• Home
  • About
  • Events
    • Cali Consultants Brunch Series
    • Dance and Release Parties
    • National Civic Leadership Forum 2020
  • Services
  • Toolbox
    • Self-Care
  • Bookcase
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
  • Events
    • Cali Consultants Brunch Series
    • Dance and Release Parties
    • National Civic Leadership Forum 2020
  • Services
  • Toolbox
    • Self-Care
  • Bookcase
  • Blog
  • Contact
AdvancED Consulting, LLC
  • Home
  • About
  • Events
    • Cali Consultants Brunch Series
    • Dance and Release Parties
    • National Civic Leadership Forum 2020
  • Services
  • Toolbox
    • Self-Care
  • Bookcase
  • Blog
  • Contact

AdvancED on Purpose

An educational blog with purposeful content.

    ADVANCED ON PURPOSE

    An educational blog with purposeful content. We welcome open and polite dialogue, and expect any comments you leave to be respectful. Thanks!

    Interested in being a contributor to our blog? Submit a link to an example article via our Contact Form. Thanks!

    Archives

    November 2022
    November 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019

    Categories

    All
    Assessment
    Coronavirus (COVID 19)
    Coronavirus (COVID-19)
    Data Privacy
    Education
    Entrepreneur
    Financial Aid
    Goals + Planning
    Growth
    In The Spotlight
    Math
    Mindset
    Personal Development
    Recap
    Women

    RSS Feed

Back to Blog

Heal at 11:11, Heal for Life

5/27/2020

 
3 MIN READ
​
Picture
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Meredith Curry, Owner & Principal Consultant of AdvancED Consulting, LLC
mer @ advancedconsulting.org 
Over 20 Healers of Color From Across the Country Deliver Free Healing When It’s Needed Most

Heal in Solidarity: Starting on Saturday, June 6, 2020, AdvancED Consulting, LLC and Surrendered Healing, solo entrepreneur women of color from the Bay Area, will offer a Virtual #PopUpHealingCenter for free for seven afternoons straight.

What do we mean by healing? Well, does your heart hurt? Or your head? Does your bank hurt? Do any relationships hurt? Then you can use some healing! And this event has over 20 people ready to support your healing through movement, creativity, and mental enhancement.

​"11 is a 'master number' which signifies intuition, insight, and enlightenment. When paired together, 11 11 is a clear message from the universe to become conscious and aware" (truththeory.com).

This is why every day from Saturday, June 6 through Friday, June 12, “Transform Through Covid-19” will start at 11:11 am with a grounding meditation to start the day led by Surrendered Healing Founder and Spiritual Healer, Adelina Tancioco. Next will be three 20-minute sessions from healers of color from across the country representing the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Fort Washington, and the Bronx. Each day will end at 12:45 pm with 15 minutes of rhythmic movement led by Meredith Curry, Owner of AdvancED Consulting, LLC, and music by Shanta Franco-Clausen, a.k.a. DJ Shugga Shay. 

“Our work is sacred and so are we,” shares Tovi Scruggs-Hussein, Educational Leader & Healer with Tici’ess, Inc. in Oakland, CA who will lead a session called “$tackin' for Spirit: Keeping Your Money Conscious, Connected , and Courageous.”

We invite you to be a part of this virtual healing community by registering for “Transform Through Covid-19” and enjoying one day, or everyday of the week-long event. This is for you if:

  • You would love to create a daily routine of self care
  • You resonate with Healers of Color
  • You value wholistic healing
  • You appreciate a community of activists, healers, entrepreneurs, & other servers
  • You love having fun!

To learn more and register, go to www.advancedconsulting.org/pop-up-healing-center. Read the profiles of the event speakers and explore nearly two dozen sessions.

Fawad Akbar, Owner of Body Evolution in Newark, CA believes, “Two things define you. Your patience when you have nothing, your attitude when you have everything,” and he will share this with us in practice in his session “Full Body Workout with Body Evolution.”

