In this episode me and my guest Aurora Higgs have such a rich conversation that beginning with Aurora’s experiences and insights as a transgender individual, activist, and performer. Aurora is an activist and advocate, appointed to Virginia's LGBTQIA+ Advisory Board and elected Vice Chair, and is a scholar studying for a PhD in Queer Black Media Representation, as well as a performer and content creator hoping to uplift Black trans voices and challenges. In this conversation we explore + How rad...
Mar 31, 2023•51 min
his episode is all about loss. Trigger warning we talk about death, covid, and overcoming with my guest Ada Chen, who is the founder of Chuan’s Promise, a sustainable natural skincare line. Her mission is to make the world a better place through leadership, empathy, and driving cultural change. She was inspired to start Chuan’s Promise by her experience of caregiving for her late dad, and is committed to changing the beauty industry from the inside out by pioneering innovative sustainability pra...
Jan 10, 2023•50 min
In this episode my guest Nike Anani and I speak about her journey of leaving a cushy corporate job in London to move back to Lagos, Nigeria to work in her family business. Nike is an international award-winning entrepreneur, succession specialist and a legacy planning expert for future-focused business families. She is on a mission to help businesses move from lifetime to legacy, such that they build family enterprises of the future. With over a decade of family enterprise expertise in Nigeria, ...
Nov 29, 2022•32 min
In this episode my guests Misasha Suzuki Graham and Sara Blanchard are founders of an amazing podcast titled Dear White Women. Misasha is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, a practicing litigator for over 15 years, who is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion. She is a facilitator, writer, and speaker regarding issues of racial justice, especially with regards to children, the co-author of Dear White Women: Let’s Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism, and the co...
Nov 21, 2022•44 min
In this episode we explore authenticity in all its varieties and understandings. Sherri is a leader, Speaker, and Author who lives to help others see their own authentic gifts and then teach them to use it to level up their lives and their businesses. She’s the CEO of Dymond Enterprise and the Business Development Director for a charity that empowers youth to see beyond their circumstances to lead authentically. In this conversation we explore: + Defining what authenticity really means when we h...
Aug 11, 2022•59 min
In this episode we explore when my guest Janet Alexandersson created 40 frameworks on topics like justice, conflict, power, which she thought would take years but was able to achieve this goal in just created in 4 months. She holds a master of laws degree and her strategy and negotiation acuity is the combined result of 15+ years of multi-faceted experiences in the legal field. Janet has been a startup legal advisor, legal marketing strategist, human rights lawyer, civil and family law litigator...
Jul 18, 2022•38 min
In this episode my guest is Umbreen Bhatti who decided to stop wearing a hijab after it was a central part of her identity for a significant portion of her life. We discuss this journey and process of reframing her commitment to faith in her personal and professional life. Umbreen Bhatti has had a career focused on answering the question of what might our most important institutions be able to achieve when they truly reflect their constituencies and the communities they serve? She’s explored tha...
Jul 05, 2022•47 min
In this episode my guest is Julissa Contreras, and after being laid off from WeWork in May 2020 she decided to file a police report about a sexual assault experience she had unconsciously buried in an attempt to stay focused on her career. This episode hits such a wide range of necessary ideas from safe relationships to redefining success for ourselves. Julissa Contreras is a Dominicana from the Bronx who works to facilitate dialogue and create art that raises overlooked experiences. With a focu...
Jun 07, 2022•50 min
In this episode we explore when my guest Nancy Soni sought out a hypnotherapist to help her reprogram deep-seated beliefs from childhood that created mental blocks to building her professional brand. Nancy is the CEO/Co-Founder of PathMatch, the first decentralized career management network for Gen Z. They help today’s students navigate tomorrow’s workforce to build the skills and experience they need to be competitive while making it easier for companies to hire them for paid internships and gr...
May 17, 2022•32 min
In this episode we explore my guest Monisha Bajaj’s experiences with running relationship and sexual violence prevention programs that go against some of conservative cultural norms in Thailand where her organization is based. If you’ve wanted to understand how to address tricky conversations and conflicts in a community or group, or how to build safe relationships, this is your episode. Monisha is a strategy execution consultant and founder. She works with founders 1:1 to guide them through exp...
