Hello, and welcome to Civic Cipher. I am your host. My mother calls me quentin Ward, but my friends called me q. I appreciate you guys tuning in with me today. I have a esteemed I think I'll say esteemed. Try to try to push my boy's pedestal up because he deserves it. Esteemed friend of mine, friend of the show, and pioneer in the medical health and equipment industry from you know, friend of mine from Bowling Green State University.
Member Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated, an area vice president of women's health Sales for Nitara. Mister Michael Malone Junior, what's going on?
Thanks for having me man, appreciate you having me on to that.
Thank you for making some time for me. Mike.
You know, don't get to see my brother as often as I would like, but you know glad he was able to take some time away from the family. Tell them thank you for me, and apologize to them for me stealing you away on the night where you guys could be hanging out and relaxing. But I really thought that it was important for us to talk to people about your company and about what you do. So before we get into what you do specifically with relation to
diversity and inclusion. Tell us a little bit about NATA in general.
In general, we help women have healthy pregnancies. So we're a genetics company that looks at the fingerprint of the DNA to see what is different between the baby and the mom, to see if there's anything that's causing the baby to possibly have a chromosome abnormality. That's the basis of our business, and then of course from there we've expanded into oncology, cancer or as plans and even to the point where people have ad losses, we can look to see possibly.
Why And do you guys work directly with clients or do you go through healthcare providers or hospitals. How do you guys have that interaction from your company to expecting mothers.
Most of our interaction happens with the physician.
We're essentially the educator of the provider, so a lot of the information gets funneled through them to the patient the same along with the feedback. So it's our job to educate the physician so that the physician can educate themselves on the best way to provide the best care and treatment.
For their patients.
Okay, So you guys teach the doctors and the medical staff that they have about your technology, and then they present that as an option for clients who are expecting mothers.
Correct.
Okay, how long have you been in this industry, Mike.
Man the industry about fifteen years with this company. This is my tenth year.
Okay.
How recent did you guys split off into those other areas outside of just pre natal.
We would really the last two years, so we've been doing a lot of research and developments.
We kind of kept it.
Secret for a while and then publicly announced it two years ago for signatory on collegey side, and then this year or in twenty twenty, we announced our organ transplant.
Okay, and you guys do this across the entire country.
We're global even overseas overseas as well.
And you are where are you located now?
I live in Atlanta?
Okay?
So are you are you specific to the East Coast? Are you do you personally get to travel, you know, around the country and around the world or is it do you have an area that you're assigned to.
Yeah, you know, I feel.
Like I have one of the best jobs because I have the southern half of the United States. So you know, my counterpart likes to joke with me and say I have the best and most expensive real estate and not the coldest of real estate. And then the ongoing joke is where do you live or where are you staying at today?
Right?
Because I've moved throughout the Southeast ever since i left Bowling Green, I kind of stayed put mostly down in the South Southeast during Corridor, spent some time in South Florida. Currently live in Atlanta. It's my second stint back in Atlanta. Lived in South Carolina. My wife was in Mississippi, so kind of had different spots throughout the Southeast.
But luckily my job is.
Because I have half the country, I can essentially live anywhere that I want to. In the US, I don't have the opportunity to go overseas like I have volunteered to do Blush every time something comes up. I'm always trying to rub evos with the people that on the organ fans plant side because they do a lot of traveling overseas.
But one of these days, hopefully I can take advantage of that.
With the choice of living anywhere, it's really interesting that you chose Atlanta, Georgia that's kind of the epicenter for people that look like us in this country. Did that have anything to do with why you picked Atlanta?
No, man.
Actually, the interesting thing is when I had when I met Cheyenne, and we had more intimate conversations and we started dating. The first time I actually met her, she was coming back from a family.
Reunion from Atlanta.
Okay, And that's part this conversation, because this is when we're okay, yep, this is when we're still in BIGI is her senior year, she was about to graduate, and it was going into my junior year. And we met at uptown. She was coming up the steps. I'm sitting there chilling like a like, I think I'm too cool, you know, and we just kind of hit it off.
Out of conversation. She told me she just came.
Back, you know, the previous week from a family reunion, and we sparked that. Our conversation got sparked because I was like, hey, you know, my cousin goes to Spilm, and what did you think about Atlanta? And she would not stop talking about Atlanta.
Wow.
And so luckily after college, you know, I had the opportunity to play professional football, and as I was going through that process, just so happened to land a contract down in Georgia. It was initially with the making nights, and after you know, things didn't work out, stayed in stayed in my butt in Atlanta because I liked the ore. I loved the feel like to see, you know, us black folks doing well.
And I remember telling my dad, I said, you know, being.
Down in Atlanta reminds me that nobody should have an excuse not to be able to make a little bit of money. Because everybody down here, especially the black folks, have found some way to monetize something, and that should keep everybody motivated. So that's why I really love and that's what I love about being in this city because you see young black folks doing, you know, some good things.