“Transform Through Covid-19” is proud to partner with AAPI Women Lead founders Dr. Connie Wun and Jenny Wun who will lead a day of Healing & Solidarity. “What is meant for you cannot be unmeant for you,” shares Jenny who will lead a session with her sister called “Healing & Solidarity.”

The event also promotes a fundraiser to support the Liyang Network during COVID-19. 100% of contributions will go to services, resources, and supplies for the Lumad, the indigenous people of Mindanao, Philippines. “Lumad” means “native of the land” in Cebuano. In celebration of the Lumad and all Filipino cultures, there are healers offering sessions like "BAKS NAMAN! Self Care through Boxing;" "Dalawang Buslo, Two Baskets: Integrating Stress & Joy in the Present Moment;" and "Hilot Through Story."

​
For more information about Transform Through Covid-19: A Virtual #PopUpHealingCenter with 21 Healers of Color or to arrange an interview with the co-hosts Meredith Curry and Adelina Tancioco, please contact Meredith directly at mer@advancedconsulting.org.
###
Meredith “Mer” Curry is the Owner and Principal Consultant of AdvancED Consulting, LLC. Mer’s mission is to empower businesses striving to solve the world’s most complex issues through thought-partnership, education, and operational leadership. She also seeks to uplift organizations run by and/or actively promoting the betterment of hxstorically disadvantaged groups like minorities and womxn. Mer works with entrepreneurs, nonprofit and education organizations to increase capacity organization-wide. She works with their leaders and professionals to enhance fund development, board management, programming, data analysis, Salesforce, and general operations strategies and processes. For more information see www.advancedconsulting.org or follow Mer on LinkedIn and Facebook.
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

Holiday Last-Minute Gifts for Self & Others

12/16/2019

 
5 MIN READ
Picture

The holidays are here and gift-giving activities are fast approaching. You may be ahead of the game as I’ve tried to be in past years, or you could be way behind on your gift-getting as I happen to be this year. Wherever you are on your holiday shopping, one thing is almost always certain - you didn’t include the most important person on your list, YOURSELF. So in the spirit of last-minute holiday shopping, here are some tips and suggestions as you hastily make room in your bank account and your tree for presents for the loved ones in your life, which includes you.

Tip #1 Gift Yourself

This time of year can be filled with stress, grief, anxiety, and busy work. Consider giving yourself a self-care gift of time, rest, and relaxation. On my Self-Care page, you’ll find gifts like:

  • A pain relieving roll on by Sombra which I’ve bought for myself and given as gifts to colleagues and friends. We all swear by it! It’s warm and soothing like you’d expect from Salonpas or Icy Hot but the roll on makes it easy and mess-free to apply.
  • A meditation app by Calm which I’ve used for three years and recommend to loved ones, colleagues, and clients. You can try it for free before committing!
  • Online yoga and meditation videos by The Yoga Collective. A friend of mine gave me a gift of an annual pass and I continue to renew it because it fits my schedule and lifestyle. You can take online classes to Move, Connect, and Refresh, based on your level, with time increments of 5 to 60 minutes.
Picture
Tip #2 Buy a Book

With so much to learn and so many stories told, why don’t we take a break from binge-watching our favorite shows and pick up a book instead! Whether you prefer audio books, reading from your Kindle, or holding a bound copy in your hand, a good book can be the needed respite from a busy life and stressful activities.
​

In my Bookcase, you’ll find gifts like:

  • A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. "Joy is the dynamic aspect of Being. When the creative power of the universe becomes conscious of itself, it manifests as joy. You don't have to wait for something 'meaningful' to come into your life so that you can finally enjoy what you do. There is more meaning in joy that you will ever need. The 'waiting to start living' syndrome is one of the most common delusions of the unconscious state." 
  • Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang. "We now know that our resting brains and wandering minds are actually quite active. We know that the areas recruited during spontaneous cognition aren't hard-wired and fixed but evolve and grow and strengthen over time...And we're beginning to see how we can tap into and improve the resting brain's ability to help us generate insights, see novel connections, and make breakthroughs." 
  • Present Over Perfect: ​Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living by Shauna Niequist. "We all have these complicated tangles of belief and identity and narrative, and one of the early stories I told about myself is that my ability to get-it-done is what kept me around. I wasn't beautiful. I didn't have a special or delicate skill. But I could get stuff done, and it seemed to me that ability was my entrance into the rooms into which I wanted to be invited. I couldn't imagine a world of unconditional love or grace, where people simply enter into rooms because the door is open to everyone."

