Episode Notes

Season 3 officially kicks off with a special premiere episode! Our incredible hosts Zach and Ade spend some time catching up and talking about what they did over the holidays, and they also chat about a few things to get excited for in the upcoming season. More features, more profiles, more highlights – there’s a lot to look forward to in the future! This show’s a two-in-one, so be sure to listen to the whole episode. Ade graciously shares some very impactful content that she recorded themed around her career journey and eventual job offer, so you don’t want to miss it.

Click here to read the piece Zach mentioned titled “Democracy Grief is Real.”

TRANSCRIPT

Zach: Yearrrrrp. What’s going on, everybody? It’s Season–oh, my gosh. 1, 2… Season 3.

A ghost: Sure is.

Zach: More fire for your head top, and welcome back. Is that a ghost? Is that–

A ghost: [whispering] “From the past, from the past, from the past…”

Zach: From the past? Oh, my gosh. Y’all, welcome back Ade.

[kids applause, then our hosts imitate air horns]

Zach: Man, wow. Listen, it is 2020. It’s 2020. Isn’t that nuts? It’s 2020. You know, I definitely want to say though, you know, I’ve missed you. Y’all know. Y’all have probably noticed that Ade has not been in the podcast regularly, hasn’t been around, you know. Breaking my heart quite frankly, you know what I’m saying? I cried. You know? I was sad.

Ade: [laughing] Like… okay. All right, sir.

Zach: I’m just thankful. I’m happy that you’re here, you know? Season 3 is gonna be crazy, right? We have a lot of stuff going on. We have, you know, More profiles and highlights from, you know, different companies. You know, we’ve had Accenture on, we’ve had the Coalition of Black Excellence on. We got some other conversations and things that we’re cooking up, but nothing to share just yet, you know? We are working on a book. That’s right, that’s right. More to come on that later, but I’m just kind of throwing some teasers out there. We’ve got some other media that we’re gonna be experimenting with this year. I’m really excited about that. And then, you know, we’ve got–what else, man? We’ve got, you know, Ade’s–I’m not gonna step on Ade. So she has some content that we’re gonna get into that she recorded as she gets into the next stage of her professional career and journey, but I’ma give her space to talk about that in a second. Before we go there though, let’s talk about the holiday season. What did you do?

Ade: Oh, God. What did I do? I–uh, I slept.

Zach: Turn up.

Ade: I ate.

Zach: Yeah.

Ade: And I twisted my ankle.

Zach: How?

Ade: I don’t even want to get into it. [both laugh]

Zach: Oh, no. [laughing] Okay. Um…

Ade: The point remains. I survived. I survived the holiday season. I spent some time with my loved ones. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned my nephews on here before, but I have two nephews, one who loves me and one [who] hates me. But, you know, thanks be to God. The one who hates me now loves me and he wants to spend time with me on a regular basis now.

Zach: Children are a fickle beast, man.

Ade: They are so terrible. They are unruly, and they are tyrants. [both laughing] But we love them anyway.

Zach: Man, we do. I have a nephew. He is adorable. Goodness, gracious. He’s adorable, but it’s like–and I just realized I guess I should go ahead and drop the news. Sheesh, I’m talking about kids. Well, first of all, let me say this first. So I have a nephew. He is adorable. But he’s a boy, right? And if I just–he’s just gonna get away with everything if I babysit him ’cause he’s just too cute, but he’s mischievious. Like, he’s a cute little mischievious kid, but I’m just not–and I’m just not tough enough, ’cause he’s too cute. He’s too cute, you know? Now, if y’all have ugly kids, like, bring ’em over. I’ll be a great disciplinarian. But if your kid’s cute–

Ade: What?!