You know, I actually forgot that you weren't making because my mom's from making, so I forgot that you're writing down there. You know, my family still has a restaurant downtown making it's a historic site now. So if the next time I come to Atlanta, hopefully this year, I can come and see you and the kids. I got to take you guys down there to get some food. Man, I want to speak to you a little bit about our show and why I felt like when you mentioned to me what you were doing that it would be
perfect to have you on. Ramses, who is my co host and co producer of the show, went on a cross country road trip with me. We started in Tampa and drove back to Phoenix, but as you could imagine,
we had to stop in Atlanta. And he's from Compton, California, and it never been to Georgia at all, but specifically Atlanta, and for all the reasons that you just named, we saw black doctors, black lawyers, black business owners, you know you driving through really nice neighborhoods with really nice cars, and all of the people were black. And he never seen or experienced anything like that, Mike. So he was
caught off guard. And the best way immediately start talking about, man, how do we figure out how to get back down here for something? Do we need to move the show down here? Do we need to move our families down here? Like this is just really really different, and similar to what you said, the aura just really really rubbed off on him. But Atlanta is a very very unique black city in the South. I think people sometimes misinterpret that all of Georgia looks and feels like Atlanta, and that
is kind of far from the truth. So, you know, after a really tumultuous twenty twenty, especially the summer, the summer of George Floyd, there was some tension that rose up in our country and really around the world, and you know, put a microscope on race relations, police brutality, racial injustice, and a lot of things that our people
have been dealing with for a long time. And we had this idea, since we worked in radio, that we should shine some light on things that are important, specifically to black people. So that was kind of the brain child for this show. And I remember when I sent you the press release about the show and you read it. When you messaged me and you sent me the information
about what you were doing. I was excited, Bro. I was like, you know, I really hope that we do have time to make this happening soon because I think what you're doing is important. So I just wanted to give you a little bit of scope and context as to why I thought it was so perfect, and I think you did as well. So can you tell people a little bit about what it is that you're doing at in the terror with regards to inclusion and diversity.
Yeah, you know, first of all, I want to commend you for having this program to talk about that, because I think, you know, we've been suppressed too long to not have the voice as strong, as as.
Powerful as we can be to make a change.
And I think that's what even you know, for me moving to Atlanta has showcased that even if you're a minority, and it's like, as you mentioned, it's very easy to forget, like you go even twenty miles outside of Atlanta Radius. I mean, it's the redneck of the rednecks. They act
like they've never seen a black person before. But nonetheless, I think, you know, when all that happened with my organization that I'm with now in a terra, you know, I sat back because I wanted to see organically how they were going to respond.
I didn't want it to seem like it was forced.
I didn't want it to seem like, you know, it was a me too type of response. I would just you know, laid back, just kind of waiting to see if somebody was going to approach me, how they were going to approach me, and as an organization, how are we going to respond.
Now before I kind of get into how I responded, and.
I was thinking that I think is very important to you know, executive leadership teams. So these are the CEOs, the CFOs, the CEOs and all these c's, the C suite individuals. Yeah, you know, I have an opportunity to
present to them all the time. And you know, when you're on a zoom and you're looking at the boxes of faces that don't represent how I think, how you think what we've been through, right, but yet the community that we serve mostly are communities of color, and it's very interesting that you know, sometimes some of the initiatives that we put in place don't necessarily take that into consideration.
But I do got to commend to the company, you know, even though that they don't have somebody of color or black I should say, you know, sitting on the board, I do think that they do, you know, respond to feedback very positively because we are an innovative company and it showcases in the organization of that I've been able to find. So essentially, you know, I started getting those emails, started seeing you know, Instagram, you know, different companies responding
and showing support for black lives matters. And then just out of the woodworks, like individuals within the company just reached out to me like, I can't believe the company is not doing this.
What do you think of being silently? What does this mean?
Just all kinds of different emails, and I was like, hey, you know what, just let's just see how Natara handles it. And I had one of the executive leaders come to me, called me on the phone early in the morning.
It was like eight o'clock East Coast time, so I know it was what at least five five something, you know, three hours back.
In La the Bay Areas where we're located, and you know, the conversation was, Hey, Mike, I feel really embarrassed to have to call you and ask you this, but I think it's my duty to at least, you know, get your insight. But I want to know from you by given the situation that's you know that we have in our environment and black lives matter, how can we help How what should we do?
Can you help us get you know, the.
Support for our own individual employees and start an organization so that we can support them in any way, shape or form. And you know, I was kind of thrown back, and they said that my name had come up a few times in the board meetings, and so I responded by saying, hey, you know, I'm more than happy to
do this. As a matter of fact, I was waiting for you to or somebody, uh to to reach out to me to just ask me, like what we thought, because we felt like nobody had reached out to any folk of color to get their you know, opinion or thoughts, to see what they're emotionally, you know, going through based on you know, everything I've seen in the news.
And uh.
He said, yeah, so tell me what what we need to do. And I said, before I start anything, I really have to give your support that you're going to give me full ring. I got full support and anything that we need to make sure that we support the individuals, especially the black community in our organization, to continue to diversify our organization so that we can continue to be, you know, as powerful as I know we can be.
