The Fix

Today, companies want you to believe that they are not just selling a car, shampoo, or a pair of jeans, but rather they are fighting for gender and racial equality in an attempt to connect with millennials who are willing to spend more money on socially conscious products. Brands have started using progressive values as a marketing ploy and are appropriating social activism as a form of advertising. Companies want consumers to believe that this is not simply about commercial gain rather, openly advocating for social issues is a communication of what the company stands for. But what happens when people who work for these companies have a very different lived experience of the brand. Are companies that espouse values of inclusion, diversity, and equality walking the talk? Or is this just more woke washing? On today’s episode, inclusion experts and consultants Erin Dowell and Marlette Jackson will share the signs your company and even you might be engaging in woke washing and what the costs of this are. Also, we will address what you and your organization can do to get real about equality.

Perfectionism, the need to look, act and be perceived in an ideal way is on the rise. As many as two in five kids and adolescents are perfectionists. But, perfectionism is not so much about how you behave and more about how you think about yourself. The beauty industry has traditionally been one of the worst offenders for embellishing reality and selling women idealised and restrictive forms of perfection, underpinned by extreme airbrushing and dubious claims. However, recently, the big trend in beauty has been for hyper realness, with diverse models, bold statements of ’no-airbushing’ and simplified and playful product packaging. One of the main drivers for this is ‘perfection fatigue’, wherein consumers are so accustomed to seeing the conventionally ‘fake’ and perfectly polished beauty ads that the primary response is simply indifference. On today’s episode, I will be speaking with Laura Johnson, co-founder of Zebedee, a specialist talent agency created to increase the representation of people who have until now been excluded in the media. On this episode, Laura will share why perfection fatigue matters and how companies can adopt a more inclusive and diverse approach to advertising.

The first unemployment wave in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted women. When the pandemic first hit in March, over 700,000 people lost their jobs and nearly 60% of them were women, according to the United States Labor Department. Not much has changed since then. More than 36 million Americans are now unemployed, and women and minorities have been the hardest hit. women are over-represented in the hospitality, child care, leisure, and retail industries, which are currently experiencing the biggest losses. Other sectors like education, government, and health care — also tend to be dominated by women.  The current economic situation is unlike the last recession the US experienced in 2008 and 2009, which hit male-dominated industries like finance and construction first. Finance jobs have higher incomes and manufacturing jobs tend to be unionized, but the industries experiencing a downturn now do not offer the same protections. On today's episode we will be speaking with the CEO of vCandidates.com, LT Ladino Bryson, known as “The Employment Therapist!™” who will share what candidates can do to land their next job and why COVID-19 presents a major opportunity for companies who are committed to equality.

The deaths and disappearances of women and girls in Juarez, which sits adjacent to El Paso, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border, and in other parts of Mexico had once dominated international headlines. But in recent years, attention had evaporated. That all changed earlier this year with the murder of Isabel Cabanillas, a young female artist and activist in the Mexican border city of Juarez. Isabel was just 26 years old when she was shot dead while riding her bike home. In the last three decades, hundreds of women like Isabel have been brutally murdered or raped, tortured and trafficked. These gender-based crimes are known as femicide, defined as the killing of a woman or a girl because of her gender and many of the cases remain unsolved today. In 2019, Juárez recorded nearly 1,500 killings that is an average of four per day. Following Isabel’s murder hundreds of women took to the streets with a message to authorities: Don't let this crime go unpunished like all the rest. Women fashioned ski masks out of black T-shirts, with mascara and red lipstick peeking through torn-out holes. They chanted "Not one more" as they marched. The demonstration was one in a series of protests and vigils that have spread nationwide demanding an end to gender-based violence. On today’s episode, we will be speaking with Mónica Ortiz Uribe, a freelance radio reporter for NPR and PRI, and co-host of the new podcast series “Forgotten: Women of Juárez." On today’s podcast episode, she will share why femicide is critical issue affecting both Mexico and the United States and what we can do to tackle this issue.

People are disabled by the barriers they encounter in society, and not by their differences. By viewing it in this way, we can begin to tackle ableism and start to identify all the barriers that prevent people with impairments from having equal opportunities in life. Creating equality and valuing each other in the same way begins with how we view the problem. On today’s episode, we will be hearing from Alex Knoll, the 14-year-old inventor of Ability App, a mobile app that functions like Yelp, but for people with disabilities. Ability App connects people with disabilities related to mobility, vision, hearing or cognition with businesses that have the resources to accommodate them. Alex will share his inspiring journey and how each of us can remove the barriers that ableism creates.

We all know that the COVID-19 virus is spreading at an alarming rate, but fear and panic can spread even faster. Fortunately, there are steps we can take right now to boost our emotional response to the never ending anxiety, fear and panic created by this pandemic. Research finds that we tend to be influenced by other peoples’ behaviors and emotions and we might even copy them. While this might not be a problem most of the time, it can be really unhelpful during a crisis. For many of us one of the major challenges we have to manage during the global pandemic is simply our ability to deal with the uncertainty and emotional turmoil the pandemic creates. In this episode, we're thrilled to hear from Dr. Susan David, Harvard medical school psychologist and author of the best selling book "Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life". Susan will share her life's work, research and understanding of how we can deal with our emotional responses in an effective way, and what this really looks like in a global pandemic. She will also share strategies leaders can use at work to create an emotionally agile workforce and successfully navigate this very tricky time.