[record scratch sfx]

Zach: [laughing] Nah, ain’t no such thing as ugly kids. Children are a blessing, and it’s awesome, and actually it’s with that in mind, you know, I actually have some news, you know what I’m saying, I’d like to share. You know, if anybody follows me on Instagram–which y’all don’t, ’cause my follower count is not that booming like that and I haven’t posted on Living Corporate, but my wife and I are expecting our first child.

Ade: Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Zach: A little girl. Very excited, you know what I’m saying? [ow sfx]

Ade: You know, I just wanted to say that Ade makes a really great first name for baby girls. I’m just saying. Putting it out there.

Zach: [inhales, then plays a laughing sound effect]

Ade: Whoa! [both laughing] Whoa, what’s with the personal attacks? Like…

Zach: Oh, my gosh. Shout-out to my wife, my spouse, my queen, my rib, you know what I’m saying, Candis. Doing all the hard work, you know? I–you know, listen… I put in the work, you know what I mean, but I’m not really carrying the load, you know what I’m saying? So air horns for her. [air horns sfx] You know what I’m saying? Just really appreciate her. You said you ate, but you talked about some food–so what did you eat? Like, what was your favorite thing?

Ade: God, that’s a good question. I absolutely could go back in, like, my memory bank and take a look at these photos that I took of my [?] plates.

Zach: All right. Pull those up, ’cause I know for me–like, and shout-out to my grandmother-in-law. She made all types of vittles. They were delicious. [Ade laughs, making Zach laugh] And shout-out to my wife–

Ade: Did you just say vittles?

Zach: I did say vittles. I’m trying to bring vittles back in 2020.

Ade: Why are you so old?

Zach: Think about the last time–like, we have not, our parents have not, perhaps our grandparents are the last generation that use the word vittles casually.

Ade: Right, and I think that’s for good reason and we should leave that term there.

Zach: It’s SO old. Vittles, dawg? It’s so, so, so, SO old.

Ade: Kind of like you. We know.

Zach: Kind of like me, that’s right. I’m a whole 30 out here.

Ade: That’s wild.

Zach: I know, right? ‘Cause you just turned, like, 19.

Ade: …Um, first of all, 16, thank you very much.

Zach: [laughs] No, not 16. Nope, nope, nope. There’s no creep life around here. Nope, you are 24, right? Or 25?

Ade: I am 25.

Zach: Congratulations on turning 25.

Ade: 25.

Zach: I was gonna say–I was in the middle of my shout-outs and my thanks before you rudely called me old. So my grandmother-in-law and then my wife made some incredible bread pudding. She made bread pudding with crossiants and then didn’t use buttermilk for the cream, instead used–what’d she use? Egg nog just because she ran out of butter and was like, “Eh, it’s kind of the same.” That egg nog was HITTING. I said, “Yo, what is this?” I mean, it got ate up. Shout-out to my sister-in-law Holly. She made some incredible mac ‘n cheese. And Holly–listen, man, shout-out to Holly, man. She is cool people. Sister-in-law, you know? I definitely consider her a Bucky, you know what I’m saying, in this space of allyship and war and fighting for equity and justice for underrepresented people. And you know how I know Holly is an ally? And I haven’t told her this, so if she listens to this podcast it’ll be her first time hearing this. [Ade laughs] I knew that she was an ally–first of all she’s an ally off top, ’cause, I mean, come on. She’s been down. She’s been doing this. But a reminder of her allyship–’cause this is not the determinant, ’cause she’s be an ally off of a bunch of other stuff–a reminder of her allyship, she was making macaroni and cheese, and she baked the macaroni and cheese, and I said, “I knew it, dawg. I knew it.”

Ade: [laughs] I…

Zach: No, let me tell you something. She has never–she has yet to let me down. She holds it down, bro. She holds it down.

Ade: You are so incredibly canceled. I can’t.

Zach: [laughing] Shout-out to Holly, my sister-in-law. Shout-out to all of my allies out there. And if you call yourself an ally and you’re not baking your macaroni and cheese, you are not an ally, dawg.

Ade: We don’t know you in these streets.