I'm on board. But as soon as I feel like I'm being.
Dictated or that you know, this is for show or a marketing ploy, I'll be the very first person out of here. And they said, look, that is not going to happen, you got full.
Reign, you name it what you want.
I mean, they literally gave me the keys to the bins instead go drive and go do your thing. And so that's what I've been able to do. So we started. You know, it's kind of a generic name. We call it Diversity and Inclusion Group acronym DIG. But actually it's become very catchy within the organization. You know, we got what can you dig in? Let's dig out, digging.
Forward, marching out, you know, so we have all.
These different plays on that particular word which has been very catchy. And so essentially this group is really founded for two things. So one is to bring more visibility amongst US minorities with the emphasis on the black individuals in our organization, so that they can be represented and have a voice, so that they have an opportunity to continue to grow within the.
Organization into leadership roles. Right.
I think you know, when you look at a lot of companies, the ground level or the entry level positions are historically or you know, mostly minorities or even blacks, but as you start going up the ladder, you start seeing less and less black folks. And so the main vision is to try to get more people of color, more minorities into these higher positions.
The second piece is that.
We really and this is more so in the mission without all the various jargon that we put into the mission, the basis audience workplace. You know, we don't want people to be walking on eggshells and feeling like, hey, you know, am I saying something that's racist? But I want you to be aware about what you're about to say, right.
I want you to understand what I've been through, and you know, I haven't been living through a privileged life, and my life is not like yours, right, And I think the biggest thing that I've learned is like when people say I don't see color, like, to me, that's very irritating, right, because if you don't see color, that means you don't understand there's a difference between what I've been through versus what you've been through.
Right.
I get the concept that you're trying to treat everybody equal, but you can't treat everybody equal if they haven't been through the same process that you have in right.
And so I think it's.
About educating, you know, all of our people at the organization and especially starting from the higher ups down.
And so I'm very proud.
To say that I have this big initiative and this training program that's already getting ready to launch next month. But that training program starts with the executive leadership team, and it's only geared towards them about what they're thinking, how they view things, what their perspectives are, and to get their feedback. And then from there we're going to launch a company wide and this will be an ongoing program, hopefully, you know, beyond my time.
Here at Materia.
It's really interesting you already spoke to something that I was going to ask you later about the pipeline to leadership. A lot of times, like you said, your ground level, your entry level positions will be people of color, will be black people, Hispanic people, but all of your executives are typically white. And even when it comes to hiring and training people for those higher level positions, a lot of times companies will reach outward and pull people in
instead of reaching down and pulling people up. So I'm glad that you understood that it was important to have something in place to train, build, and empower people of color that are already in the company to move up. Into those you know, higher level management, middle management, executive positions. I knew you before they reached out to you thought
it was important to do what you're doing. Give us a little insight as to why you waited to let them present it to you instead of you presented it to them, and why you questioned or not questioned, but made it clear to them that you didn't want this to be something we were doing for public relations, but something that was authentic and genuine.
Yeah, that's a really good point because because at first I didn't know. I think, let me back up, I think all of us when you're a minority in an organization, especially when you have some people come look at as power, you can call it influence influence, so you know, so I think there's like different things that you but when you're a minority in a certain position, what you say and what you do has a big impact on a
lot of people. And not only that, I was also trying to think about what I could do if something were to if they felt otherwise right, if the organization didn't agree with what I was going.
To stand for.
I wanted to make sure I had a backup plan. So I was actually thinking about all of these things together. But the main thing that I really wanted to see, as I mentioned earlier, is I wanted it to be organ I wanted them to be able to go to town hall without having anything or anyone come directly to them and answer some of the questions.
I knew was going to come at town hall.
I wanted them to because I think it wasn't about like trying to say I told you so or now
what kind of thing. It was more about you don't know what you don't know, right, And I wanted it to be organ I wanted them to feel inadequate in a certain area because a lot of times we're so focused in unspecific you know, dimension or division, uh you know, in this case obviously women's health and genetics, but a lot of times we forget about investing in our own people that have helped us get to that particular point.
And so the reason why I waited because I was still trying to contemplate how I wanted to do things, how I was going to respond, and even if they didn't come to me, I still had a plan that I was going to do and leverage my influence amongst you know, my my people are people, right, and my
organization that I have influence over. But I was just waiting back because I wanted to see who was gonna because I think those that didn't say anything, those that did say something at that point, and that those that haven't said anything since or that are now coming out to me, tells the whole story about some of the things that I had already been thinking about. Uh, you know, tells the story about some of the things I didn't know now I'm it's you know, very clear, and some
of the things that are magnified. Any the only person that can really change that as that person. And there's things that I can do to help, and I think, you know, these training programs and these educational resources that we're providing can help in that respect. But you know, I think ultimately I wanted it to be very organic.
I wanted to be genuine.
I wanted people to know that, you know, when I start this and had this movement, that it was truly.
Coming from the heart.