May 09, 2022•34 min
In this episode we explore when my guest Trish Boes quit her full-time job after suffering from severe burnout. Not only did she quit she also then did went against the grain of how she was raised to study spiritual psychology. Trish Boes is a leadership coach and learning & development consultant who empowers individuals and organizations to become more self-aware and purpose-driven in order to make a lasting impact. Trish focuses on building dynamic leadership programs that support inclusi...
Apr 18, 2022•33 min
In this episode we explore when my guest Deepali Vyas experienced sexual harassment while working for a recruiting firm in her early career and when she left the firm and started her own business, her former company sued her for a non-compete. If you’ve ever wanted to get the courage to stand up to a company with a toxic culture, this is the episode for you. Deepali Vyas is the Founder & CEO of Fearless+ a platform to help young people create a modern portfolio and showcase their identities ...
Apr 05, 2022•41 min
In this episode we explore when my guest while working in architecture and urban planning, wrestled with the perception of being a black woman with an attitude, navigated the protection of white fragility, and ultimately was faced with the most impactful situation of her early career, addressing when a colleague used the "N" word, the pain of this experience informed her next career move into operations and people & culture. Pascale Joseph is a people ops, DEIB, and organizational culture pr...
Mar 15, 2022•45 min
My guest on the Sway Them in Color Podcast today exemplifies walking the talk, as we explore when he took an act of courage by walking away from a 2 million dollars venture capital offer because it wasn't in alignment with his values. Davion Ziere, aka Zi who goes by the pronouns: we/us/ours/and he is the Founder of Origyn and Illuminator of the Origyn model, which is an Online community-based marketplace that sources from traditionally marginalized suppliers, empowers consumers to track their e...
Feb 22, 2022•38 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In this episode of Sway Them in Color I speak with my homie Ron Johnson. Ron Johnson is a curator of entrepreneurial experiences. His business Triton Consulting NYC empowers individuals to prepare for success through uncertainty by investing in themselves and generating multiple streams of income. His youth entrepreneurship program, the Triton Pilot Program, transforms youth across the country, from students to CEOs of their future. In this conversation we cover: How your own personal story can ...
Jan 25, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 1
When you’re raised as the only Black family for miles, in a place like Ogden Utah that has very little racial diversity, as a Black person, you get used to being ignored. The book Invisible Man should have had a sequel titled, “Invisible Children: the training guide for colored kids who are confused by white avoidance.” This erasure and feeling of invisibleness isn’t just unique to my upbringing. For Black individuals, the erasure of culture, complexity of identity outside of stereotypes, and a ...
Sep 10, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In this episode of Sway Them In Color I speak with Tony Chatman. Tony has worked with hundreds of corporations and government agencies including the U.S. Secret Service, Dept. of Homeland Security, Chase Bank, Estee Lauder, N.O.A.A. and N.A.S.A. to help people reach new heights of effectiveness by understanding themselves and others better. As a corporate relationship expert and leadership keynote speaker, his passion is contagious and his messages provide practical, usable knowledge that people...
Aug 06, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 20
In this episode of Sway Them In Color I speak with Zena Hanna founder of Zena Digital Group. With over ten years of digital media experience under her belt, she wanted to start an agency that had a different face as the CEO. Having worked within verticals ranging from fashion and luxury while living in Milan, to social impact and education, she’s realized that brands want an agency partner that is skilled, integrated, innovative, involved and, with what we bring to the table: diverse. Her agency...
Jul 09, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 20
In this episode of Sway Them in Color I speak with Oshoke Pamela Abalu, an architect and futurist, who was the Chief Architect for MetLife’s $1 billion inclusive workplace redesign. She pioneers human-centered design solutions that infuse consciousness, energy flow, and inclusivity into global workplace transformations. She is a gifted design thinker and diversity advocate who has moved the needle, shattered glass ceilings, and enabled a broader conversation on diversity for organizations. Facul...
Jul 03, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Dr. Akilah Cadet is the founder of Change Cadet consulting , which offers a broad array of services including executive coaching, strategic planning, innovation, and diversity facilitation. Cadet is a French term that means soldier (and happens to be Akilah's last name). As it's often an uphill battle for women and people of color to achieve success in the workplace, Change Cadet prepare soldiers of change to overcome these continuous battles to be their best selves. Akilah has 15+ years of expe...