Zach: We do not know you in these streets if you do not bake your macaroni and cheese. Bake it. It is not done until it’s baked.

Ade: Because I don’t–what are you doing? You are serving undercooked food.

Zach: What are you doing here? What are you doing here? You’re giving me these wet, hot noodles? Bake it.

Ade: That don’t even sound right.

Zach: It don’t. How something wet hot–come on, relax. So anyway, but man, let me tell you something. The highlight, from a cuisine perspective, was when my uncle Marvin brought in these pecan candies. My goodness. Listen, I said [blessings come in sfx]. Boy, the bless–boy, ooh. Too good.

Ade: [laughing] What is your problem? Man.

Zach: Bro. Man, let me tell you something. And everybody got their own little bag. Handed me that bag, I said [Kawhi what it do baby sfx, laughing]

Ade: All right. So you are just starting 2020 off on all types of foolishness. All right, heard you.

Zach: Listen, man, I’m over here–I’m so excited, ’cause you ain’t been around for a while, but see, since you’ve been gone, we’ve been using this soundboard. And I’ma share the soundboard–

Ade: I can tell.

Zach: Oh, listen. The soundboard is heat rock. [owww sfx] You know? I just really enjoy it quite a bit. So let me think about this. You still haven’t talked about the food that you ate.

Ade: Oh, yeah. I have been really on, like, a smoky kick lately, so I had, like–I made macaroni and cheese but with all smoked cheeses, and it was just–

Zach: ‘Cause you like cheese like that. We talked about this. Like, were you just introduced to cheese recently?

Ade: Yes, I was very, very recently, like a year ago, introduced to cheese. I have discovered that I’m still quite lactose intolerant. Like, my ancestors were not with the lactose tip, but you know what? I’ma take my chances. I had my smoked mac ‘n cheese, and I had it with the best collard greens I’ve ever made in all of my life. When I drizzled that little bit of just maple syrup right on it with that smoked turkey stock, I was just kind of like…

Zach: Goodness, gracious!

Ade: God loves me.

Zach: Oh, He does. That’s true.

Ade: Like, this is–this is proof of the existence of the divine, and that dude loves me–or dudette, you know? Non-binary–

Zach: Yes. You know, it’s funny because, you know, you and I are sitting here, right? It was a crazy year. A lot of stuff going on. You know, things that we can share in time throughout Season 3. We’re talking about physical health, mental health, emotional health, financial health, right? Career personal or professional development. It’s interesting because, like–I don’t know, man, and I’m kind of jumping all around ’cause I’m so excited. I’m excited for you to be here, but I’m excited just to, like, kick off this season, and so, like, this is, like, a loosey–like, we don’t have a formatted, you know, interview or anything like that. We’re just chopping it up, welcoming Ade back all the way, but I don’t know, man. It’s just been a lot, and it’s just interesting because we were creating content for Living Corporate, and at the same time we were–you know, it was helping us while we were helping other people, you know what I’m saying? So let’s do this. Like we said before, you have something that you already had, like, created and recorded that I think would be really helpful for us to put in on this episode, so why don’t we talk a little bit about that and then we’ll transition to that?

Ade: Awesome.

Zach: So talk to me about, like, what was it? Like, I know we talked about–like, your journey, you’ve had some updates in your life and what you’ve been doing professionally and personally. Like, what was it that we’re gonna be listening to in a minute?

Ade: Yep. I’m just gonna take a sip of my mimosa, because I just feel really good about where I am right now spiritually, so…

Zach: There you go.