It was not coming from you know, the CEO that was telling me to do this, or I was trying to force him to do something. I've really wanted to be genuine and organic and grow and have some momentum around that.
You know, you brought up something that I think a lot of people don't even consider, especially in the position that you're in. What if they don't feel the same way as I do with regard to minority inclusion, diversity with regard to what's going on in our country right now, Like what if when they do finally say something thing it's totally against my principles and what I stand for, And that you were in a position where you had to consider, Okay, what are my options if we're on
the opposite side of this thing. Was there a sense of like like an exhale when they did finally come to you and they did express what you hope that they would.
Interesting, you know, you bring up another good point. I actually felt like there was a little bit more. I hate to use the word pressure, because I feel like pressure is like you get, you know, pushed into something that you might not necessarily feel comfortable, or you feel like you're forced to do something that you really.
Don't want to do. But I felt like there was a lot more weight added to my back now.
And why did I feel that is because we've never done anything like this in the organization they're counting on one person to have this vast majority of influence to make a change in certain individuals or the culture of the company that's been there for years, decades, right, and that now was put on me.
And so.
We're you know, a market cap of over ten billion dollars, right, So a lot of these things to come with. You know, as I mentioned, some people could call it extra stress or pressure, but I welcomed it. I really wanted to take it on because I knew I was going to be able to make an impact. If it wasn't just in just one person's life, it was going to be well worth it.
And so I was like, okay, fine, you know, now I got to develop all these resources.
I got to make sure we have the funds, we got the right people in place, and I need to build my infrastructure.
Mind you, I got to do all.
This while still managing a sales team of over one hundred people, right with the company goals as a public company, you know, and make sure that the investors, you know, those that have equity, are also being rewarded. So it was a it was a burden at the time, but it was something I was welcome for. Welcome to do. And you know, I knew that if I took the right steps like I have been throughout my life, I would meet the right people. You know, I always keep
God first, so I always always had faith. I just knew just by genuinely being myself and doing the right thing, that things were going to.
Take care of itself. And you know, it's been an amazing journey so far. And we just started this, you know, back in August. And the type of.
Individuals that I met, especially you know, minorities, black men, black women, lesbian and gay individuals, you know, the Asian community, like just everybody that I've met on this journey. The vendors that I've been able to partner up with has
just been amazing. And I think these type of networks that I've been able in relationships that I've been able to develop, shows how powerful we as a minority group can really be if we just stand together and don't divide each other, you know, don't fight against each other, but really you know, embrace us right diversly essentially. And I think that because I've been able to develop those relationships and if they see my work ethic, I don't.
Really think of twice about what would happen if.
I had to leave or you know, from the tear, because I don't think anything would change from the lifestyle or anything else that I've been able to do.
But I think I would continue to still be able to make.
The impact and influence others and continue to motivate people to.
Be the best that they can.
You spoke about, and everything that you just said is super important. A lot of the things that you're touching on are super inspiring to Michael. So I'm really really glad that even though it could have been a burden because you do already have so much on your plate, that you still welcomed it. You still saw the value and you still thought it was important so that you pursued it anyway, you know, even though it added a lot to you, it was something that you welcome because
you knew how important it was. But you mentioned earlier somebody or not somebody specifically, but just the idea of someone not seeing color and wanting to treat people equal. But we all know treating people equal, treating people fairly, and treating people the same are not synonyms, right, you know, as a person. Really, I think they think they're saying what's right when they say I don't see color, because
it's impossible not to. I think it's important to acknowledge that you do see color and to still treat a person right and fairly even though you do. When you're dealing with inclusion and diversity within a culture that already exists, and inclusion in diversity and hiring. What are some of the challenges that you saw then that you've already mean some some growth or some progress from since you guys started the big program.
So I think we still have a long way to go. Man.
You know, like this whole suppression and racism, as they call it systematic. There's a reason why they call it systematics, because it's built in either that individual's way.
Of thinking from their parents or.
The system that they grew up in the community, you know, the village, if you will. Right.
So it's gonna take a while.
And but what I've seen is, you know, previously to starting this organization, this group, there wasn't as much discussion about the lack of diversity. You know, every now and then you would hear, you know, us black folks talking amongst each other. You know, you know, why don't we have more black people here, why don't we have more
Indians and so on and so forth. But now that we've kind of developed this employee resource group, a dig like, people are really expressing how they feel about all kinds of things within the organization, and you would never know that had we I've been here again almost ten years I've been this is the first time I've seen all these people talk openly now about the various things that they want to see change.
So I feel like that if there.
Was anything that showcases, you know, the baby steps that we're taking. You know, we had a big program last night, and you know, we had some people that really were engaged in interacting and again very vocal about certain situations that they experienced that or certain perspectives they.
Have about the company as well.
And you know, we've recorded it and we're putting that on the internet so everybody in the company can hear and see it. And I know it's going to build some momentum because you know, a lot of times people get afraid of their job security and aren't vocal, and I think this is a platform where people can feel secure and safe and speak what's on their mind without any negative repercussions. You know, given that we're the resource and the support group dedicated for them.