Books for the wonderful kids in your life include:
  • The Secret to Clara's Calm by Tamara Levitt
  • We are Inspiring: the stories of 32 Inspirational Asian American Women by Angel Trazo

Tip #3 Make Something From the Heart
​

Gone are the days when we could put our hands in some paint, stamp it on a card, write our name and “I love you!” next to it, and give that to a loved one as a gift. Or is it?

We underestimate the value of a thing or work made with our hands and minds, but it continues to be one of the most thoughtful, personal gifts that we can give to someone. Here are just a few examples of gifts that I’ve seen people give as gifts, consider what makes sense for you and try something out of your comfort zone!
Picture
  • Succulents. My partner Michael and my best friend’s mom Amvir are incredible at this!

  • They will find cool things like pots, decorations, or ceramics from local thrift stores like Goodwill or Savers, and then they’ll plant one or more succulents a week before.

  • As a special touch, consider including a short note on how to take care of it, like “Spray once weekly.”

Picture

Poetry, short story, or other writing. I’ve done this for my partner, my Mom, and friends over time.

​This can be a poem typed and framed, or a printed book of short writings. You don't have to write something new if you have pieces folks have never seen before, bring something out of your treasure chest and make it shine with pretty font on fresh paper!
​

Picture
Arts and crafts of any kind. When was the last time you’ve gone inside Michael’s or Joann’s?

My bestie Gina is a fantastic scrapbooker and she also makes dreamy ribbons and bows.

​My long-time friend Amparo (aka Apple) makes incredible gifts from the heart through crochet. If you check out
Apple’s Instagram you’ll get some great ideas for crocheting, or you can reach out to the queen yourself for a special order!

Tip #4 There is No Perfect Gift, Just Thoughtful Ones

At the end of the day, let’s try to remember that it isn’t about how much money you spend, or if you even expect a gift from this person in return. It’s about what makes you grateful for having this person in your life, and the most natural, cost-effective way for you to show her or him that gratitude.


To my Mother, my partner Michael, my grandma Trining, my cousins Janella, Melinda, Justin (may you rest in peace), Evita, Cristine & Mikey (and my second cousins Nate, Jon, and Lizzie), Cassandra & Matt, Dalton, Anna, my aunts and uncles Hedy & Ben, Hanny & Howard, Joel (aka Manoy), Elenore & Bernie, and family spread throughout the Philippines, US, Australia, and elsewhere, I’m thankful everyday to have you in my life and to be part of this beautiful, multi-cultural family! 

To my best friends Lara, Gina, Erin, Meo, Serei, SJ, Roy, Alerie & Rod, and friends all over the world, I’m grateful for you!

To my mentors Dwayne, Sr. Susan, Kevin, Elroy, and so many more that have touched my life, thank you for your wisdom, your well-intentioned feedback, your selfless coaching, and your positive vibes.

To you readers out there, I’m so thankful that you read whatever you read on my website, and I hope you have a blessed and joyful holiday season with your loved ones!

About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry​

Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
2 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

Defining Your Strengths as a Leader

10/28/2019

 
4 MIN READ
Picture
This article is the 1st in a series on "Breaking Knowledge Barriers".

This article is the 1st in a series on "Defining Your Strengths as a Leader"

​I have read my fair share of what some might term “self-help” books. I like to think of them as “self-awaken” books. The “help” part in “self-help” alludes to something being broken that needs fixing. What I appreciate about the books I’ve read since I was little, as well as today, is that self-awaken books point to the strengths, potential, and inner wisdom deep inside of us, already alive and ready, yet often untapped and tucked away hidden from sight. This wisdom manifests as skills and intuition, and I’m keen on developing my ability to tap this wisdom. Self-evaluation is critical for me as a leader, as a manager of teams and projects, and as a woman of color.