Ade: [clears throat] La la la la. All right, y’all. So your girl is officially a junior software engineer. [champagne popping sfx] Pop! [laughs] Yeah, no. I started my new position as a junior software engineer, and it’s honestly been surreal, my entire experience. I applied for a job, got a call back almost instantaneously. So I made it through the first call, the phone screening with the recruiter, and then I had a technical interview, and then I had an in-person interview that was also sort of technical, and then I had a job offer. And all of that took the span of a week and a half. I literally applied to the job on a Wednesday. The Friday after that–like, the week after that, on Friday, I had the job offer in my hand, and I actually had a competing job offer to move to Boston at the time. So it was–it honestly was an incredibly surreal experience. I went from there were days I would literally wake up to, like, five, six, seven, eight letters of rejection in my email first thing in the morning, and I would like to kind of explore a little bit further the toll that job searching takes on your mental health, because there’s–there were certainly days when I would literally just feel dejected. In a society where you are kind of graded–not just graded, your worth is judged off of, you know, in relation to you and relation to your humanity, how much are you worth within a capitalistic system? And my job at the time was incredibly toxic. I felt dejected pretty much every single day waking up, but that wasn’t the end of it, and I am so glad it wasn’t. And it was, you know, thanks to people like you, people like my best friend Kendall, people like Liz, who really, like, affirmed me, because I have a tendency to internalize situations and, you know, look for ways in which these things were my fault. And I remember even having a conversation with Liz where she literally said, “These are all symptoms of an emotionally abusive relationship,” and I’m like, “How do you have an emotionally abusive relationship with your job?” [laughs] But that’s entirely real. It’s a real thing, and just being able to step back from all of that and literally, like, wash my hands off at the end of the year and never have to speak to those people again or never have to be in a situation in which I feel as though I’m compromising my mental health for the sake of I have to take care of my family and I have to protect what’s mine… yeah, you guys are gonna hear a whole lot more of that as the episode continues, but I’m nothing short of eternally grateful for the fact that 2019 is over, but it’s over and I took it like a G.

Zach: Yo, and shout-out to you for that. [both laugh] Yo, 2019 was hard.

Ade: 2019 whooped my ass, okay? But you know what? I whooped it back.

Zach: Listen, 2019 was–2019 was coming from your boy’s neck, okay? It was like, “We’re coming for you, sucka.” It’s like, “My gosh, leave me alone, 2019. What y’all doing?” But you’re right though, and you know what? Look, it’s a new year.

Ade: Yep. New me.

Zach: Yeah, it’s a new year. New spaces, new mindsets. You know, new opportunities and just space to reset and really get bcak on it, right? Like, I’m hoping that most of us were able to take some time away for the holidays so we could come back at least somewhat refreshed for a new year, a new decade. You know, a lot of people have been saying new decade and stuff, but let’s just take every day as a blessing that it’s a new day, right? Like, you may not see 2030, right? But you have–if you’re listening to this right now, you have this day today. And so just being excited about that. Let’s see here. We’re gonna transition over there. Before we do that, Ade, is there anything else that we need to talk about?

Ade: I do want to make a quick note about–so we’re currently in a time of upheaval. I’m not gonna make too much reference to that, I just want to kind of make the point–well, two points, one that we don’t lose sight of humanity as a whole in trying to protect our daily reality, and two that you don’t let whatever’s happening in the news cycle sway you off of the intentions that you’ve set for this year. You set those intentions for a reason. You set those goals, whatever that you did, for a reason, and hopefully you are recognizing all the ways in which the news cycle could be causing any number of anxious or negative thoughts or anything like that, but I do want you to be able to step back, and by you I mean the entire Living Corporate family. Be able to recognize when you are stuck in a feedback loop of negative thoughts, negative news, negative content, and kind of find your way back to your center, because as long as there is a world out there, there is always going to be negativity to feed into, but don’t let your 2020 start off with that. We literally just kicked 2019’s butt. 2020, let’s focus more on our communities. Let’s focus on our mental health and smashing our goals.