So I think.
That that is what's going to really start this culture of embracing diversity.
A little more. I think where we.
Didn't also think more about think about before and that we think more about now is even the individuals that we are that we have in our candidacy pool for various openings.
Right.
I don't think that that was something consciously on their mind. It was, as you mentioned, you know what, I know this person, I worked with, this person, bring them on. At least that's what I appeared from the outside, right, So they hired the people that they work with or that look like them for the most part. And I feel like, now you know, consciously people are really trying to have a diverse pool of candidates and where we're.
Also helping them in that capacity.
It's that you have a couple of partnerships that I've already started, you know that I've linked up with where we're going to be calling candidates and internships and mentorships from the HPCU community.
What you just touched on I think is super important. I think in a lot of cases, nepotism is passive and I mean that in a way where if I worked in your field as one of your close friends at this point, we're, you know, twenty two years friends at this point, if I worked in your field, it would just be top of mind.
I do this.
I know that that Quintin is good at this let me speak to him about a position that we have opened. That's what I'd like to call passive nepotism. It's it's natural when you care about somebody, you respect them, and you know they're good at their job. If you're in the same field, you look out for each other in
that way. But then there is built into that systemic racism, a level of exclusion where you automatically disqualify some candidates based on things that have nothing to do with their talent or their resume, and only to do what they
look like and how they speak. In your case, I think it's important that as a person who works in leadership, that you've made employees feel supported and empowered to express themselves about concerns that they have, because typically leadership leaves that to HR, you know what I mean, Like they just kind of push that off to human resources, let them deal with it, and we're going to continue to
uphold the status quo. So I think it's important and necessary that not just yourself, but your leadership understood that support and that empowerment was just as important, so that the people on your team and within your organization can be honest about how they felt and the things that they needed without feeling like they would exclude themselves or put themselves in a position where their jobs were at
risk somehow. So, you know, I'm glad that you touched on that because I think that's something that's, you know, excessively important.
It's something interesting that you just mentioned about HR.
As I mentioned, you know, it was announcing in August that I was going to you know, start, this did grow, and from August until now, so September, October, November December, about five months, I've been able to do more from the HR perspective than HR has done since I've been in the organization, from the diversity recruitment, from the partnerships to help get diversitydate diverse candidates, to linking up with various individuals so that we can.
Get more exposure.
You know that more people are more likely to apply to a position in a company if they know the company, and these various vendors that I spoke to that link up and partner with HBCUs, they didn't.
Even know who Natara was. And you know why that's disappointing.
The the reason why it's very disappointing for me is because the entry level position people can make over six six figures, right, and for us as a black community not to be aware of that and think that we have to be pigeonholed to be only in this sector of certain industries to be able to hit six figures coming straight out of college or possibly even before you graduate. You know, again, it's the same systematic process of trying
to keep us where we are instead of growing. And those things are eye opening to me as I continue on with my research and encounters and building my relationship with various individuals.
On this journey. And you know the other thing that sticks out to me too is I.
Remember when I got promoted from the sales rep we call them Clinical film Specialists aka CFS's, and when.
I got promoted to regional director.
You know, the first thing I was tasked to do is essentially hire some folks.
Essentially to replace me because we were expanding, So it.
Went from me going to manager and I need to hire five people, and you know, each one of I'm like, not even being conscious. I just wanted to have the best people on my team so we can work collab collaboratively to.
Crush our goals. And you know, when you.
Look back at it, I had a black woman, I had a white male.
I had a white female.
I had another white female and a black male all as.
My first hires.
And you know, the comment that was made to me at the time, it was, are you trying to, you know, have the most diverse team award? Are you trying to get the most diverse team Award? I said, are you kidding me? I said, no, I'm going to show you. We're going to have the best team award. We're going to be the MVP. And I don't care who's on my team. I'm picking the best people based on giving my interview process.
And even you know, at that case, some of them I didn't know. I had some background and some experience.
But you know, those type of comment you reflect back at the time, it didn't really like it was interesting, and you know, didn't really hit home until I've replayed it a few times.
But you know that those types of.
Comments suggests certain things, right, and again that's like a passive way as you were just talking about. And I realized that now, you know, all these years, as I, you know, started moving up in my various roles, how different I've been thinking about diversity and inclusion versus my colleagues.
And that's the reason why, you know, not only in the.
Last three years I've been the best performing leader, but really the last seven years and not to mention, you know, before getting promoted the top rep. And the reason why I wanted to bring that up is because I think that's why diversity is very important.
The recent diversity.
You get experienced levels, perspectives, skills, and responses so that we collectively can be powerful. And that's why we've been great. And I've inherited other teams that are all vanilla. When I say vanilla, I'm not saying mostly why. It's just the same, like that team's the same as that team, as that team, and they all were hired by you know, a same.
As you know, one individual.
And it shows why they've been where they are right why they're stuck where there are is because they have no diversity. They have no different viewpoint or perspective to help us get to the next level.