The Center for Creative Leadership reminds us in their report 7 Emerging Trends for Transformative Leaders that some managers may struggle with interpersonal relationships, affecting their ability to build and lead teams or adapt to change, which can lead to career derailment. To avoid this, “organizations must design programs that develop [managers’] self-awareness, political savviness, communication skills, and ability to influence others...skills that are essential to effectively heading a team.” 
In addition to reading self-awaken books (see my Bookcase for recommendations!) I’ve taken many different personal, career, and intelligence tests and assessments. Examples of assessments that executives and leaders should take are:


  • The Clifton StrengthsFinder
  • Emotional intelligence assessments
  • DiSC
  • ​Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Picture
As a professional, whether you are an employee of a company or an entrepreneur, understanding your strengths and skill sets is key to building the confidence, resourcefulness, and grit to adapt to any situation. As human beings who have way more going on than just our jobs, you can bet that your personal, educational, emotional, societal, cultural, economical, and religious identities are often at play when you negotiate professional situations.

​Most of us do not know how these identities manifest themselves in our decisions, risk tolerance, and self-reliance. Most of us have comrades and loved ones we can turn to for advice and feedback, but our hearing is often screening and interpreting with the bias of that relationship and all of its power dynamics. So why take a personality assessment? Because we often don’t know the questions to ask. And even if we did, would we really answer honestly, free of unconscious bias, shame, guilt, regret, or fear?
Define Your Strengths as a Leader Activity
Take out a pad of post-its, ideally in two different colors (e.g. green and yellow). Find a blank wall or space where you can lay out two sets of post-its and set aside a total of one hour.
​
  1. Consider your Strengths and select one color of post-its, for example yellow. Take 5 minutes to write one strength on each yellow post-it, for example: detail-oriented, no ego, organized, I enjoy working people and they enjoy working with me.
  2. Consider your Challenges and use the other color of post-its, for example green. Take 5 minutes to write one challenge on each green post-it, for example: perfectionism, over-thinking, always looking at the clock, second-guessing myself, judgmental.
  3. After the 10 minutes of writing, take a 30-minute break like go for a walk or watch a show or listen to several songs of your favorite music.
  4. Then come back to your two lists, review them, and give yourself 10 minutes to reflect and write down ONE goal for the next 7 days on either a Strength that you would like to deepen or a Challenge that you want to work on.

We know from the Council of National Psychological Associations for the Advancement of Ethnic Minority Interests “Test bias is a primary issue of selecting and using testing and assessment instruments with racial/ethnic minority groups. Past research has shown that tests can produce misleading results with culturally different groups in terms of slope and intercept (or unfairness) bias.” Thus, if you are a person of color, you will need an assessment that will address and consider this intersection of your identity, as well as many others, if you are to feel good about doing anything at all with the results.
​

I’d like to give you a review of a few assessments because, 1) I have taken them in more than one sitting or format, and 2) I have heard from and worked with others who have taken one or a combination of assessments as part of developing themselves professionally at work. I have written a separate blog post for each assessment in this "Defining Your Strengths as a Leader" series. Click here to go to Assessment #1 on DiSC.

Related articles
  • Article 1: Defining Your Strengths as a Leader Series
  • Article 2: Defining Your Strengths as a Leader Series: #1 Defining Your Strengths with DiSC
  • Article 3: Defining Your Strengths as a Leader Series: #2 Defining Your Emotional Intelligence Strengths
  • Article 4: Defining Your Strengths as a Leader Series: #3 Ranking Your Strengths with Gallup StrengthsFinder (stay tuned!)
  • Article 5: Defining Your Strengths as a Leader Series: #2 Defining Your Personality Style with Myers-Briggs (stay tuned!)

About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry

Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #4 Finish Strong. Start Fresh.

10/7/2019

 
4 MIN READ
Picture
This article is the 5th and final one in a series. Read the introduction article:
​ "Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color ​in the Workplace."