Zach: Yo, amen to that, you know what I’m saying? Like, I super agree. [Ade snapping in the background, laughing] And, you know, I think what you’re speaking to also is, like–so you talked about upheaval. That reminds me of two things. One, I just read this article–and I’ll put it in the show notes–called Democracy Grief is Real, and it’s an opinion piece from the New York Times, which is, like–we can talk about the New York Times at a separate time, but this particular piece was very good, and just talking about the toll, the mental and emotional toll, that the world’s events has taken on you. Like, just being more and more aware of, like, systemic injustices, oppression and, like, blatant unethical behaviors, like, just the impact that it has on you just living, right? Just you seeing that, what does it do to you? And I think, you know, to that point, like, I’m really excited because this season, we’re gonna be talking about real structural inequity. We’re gonna be talking about–like, we’re really gonna be calling out white supremacy and patriarchy and privilege and access and holding people, institutions of power, to account when it comes to how they can better support and create more equitable places for black and brown folks, for underrrepresented folks, for non- straight white able-bodied men to work and to exist and to live, you know? I think 2020 is gonna be a really interesting decade in that you have, like–I think that there’s a certain level of consciousness that, like, people are waking up to. I don’t think there’s gonna be some great revival or anything like that, so don’t misquote me, but I do think that, like, certain things are coming to a head. I do think that, like, when you talk about diversity, equity and inclusion work, there just is gonna be less and less space for, like, the corporatized, white-washed talk tracks that we typically hear. I think that–I just don’t see those things surviving. I think that, like, technology and just access is changing for black and brown folks to the point where–and this generation, like, they’re just not gonna stay. Like, they’re just not gonna stay and put up with being mistreated. And we’ve seen it already. Like, we’ve seen it. First of all, this is not a new phenomenon. We’ve seen this since–we’ve seen this from the jump, for black folks at least, but just for all oppressed groups in America, eventually there’s going to be resistance, and I just think that that’s bubbling up into these very, like, corporate spaces too, and so I’m excited because some of the guests that we have this season are really gonna be getting into that, really giving, like, really honest and approachable at the same time advice on what leaders can be doing to either disrupt or dismantle systems that have historically disadvantaged black and brown folks, underrepresented folks, and I’m just really excited about that. Like, we had a few people hit me up last season, Ade, like, kind of salty about, like, the content.

Ade: Really?

Zach: Yeah, just a little bit. Like, just a little.

Ade: Why though?

Zach: Why? Well, they were like–they just felt like some of it was a little too–a little too honest, a little too black, you know what I’m saying? But–

Ade: May I address that real quick?

Zach: Go ahead. [laughing]

Ade: Ah, let me lubricate my throat. [clears throat] ~Kick rocks.~

Zach: [laughs] There are folks who want to do diversity, equity and inclusion, but they’re trying to figure out a way to do it without, like, offending white folks or offending the people in the majority, so–

Ade: Which I don’t understand. I don’t believe your sincerity as someone who professes that–and I recently saw a tweet, and I wish I could quote my source, but I saw someone say “Switch the D in DE&I from Diversity to Decolonization.”

Zach: Oooooooh!

Ade: Fire.

Zach: That–wait, hold–what? Yo, that is–

Ade: Fire. Fire.

Zach: No, that is–[Flex bomb sfx] That is fiiiiiiiireeeee. Are you kidding me? [air horns sfx] Switch the D from diversity to decolonization?

Ade: Bro, it literally changed for me the entire framework of DE&I, because if you were taking a liberation stance within the context of what a workplace environment needs to be, you are approaching that from the context of not only do we not care about your discomfort, we’re actually actively pursuing your discomfort because your discomfort is where your decolonization lies. Like, that’s where you’re going to address all of the biases you have that you’ve had the privilege thus far of not having to confront. And not even your biases, but we’re, like, actively taking back space from you and giving voice to the people that have been deliberately silenced in these spaces. So again, the reason I say kick rocks is because, I mean, we’re decolonizing this space. This is a decolonized space, my accent aside, so we’re really not–[both laughing] Inside joke. So as far as I’m concerned, like, there’s no such thing as prioritizing the feelings of the oppressor over the oppressed. And yes, by default, if you are not the oppressed, you are the oppressor. That’s–

Zach: And this is a binary that we actually accept on Living Corporate, you know what I’m saying? You know, we affirm LGBTQIA+ identity, right? You know what I’m saying? We had content last season about being non-binary. Yo, that’s great though. I’m trying to find this tweet that you said. If you just made that up it’s still fire, but–

Ade: I swear I saw it on Twitter.