And so that's why I think.
That this is important because as an organization, I think it's going to make us a lot more effective and efficient and a hell of a lot more productive because everybody's going to learn.
From one another.
Yeah.
I remember nineteen ninety nine when we first visited Bowling Green, and I remember meeting your dad. And your dad might not remember this, You might not remember this, but one of the simple thing that he said to me, because we hadn't decided we were going there yet, and I think we were kind of I think you me pinch, and I think Jeremy, not Jared, but Jeremy. We're kind of looking at each other like, Yo, if you come, I'm gonna come, and if you come, I'm gonna come,
kind of thing. And your dad says something to me that was very very simple but that I never forgot, and it was just simply, if you guys come here, look out for each other, like he said it, and he said it with the tone and the attitude he said it with was very serious. It wasn't like some like flaccid comment to just throw out there as some
random dad advice. He said it to us like it was important, you know what I mean, Like it is vital that if you guys come here together, that you make it your business to look out for each other.
And I don't think he knew that.
You know, twenty years later we would still not just be in touch, but you know, be the best of friends.
Coming from where we come from, Michael, and.
You know, being a part of a really good group of guys playing football, a really great group of guys in our fraternity. Moving on as educated men from you know, college students to working professionals. I know you experienced this because I do. Where people kind of assume your background is way different than what it actually is. We're from Detroit, Michigan and Portsmouth. We're not from Beverly Hills in bel Air,
you know what I mean. But sometimes when you present yourself, will your articulate your professional people assume that you've been coddled and you come from this silver spoon background and that life has been you know, a privilege for you, not understanding that not only did you have to work super hard, but you have to overcome to get where you are. Do you ever encounter colleagues that make that mistake of thinking that your background is way different than what it actually is.
Oh yeah.
So the interesting story around that is, as we continue to expand, we had somebody one of the reps that was covering Portsmouth, Ohio as part of their territory Wow, and they found out I was from Portsmouth, you know that. I got a text message It's like, hold on, are
you from this Portsmouth? Because I mean it was one of those areas that she didn't really go too much because it was high medicaid, you know, it was it looks like a ran down because it was the heavy metal industry, right, A lot of the stuff got moved from Port Ohio up to Pittsburgh and to Detroit back then.
And so she was like, this is where you're from, and it's other than a small pocket, there's not really that many you know, black folks either.
And I was like, yep, he probably drove right by my high school sportsman high schools where I went. And and she was just completely caught off guard because you know, most of the time when people see me, I'm in my you know, nice suit, got the tie on.
Other than down COVID, I usually have a nice little shape of going. You know, I look like I spent.
A little bit of money on my grooming, but but they just couldn't understand. And also the way that I speak, you know, a lot of times when we do have various you know, not only company meetings.
But if we're talking to a vendor.
You know, a lot of times I'll keep the camera off just because it's interesting how when I end up turning the camera on ten to fifteen minutes later into the conversation to see their faces because they just did not expect to see a brother, you know, talking to them and asking, you know, certain questions that I may be asking, so let alone being genetics and then talking to lingo like a genetic counselor so it's it's very interesting how that you get these assumptions just because either
the way you speak, the way you walk, or even the color of your skin, and some a lot of times even where you consider your hometown. And that's what makes us us right like this, if I didn't go through all of that, like I'm not embarrassed, I'm not shy to say where I came from. I'm not going to continue to embellish it, you know, like it's the best thing that you know that happened to me, but
I grew from it. I learned from it, and you know, that's why I've been able to be able to get to where I am now.
It's incredible.
And I knew that specifically the way that you speak and the way that you articulate would be the key reason why people would misjudge you immediately. And it's it's really cool to have as much time as I've had, you know, with you as a friend and as a brother.
Knowing where we come from and where we are now.
And I almost laughed when I asked you because I'm like, I go through this, so I know for sure Mike goes through you know, people completely misrepresenting their idea of where they think he started and what they think his background is. Like you spoke earlier about HBCUs and about students that come from those universities having never heard of
the company. What are some of the initiative initiatives that you guys are trying to put in place to change that, because, like you said, people will never apply to a company if they don't even know that the industry, the company, or the positions exist.
Yeah, a very good question.
I want to showcase the company because we you know a lot of people know that they can make a lot of money in tech, and we are essentially a technology company. We were re basing the Silicon Valley that in the Bay Area, but we happen to leverage our technology in the diagnostics world or in my case, women's health and genetics.
And what I want to be.
Able to do is showcase our organism as a matera, as a place where people can come feel welcome and learn and grow and make a lot.
Of money while doing that. And you know, we partnered up with HBCU.
Twenty by twenty, who is embedded with all of the HBCUs throughout the country, and we're going to have some webinars to showcase our organization.
Uh.
They've asked me, you know, to sit on some of their conferences where they talk about leadership and what does it take to get to certain positions VP levels and above, which I'm very excited and honored to be part of. But I think, you know, these are some of the things that I want to be able to highlight, you know.
For others, so that they don't have to feel like.
