.0 Julie: Yeah.

0:29:01.6 Torin: People with a disability should be able to hit a button, everything gets activated, like the plan is already in place because it's been so well-thought-out, but hearing you talk about that. But let's take it back to Ukraine. I'm sorry.

0:29:15.8 Julie: Yeah, no. And it's the other piece, and you're absolutely right, it's just the non... It's the lack of prioritization. I don't think it has anything to do with lack of funding, because there are plenty of boots on the ground who support people with disabilities, who should A, be proactively planning for these types of things, but B, could mobilize much more quickly than maybe a Red Cross or someone like that could, if they had the funds to do so. And there's always a lack of funding. So even just that prioritization and thoughtfulness on, "Okay, we know that if there is a disaster, these organizations who are the boots on the ground are gonna help us do this because we, the Red Cross, don't have the infrastructure to make it happen in an effective way."

0:30:09.6 Julie: And so, The Independent, which is a newspaper out of the UK, had a story a couple of days ago that disability rights activists see, those living with cognitive and learning disabilities, so think autism, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, many who live in residential programs and maybe neighborhoods, are not able, or not currently able to evacuate. And I'm not even talking about people with physical disabilities, I'm talking about people with cognitive disabilities, who are unable to get out of the country because they have not been planned for accordingly. And that to me is just a human issue. If you can take your two feet and walk out, that makes it a lot easier to get you out. The other pieces are more challenging and we have to plan for those, but at this point, disability rights advocates are seeing a huge black hole on information about people who are in those types of facilities, being able to get out of the country.

0:31:14.5 Torin: Dream with me for just a second, just a second, quick second. Imagine activating that button or platform, and now your robot, your surrogate, shows up and everything is just taken care of. Just imagine a platform that has that type of power. Okay, keep going. Let's keep rolling.

0:31:42.1 Julie: Yeah. Yeah, no. What we can do with human innovation is incredible, we just have to choose to do it. And one organization is starting to come to that place, an article about the Kingsman, which was originally formed from another group in 2005, who traditionally been focused on human trafficking and kidnap recovery, so kind of like a security organization, are focused on helping recover and rescue adults and children with disabilities out of the Ukraine, which is incredible. So their Executive Director Michael Evans said, "In this campaign, the Kingsman is more acting like the Red Cross, we aren't working for a government, we're not picking sides, we're not involved." It's like, "Hey, you need rescued, you're on the list, we're gonna get you out of that war zone, no questions asked." And the really incredible piece of how we got to the story is the work of Tinamarie Duff, who you remember from All Wheels Up, is also on the board of directors for Bender, brought this group together to make this happen. Let's hear from them directly.

[music]

0:33:12.5 Tinamarie Duff: Thank you, Crazy and The King, for shining a light on the two million people with disabilities living in the community and institutions and in orphanages in Ukraine. They're in need of our support. Too often, people with disabilities are left behind in times of crisis. Organizations that are going in don't always have the capabilities to support the unique needs of the community, and we all have an opportunity right now to show our way of supporting, whether it's creating awareness on social media or financial giving, and focus on organizations that we know are supporting the disability community. I'm really happy to be working with some of these organizations, including my colleague, Brian, who represents a network of veterans who are on the ground, and Brian is from Kingsman Philanthropic and gonna share with all of you what him and the team are also doing.

[music]

0:34:15.4 Torin: And let me tell you what I really, really appreciate. And again, you said it, I just wanna echo it, this isn't about picking sides, this isn't about our only going in to rescue folks from the Ukraine because we are supporting the Ukraine. We are going in to support people who have no access and no support, they need us to come in. I looked at a tweet earlier in the week, and it was from another community. A transgender man got out because they dressed like a woman and was able to get out, was able to get to the border, lie about losing their identity and credentials and all of that. There are so many communities that need to get out, that don't want to be in the hail of gunfire and bombs and all of the other things that are happening, so I appreciate what Michael said around, "Look, we're not trying to pick sides, we're just simply trying to make sure we get folks out," and we can help in that effort. They want... And I'm gonna do it. They need donations, and I know you have a link for us. So you can donate to World Institute on Disability, you can text W-I-D to 20222. Again, text the three letters W-I-D to the number 20222 for a $10 donation, or you can text the word "World," W-O-R-L-D to the number 20222 for a $25 donation. They've made it very easy. If you text the three letters W-I-D, then it's a $10 donation. If you text the word "World," W-O-R-L-D to 20222, it's a $25 donation. We got it.

0:36:22.4 Julie: Thank you. And so, as you guys give to WID and you give to the Kingsman, we also, as Torin mentioned, we've got big smiles on our faces, and I see some energy in my pod partner this week that I haven't seen in a little bit, because he's feeling pretty alright this week. Tell us why. [chuckle]

0:36:41.5 Torin: I am. I am. The bottom line is, Julie and I, we try our best to center our conversations on each and every one of you, our listeners, and I know that we zig-zag a bit. Getting there is ultimately a circuitous process, vocally, we take you on highs and lows and we include some expletives, and some of the stories are a bit negative, others are funny, but we're really centering you in every single conversation. And like Julie said, I'm feeling alright, I feel real fresh right now. And the question that we have for each and every one of you is, "Well, what does alright look like?" Is it about creating a new vision for what you see as work-life balance? What does alright look like for you? Is it around redesigning your work experience? It could be about re-imagining a better different, employer-employee relationship? I think alright for some people, Julie, is around shifting the balance of power or maybe de-centering patriarchy, othering and privilege. What do you think?