​If you Acknowledge who you are, Accept the strengths and challenges in front of you, and develop a risk tolerance to Adapt to situations as they come, you’re in a pretty good place. But let’s go back to the first question that I had to ask myself - What Can I Give Up? This is why I say, Finish Strong. Finish whatever is holding you back with strength. This might be just what you need to move forward on something else. Be intentional about finishing whatever it is, and focus on ending it with a lesson to validate the effort. ​
Picture
And then, Start Fresh. Whatever it is you do next, let it be unencumbered by prior failures, even if they are now Strong Finishes. Start with fresh eyes. Start with fresh enthusiasm. Start with a fresh you. Start the next adventure fresh without any shame holding you back. Two goals as you Start Fresh are to learn your pace and method to Break Things Down and develop the inner strength, self-reliance, and community to Back Yourself Up.​

Break Things Down like a developer by figuring out the Owner, Size, and Priority of the work, question, or goal. If you want to let go of excel
spreadsheets and trade them in for Quickbooks Self-Employed or something: 
  • Who is the right person to lead that work (it may not have to be you!)? 
  • How much work is that really going to take (size small or medium or large)? 
  • How priority is this over everything else that’s on the plate of the person that will own this (due this week or next quarter)?

​Once you know the owner, size, and the priority of this project you want to START, you can rumble with vulnerability as the great Brené Brown advises in Dare to Lead. You can let go of the need for this project to look and feel a certain way if you’re going to delegate it. You can let go of the anxiety of thinking about it right now if you know it’s not going to come up again for several weeks. I bet you will also realize that you have mad delegation and prioritization skills as well!
Picture

​Lastly, Back Yourself Up by building a strong bench of people that you can rely on to support you. If you can set up a formal advisory or committee, awesome. If you can find a mentor, wonderful. If you can join a community like a local commission or network like the Women’s Networking Alliance or the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute, way to step it up! The most important part is getting positive reinforcement and honest guidance from outside of yourself, while also building your inner monologue of positive vibes and affirmations. And whenever possible, build a diverse bench. It should have people that look like you and people that don’t look like you. It should have people that will agree with you on some things and people who will disagree with you on some things. Stack your bench with people who will look out for your best interest, which is not the same as Yes-people.
Picture
AdvancED Activity
Here are just a few of my favorite affirmations I’ve been sharing lately. Want some more? Contact me, I’ve got dozens!! Find the two or three quotes you like most and either 1) put them on your wall near your work space, 2) put them in your email signature so you can share with the world, 3) share the quote with someone else, or 4) any combination of these options.
  • "Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it." ~ Brené Brown
  • "Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be, how much you can love, what you can accomplish, and what your potential is." ~ Anne Frank
  • "I say if I'm beautiful. I say if I'm strong. You will not determine my story--I will." ~ Amy Schumer
  • "The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who's going to stop me." ~ Ayn Rand
  • "You can't be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute." ~ Tina Fey
  • "Great people do things before they're ready. They do things before they know they can do it." ~ Amy Poehler
Picture

You now have all of the strategies you need to begin to tackle any knowledge barriers or general challenges you may have face as a woman in business, education, law, medicine, etc. You already have the will and the grit to move forward; you only need to take the first step. Know that I believe in you and that I am taking those steps with you.

Sincerely,

Mer


​Related articles
  • Article 1: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace.
  • Article 2: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #1 Practice Mindfulness.
  • Article 3: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #2 Roll Call! Identify Yourself.
  • Article 4: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #3 Acknowledge. Accept. Adapt.
  • Article 5: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #4 Finish Strong. Start Fresh.

About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry

Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #3 Acknowledge. Accept. Adapt.

10/3/2019

 
3 MIN 30 SEC READ
Picture
This article is the 4th in a series. Read the introduction article:
​ "Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color ​in the Workplace."

​How many of us are still making decisions today because of something that happened a month ago? A failure a year ago? A mistake or misjudgment a relationship ago? 