I have to be an athlete to make six or seven or eight figures, I have to you know, start here, you know, going door to doors selling you know what, magazines or whatever the case, the vacuum cleaners to eventually get the opportunity. I want people to know straight out of college there are some opportunities out there that you just have to do a little bit of research.
And I think it's our job to.
Try to showcase our organization and show that we are welcoming diverse candidates into our organization because you know, we're we're just continue to take off and continue to expand, especially you know, in this environment of COVID, we've been doing massive hirings and yet people in the HBCUs and the alumnis other than the ones that I know that you know that we've been talking to.
You know, we've been able to bring on board, and we need to have you.
Know, more visibility amongst all of our folks so that we can continue to be as empowerful, you know, powerful as we possibly can as an organization and as a community.
If you are just tuning in, this is Civic Cipher. I am your host, q Ward, I have my esteem guests from the Tara mister Michael Malone Jr. Man I hate if you're just two nick because you've missed a lot of really good information. But you know we are available on all your platforms, Apple, Spotify, Google Play, and a bunch of your your local FM platforms as well. Michael and I have been speaking about diversity inclusion, specifically in the medical and tech fields and why those things
are important. So again, if you're just tuning in, we still got a little bit for you. Follow us at Civic Cipher on Twitter and Instagram, Civiccipher dot com. You can get any information that you need about the show. You can get past shows, visit us on YouTube as well. So you get to this position where it is important to you that diversity and inclusion be as important to you as if they are the company you work for.
They bring you this opportunity where they've now put you in a position where you are able to influence the lives and careers of people that come from very, very diverse backgrounds. It felt like pressure at one point you understood though that it was a privilege. You're a few months into it now it's starting to grow wings, it's
starting to take the shape that you wanted. Is it something that you look back now and you're like, while we did that, or do you know that you still have so much further to go.
I always reflect back and I'm like, not only why we did that, but damn, how did we do that? You know, given all the constraints and the timelines that you know, we were trying to push everything into. Even back when I was playing football, pledging military, you know, it was like all these things I looked by my
how did I do that? And I think all that built me to be able to handle and showcase myself here and I think what the biggest thing that, you know, I'm proud to say is, look, we as a minority, the minorities in the organization have helped me launch this program that we've never had. You know what's interesting too, is like, you know, when you work in the corporate world, every year, you have compliance training. Every year, you have a sexual harassment training. Every year, you have a national
or global sales meeting, and then there's training there. But give me one instance where you've had a mandatory diversity training, even just one time a year. I know we don't have enough time to wait, but I'll tell you not too many people have it, but alone most companies they might have as an option.
It's almost in almost right.
And so to be able to have a mandatory diversity type of program. And the reason why I like the diversity like titles because it can be we can maneuver based on the environment, the situation, and the culture.
Et cetera, to you know, cater to a certain situation.
But like we have the opportunity to start with the mandate mandate of training with the executive level team and then mandated to the rest of the company.
And to me, that's amazing.
That we're able to do something like that starting from scratch, like with nothing, no foundation.
I've never had it ever.
And you know, the CEO mentioned it, like he's embarrassed to even say that there was no not even an optional training, right that we had to discuss uh, you know, leadership or I'm sorry, diversity amongst even.
The leadership team. Right.
So, like, no wonder why certain teams look the way that because we like to call it unconscious biased, like they're biased towards what they know, right and who they know, thinking that they're doing the right thing because nobody has
ever told them, really that they were wrong. And it's not that they were wrong, it's just that they were feeding into the same systematic process over and over and over, right, And I think, you know, I have a problem when somebody says that it's not the system that's causing racism.
Like I can go on and on and talk about that, but.
We know that certain things are built in because certain people are either threatened or.
They want to stay at the top. We know that.
And the crazy thing is that we as a black community have more power than we give our credit give ourselves credit for, and we could definitely do a lot more if we all collectively work together. And I think that's what we've showcased here, you know, at a dig at Ntara, because my whole my team is diverse, Latinos, you know, women, gay, men, gay, it's very diverse. And you talk about the power that we have on some of the things we've been able to move in just
in the last five months. It's just been extraordinary.
It's so incredibly important listening to you describe your team that we support one another, and that's the thing that you touched on and I think is so important that you have this very diverse group that understands the power of unity and of understanding, having empathy for and support for each other's struggles, because all of our struggles aren't
the same, but they're all very real. And to accept and respect the struggles that others have to deal with, and to be able to support each other in that way, I think adds to what you said with regards to
the power that we have when we're together. I've been having conversations and I think, even if it wasn't our last show, the show before that, where there was a prominent, articulate, educated black man on a cable TV news show saying that diversity training was counter productive, that systemic racism didn't exist, and speaking for all black people, he said that black people were tired of being the subject of diversity training and being looked at as victims and all this stuff.
And it's just like, man, we misplace our pride sometimes because I think this, I think this man was attempting to appear, you know, proud. I don't need your sympathy, and I don't need your you know what I mean, I don't need you to feel sorry for And there's no such thing as white privilege, and there's no such thing as systemic racism, and you know, companies need to do away with diversity training because it adds to the racism.