0:37:50.2 Julie: Yeah, I think everyone has a whole new set of values and focus in their life, or at least priorities, and understanding how important those priorities are to make happen, because we don't know when that's gonna change. And for me, and I think for you, that means getting back out on the road and getting back up on stages and changing the minds of what people think about our communities and what they think that they can do. And for some of us, it's simply just accepting that we need to have a better work-life balance, and a better work-life balance is not something that lessens you, but actually makes you more complete and more whole, and accepting that that's okay. We can't do everything.

0:38:34.0 Torin: That's right. And this week I am in Vegas for the HR Transform event, and I'm excited about such. I thank, thank, thank, Samara Jaffe for having me out. I had the opportunity to MC an innovation stage where we looked at five entrepreneurs that are starting good businesses in the HR tech space. Really, really, really excited about some of them. I'm just gonna mention Angel St. Jean, I'm gonna keep it moving from there, but I just want you all to look at what she and her team are doing. And she's a hometown hero, she's from Baltimore, but Angel St. Jean was out in Vegas along with some other incredible, incredible folks. And then I had the opportunity to sit with Pixar's Chief People Officer, and talk about a good conversation. We talked about storytelling and how it impacts leadership.

0:39:27.8 Torin: So, yes, I am feeling alright. And we want you to answer the question as to how you are feeling, alright. Consider dropping us a tweet, shoot us one of those messages over on Facebook or LinkedIn, and don't hesitate to hashtag us a little bit. One of my daughters teases me, she says, "You are such a boomer when you put a hashtag inside of a text message," and I do it all the time. I do that shit all the time. Just to make her mad, I'll throw a hashtag in every text message just to make her mad, so she'll call me a boomer. But hashtag us, C-A-T-K, or Crazy and The King, we wanna hear from you, we wanna know what makes you feel alright.

0:40:08.3 Torin: Awesome, awesome, awesome. So listen, Her Voice is the segment where we amplify women making moves. So Julie, why don't you take the first one?

0:40:23.2 Julie: We're gonna start with Yoko Spirig, Co-Founder of Ledgy, where they believe democratizing company ownership can be the difference between short-term growth and truly enduring success. Their inaugural state of equity and ownership report for 2022 is out. Read it if you're contemplating doing a money raise or sharing equity with your employees.

0:40:47.5 Torin: Absolutely. Anita Butler has been promoted to Head of Consumer Design. One of her shared goals is fixing an age-old problem with Twitter, the fact that most people come to the service and don't post. So shout-out to Anita Butler who is working with Twitter, recently promoted to Head of Consumer Design. And you wanna take the last one or you want me to rock it?

0:41:11.2 Julie: Oh, I got it. We've got CEO Karen Lynch, who oversaw a sexual harassment investigation which led to the firing...

0:41:16.1 Torin: Yes, indeed.

0:41:17.5 Julie: Of a manager and the departure of multiple senior executives who would supervise that manager. The company will now overhaul how it handles sexual misconduct allegations. Thank you, Karen for your services.

0:41:29.7 Torin: And let me tell you why we put that in there. For some of you, you might say to yourself, "Well, you all normally are highlighting women that are being promoted or they're starting new projects or they've raised money. Why would you highlight the CEO who oversaw sexual misconduct allegations?" That's why. Because she stepped in and saw it being important enough that she wanted to be a part of the process, finding the data, finding a resolution, and then saying, "We're going to do something different moving forward." Love that she did not hesitate to pull that trigger and get some folks out of that that were toxic and damaging to the environment. So shout-out to you, Ms. CEO Karen Lynch over at CVS. Our quote, rock that for us, Jay.

0:42:21.8 Julie: Yeah. Companies with higher ethnic diversity are more likely to be industry average financial returns. Greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals is linked to gains and national wealth. And under-employment of the disability community has a knock-on effect for families, society, and our GDP. That's Bank of America Global Research.

0:42:44.1 Torin: Absolutely. I don't have any resources this week. I just want everyone to end the week on an extremely strong and positive note and make sure you go into the weekend finding some joy. Find some joy in the weekend. You got a name drop?

0:42:58.0 Julie: Yeah, I just wanna, again, reiterate the amazing work that Tinamarie Duff has done to bring together this group of individuals who are saving people's lives in the Ukraine, they've already evacuated and saved, I think at least a dozen human lives. And for all of the work that she does every single day for our community, trust me, it is not lost on us, and she deserves that name drop everyday.

0:43:22.6 Torin: Shout-out to you, Tinamarie. I close reminding each and every one of you... Actually, Julie and I close reminding each and every one of you to share the pod with your digital tribe and to find your voice. Be a better human. Let's create better culture, better teams, and better workplaces. For now, Jay and I are ghosts.

0:43:44.2 Julie: See ya.

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