Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Financial Motivation: Mentorship | Advocacy | Sponsorship, “The Courage to Continue – Navigating Your Corporate Journey."

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Financial Motivation: Mentorship | Advocacy | Sponsorship, “The Courage to Continue – Navigating Your Corporate Journey." · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: If you're about to make a change in your life
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: and you feel uncomfortable, that's the best feeling you can
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: have because for the first time in your life, you'll
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: make a new decision that's going to be best for
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: you and not what somebody told you to do. And
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: that's when all bets are off. Welcome to Money Making
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Conversation Masterclass. I'm your host, Rashaan McDonald. Our theme is
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: there's no perfect time to start following your dreams. I
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: recognize that we all have different definitions of success.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: For you and maybe decide to.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Your HM, it's time to stop reading other people's success
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: stories to start living your own keep winning. Welcome to
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Money Making Conversation Master Class. So it's raining today, and
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: so I didn't have an umbrella. Of course, you know
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: I got wet. And then the first thing people say
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: when I walk in wet, they go, where's your umbrella? Well,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: you know, if I had an umbrella, I would be
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: using it. So if you ever see anybody walking around
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: they totally wet, please don't ask them where they unbrother at,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: because they had damn brother they would use it. But
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Money Making Conversation Masterclass. I am your host,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Forshaw McDonald. We do this every week. The interviews and
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: information this show provides off for everyone. It's time to
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: start reading other people's success stories and really start living
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: your own. My guess She's on the line has authored
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: a book entitled The Courage to Continue Navigating Your Corporate Journey.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: She's a retired Chief Information officer for FedEx custom Critical.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass, Cheryl Bevel Orange.
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  Speaker 3: How you doing, Cheryl Hi Rashan. Thank you so much
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  Speaker 3: for having me today. I'm excited to be here and
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  Speaker 3: to have this conversation.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: You got that little Southern twain working there, Cheryl? Were
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: you born and raised?
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Come on now where I'm originally from Bessemer, Alabama. Most
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: people don't know where that is, but it's right outside
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  Speaker 3: from me here.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Well, I know what best is all that good barbecue
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: country down there. Plus we always drive through, you know. Well,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: as I twenty area up there, I always go down it,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and I had twenty up there. I was up there
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: because good friend of mine, Ricky Smiley, I always go
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: down to Birmingham to visit them, and he lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about you, Cheryl your book, The Courage to
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Continue Navigating your Corporate Journey. Why did you write the book?
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: Well, I am a first generation corporate American. My dad
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: was a coal miner, my mother was a teacher. They're
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: both retired, and I went into corporate America blind and
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: so I started jotting down things that I began to
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: build my family with my husband, and I was like,
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: my children is going to need to know how to
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  Speaker 3: navigate in this space because most people are going into
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: corporate America or into the workforce at that time they
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: were Now we're all entrepreneurs, but I wanted them to
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: have a blueprint. But as I began to mentor and
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: coach others, I was like, everybody needs this information, not
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: just my children. So I started to officially write my
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: book and it has it has just grown from there.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: Over the pandemic, I added a new layer to it
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: to speak to the leaders who are managing or supervising
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: or leading first generation corporate Americans, and that has just
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: it took the book to another level. So, you know,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: I started out for personal reasons and then it just
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: went from there. Figured everybody could use some good information.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Was some great information I have the copy of the
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: book you autographed it. Thank you very much, sure for
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: autographing the book the courage to continue to navigating your
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: corporate journey. Sure you are there, you're retired, I should
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: say Chief Information Officer of FedEx Critical Custom Critical. First
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: of all, what is FedEx Custom Critical And then I'm
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: gonna ask you about.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: The job title.
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  Speaker 3: So FedEx Custom Critical is a subsidiary of FedEx Logistics Company.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: But it is the company that when we needed Codd vaccine,
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: it had to go from one place to the next
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: in a refrigerated container. And so FedEx Custom Critical trumps
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: the vaccine from one place to the next until it
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: got on the refrigerated plane to go somewhere else. So
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  Speaker 3: it is a specialized When we talk about the pandas
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  Speaker 3: going from one side of the country to another side
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  Speaker 3: of the country to exhibit those types of things are
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: the things that FedEx Custom Critical moves on. Behalfles companies.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I can understand that.
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  Speaker 1: That's kind of like you said, it's a specialized division
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  Speaker 1: that takes on critical areas that just couldn't be handled
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: our everyday.