And it's like, we have to educate ourselves more. We have to educate and help and support each other more. Have you had any instances where you had kind of that counter culture presented to not tear it down, but be against what it is that you're trying to do.
You know, right now, it hasn't been brought to my attention.
In that fashion where it's been like blatant, I should say, But I think those that, as I was mentioning before, those that haven't responded. Not that I'm expecting everybody to send me an email, text, phone calls, pat me on the back, but I think that says a lot about an individual's character of what you.
Know, what you say, and what you don't say.
You know, people that are appearing or not appearing on some of the events. You know, people that are providing feedback or not providing feedback.
You can you know, you.
Have a feeling of certain individuals that are looking for you to fail, not merely because they're jealous and they feel like they're competing against you as an individual, but because you're black, because you're you know, Latino, because you're you know, gay, whatever the case, it may be right, and it shouldn't.
Be like that.
And the reason I disagree with you know what that individual was saying that you were mentioning.
And I'm not going to give credit to.
The person's name, but exactly I said it before, I'm not going to say it again.
The reason why I disagree with that man is because it's not just a psyche of an individual feeling like they're being that somebody being racist towards now, it's the physical act of somebody doing something or verbally saying something to somebody that's racist.
You know, they may not necessarily know it, or sometimes they do.
But the reason why I call it systematic, Now what people have their own version of what systematic means. But at the end of the day, the system means it's a process. There's a start and then there's a beginning.
Somebody had to do some teaching, right, And that's why we have even the you know, a reform that we're trying to do with even the criminal justice system, right because there is a system that's in place that kind of outlines and targets mostly black people, right, And I don't care what you want to say or just go to your local jail or prison in that area and you're gonna easily see that the population is mostly black in Latinos and most of them are because of petty
crimes that they probably shouldn't even be locked up, you know, for what they did.
But that's a whole different topic in conversation.
I just think that, you know, when people make comments like that, especially when they are supposed to be very intelligent, I feel like is that a marketing ploy to try to get more you know, visibility or of some sort, because there's not one black person that has at one point felt like they've been treated racist or unfair because of the just merely because of the color. Vers If anybody feels that way, that, to me, that person is a wire.
Unless they've been incredibly sheltered, you know, never left their hometown or their neighborhood and only been around their family and people that look like them, you'd have an impossible time trying to convince me, you know that you've never experienced any type of inkling of being treated differently, viewed differently, looked at differently, like the first time I got on the shuttle at Bowling Green, it was very very clear that there were some people in there that had never
seen anybody that looked like us before.
And you know.
When I got into my Black Studies class, I had a classmate who was from BG who had actually never seen a black person in real life before, and he expressed that we were in doctor Jack Taylor's class, and he expressed that to me, and our first conversations were really contentious and not cool. We ended up being really cool by the end of it. But he was sincerely ignorant of some things to say some things out loud in class where you would just be like, dude, you
couldn't have just said that out loud. So, like you said, Mike, we could talk about this stuff for five more hours, but you know, I don't want to keep you from the family for too long. If people want to learn more about what you're doing or support in any way, we're some places they can go find some more information and be supportive of the cause that you guys are pushing forward.
Yeah, so we we do have a Facebook, you know. Natara dot Com is our website for the company.
We do try to have some different social postings on Facebook. You know, a lot of the things that I'm doing now is mostly for the employees internally, but we will showcase like external speakers that are coming in to motivate or you know, provide their perspective. I think we're also
will not think I know, we're also on LinkedIn. Look forward to Tara Inc. On LinkedIn, and you know, definitely follow us because we always have some real exciting news that's coming out with the technology that we have as proprietary only to us. And on top of that, you know, one of the things that I wanted to do, as I mentioned the vision, was to showcase our employees of.
Color, and we are going to be posting, you know.
Different individuals throughout the company on our Instagram or on our at least Facebook and LinkedIn. Some of the partnerships that we have, especially with the HBCUs in that community.
They'll be posted on both Facebook and on LinkedIn. But by all means, please continue to forward.
We're public companies, so you can see us on the stocks as our stocks continue to rise, and I think it's going to rise even more as we become more diverse and embrace diversity and inclusion. For the years to come, so it's a very exciting time for me and for the organization.
I think, Yeah, it means the world to me that you were able to take some time away from the family and make some time to talk with me.
Mike. I'm super proud.
Of you, brother, and the things that you are doing within the terror and within the community are super important.
They're vital.
I'm glad that you saw the value in it, that you saw that pressure and that responsibility as necessary, and that you took that on your shoulders.
And please keep doing what you're doing.
Man.
For everybody that tuned in, we appreciate you tuning in the Civic Cipher again. I'm your host q Ward. Check us out Civiccipher dot com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram at Civic Cipher. There are ways to donate and give back and support the show. You guys are are our lifeline. We do this for our community. We are funded and upheld by the community as well. Until next time, Peace,