My man @brianhwaters interviewed me about my journey into #scicomm, building & keeping relationships, racism at work, and how I advocate for myself! Listen and subscribe, because Brian’s podcast features a new professional every week and there’s so much to learn from everyone. https://twitter.com/brianhwaters/status/1300066512498233346
Some key things I want to expand on: always shoot your shot! I've applied for many jobs that I technically didn't have all the years of experience for. Put your name in anyways. The worst that could happen is they say no. Same with negotiating salary, ALWAYS negotiate.
Do your research on market value & always ask for more—politely but firmly. You’re doing yourself a huge disservice if not. At the very least, it signals to your employer that you ain't playing and you’re not afraid to speak up for yourself.
Don’t be afraid to leave if a place isn't serving you, whether it's unfair compensation or treatment. I’ve changed jobs 3 times in the past 5 years, and in the process have learned so much about what I want in a workplace, expanded my portfolio, and tripled my salary.
Speaking of unfair treatment, the next few tweets are about America’s 1st research university. Institutional racism requires an INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE. This isn’t something one person (especially not the victim!) can solve.
It takes conscious, collective, consistent effort to combat racism, and the onus can’t be on the victim to just grow a tougher skin. The problem is, workplace racism is rarely blatant like "I don't want this BIPOC on this project." It’s subtle, quiet, insidious.
What DOES it look like? Everyone always “forgetting” the same person (1 of only 2 non-support staff BIPOC in office) on emails. An unfair distribution of glamour and housekeeping work. Fewer, if any, opportunities to be in the room with key players, working on key projects.
Who consistently doesn’t get high-visibility, high-profile projects? Who has to invite themselves to meetings instead of simply being viewed as an essential team member to begin with?
And when you speak up for yourself, gaslighting is when they say "Sorry you feel that way," “I know it’s hard not to take personally.” The racism hurts and grinds you down but the gaslighting makes you doubt yourself, and that's damaging in a whole different way.
I lost out on growth and leadership opportunities due to this. I wasted 1.5 years in a space where they saw me capable of only organizing lists and creating Google docs, not capable of being the strategic comms pro, seasoned project manager, and institutional spokesperson I was.
The hardest part is that by simply telling the truth, I'm risking my professional standing. Is she just another sensitive minority? Someone pulling the race card? A troublemaker? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about how this will impact my current and future employment.
Even in standing up for myself while it happened cost me a reference. So not only was I harmed by a toxic work environment that held back my growth and opportunities, and eroded at my mental health, but the racism also impacted my future.
. @DrMonicaCox, @MindaHarts, @colorcomm, @marinhedin, @needhibhalla, @tpurnell1908, @SmittyAtHopkins , @shiplives & so many others inspire me to speak up because of how they use their voices. Institutions MUST be held accountable and that can't happen until people know the truth.
BIPOC bear the burden of these slights, have to point out that they’re problems AND have to defend them as being problems when we’re gaslit. We’re TIRED OF IT!! We don’t want late, performative, flimsy Diversity & Inclusions statements or more ToWn HaLLs 🙃. DO SOMETHING.
Further, this shows that being well-educated, having gleaming refs & a lengthy portfolio, and working in elite spaces DOES. NOT. PROTECT. BIPOC. FROM. RACISM. I’m excellent at what I do and still had to work 2x, 3x, 4x harder to not know what room the damn table was even in!
Other career tips I have: be honest with yourself and acknowledge what areas you’re lacking in, then be brave enough to address them! No one’s perfect and no one knows everything, it’s ok!
When I was about to interview for my very first Salaried Big Girl job at @UUtah, I desperately needed advice on how to interview. My parents are working class immigrants that couldn’t help me in this realm, so I asked my now-fiance’s dad, a doctor, for help.
He also offered to connect me with his friend who’s a big wig prof at the university. I was nervous as hell but I jumped at the oppt to gain insight on the U’s culture, people he knew, and how he viewed #scicomm as a prof, specifically as a prof. in that university.
I’ve read an embarrassing amount of @HarvardBiz articles on the ins- and outs- of white collar America because I didn’t have any professional role models growing up. I put in a lot of work to teach myself the nuances of the corporate world.
Starting out in #scicomm PR, I didn’t even know what a pitch was. Organizations like @sciencewriters and lurking on legends in our biz like @shiplives (& reading HIS BOOK) helped me get up to speed. Look to the orgs and leaders in your field and learn from them.
No, it’s not fair that some people have that built-in knowledge & social capital. BUT after you take your time to be mad about the inequity, pull your sleeves up and hustle. Once you make it up there, reach your hand back down, reduce inequities, and help others climb the ladder.
Finally, related to the point above and my answer to @brianhwater’s question about how my time at @HopkinsMedicine with @JosephSakran was my most memorable: Always treat EVERYONE with the same respect and do your best to do right by people.
Obviously @JosephSakran is a Big Deal— a force in #medtwitter, politics & public health. I mean, just look at his Twitter account or Google him. But most importantly, he’s a genuinely kind person and taught me a lot about how treating everyone equally means the most.
From his press person (me for a while), to his scheduler, to his boss, to his peers, he’s equally grateful and gracious. Whether you bring him a cheap cup of coffee or are in a position of power to promote him, he’ll hype you up just the same.
He makes you WANT to work with him, to work for him. And I try my best to emulate that so that others will want to work with me too! I think that’s one of the greatest keys to success, because people remember how you make them feel and how genuine you are.
Aside from just being a decent human, it’s a huge intangible that carries SO much weight in the workplace. I honestly doubt people will remember my hard deliverables, but I want them to remember my efforts to uplift them.
ANYWAYS that was a very long thread and I have a lot more to say but I'll give my public dissertation a rest today LOL. Listen and subscribe, support my guy @brianhwaters!!
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