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  Speaker 3: Employees correct, correct and logistical. You know, unit a refrigerated container,
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: a refrigerated truck, a refrigerated you know, it's something, it's specialty,
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: specialty item. We know.
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  Speaker 1: And so then I lead to the next Chief Information Officer.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: That's your job title that you had before you retired
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: at FedEx. How long did you he hold that position?
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  Speaker 3: I was in that position not a long time at FedEx.
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  Speaker 3: I had been at Sedex twenty six years and I'd
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: held a lot of different positions Managing director and CIO
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  Speaker 3: was where I ended with my FedEx career. I was
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: there for about a year in that space, but I
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: had been in it and business going back and forth
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: throughout my entire career, and so it was just a
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  Speaker 3: culmination of everything that I have learned and experienced I
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: could bring to that space and it was a really
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: fulfilling position.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know when I bring individuals because you know,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: we hear CEO, we here a CFO, we hear COO.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, c iOS that's a title you rally
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  Speaker 1: here in the corporate space. Is that one that's unique
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: to FedEx or is something that's in all Fortune five
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: hundred companies. It's just not heavily promoted.
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  Speaker 3: It's an all Fortune five hundred company. As you said,
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: it's not heavily promoted, and having an African American in
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: that space is even less. But it's the chief information
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  Speaker 3: officer and it is in the IT space handling all
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: of the information and the data and the infrastructure and
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: all of that that makes companies work.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Now, the reason I'm just getting all the backstory because
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: you know, you achieve something that's like you said, an
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: African American in that space, that position, that's a rarity.
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  Speaker 1: You know, let's say there are only two CEOs or
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: black that are running corporate fortune five hundred companies in
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  Speaker 1: America right now. So just to just to hold these
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: positions are rare. Now, you come from right outside of Birmingham,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: you know Birmingham. How many people in that city that
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: you came from.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: Well, I would I would say I actually checked some
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: months ago. It's about fifty five thousand people in Basketball, Alabama.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: But I'm talking about back when you were there. You know,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: when you when you decided to venture out. You know,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: it's grown, it's grown, it's become a suburb. You know,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: people people have found best every now, but back when
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: you were you know, nineteen ninety ish, what was it?
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: What was the population.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: Oh goodness, I would say back then, it was I
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: can't even amassin, what is that tall? Tall?
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: It's fall small.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: I understand that because I always say that because a
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: lot of people, you know, it's not it's not where
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: you start all the time, because a lot of people
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: hold themselves back at that starting position.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: You know, I grew up in the in the in
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: the hood, you know, a two bedroom shotgun house. I
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: tell that story all the time to remind people don't
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: let your starting positions stop your your winning opportunity. Now
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: I was driving you to get out a bessemer, to
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: seek higher education and also the end of the corporate world.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: Well, let me just tell you it's an interesting story.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: When I was a little girl, I used to spend
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: a lot of time with my grandparents. And one day
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: I was out of school and I went with my
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: grandparents to the bank and my granddad we went in
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: and started was normal. You know, you get your sucker
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: when you come out of the kind of the bank,
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: you know, going in investment Alabama, and I was excited
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: to go in there to get my candy. And I
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: saw I was learning to write at this time, and
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: my granddad was doing his business. He signed an X
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: on the line, and I said, you know, you know, Granddaddy,
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: why are you signing an AX? Because at this time
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: I'm thinking I'm learning to write. Everybody knows how to write.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: And my grandmother signed her name next to his, and
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: so my grandmother was like, hush, girls, get your can,
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: then let's go. So when I got home, my mother
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: is a teacher, I said, mom, granddad is sigyn a X.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: What is dad? And so she began to tell me.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: Of course, I think I was in second grade, so
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: I was learning curses, so I didn't really understand. But
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: as I grew up, I learned, you know, that was
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: his mark. My granddad, my idol. At the time, he
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: couldn't He couldn't even write, and I thought he could
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: read because I would see him reading the Bible. But
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: he might have just been memorizing things. I really don't know.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: But that started me to say, you know what, I've
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: got to get my education. That's what I know I
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: can have. I can have the knowledge to help me