Zach: It’s just a great quote. I love that. I love that. But no, you’re absolutely right, and I think it’s interesting because when you hear some of the episodes–when y’all hear some of the episodes that, like, we have this upcoming season, it’s all about, like–like, these are people who are CEOs of, like, diversity, equity and inclusion firms. Like, they’re consultants. They’re executives. And I’m noticing there are certain, like, benchmarks around, like–you can kind of tell, like, kind of just where people are, but most people tie the diversity–they tie equity to justice, right? Like, when you talk about the true DE&I work in this space, it’s all about justice, and it’s interesting because I’ve seen, like, executives of, like, major corporations talk about–there was a recent article from Harvard Business Review about creating, like, black equity at work, and I was like, “Look, y’all are retweeting that. Consider what this means before y’all start saying you want equity at work.” Equity at work means, like, a certain level of, like, right-sizing (?) and really, like, restorative behaviors that, like, America hasn’t even, like, grasped onto yet. So, like, the concept of equity when it’s truly driven to, like, its–like, when it’s really grasped is, like, radical. Like, that’s a radical thing to propose, and it would disrupt and disassemble so many things that have been longstanding, that have been comforting, to those in the majority, and so anyway… my whole point is that, like, I’m looking forward to, like, scaring myself with the content that we’re putting out this season. I don’t want to make–I don’t want to pull any punches. I’m just excited about this season. So if you’re listening to this and you’re passionate about being seen, being heard, you’re underrepresented, or you’re an advocate, an ally of the underrepresented at work, and you’d like to journey with us, you’d like to be on the show with us, just contact us through the website. I guess that’s it, you know? What we’re gonna do now is we’ll pivot over to Ade’s recording that she had, and this was last year, so if you hear any references that’s what that’s about, but we’re really excited for y’all to check that out. Ade, any parting words before we transition up out of here?

Ade: No, let’s just, in 2020, resolve to live our best lives, and I mean that in, like, the healthiest way possible. I’ve been guilty of using that phrase to justify the worst of my excesses [?] in the past, and no promises that I won’t do so again in 2020, but let’s resolve to, you know, prioritize our health, and our mental health in particular, and, you know, check in on your friends, because many, many, many of your friends are having a difficult time and don’t know how to say it, but I believe in the power of community, and I believe that we as a whole are capable of holding each other accountable, yes, but also really uplifting each other in ways that are awesome to behold. And I do mean that in the old school awesome–shout-out to Zach, you know, reviving the meanings of old words, but… [both laughing] Old school awesome in that, like, awe-inspiring [way]. But yeah, you’re listening to Living Corporate, y’all. [both laughing] Peace.

Zach: All right, y’all. Welcome to Season 3. Hope y’all stay around. Excited for y’all to come on this audio adventure with us this year, and we’ll catch y’all, shoot, next week. Peace.

Ade: Anybody these days who asks me how they can break into tech, how they can learn how to code, how any of those things, the very first thing you need to do is define your goal, set it, and then develop your roadmap, because otherwise you are literally going to be twisting in the wind because you have no idea where you’re going. There’s nothing worse than a nebulous understanding of what you want. If you start a journey, you have to know where you’re going. I mean, sure, you can do what I did and, like, get in the car and say, “I want to go somewhere,” and, like, find yourself stranded in the middle of Oklahoma… but, like, I wouldn’t advise that. Don’t do that. Do it the smart way.

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