Published on Nasdaq
(Excerpt)
Nichole Pitts
Founder and CEO of Ethintegrity LLC, a consulting firm empowering forward-thinking organizations and professionals to solve complex ethics and compliance and DEI problems.
My story: It is a basic human need to want to belong. I found that I consistently tried to assimilate into boxes that I thought would help my career. What became obvious was that these key performance indicators were ever-moving and I had to contort myself more than my non-Black colleagues by modulating my tone of voice so as not to be seen as an “angry Black woman” or pressing my hair and changing my style of dress so that I fit into the European standard of beauty. It was exhausting both mentally and physically. When I started my own company, I initially kept that way of thinking—trying to fit into the corporate ideal. But as I grew more confident in my business and started to realize the superpowers that I brought to this industry, I embraced my unique, diverse identity. This pivot has created a meaningful impact on my work as I’m able to disrupt spaces from a place of knowledge and power.
My advice: Take time to get to know who you are. Corporations and society like to tell us who we should be, and sometimes we conform for so long that we don’t know who we are anymore. Take a step back and figure out what makes you happy—when do you feel authentically you? Then embrace that as a superpower. Use your uniqueness to connect with, embrace, and disrupt spaces to create equitable and inclusive services and products.
Click here to read the full article.
Recent Comments