About us.

WHAT CHILDHOOD SKILL OR PASTIME TRANSLATES INTO BUSINESS SUCCESS?

I was hit by a car in first grade walking to school. It left me with a serious leg injury for several years that precluded me from a lot of playground activities and organized sports -games and teams I missed out on participating in.  Not being able to belong in the same way, at such a young age, taught me how to grow my soft skills, humor and imagination. Whether it was to make and maintain friendships, or entertain myself to stay busy and feel like I belonged, when so many times, I did not.  

This moment in my childhood shaped me in very deep ways. I had to constantly had to innovate ways to participate with school mates at recess or "playdates" by using my imagination to make up games and activities that I could be part of.  I not only became very resilient, but hyper aware of how obstacles like this, and many others - be it socioeconomic or learning challenges in school - can impact people deeply, particularly when accompanied by a lack of empathy or understanding by their peers. 

As I fully recovered from my accident several years later, I had an innate desire to be part of teams, because I had never been part of one.  Learning how to be part of a team and showing up for a team didn't always look the same based on the skills and personalities of those involved. I was able to apply my experience knowing the frustrations of not being able to do things as well as others as a benefit to motivate and encourage teammates when they were feeling their own frustrations around performance. I also learned that the quality of strong team leaders was not always based on the level of skill set but the leadership, emotional maturity and positive attitude they exhibited. 

This is true in business and a mindset I've always brought to any group or team I'm part of, whether a social circle, job, client or organization. As simple as it sounds to be a "good team player", many people do not always know how to, or even wish to show up this way, and this can have lasting effects on the overall health and success of the entire team.

WHAT WAS YOUR LIGHTBULB MOMENT, WHEN YOU KNEW YOU HAD TO LAUNCH RISE ABOVE STRATEGIES?

Having worked for over 20 years in an industry that has left out a lot of women, particularly women of color and working mothers, I just got sick and tired of it. While frustrations and barriers exist for everyone, particular identity markers mean some people experience bigger and more entrenched disadvantages than others. I was tired of seeing it, or worse, feeling complicit in it. I decided to scale myself, take all of the lessons learned, and pay them forward in an effort to create more inclusive and diverse spaces, so more people can thrive. 

WHAT MAKES YOU TICK?

People. People make me tick. I love humans, even the ones I don't. I'm fascinated by how people think, what makes them feel and the effects this has on their lives and in the workplace. I make an honest effort to be a transparent communicator and learn how others receive and share their own communication, in doing so, I find I'm able to better connect, understand and know what makes them tick. This informs how I can meet team members, colleagues, friends where they are at to best support them and in turn our relationship, whether personal or professional.

I'm also a big believer that people can change, albeit not always easily, but with the style of communication and support that works best for them, you'd be blown away by what people can accomplish or overcome. It's one of the most inspiring and rewarding things I love about humanity.

WHAT your BEST PIECE OF LIFE ADVICE?

Fear is a liar. Trust your gut. It rarely fails you unless we let it.

The noise all around us from others, or worse, our own noise from our brains can tell us all the reasons why NOT to do something. That's it's job. To protect us from the perceived seen and unforeseen threats that are also usually made up by our brains to keep us from hurting ourselves. So much in fact it can lead to hurting others or prevent us from taking chances that, while may be out of our comfort zones -aren't threats. And keeping us from living our greatest potential for ourselves and others.

If our guts are our compass that's navigated us this far, then our brains are merely mall cops. Keeping us safe, in a parking lot of our potential.

OTHER THAN FURIOUSLY UPGRADING WORK CULTURE AND SYSTEMS, HOW DO YOU LOVE SPENDING TIME?

First and foremost, spending time with my tween daughter Sinatra is my greatest joy.  It doesn't matter what we are doing: traveling, going to the beach, swimming or just talking. Her passion and personality are contagious and help me see and learn in new ways that keep me energized and bring the kid at heart out of me. I'm a fun, spontaneous flibberty-gibbit that can't sit still, so being a mom is how I love spending time.

I would be totally remiss not to mention being an avid Dodgers fan. Nothing brings me greater joy than watching baseball - preferably in person when we could - and all my ridiculous rituals during the playoffs, which I will never share!