Instead, I recommend, “Be open to learning new lessons, even if they contradict the lessons you learned yesterday.” Our intersections, our identities, are chock full of lessons we learned yesterday that we are still holding onto. They might be holding us back and we may mistakenly think they’re pushing us forward.

​​ACKNOWLEDGE who you are, how your identities intersect and play out in your everyday. How your heritage/history, education, geography, and income all impact the access you have to the knowledge you seek today. You acknowledge that the path behind you and in front of you is rife with challenges and misjudgment and misunderstanding. So who are YOU today, and what strengths and skills do you have in your toolbox to move forward from this moment?
​ACCEPT who you are, as opposed to constantly undermine yourself, tell yourself you’re undeserving, or convince yourself you have to just because someone else said so. Remember that it took the whole universe to get you to this place, for you to be who you are, living a life only you can live. You are wonderful. You are perfect just as you are. And even so, you will make mistakes and you will experience failure. It is human and it allows us to grow. Authenticity matters and it counts a lot these days. By accepting your strengths and weaknesses and separating what is history from what is right now, you are more likely to give your most authentic self in your work and personal life. So how do we truly get to know our strengths, in a way that isn’t clouded by our biases and self-judgments?

​I like to recommend either the 
StrengthsFinder by Gallup or the DiSC Assessment. Regardless what assessment you take, the recommendation I have for you is to ask yourself the types of questions you’re likely not asking yourself. 
Picture
That is to ask yourself what are you GOOD at, what are your strengths, and how does that play out in your life. Conversely, what does it look like when you are not applying those strengths in your life, and how do they manifest as fears or you getting in your own way or your unhappiness?
Picture

​AdvancED Activity
Pick one of these assessments, or another assessment that you have access to (check your local library!). Take it in one sitting and ask yourself, do any of the results surprise me? Which results do I agree with the most? Which strengths am I actively using in my current role?
Picture
ADAPT by starting from a place of strength in the knowledge of who you are and gratitude for all that you have ACHIEVED to get to this moment, rather than shame or regret. There’s a TED Talk on the 5 Top Indicators for Startup Success by Bill Gross with Idealab, and chief of them is Timing, followed by Team, Idea, Business Model, and Funding. What this tells us is that Timing is the largest factor in the success of any business, so it behooves you to always be present, open-minded, and have a fresh perspective and confidence to tackle whatever comes, when it decides to come, because we have very little control over timing. RECALL YOUR STRENGTHS and let them nourish and remind you that you can do it, whatever IT is, when the time comes.

Now it's time for you to finish strong and start fresh, and we teach you how to do this with our final strategy. Click here to go to Strategy #4.

Related articles
  • Article 1: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace.
  • Article 2: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #1 Practice Mindfulness.
  • Article 3: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #2 Roll Call! Identify Yourself.
  • Article 4: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #3 Acknowledge. Accept. Adapt.
  • Article 5: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #4 Finish Strong. Start Fresh.

About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry

Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
2 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #2 Roll Call! Identify Yourself.

9/27/2019

 
2 MIN READ
Picture
This article is the 3rd in a series. Read the introduction article:
​ "Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color ​in the Workplace."

​No matter how old we are, how successful we are, how much we’ve achieved, who loves us and who is loved by us, there are challenges that we still face as individuals. I believe that our experiences and identities can tell us a lot about WHY.
Identity Intersections explore how issues of race, sexual orientation, and mental health intersect with one another (Psychology Today). We are unique in how we identify with our identities, and how those intersect to create our experience, value systems, and personalities. 


It is healthy and critical to acknowledge and accept your intersections as contributing factors to your success as well as challenges. It is valuable and worth your energy to assess how these play out in your decision making, management, and principles. Often, we don’t even realize that our intersections bias our perceptions not just of others, but ourselves and what we are capable of or deserving of. The two images below offer a few combinations of identities that you can reflect on
Picture

​AdvancED Activity
Step 1: Pick one or two of the identities in the images below.
​
Step 2: Ask yourself, how do you identify, and how does that manifest in your personal and professional life? 