In order to break down systemic barriers that exist in the technology and venture capital industry, it is important to understand the core challenges that ultimately set the stage for why Black founders receive less than 1% of venture capital.  This week’s guest is Dave Jakubowski, co-founder of Ureeka, an online community that connects small to mid-sized underrepresented business owners to peers, mentors and coaches, and vetted resources to access capital. As a Silicon Valley expert, Dave has witnessed the unconscious bias that has created numerous barriers to Black business owners accessing funding. Black entrepreneurs experience a higher chance of loan rejection and a lower acceptance into business accelerators. On today’s episode, Dave will outline the systemic barriers and the role of white males in removing these obstacles. -- Get a copy of my book "The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back at Work" https://www.amazon.com/The-Fix-Overcome-the-Invisible-Barriers-That-Are-Holding-Women-Back-at-Work/dp/1982110929 Or get the audio book here: Audible: https://adbl.co/2sLCbEH Google Play: http://bit.ly/38w03er  -- To check out episodes you missed or learn how to partner with us, visit thefixpodcast.org Sign up for my newsletter: thefixpodcast.org/newsletter Check out my website: michellepking.com This show is produced by Hueman Group Media.

In the United States, women make up 47% of the total workforce. But professional female pilots constitute five percent of the piloting workforce, a statistic that has remained unmoved in four decades. Compared to other STEM fields and “traditionally” male-dominated industries, aviation has one of the lowest percentages of women. There are mentors, scholarships, conferences, magazines and organizations that all have a goal to increase the abysmal five percent statistic. When experts are questioned on this topic, often the same old explanation is given: “It’s a pipeline problem.” On today's episode, Kimberly Perkins, an International Captain and Safety Officer on Gulfstream 650 aircraft based in Seattle, Washington and humanitarian activist through Aviation for Humanity will reveal what the systemic barriers are to women’s advancement in aviation and why the industry has to change. -- Get a copy of my book "The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back at Work" https://www.amazon.com/The-Fix-Overcome-the-Invisible-Barriers-That-Are-Holding-Women-Back-at-Work/dp/1982110929 Or get the audio book here: Audible: https://adbl.co/2sLCbEH Google Play: http://bit.ly/38w03er  -- To check out episodes you missed or learn how to partner with us, visit thefixpodcast.org Sign up for my newsletter: thefixpodcast.org/newsletter Check out my website: michellepking.com This show is produced by Hueman Group Media.

Managing a remote workforce is not as simple as telling everyone they can work from home. In fact, companies have been trying this for a long time and failing badly. Jodi Geddes co-founder of Circle In, which helps companies to support working parents, will be joining us on this episode to discuss results from a new online global survey her company undertook. The study finds that COVID-19 has changed people’s demands and expectations of working life. Now, 97% of men and women want to retain the freedom to work flexibly when COVID-19 restrictions are over. Employees now want to define where they work, when they work and the ability to reduce their working hours, if needed. On this episode, we will unpack these findings and discover what it really takes to manage a remote workforce. -- Get a copy of my book "The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back at Work" https://www.amazon.com/The-Fix-Overcome-the-Invisible-Barriers-That-Are-Holding-Women-Back-at-Work/dp/1982110929 Or get the audio book here: Audible: https://adbl.co/2sLCbEH Google Play: http://bit.ly/38w03er  -- To check out episodes you missed or learn how to partner with us, visit thefixpodcast.org Sign up for my newsletter: thefixpodcast.org/newsletter Check out my website: michellepking.com This show is produced by Hueman Group Media.

Despite glaring evidence that diversity and inclusion (D&I) should be a priority amidst the global pandemic, the latest McKinsey Report "Diversity wins: How Inclusion Matters" report finds that some organizations and leaders have pulled back their efforts, stating that diversity and inclusion is a “luxury they cannot afford.” This kind of logic makes it clear that some leaders still fail to understand the real benefits to be gained from investing in diversity and inclusion programs. On this episode, I am joined by Kevin Dolan, a senior partner with McKinsey who will unpack their latest research report which makes a clear case for why diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform less diverse peers on profitability. Kevin will also share why companies need to double down their D&I efforts today in the wake of COVID 19 and what each of us can do to prepare for the post-pandemic workplace. -- Follow me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michellepking   Get a copy of my book "The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back at Work" https://www.amazon.com/The-Fix-Overcome-the-Invisible-Barriers-That-Are-Holding-Women-Back-at-Work/dp/1982110929 Or get the audio book here: Audible: https://adbl.co/2sLCbEH Google Play: http://bit.ly/38w03er  -- To check out episodes you missed or learn how to partner with us, visit thefixpodcast.org Sign up for my newsletter: thefixpodcast.org/newsletter Check out my website: michellepking.com This show is produced by Hueman Group Media.