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: to go further. And then as I began to see
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: the world unfold growing up, I decided, did you know
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: I used to my parents used to take us to Detroit.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: That was our vacation to visit a relative.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: Detroit, and everybody going to Orlando Disney, You're going to Detroit.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Huh, I'm going to Detroit. So and we would drive too.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: Now we wasn't getting on a bus or plane. So
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: from Bestma, Alabama to Detroit that's twelve hours. Okay, so
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: we're in the family driving. But I began to see
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: that there was something else out there than best in
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: My Alabama. And at that point I could combine education
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: with some experiences and I had I had to have it,
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: so I had to get out and see all I
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: could see outside of beth My Alabama. Now I go
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: back because my parents are there and my family is
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: still there, so I go back frequently. But I want
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: to see what's out in the world. I want to
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: visit and get all the knowledge and experience that I
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: can get so that I can help somebody else to
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: leave best My Alabama if they want to.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I really appreciate you telling me that honest story,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: because I know some friends who cannot read, and they
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: do they do or learn to acclimate themselves to the
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: real world based on how you wouldn't even know. If
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: you met them, you wouldn't know they couldn't read or
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: write because they've learned over the years how to hide
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: that deficiency. But that's something that you shouldn't be hiding.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Education is available to you, and once you get it.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: I would tell people my degrees in mathematics and minor
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: and sociology. I always tell people they can't repot my degree.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: They can't repote my education once I get it. They
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: can't come and say, hey, you know some of you
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: owe some money. Hey hey, hey, it's right there. You
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: can't take it back. Can't repot Okay, email on, remall
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: on and so. But your book was it covered three
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: areas that I really wanted to discuss, and this is
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: why I brought you on the show. Mentorship, advocacy, and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: sponsorship because those are three things and I'm doing a series.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: I had an individual on the show two weeks ago
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: talking about mentorship and a lot of people are not
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: understanding the value of mentorship when I was growing up,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: because we didn't use that word.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: You know, it was just.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Somebody who came along and it advised you, or we
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: now know they were mentoring me. I now know I
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: I looking back at my life, sure, I know I
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: was being mentored. I didn't get to this radio show
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: by myself. Mentorship, advocacy and sponsorship drove me through the
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: these paths where I didn't know or didn't see the
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: value of myself, didn't understand how to get a promotion,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: and it helped me. Before we go to break how
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: important was the mentorship in your life?
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: Mentorship? You know, as you can see in my book
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: as you read, mentorship is keen. Sponsorship is powerful. So
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: mentorship is keen. Sponsorship is powerful, and so we'll we
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: can break those down so everybody can understand the difference.
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: Because some people use those words interchangeably. They are not
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: the same. For me, I was being mentored. In my book,
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: I talk about, you know, my first mentor. I learned
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: to play the piano by ear when I was a
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: young child, and I had a mentor that helped me
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: through that process. And I talk about that. As you said,
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: I didn't name her my mentor. I didn't even know
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: that what she was until you know, you look back
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: at things and how things happen, and you just like
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: they helped me, They mentored me, They guided me through
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: the process. So people have mentors throughout their lives. They
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: just have to see them and take advantage of that.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, the key is seeing them and understanding them. Now
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: the young people get it. I'm going to go to break.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: We're gonna come back and continue this conversation about mentorship,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: advocacy and sponsorship, doing extra work and not being paid
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: for it. I've talked about that a lot on my show.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you when I got this book, I went like,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: this is my book because this is all I've been preaching, Cheryl, So.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: You came to the right door.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: You're knocked on the right door on Money Making Conversations
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: master Class because we're gonna tell your story. Let everybody
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: know how important this book is for them to read.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversation Masterclass.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: This is Rashan mc, your host. I am speaking to
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Cheryl Orange. She wrote the book The Courage to Continue
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Navigating Your Corporate Journey and three pillows. I call them
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: pillows because they stood out for me when I read
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: the book, Mentorship, Advocacy and Sponsorship.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Those three pillows gave.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Her the career and the navigation ability to go and
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: rise through the corporate world. Am I correcting an assessment?
