Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You're listening to Clocking Off of Clouds, your cozy corner of the internet where we talk careers, personal growth, and real life. Hey there, and welcome back to another episode of Clocking Off of Clouds. And today I wanted to tackle the topic of diversity and inclusion in the workspace, specifically in a corporate environment.
I know that this can be a pretty heavy topic, so I want you guys to relax here with me. I don't want it to feel like a tense or serious conversation. I just want it to feel like a little chitchat. Yes, it's a hard topic, but we can do so in a soft environment. So whether you're just clocked off from work and you're now in your evening routine, you can grab a little beverage.
I personally have my hot tea here with me. Yes, I do drink it with a straw. If you're watching this on YouTube, then you know I drink this with a straw and it's because I do not want to stain my teeth. So I drink my hot tea and my hot coffee with a straw. I know people find it psychotic, but welcome to my life.
but maybe you're also heading to work and it's in the morning and in which case I hope you have a great one whether you're listening to this in the evening or morning or afternoon let's just hang out for a bit here I know that a lot of you guys who follow me can relate to being a woman in corporate but also being a person of color in corporate and a lot of the times also being an immigrant or child of immigrants in the corporate workspace
So I wanted to open up this conversation because I know that a lot of you guys listening to this might feel lonely or feel like you're in a very different position from other colleagues around you. But I wanna reassure you that you are not alone, that there are people out there like myself that can definitely relate. I have my entire uni years recorded on Snapchat.
And I know that there right now, Changing the subscription model or something where you're gonna have to pay for memories So I was basically just going through my memories feeling nostalgic and making sure I can find a way to make sure I Export all those pictures because there's so much gold in there.
Anyways as I was going through all these memories I found a video of myself that I filmed for my friends so I sent them a video and it's basically me heading home after work drinks and And I, in the video, was very explicitly saying how much I hated work drinks, which is what inspired me to make this podcast episode.
Okay, let me actually show you guys the video I'm talking about so you can contextualize what I was going through in the moment I sent this video to my friends. Okay, here we go.
Hi guys, so I just finished a work social, another one. And just quick notes to self and note to you guys as well. If you ever want to go somewhere just because there's free food and free drinks, it's not worth it. It's so not worth it. I'd rather just be home and you won't catch me at another social.
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Chapter 2: Why did the host hate work drinks?
incorporate my own stories into the conversation and I could input and I could relate to other colleagues and other associates and other analysts around me. It wasn't until then that I realized, ah, this was the thing that was missing. Ah, This is why they don't like work drinks. It's not the drinks themselves. It's the fact that I don't feel included.
And that's when I realized that inclusion doesn't end at the invitation. A lot of the times, companies think that inclusion is just hiring people from different backgrounds. But that's not inclusion. That's just where it starts. Inclusion isn't the invitation. Inclusion is making the environment feel like everyone can belong.
And in that moment, in those work drinks, at those work socials, I did not feel like I could belong, even though I was invited. Even though I had a seat at the table, even though I was working at this elite, prestigious boutique firm, yes, you hired me, but you don't make me feel like I belong, and therefore, the inclusion piece is still missing.
And I don't know how many of you guys can relate to this, but at work socials, I was so quiet, so introverted, and I'm naturally quite a bubbly person, but I was so shy and introverted at work socials that I almost felt like I was really awkward, and I was like, oh my god, I must just be going through a very awkward phase of my life.
It was also when I just finished uni, so I thought, oh, maybe I'm just very familiar around people who I am close with, and I'm very bubbly with people who I'm close with, but maybe this adult version of myself is actually an awkward person. And I truly believed that coming out of COVID and going into work that I am just an awkward person now. Turns out, I wasn't awkward, I was just unfamiliar.
I was put in a completely unfamiliar environment with just having to force myself to be someone who I really was not. And that's where the code switching comes in, right?
That's when I started to talk about things that I really could not relate to, but just scrambling for topics so that I could somehow be part of the conversation and speaking in sometimes slightly different accent or speaking in a slightly different tone. and just putting up this persona, almost like a mask of my corporate version that really my friends would not be able to recognize.
And that is so fascinating to me. So if you ever felt that way, then let me reassure you that you are not the problem. You're just in an environment that wasn't made for you to thrive in. Now, that doesn't mean that that's the wrong environment for you.
In certain cases, you might actually be able to get over that hurdle and really shine through and push through and become someone who is an extension of you and find a new version of yourself that maybe I can kind of relate to these people and maybe I do enjoy talking about these topics. And if that's the case, that is fantastic. If that's not the case, like myself,
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Chapter 3: How does being a minority affect experiences in corporate environments?
It is the environment. It is not you. And also diversity benefits everyone, not just minorities. The goal isn't to hire people who are diverse and come from different backgrounds and force them to fit in and force them to make themselves belong. The goal is to stop building workplaces that require self-erasure. Stop building workplaces that require people to mask themselves.
Okay, now let's wrap up with my weekly recommendation and this very much fits this week's theme. So I very recently at work was transferred temporarily to another team because my manager was on leave for a bit. So this team that temporarily adopted me, I'm just going to call them my foster team.
So my foster team, they're actually all in the U S and the manager of my foster team and therefore my foster manager,
he actually bought everyone christmas presents which is really sweet i actually never really had a manager do that before i've had companies do that but not the manager themselves buying you a christmas present um but he bought into the office christmas presents for everyone and since everyone is in the us he bought it into the office and gave it to everyone in person and me being in london me being the only person in london i did not expect anything not not only was i not expecting a gift in general but also since i'm the only one in london obviously i'm like you know
I'm not there like chill. It's fine. I wasn't expecting to receive anything. But he actually shipped me over a Christmas present. And that is, again, one small examples where I felt so included, I felt so seen. And it really isn't a small things like this that make employees feel happy in the workspace. Yes, it's the salary. Yes, it's the progression.
But it's also tiny gestures like this that make people feel seen. Firstly, he actually got me this Lonely Planet book with Dream Trips of the World. It's 100 Destinations and Itineraries. It's a really, really nice coffee table book by Lonely Planet. I have it right now in my office. And... It's just such a sweet gift.
But along that, he also bought me this very, very practical eye mask from Therabody. And he also wrote me a little note saying that he hopes that this can follow me through my trips and make my trips and my travels better this year. That actually has a little button here. And if you press it, it makes the mask vibrate.
And because it vibrates, it's supposed to make you sleep a little bit more soundly. And it's perfect for the plane, especially because I don't get to sleep on planes very often. And it is also completely blackout eye mask. Right now I can hear the vibration, but it feels really calming and very, very smooth. And it has different kinds of settings.
So I really wanted to feature this this week, not only because it is a pretty good product, but also because it's an example of how to make someone feel seen in a workplace. In this case, it wasn't because I was, you know, of a different race or because I was a woman, but because I was in a different location. But even then,
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