​
​For example, consider how your Education, Ability, Age, Language, Occupation, Religion, Family Status, or Geographic Location impact how you perceive your challenges, search for and ask for help, and reach or stretch beyond what you know and are willing to do every day.
Picture
Picture

Photo Credits:
Image 1 - https://www.clydefitchreport.com/2015/02/tulpa-and-anneme-to-encanta-shawn-harris/
Image 2 - https://jaxsonglobalhealth.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/intersectionality-perspective/
​
Please understand that the outcomes of this strategy will vary depending on the person as we are all different. It is important to take what you need and let go of what you do not. Throughout your life journey, your Identities Map may look a little different given that you will change. You may have to re-identify yourself and that is just fine because change is inevitable. This next strategy in this series will help you embrace it.

Related articles
  • Article 1: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace.
  • Article 2: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #1 Practice Mindfulness.
  • Article 3: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #2 Roll Call! Identify Yourself.
  • Article 4: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #3 Acknowledge. Accept. Adapt.
  • Article 5: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #4 Finish Strong. Start Fresh.

About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry

Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
1 Comment
Read More
Back to Blog

Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #1 Practice Mindfulness

9/26/2019

 
2 MIN READ
Picture
This article is the 2nd in a series. Read the introduction article:
"Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color ​in the Workplace."
The Journal of Positive Psychology published a study in June showing that 15 minutes of meditation has the same effects as a full day of vacation.
​
One step into a mindfulness or meditation practice is to practice breathing exercises. Mindful breathing is an incredible, free, readily accessible tool to help you recall the strategies I share with you throughout my Blog.. Next time you’re facing your shame, take some deep breaths. When you have a small win to celebrate, take some deep breaths. Appreciate who you are. Take a precious moment for yourself. 

Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing aka Belly Breathing or Abdominal Breathing. As part of meditation practice, breathing exercises are known to help manage the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, depression and anxiety, sleeplessness, and more. Breathing leads to a CALM MIND, and with a calm mind, you are more equipped to respond with authenticity, armed with your natural strengths and intuition. ​
Picture
Picture
​Additional Benefits:
​
  • Lowers your heart rate
  • Lowers your stress levels
  • Reduces your blood pressure
  • Helps you cope with the symptoms of PTSD
  • Lowers chances of injury
Lastly, another benefit of breathing and lowering your heart rate and stress levels, is so that you can activate KINDNESS more. More for yourself. More for others. More for the world. 

Consider a free app like UCLA Mindful by the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute (recently highlighted in LA Times!).
Picture

​AdvancED Breathing Activity
Please take three deep breaths now to reground and feel gratitude for taking care of your own needs today. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth three times.
"Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges." ~ Bryant McGill
Now that you have learned how to relax and be mindful, you will have enough energy to pursue Strategy #2 on Identifying Yourself. Trust, it is never easy to look at "the [womxn] in the mirror."

Related articles
  • Article 1: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace.
  • Article 2: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #1 Practice Mindfulness.
  • Article 3: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #2 Roll Call! Identify Yourself.
  • Article 4: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #3 Acknowledge. Accept. Adapt.
  • Article 5: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #4 Finish Strong. Start Fresh.
​

About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry

Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace

9/24/2019

 
5 MIN READ
Picture
This article is the 1st in a series on "Breaking Knowledge Barriers".

I have had the opportunity to work for some amazing visionaries and leaders in Southern and Northern California. I landed some of my first jobs out of college thanks to the help of staffing agencies who liked that I could type over 100 words per minute, knew ten-key, had loads of customer service experience, and was visibly eager to make a difference somewhere. As I grew in skills, roles, and responsibilities, I watched myself stretch and reveled in the expansion that can only happen when you’re granted the opportunities to. My supervisors were pretty good at spotting my drive, resilience, growth mindset, risk tolerance, and desire to learn as much as I could. After being an Executive Assistant, Office Manager, Accounting Coordinator, Program Specialist, Grant Writer, and then Executive Director, I found my passion and strengths as an operations executive. With that passion, I helped start a statewide nonprofit that supports over 15% of California’s public 6th-12th graders with college and career planning tools, and I’ve consulted with multiple nonprofits and leaders to help them achieve their visions.

