Welcome to the One of a Kind podcast, the show where we explore the stories we tell ourselves and the moments that got us here.I'm Nisi Duran, and I hope today's conversation gives you something to smile about.
Welcome to the 24th episode of the One of a Kind podcast.This month, I am introducing a new episode format as an experiment.So please bear with me.These will be shorter episodes with just me discussing recent events.
I will be honest that I'm a little uncomfortable speaking by myself, but I'm learning to continue trying things because it often evolves into something unexpected.
This week, my own identity is at the forefront, where I share my thoughts on female leadership and Hispanic Heritage Month.You still have a few more weeks to go to lean into Hispanic culture, and I hope you find opportunities to do so.
I know there's always the food, but also consider supporting Hispanic owned businesses and enjoying Hispanic stories.As always, thank you for listening.
I've never done this before, but I have been encouraged to try a different format to increase the content that I'm producing.So let's see how this goes.Thanks for coming along on this journey. So I've had a couple of interesting weeks, I would say.
One of the things that's been on my mind a lot lately is female leadership and the lack thereof in certain industries and spaces.So a couple of things have happened.
First, I think most people that listen to the podcast are aware that Susan Wojcicki passed away from cancer a couple of weeks ago, and it hit me really hard.It hit a lot of the people that I worked with at YouTube and Google pretty hard as well.
and even just folks in broader tech industry.And I've been reflecting on why that's been the case.And I think it's because she was an example of someone who was a visionary leader.
but who was able to excel at the highest levels while still being really authentic to who she was.And she wasn't copying a classic executive leadership style, but really still embraced who she was as a woman in particular.
She was a mother and she would talk a lot about how does she balance her family life with her professional life and different choices that she made. That was on my mind, and then I was able to take my kids to see Alex Morgan retire.
She played for the San Diego Wave team, and she retired in part, I think, based on her announcement, because she's pregnant with her second child. And I don't want to make, I don't know her.
I don't want to make any assumptions as to how she quote, truly feels about this decision.
She said that she was at peace with it, but it did come to my mind that if she wasn't a woman and her family was growing, she may not have had to make the decision to retire at this specific point in time, um, as a trade-off between her career and growing her family.
And then I had a third experience where I was able to attend Kevin Durant's boardroom event that was in partnership with CNBC this past week.
And it was a one-day conference that brought together athletes, executives, and innovators into this space where we talked about what's happening in the sports industry as a business angle, and then also had opportunity to network with different folks.
And here's the thing. I don't love networking events, but I'm quote good at it in the sense of I can talk to almost anyone and I really enjoy people. So I'm not trying to say I'm an expert at networking.
However, I did speak to quite a few people and I didn't meet a single female startup founder when I was there.I saw folks walking around that had their name tags that said VC on them.Again, very male dominated.
And so I think the combination of these experiences with Susan Wojcicki passing away, Alex Morgan retiring, and then being at this really cool event that I was very fortunate to attend.
It was just this super strong reminder that women are still in the minority and a lot of these types of spaces.And I struggle with that.
I've had some experiences where in these professional settings, men feel that they can say whatever they want to me. And at the beginning, I would question and think, am I giving out some sort of energy that is welcoming this behavior?
Am I wearing something dressing in a certain way to give off a vibe that I don't want to be giving off?
And over time, what I've come to learn and process is that a lot of times when we're putting ourselves in spaces where people don't always look like us, we're gonna be uncomfortable.
Maybe because they're uncomfortable too, and they don't know how to navigate those interactions, or maybe because they're choosing to not be more accommodating when someone is different from them.
But what I'm pushing myself to decide is, what are the spaces that I wanna be in, be ready to potentially be uncomfortable, and think about how I wanna navigate those circumstances, because the answer is not to shy away from these spaces.
Susan didn't, right?She embraced the fact that she was one of the only female leaders in the tech space at the level that she was at.And I'm really inspired by that, even in these uncomfortable experiences that I've had.
So again, this is the first time I'm doing this.I'm just processing my feelings and seeing what comes out.But I think for me, It's been a lifelong lesson that we can't control other people's behaviors.We don't know what's going on for other folks.
And it's not just an appropriate behavior, but even just when people aren't necessarily an ally to women leaders and trying to make sure that we have a seat at the table.
But I think that I want to continue choosing places that I find joy and inspiration being in, even if I'm in the minority group in those experiences. wanted to share my thoughts on female leadership.
And the second thing I wanted to share is that it's the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.So tomorrow is Mexican Independence Day.And I'm going to be celebrating with friends and family.
And I've also been reflecting on why the older that I get, the more that I want to embrace my culture and my roots.And I think it's because the older that we get,
Hopefully we're becoming more comfortable with who we are and the choices that we've made in our lives, and we can make new, more affirmative choices of who we want to continue to be in the future.
And so given that for me, I've now shifted from a place of trying to assimilate to the majority culture and really just embracing the fact that I am who I am.I am unique, just like everybody else is.
And there is so much joy from being authentic and living the way that you want to truly live.And part of that for me is.
embracing my Mexican culture, sharing it with my friends who maybe aren't as familiar with my culture and teaching and passing it down to my children.
So here's a little plug for you to lean into who you are exactly and learn about your own culture, share it with others and just be who you are.I hope everyone has a great day. Thank you for listening to the One of a Kind podcast.
This show is edited by my brother from the very same mother, Jose Duran.We have more episodes on the way, so please check us out wherever you get your podcasts.
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