Tag: equity

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Candid Conversation with Alvarado Therapy – Big lessons from my traumatic entrepreneurial journey that brought me to now, which is right on time.

It took me a few days to muster the courage to listen to myself. It then took me another few days to watch myself. I dread both. It requires a certain kind of confidence or not giving a f*#%! to not cringe while critiquing every aspect of yourself. I have plenty of confidence, but there’s something about seeing a reflection of yourself that is just so darn hard. Holding a mirror to yourself is scary and arguably the hardest task for most of us. It’s just easier to deflect, ignore, be in denial about aspects of yourself that you’re not too keen on or too traumatic to face. What-ever the many reasons, it will always surface one way or another regardless of your every effort to suppress it.

I’m only now facing my traumas head on, and it’s with the help of a therapist. To have a therapist is to be in a privileged position. I acknowledge my privilege. I acknowledge the countless people that cannot afford nor have access to mental health services. This inequity and continual decrease in funding for mental health is why I am an advocate for mental health services and resources for those most marginalized and under-represented, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities; whether it was through my advocacy work in Washington D.C. or as an educator at a middle school and high school or volunteering and serving on the board of an incredible holistic health nonprofit, Sol Sisters. My current goal is to help build mental health services and programs for BIPOC youth and families through the good work at Safer Together. I was their programs and operations consultant to now Director of Programs.

So when my dear friend Patty Alvarado (founder of Alvarado Therapy) asked me to be on her podcast, I was beholden to share my mental health journey to help de-stigmatize mental health needs. I hope my story can inspire you to begin talking about your mental health, to seek help, to share your vital journey with others too.

You can also listen to our conversation while preparing your favorite meal, driving, running your usual route, in the shower, or when ever you need a laugh at Alvarado Therapy’s podcast (I think we’re funny, no, I know we’re funny lol). While you’re there, subscribe to their enlightening podcast. Trust me, it’s worth it.

In community,

Jenny

#TrustInYourselfandYourJourneyTuesday

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#STOPASIANHATE VIRTUAL NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION & HEALING – 3.26.21 – HOW YOU CAN HELP?

Huge thanks to National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, a project of the Tides Foundation for creating Asian American Day of Action.

The worldwide vigil for the Atlanta shooting victims is broadcasting live tonight 3.26.21 at 7:30 p.m. EST right below.

SOME RESOURCES & LINKS FROM THE 1ST VIDEO – WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP TODAY & MOVING FORWARD:

#2 – Uplift and Educate – Your friends, families, followers by sharing articles about anti-Asian racism. Below are great ones to start off with.

  • Asian American Federation (@AAFederation): In light of continuing attacks and violence against Asian Americans, download @AAFederation’s Stay Safe from Hate booklet in 5 Asian languages with strategies to stay safe. Share with your families and friends. Download FREE here.
  • NPR interview with Dale Minami: Educate yourself! @DaleMinami gives a lesson about the long history of anti-Asian discrimination and racism in the U.S. on @npratc @NPR. From Chinese Exclusion to Muslim and Sikh discrimination after 9/11.

#3 – Support AAPI Social Justice Organizations Taking Action:

stopaapihate.org

advancingjustice-aajc.org

standagainsthatred.org

compassioninoakland.org

ihollaback.org

searac.org

napawf.org

apiavote.org

imreadymovement.org

asianamericandayofaction.com

#4 – Donate to The Victims’ and Their families HERE + 68 Ways to Donate in Support of Asian Communities.

#5 – Take a Harassment & Intervention Training HERE.

#6 – Diversify Your Sources – By interviewing and quoting Asian American experts. You can find many of them at The Asian American Journalists Association’s speakers bureau at AAJAStudio.org

Let’s do this! Thank you for caring and always in community,

Jenny

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1st Black Woman Owned Ad Agency – Marketing & Communications Monday

According to Marketing Dive:

  • In 2018, 45% of top marketing positions at ANA client-side member organizations are held by women—according to results from the trade group’s inaugural scorecard which highlights marketers’ progress in gender equality and ethnic diversity.
  • In 2018, despite nearing gender parity, only 13% of Chief Marketing Officers or CMO equivalents are people of color; 5% are Hispanic/Latin, 5% are Asian and 3% are black. The survey examined industries including banking and financial services, food and beverage, technology, sports and entertainment and consumer packaged goods. 

According to DMW:

In 2019, just over 11% of Creative Directors in the industry are women.

Marketing, communications, and advertising yield vast influence in our social societies. They shape, influence, reinforce perceptions of others as well as beliefs. This is why propaganda marketing and control of media remain fundamental tools utilized by dictators. The messages we receive daily are constant. They are both explicit and subliminal aka implicit. Hence, does it matter who’s in the top marketing leadership positions?

Happy International Women’s Day and in community,

Jenny

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Anti-Asian Racism & Bias – Past to Present

This is a topic near and dear to me. Since childhood, I understood very early on what racism, discrimination, and bias were. When you experience it continuously, it’s undeniable—it guts you at your core. I may not have had the intellectual words to describe it back then like I can today, but the feeling is visceral—the same—then and now. Sadly, I can say it’s a familiar feeling and for my parents too.

My parents gave their all to ensure a better life for their six children in the U.S. A better future than in war-torn, poverty-stricken Vietnam. Due to the Vietnam war, both maternal and paternal grandparents starved to death. Famine is one of many life-altering effects from war—all wars—not just the Vietnam War also known as The American War in Vietnam. So what are families to do? They migrate to much less inflicted places, like the United States. Often times, the only choice is to do so by any means necessary.

The U.S. originally belonged to Indigenous peoples until they too experienced a war, genocide, forced migration, re-education schools brought onto them by immigrant Europeans. Like most immigrants, these Europeans fled their motherland for freedoms not granted in their homeland. So instead, they left to colonize and design the United States of America as it is today.

