Welcome to Operations Unfiltered, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of influencer and talent management with a little bit of strategy and a whole lot of real talk. I'm your host, Zaina. Today's episode is another seat at the table moment I. I'm filling you in on my journey in the spring cohort of the Board Pipeline Leadership Program with the associated black charities.
Basically, I'm out here learning how to be the Olivia Pope of nonprofit boards, but with much fewer scandals and way more PowerPoint slides. Week two is in the books, and it was a deep dive into what it actually means to serve on a board. We covered the roles of board members, the executive director, the board chair. Basically everybody and their mama got a mention. And let me tell you, by the end of the lesson, my brain was spinning.
Honestly, it felt like I had way too many tabs open in my internet browser. Our speaker for the night was from an organization called Maryland Nonprofits, and she did such an amazing job. She gave us everything we needed to know and then some, she even backed it up with case studies, which y'all know, I absolutely love. Case studies for me are a way to apply concepts to real life situations, and the professional student in me was absolutely giddy with joy.
We also had a group activity where we assigned roles and responsibilities to the different board members. Now we all know group activities can be absolutely tragic, but I've actually clicked with a few of my fellow cohort members so it wasn't bad. And dare I say, I actually enjoyed it. Can we talk about growth? You guys? RA training really scarred me. Then at the end of the class, the speaker asked us to think about what was our aha moment.
During the lesson, people were sharing these deep and philosophical revelations, and my brain was like, girl, please say something profound, something thought provoking. But all I could blurt out was, wait. Board members can get sued. Yes, y'all. I really said that out loud into the universe. Now, old Serena would've been absolutely mortified, but honestly I really needed to know.
Thankfully, the ladies at my table had my back and explained everything, including the very important fact that boards should have insurance, which is good to know before I sign my life away. When I walked out of week two, I was energized, but also acutely aware of my good old friend and imposter syndrome. This is the moment in time where my therapist would always say, now let's unpack, so here goes. I sometimes struggle to recognize my own value.
Being in this program forces me to think about what I actually bring to the table. And you know what? I bring a lot. Not to toot my own horn, but too, too, I mean, I love the art of communication, but I love the science of business and the science of project management. I'm basically air traffic control for marketing operations, which means I keep everything moving. I avoid collisions wherever possible, and I make sure people actually land where they're supposed to.
A former colleague of mine that I respect once introduced me to the term master networker, and I felt that in my spirit because that's essentially who I am. My whole mission with my business live more agency is to make sure that my clients have the right people, processes and tools in place so that they can win. And I guess after thinking about it, that's really honestly my true aha moment. I do belong at the table.
So here I am just a girl trying her best to be the Olivia Pope of marketing ops and project management, but with slightly less red wine. So that's all for this episode. Thank you so much for tuning into my digital diary, and thank you for listening to this episode of Operations Unfiltered. I truly appreciate it. This is a passion project of mine, so I appreciate every listen, every like, every share.
It means the world to me, and as always, connect with me on social media, on Instagram at Live More Agency or at Lady Z says. That's where I share a little bit about of my personality. You'll see my amazing daughter. So, yeah, just follow along with me on all the socials. Thank you so much for tuning in. I'll see you guys next time.