The moral of this short story for me is that every step of the way, when I had the opportunity to bet on myself, I did and often, I won. What I skipped in the story are the massive mistakes, failures, misperceptions, wrong assumptions, and poor leadership that I had to struggle through in order to get new roles, take on new responsibilities, and absorb new skills. If this sounds anything like your own journey, then perhaps like me, you also had to navigate strong bouts of insecurity, depression, loneliness, codependency, nagging self-doubt, and creeping suspicion of everyone and everything. If this sounds like you, then I invite you to keep reading.
Picture


​"What Can I Give Up?"

Eventually I, like many of you, reached a breaking point. I was no longer effective at work or at home. My negative-nancy-monkey-mind was on full blast during my waking hours which flooded into my half-awake-half-asleep hours. I was a living, breathing, ball of anxiety and I couldn’t find joy in the simple things. So when a best friend recommended I try the Calm app to help me start a mindfulness meditation practice, I was all open heart and open mind because I had had enough of the suffering.

After trying the Calm app on and off for a few days, it turned into weeks. The ability to track my progress as “streaks” aimed right at my overachiever heart and weeks turned into months. My longest streak of meditating every single day (often multiple times a day) was 601 days. I’ve since restarted my streak and look forward to caring less and less about the number. 

​So what did I get out of this practice? What do I still get out of it that keeps me coming back to the cushion every morning before work, sometimes in the shower, often in bed to help me sleep? Because it helped me get to the first question that I really needed to ask myself - “What Can I Give Up?” If I don’t like what I’m feeling, if I know I’m the only one that can do anything about it, then what do I have to give up to start feeling some relief? The answers came slowly at first.
Picture
They sounded like:
  • My need to achieve.
  • My desire for praise.
  • My constant striving.
  • My fear of disappointing.
  • My need to DO.

And then they grew into:
  • My need to always know what’s going on.
  • My need to know many things across many subjects.
  • My need to know what people think about me.
  • My need to KNOW.
Until finally, they reverberated in my heart and soul into a thundering:
  • I need to give up my need to be anything other than who I am, right now, in this very moment.
  • I need to give up my need for something more than what I have, when I have so much to be grateful for, right now, in this place, as I am in this very moment.

Hearing myself tell myself what I needed was so powerful, I still shiver just thinking about it.
Picture
"What Can I Give Up" Activity
Check out my “What Can I Give Up?” Activity that I often share with my clients to help them figure out how to let go of certain things holding them back in their lives. I show a personal example of my use of SMART Goals to create actionable steps towards giving up a specific habit. Included is a free printable for you to do the activity as well. Enjoy!

​Do you watch Parks and Recreation? If so, then this moment of realization for me was like Leslie Knope owning, “I am big enough to admit I am often inspired by myself.” In this moment of telling myself that I was enough, that I didn’t need to be anything more, that I wasn’t something broken that needed fixing, I tuned into who I was again - someone with love and compassion who can inspire the best in others. I had just gone so long without aiming my strengths at myself. 

I continue to learn from this lesson, to break it up into smaller chunks, to dig deep into the nuances of my needs. I have some take-aways that I want to share with you as strategies for leadership development and self-care. This is aimed at entrepreneurs, managers, and those who run businesses, teams, and projects. But really, these strategies are relevant to anyone who is struggling with a leadership challenge in their personal or professional life. I have written a separate blog post for each strategy in this "Breaking Knowledge Barriers" series. Click here to go to Strategy #1 on Practicing Mindfulness.

Related articles
  • Article 1: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace.
  • Article 2: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #1 Practice Mindfulness.
  • Article 3: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #2 Roll Call! Identify Yourself.
  • Article 4: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #3 Acknowledge. Accept. Adapt.
  • Article 5: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #4 Finish Strong. Start Fresh.
​

About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry

Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
0 Comments
Read More
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from CityofStPete