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: Cheryl? That that is correct? That is correct. And I
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: want to make sure that everybody understands, especially my college student,
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: that mentorship and sponsorship and advocacy are different. You know, mentorship,
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: you can I put it in the analogy of a choir.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: My mentors. I am the lead singer. You know, you
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: are the lead singer of your choir. Your mentors are
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: the people that are the background. They're helping you, you know, rehearse.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: They're helping you to get your voice right, get your
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: tone correct. They're helping you to get all the skills
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: so that when you are so lowing at you're the
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: best that you can beat. Your sponsors are kind of
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: like your PR people. They're out there knocking down doors
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: to get you gigs and to get you in a
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: position where you can show off your tools, your pipes,
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: you can sing. They're out there on your behalf getting
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: you the job. They're in rooms that you're not in.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: They're speaking about you. They're saying you can do it.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: You've just got to win. It's your time. You just
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: got to get up and lead and do and be
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: the best singer that you can beat. So your mentors
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: are helping you be your skills. You have to perform,
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: But your sponsors are people that are helping you to
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: get out in front, get the new jobs, get the position,
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: get the gig, if you will, they're out there promoting you.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: Your advocates are the people when you are not in
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: the room and your sponsor is. Your advocates are the
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: people that are sitting around the table that's saying you
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: know what. Yeah, I heard her. I heard her at
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: her last gig and she was Bob. You know. They
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: are the people that are supporting you as well, but
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: they are in the room when you're not there. So
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: I don't know if that makes sense.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: But it makes a lot of sense because that's why
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: I'm letting you talk because I've used all those examples
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: because when I was in doubt, you know, it was
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: my sponsor who pushed me out front when I didn't
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: know what I have to say. It was my advocate
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: who encouraged other people understand and listen to what he
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: can do, believe in him. It was the mentor that
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: was the person that I didn't really understand that, that
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: was the silent that was the silent parent that you
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: know the teacher.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: I always tell people I got in college because my
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: teacher signed me, had me sign an application that I
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: didn't know what I was signing, And it turned out
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: that's the application that got me into the University of Houston.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: That was a mentorship. She didn't have to do that, and.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: So and I could think of back many people in
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: my life who stepped to the plate because they saw
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: me when I wanted to go. I always tell people
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: they put bumps in your life. They bump you. You know,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: when I wanted to go left and take the easy route,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: they bumped you and kept you right. And I always
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: share this story because you shared a lot of great
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: stories in your book.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: When I went from the eighth grade to the ninth.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Grade, I was tired of being you know, the drum,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: you know, the drum major as doctor Martin Luther King,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: being out front, you know, I was tired of that.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: So I dropped all my core classes and signed up
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: for baking and auto mechanic and so on. Seriously, I
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: signed up for all those classes. And my teacher, who
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: I didn't even know, didn't even know this lady. She
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: went and called my mom and said and had my
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: mom come up to school and said, he cannot do that.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: This one right here cannot do that. He has a
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: very special place in this world and we have to
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: keep him on track.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: She said that to me.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: I was just crying. I was just crying. That was
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: my mentor. That was my mentor. I didn't know. That
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: was the same lady who four years later had me
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: sign an application to get me in the University of Houston.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: And I didn't even know. And all I wanted to
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: do when I graduated from high school was to be
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: a forklift driver. That's all I wanted to be sure,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: was a forklift driver. And that's what the sponsorship came
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: in and said. No, that's when the advocate comes in
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: and say you can be better and I'm gonna show
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: you how. So when I read those three pillows, I went,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: this is a book that a lot of young people
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: need to understand. Now, my question to you, Cheryl, mentorship,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: sponsorship advocacy. Can that help one overcome racism in the
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: corporate world?
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: You know, I don't know if it will overcome, but
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: it will definitely help in my opinion, because I will
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: I will share that not all of my mentors have
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: looked like me. And quite frankly, my very first mentor
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: was a white male and he saw, as you said,
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: something in me and says, you know what, I'm going
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: to spend time with you to help you learn what
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: you need to learn, because you you fresh off the boat.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: I help you. And he took me in and showed
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: me all the different ways you can do things and
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: how you can get things done within the organization. And so,
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: but with his co signing, and at that age, you know,
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: you think you need to be co signed at an
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: early age. You know, with his co signing, that helped
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: me to maneuver throughout the company. You know, as I've
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: gotten older, you know co signing is not as important
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: from that perspective, but you do need some part of that.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: Somebody is to vouch for you, as you said, advocate
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: for you. You need people to do that. And so
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: that may help you from a racism perspective when others
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: say just look at you and count you off. If
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: you have someone co signing you that doesn't necessarily look
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: like you, that may help you get over the hunts
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: just a little bit.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: You know, you being a female and you're in that
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: tech industry, you know, because if you believe your degree.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: Was with m I s right, computer computer science, Yes.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Ma'am uh, navigating that dominated industry and technology.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: How did it? Did it?
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: Did?
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: Did you get frustrated by?
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: And how did you overcome those moments of male and
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: I'm sure's a white male world that you were in
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: that allowed you to still have this conversation with me
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: and still be positive.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: Well, of course I was frustrated, and to be quite
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: frank with you, still can be frustrating today being the
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: only black, the only female in the room. It's quite
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: frustrating sometimes, but you know you have to go back.
