Real talk: I do want to change the world (not in a grand Martin Luther King way but in my own small way). I grew up sitting around a large table, eating good food and talking with all types of folks who held differing opinions on various topics. While people may have disagreed, we exchanged ideas and perspectives, we listened and we learned from one another. At the end, everyone may have still had conflicting opinions, but we all respected the other person.
I quickly learned that the rest of the world wasn’t like my dining room table. I learned as the only Black kid in my elementary school about the differences in races, culture and religions. I learned during my time at the HBCU, Tuskegee University, about the importance of pride, self-love and communication. After earning my Masters at William & Mary and starting as a teacher at a high school comprised of teens speaking 37 languages, I learned of the importance of cross-cultural understanding, awareness and respect. My PhD studies at the University of Virginia taught me fundamentals about communication, behaviors and the keys to true change. And my time as the Director of Training at two Tech start-ups – where I intentionally downplayed my womanhood — helped me understand that playing fields remain uneven and that a lack of awareness and understanding underlie many workplace offenses. And the past 17 years of running the Company I founded and lead, Bryant Consulting Group, took me around the country and exposed me to every combination of race, gender, religion, culture, education and sexual orientation under the sun. Those experiences, and my work in authoring my first published book Neversays, impressed upon me how uninformed people in the United States are about racial, gender and cultural issues – and how scared people are to have a conversation with someone different than them.
These building block experiences have all now coalesced to make me who I am. They provide the insight and intuition necessary to my work as a speaker, strategist, and trainer. I’ve fully realized that the key to true change – real change – is to create environments where people feel comfortable to embrace their authentic selves, to express their truths, to ask when they don’t know, to apologize when they mess-up, to forgive when it’s warranted, and to be involved in a community of non-judgemental discovery. That’s when people will make connections and cultivate empathy in this diverse world. This can only be achieved through respectful communication; and that is a skill that must be taught (folks are great at talking; but ain’t so great at communicating). I strive to guide people on how to have respectful, effective conversations one speech, seminar, article, book and conversation at a time. With each effort I strive to combat theoretical divides with practical solutions. My goal, quite simply, is to get us talking (and to change the world).
It’s time to have a conversation.