Jun 11, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Oppression pass (n): a term I’ve coined about the belief that because you are liberal, marginalized yourself, like black people/have one black friend/ are married to a black person/have black children you don’t participate in or perpetuate in white supremacy. My dear friends, I’m here to let you know oppression passes are being handed out like it’s six flags, but they don’t exist. In this episode of Sway Them In Color I unpack five key narrative myths many liberal people, in particular white peo...
May 29, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 17
With every growth spurt I’ve gone through, both physically and mentally, there’s been a mark left it its wake, a story no longer fitting cast aside. When we cast off rituals or social expectations that don’t feel good, or match who we’ve become, what new stories do we adopt to chase our curiosity and build the lives/businesses/world we want to see? In this episode of Sway Them In Color Georgie-Ann Getton-Mckoy discuss these ideas, diving into: figuring out what seems impossible with limited reso...
May 22, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 16
I can’t tell you the number of times I have talked with friends about social and political issues with deep sadness and anguish. From white nationalist protestors, hate crimes against innocent black men and women, incompetent leaders, to the imminent tension of racism and unaddressed social wounds this country has, there’s a lot of generational pain bubbling to the surface. Social media gives us a window into this pain with a 24/7 cycle of information. Adversity can be channeled and processed th...
May 15, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Pain is something we take large precautions to avoid. The psychical pain of accidents, ill health, and pushing our bodies to our limits. The mental pain of stress, fear, betrayal, and turmoil. Pain is complex, at times it’s unavoidable, seeping into your bones and mind. We cannot control how pain occurs, but we can control how we react to it. In this conversation of Sway Them In Color I speak with Alanna Gardner, a therapist, fitness instructor, and heart attack survivor who uses her background ...
Apr 22, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 14
What do you do when life hands you a big ol’ stanky basket of lemons? You make the most delicious remixed lemonade (with probably a splash of whiskey). In this episode of Sway them my Color my guest and I dive into her journey of building a career during the 2008 economic crisis, and how she went from odd jobs to tech giants and is now in the innovation space. We discuss: bouncing back after a rescission why balancing stability and flexibility when going through periods of growth and change is k...
Mar 25, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 13
My relationship with my body and health is a complicated one. There are days where I feel strong, and curvy and sexy. I can kill an HIIT class. I’m at the top of intense spin classes on leaderboards. I can squat over 150 and-some change-pounds. But I have days where I weigh myself non-stop, grapple with every morsel that comes into my mouth, and beat myself up for not being whatever conventional idea of being “thin enough” and what defines healthy that day (which I’m sure 99.9% of people can rel...
Mar 05, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Romantic love, that good good, is the type of love that’s fetishized as the ultimate achievement, the one type of love we must cherish and work on the most, so much so that a majority of the chatter in pop culture and society about love is centered in romantic love — how to get it, how to keep it, how to flip it and reverse it, how to bottle it, manipulate it, share it, why you want and need it, how you gone lose it — the list goes on. But love lessons typically come through a lot of trial, erro...
Feb 14, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Racism and racist are triggering words. Use the R word and people clutch their pearls and run for the “not me, I’m not one of them!” hills no matter how accurate the term is to describe their behavior. The issue with this word to is it's ineffective as it's been declawed by racists who don't want the consequences of the correct labeling of their behavior, but refuse to own the truth of their racist thinking and communicating. In this episode I make a hilarious case for the power of words, why we...
Feb 07, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 10
My Afro has always generated conversations well before I did. Entering rooms, blocking pictures, catching sunlight and an array of other things I'd pull out of it in surprise. Since wearing my hair naturally for the past 11 years it’s been an extension of me that was much more than just incredibly curled follicles, and my guest today knows all about how much hair, especially curly hair and kinky hair, deeply affects our identities and how we show up in the world. Kim Cowans is the founder of SKI...
Jan 30, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 9
"Think about the next big risk you want to take. The thing that makes you feel like your stomach is doing a backflip and you may shit your pants. The one that's terrifying to you and you've been holding off on because you don't think you're ready or you're afraid of the no or having the door slammed in your face. I want you to think what's the worst thing that can happen if you decide to take this risk?" - Me! Rejection stangss honey, but our avoidance of rejection can be the most limiting thing...
Jan 18, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 8