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: For me. I go back and I think about, you know,
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: my granddad was frustrated, probably marking that X. So what
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: you're talking about. You know, you need to get over
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: that and keep pressing. And that's what I think we
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: have to do. In my book, I talk about a
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: concept of three teams. When you're getting frustrated, take a
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: deep breath. Sometimes you have to raise your finger like
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: you in church and tip out the meaning go and
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: get yourself together because you know it will be frustrating.
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: But we've got to see the bigger picture, the bigger vision,
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: and say you know what, don't come out the bag
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: on this one. You need to get it together and
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: come back in and sit in your space because you're
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: here for a reason. Everybody is in a space for
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: a reason. But make the best out of your space
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: and where you are. And that's what I think the
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: beauty is when we can understand we're here for a reason,
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: we're here for a time, and so we have to
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: do the best we can with what we have. And
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: don't just be frustrated. Turn that frustration into action. I
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: talked about take those limits. You got that frustration and
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: make some lemonade.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: Figure out how now you're gonna cut your on me now?
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Cheryl, you living at the lemonade, Come on now. But
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: as I'm talking to the author of the courage to
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: continue to navigating your corporate journey. As we wrap up
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: this interview, I got a couple of minutes left here, Cheryl,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: as a founding member of the FedEx African American Committee,
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: what initiative initiatives did you champion to promote diversity and
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: inclusion within the company.
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: So, as I shared with you earlier, I was at
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: FedEx about twenty six years and you know, my first
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: couple of years we created this African American Committee was
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: what now is today a BRG, a business resource group
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: in comp in Corporate America, that's what they call them.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: And so what we started to do was bring the
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: forefront issues of African Americans in the company, and we
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: created forums where people could get interview help so that
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: they can progress on into you know, management positions. We
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: did resume building, you know, we were starting now. Mind you,
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: this is twenty years twenty six years ago or so,
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: we were starting to build that network and even today
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: they are still doing those things at FedEx. For the
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: resource group, we actually every Black History we have a
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: Black History Month celebration where we have people like Donna
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Brazil and Ben Hooks came before he passed away. We
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: have major people coming in and motivating us to keep
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: moving because we've got to keep moving. We change this
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: then still and so we created forums and places for
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: us to just be and feel safe, feel a part
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: of something not just work work work. We have a
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: community now where we can come together and do all
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: kinds of things together. And I feel really good about,
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: you know, being a founding member of making that happen
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: across the company. That now has five hundred thousand employees.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: She's special. Her name is from Bessemer, Alabama, right outside
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: of Birmingham, and got fifty five thousand people in there.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: When she was raising it about just twenty of them.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: She threw some extra numbers. She throw extra five thousand.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: I looked it up. It wasn't nothing but twenty thousand
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: running around there. But she's little. She thought big, big
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: numbers her book. They're courage to continue navigating your corporate journey.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Cheryl. Thank you.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Wow. It's always appreciate. You know, the life I led
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: had relevancy and your book allowed me to see that.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: And I want to continue to help you promote this
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: as we exit. Where can we get this book?
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: You can get this book on Cherylborrange dot com. That
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: is if you'd like an autographed copy, But if you
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: would like to just have the book, it's Barnesondoble dot com,
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: Amazon dot com, anywhere you can buy books, you can
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: probably get my book.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: Thank you, my friend. I really want to appreciate you
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: coming on the show and we go talk soon. Because
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: this is a book mentorship, sponsorship, advocacy, you can't go wrong,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: and you have a great day and again, thank you
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: for calling Money Making Conversation Masterclass.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: Okay, thank you for having me. I enjoyed it.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: You're amazing Again. Don't go nowhere.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: We have a clock Atlanta University alumni about to come
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: on the call. You know, former Miss Michigan, former Miss
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: uncl I just all the clues I'm.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: Gonna give you.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: She's on the line right now, but she is to
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: talk about the Empowerment Me tour that we need to
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: all hear about. Don't go Nowhere, coming right back. Rushan
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: McDonald and my guests.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us for this edition of Money
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: Making Conversations Masterclass.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: Money Making Conversations Masterclass with Rushan McDonald is produced by
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: thirty eight to fifteen Media Inc. More information about thirty
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: eight to fifteen Media Inc. Is available at thirty eight
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: to fifteen media dot com.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: And always remember to lead with your gifts.