As a history lover, history—for me—is everything. It determines and shapes our present and future. History is too often written by the winners. I would not be surprised if, for many of you, my brief video of Asian American Pacific Islander history provides new information. I truly hope so. But here-in-lies the problem—such omissions and ignorance continue to breed and justify bias, discrimination, racism, white supremacy, and the status quo in America, vis-a-vis the recent rise in anti-Asian bias and violence. This also hits closer to home because a friend’s mom was a recent victim of such violence in San Jose, California.

Hence, let’s all elevate the necessary visibility to this abhorrent rise in violence towards our AAPI elders and communities, support Asian/AAPI owned small businesses, and the organizations doing something about it:

Thank you for caring.

In community,
Jenny

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Work Smarter Wednesdays – Tips of the Day

What if you had the tools to work smarter, not harder?

Work Smarter Wednesday – Tip of the Day – Schedule Your Emails

Work Smarter Wednesday – Tip of the Day – Make Keyboard Shortcuts Your Bestie

Courtesy of lifehack.org, below are game-changing keyboard shortcuts that I live and swear by. Invest the time to memorize/learn these keyboard shortcuts because it will save you time and frustration.

My top two keyboard shortcuts are:

1) To easily search or short cut to what I’m looking for in large documents: [command] [F] aka [Ctrl] [F]

2) To reopen an accidentally closed tab/webpage [command] [shift] [T] aka [Ctrl] [shift] [T]:

What are some of your favorites?

DISCLAIMER: This heartfelt true-story and poignant life lesson video below will induce tears.

Work Smarter Wednesday – Tip of the Day – How am I making things for difficult than they need to be?

How do you work smarter? What are some of your tips?

DAILY TIPS – 365 DAYS PER YEAR

Friendly reminder, every day I will be providing tips and the data and expertise backing it up. The goal is to support you in designing your best professional and personal life, wherever you are in your journey. It is never too late. I hope you find the daily tips useful, as they have been for me.

_Marketing & Communications Mondays
_Trust in Yourself & Your Journey Tuesdays
_Work Smarter Wednesdays
_Talk Less, Listen More Thursdays
_For Your Best DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) Life Fridays
_Style Saturdays
_Serve Positivity Sundays

Come back daily and visit my social media for the daily tips. Thank you and cheers to your best life!

In community,

Jenny

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Trust In Yourself & Your Journey Tuesday – Tips of the Day

Friendly reminder, every day I will be providing tips and the data and expertise backing it up. The goal is to support you in designing your best professional and personal life, wherever you are in your journey. It is never too late. I hope you find the daily tips useful, as they have been for me.

_Marketing & Communications Mondays
_Trust in Yourself & Your Journey Tuesdays
_Work Smarter Wednesdays
_Talk Less, Listen More Thursdays
_For Your Best DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) Life Fridays
_Style Saturdays
_Serve Positivity Sundays

Distrust and self-doubt are our most substantial limitations. Distrust in ourselves goes hand-in-hand with distrusting others. This is a life not fully realized but dictated by fear. Self-doubt often is frustrating, anxiety-inducing, scary as heck, and, for some, paralyzing.

My goal is to help you move through your fear—not to ignore your fear but acknowledge it as a life-long friend. It will always be a part of you. Thus, it’s essential to embrace it to live fully—a life with purpose and without regrets. The biggest risk in life is not taking one.

Through your fears, I’m also here to remind you that you already have everything necessary to re-love or fall in love with yourself. Consequentially, the flood gates will open to ownership of your desires, leading to courageous actions toward your dreams.

So trust your inner-voice and your abilities, no matter the outcome. As you likely have heard: It is not the destination but the journey that matters. Speaking from plenty of invaluable trials and errors, I couldn’t agree more. I am beyond grateful for every single one of them. Each one has been right on time.

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#UpliftingWomenWarriors needs your support

Photo by Unity in Color.

Mahalo Community,

In the nonprofit world, it is the time of year to appeal for your kind donation. The end of the year is historically the most successful time to fundraise and close the calendar year in black (net revenue positive or debt free). Lamentably, for many nonprofits it is the breaking point whether they will stay open or close indefinitely. Compounded with this reality, Covid-19 has disrupted the fiscal promise for too many.

2020 remains a devastating year of loss. Livelihoods are in disarray, inequities widening, and the former capacity and joy to contribute to an annual giving tradition stifled. After brainstorming what our nonprofit’s end-of-the-year campaign will focus on, it was without a question, to uplift and to pay it forward to those affected. For them, for humanity, we had to. Hence, these individuals and families are the catalyst for our fundraising campaign that just launched, Sol Sisters Solful Giving – Uplifting Women Warriors.

As part of the global movement to give known as Giving Tuesday, I set my heart into authoring and developing this campaign, which honors five deserving women warriors. I am deeply invested in each of them, and their incredible stories of loss and strength will impel you to act too. 

Therefore, join us in #UpliftingWomenWarriors during this unprecedented challenging time and please share this campaign far and wide using the hashtag #UpliftingWomenWarriors.

The women warriors (from left to right, top to bottom); Jennifer, Nikki, Martha, Gloria, Angelica.

Thank you for caring,️
Jenny & your Sol Sisters Community

Photo by Abe Espiritu.

P.S. Did you know that your donation to us (to nonprofits in general) is a tax benefit to you? It is a deduction on your taxes and with the CARES Act it is easier to get a tax deduction for donations made in 2020. Learn more about this benefit via this recent New York Times article. It’s a win, win, win!

bit.ly/upliftingwomenwarriors
solsisters.org
@solsisters