Challenging the Status Quo with Jennifer Dickquist Owner of JD Law

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Today on Brava I'm excited to introduce to you Jennifer Dickquist, the owner of JD Law, a boutique law firm in Pittsburgh, PA. Jennifer is an innovative, approachable, and edgy leader in her industry that is known for tradition and at times rigid lines. She is breaking stereotypes with what people expect the "typical" lawyer to be like.

Keep listening to hear more from Jennifer and her perspective on stereotypes of women in the workplace, how she seeks to challenge the firm structure status quo, and her advice for budding entrepreneurs and how they can get a handle on the potential challenges when starting a business.

Jennifer Dickquist and The Brava Podcast

SHOW NOTES:

As a leader building a firm, Jennifer is a catalyst that empowers the law industry to expand and diversify (15:15.)

Jennifer believes that by using a modernized billing approach for legal needs feels best for income based measures - payment plans and  flat fee retainers will provide people alternative methods (16:30.)

“Transparency is essential to build trust.”
— Jennifer Dickquist

One tip Jennifer wants to share to empower those wanting to start a business is that you can actually complete many tasks yourself by acquiring required documents online and just consult an attorney on the finer points. Doing so will save a significant amount of money on legal fees (23:00.)

Copyrights: Protects something of a creative pursuit. ie. art, novels, photographs, songs… (25:30.)

Patents:  Protects something with a science or technology background typically requires significant lab testing. ie. formulas or chemicals (25:55.)

Trademarks:  Protects something relating to a brand or business. ie. logos (26:50.)

“Remember you can do the hard things no matter what the outcome is you will come out on the other side. ”
— Jennifer Dickquist

Jennifer is excited to continue to expand her company and help as many people as she can and hopes that she can be a template for other firms in the future (28:45.)

Interested in continuing to follow Jennifer’s journey? Be sure to follow her on Instagram here.

Thank you readers for tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story! 

Storytelling, Social Strategy, and Allyship with Social Strategist and Consultant N'Yaisha J. Aziz

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With each episode, the Brava Podcast® seeks to celebrate women and their accomplishments, normalize the success of women and advance women through a community of their contemporaries. I’m honored to introduce you to today’s guest: N’Yaisha Aziz.

N’Yaisha is a powerhouse in the social media marketing space delivering strategy and consulting work for a variety of brands and agencies such as MILK MakeUp, Laundry Service, Unilever, and more! Continue reading and tune in below to hear how she began her career in social media, her perspective on the changing industry landscape, and her influence and impact for allyship in the workplace as a member of the #HIREBLACK Initiative.

N'Yaisha J. Aziz and the Brava Podcast

SHOW NOTES:

N’Yaisha Aziz is a member and the marketing mastermind behind #HIREBLACK, an initiative with a goal to help 10,000 Black womxn get trained, hired, or promoted. She always knew that her passion revolved around telling stories about the hard realities of lives lived (2:05.)

Storytelling in marketing is so vital to tell the narrative of products and brands. Like history, there are many perspectives to tell for one story (3:10.)

Throughout her career N’Yaisha found working with agencies a great way to start to experience a full spectrum of opportunities and that it provided diverse perspectives and projects. On the other hand, she found working for a specific (or one) brand provides more peace and allows you to dig deeper to focus on the in and outs of the specific brand (5:40.)

“I love this transition of prioritizing engagement in brand marketing to use social media to build deeper connections.”
— N'Yaisha J. Aziz

Volunteering excites N’Yaisha as she works to bring budding business’ visions to life (19:15.)

The #HIREBLACK Initiative started as an idea on Juneteenth to help black women with their resumes. Today it consists of a network of over 1000 people and counting (27:15.)

N’Yaisha heard a powerful quote from a collective she is a part of called Monday Night Mentorship and referenced it in our conversation, “When it comes to being an ally, the best way to thwart microaggressions is with microcompassion” (30:55.)

“The best lesson 2020 has taught me is to take the ebbs and flows by being open and vulnerable to opportunities.”
— N’Yaisha Aziz 

N’Yaisha is very excited as she is working on a new secret project that will be coming soon to Instagram (35:40.)

Bite & Chew. Slow down and focus what is in front of you before you take on more (37:00).

When you take a leap, a net will appear. Where there is risk, comes reward. The universe will reward people that bet on themselves (39:00.)

Want to continue to learn more about N’Yaisha? Follow her on Instagram and LinkedIn!

Interested in becoming a member, an ally, or a partner with the #HIREBLACK Initiative? Visit hireblacknow.com.

Thank you readers for tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story! 

Leadership and Mentorship in Tech with Etsy Senior Engineering Manager Najla Elmachtoub

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In today’s discussion we’re only scratching the surface of the very present gender gaps women in STEM (and STEAM) careers face from their time in school to the workforce. Meet Najla Elmachtoub, a voice in the industry that serves as a catalyst for change. Najla is the Senior Engineering Manager at Etsy, a one-of-a-kind global online marketplace and community that supports independent makers and creators. Keep on listening to learn more about Najla’s career, her perspective on role models and mentorship, and much more!

Show Notes:

Najla Elmachtoub started her path in STEM in high school studying computer sciences. She is now the Senior Engineering Manager for Etsy (0:40.)

Especially when it comes to tech, Najla found interning at as many diverse programs as possible would provide her the best scope of the industry (2:40.)

To start off each day, Najla finds makes sure to take the time to exercise, meditate, and write before she kicks off her work day (5:30.)

“The fact that I am a woman plays a big part in how I am perceived and some of the opportunities that I was allowing myself to take and others were allowing me to take.”
— Najla Elmachtoub

Najla realizes that sometimes self-depreciation can be the only thing holding her back and that she has the ability to solve any problem (7:40.)

Having a role model especially in the STEM field is so important. Najla found her role model while at Etsy, the VP of Engineering, who really made her feel like she could rise to any challenge (9:05.)

“Being able to provide psychological safety and full transparancy as a leader are the most important aspects to provide people with the trust and space to be themselves and make them feel that they have the ability to do their best work.”
— Najla Elmachtoub

As a leader Najla discovered, it's not about the qualities that you have but rather, how you make others feel (13:00.)

When in the field of STEM it's important to have an advocate and a mentor. It is common to change your domain of expertise and is super important to adapt. Seek out someone who will bring growth opportunities and will fight for your space in a growing company (14:00.)

Outside of reading the New York Times, Najla likes to seek out opportunities to broaden her knowledge. She likes to ask her role models what they are reading to understand what inspires them (15:50.)

“If I am the smartest person in the room, I am in the wrong room.”
— Najla Elmachtoub

One day, Najla aspires to be the CTO or VP of Engineering for a small company but until then she loves managing her team and plans to take things day by day (17:40.)

Follow Najla on Twitter @najtube to stay connected and follow her journey!

Interested in talking with Najla about tech, product engineering, or leadership? You can check out her office hours here.

Thank you readers for tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story! 

Turning a Tweet Into a Community with Founder of Black Girls Who Blog Morgan Pitts

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Meet today’s Brava guest, Morgan Pitts, the creator of the social account Black Girls Who Blog, a community that celebrates and lifts the voices of black girls and women. Tune in to today’s conversation to learn her start-up story and the behind-the-scenes of how one tweet became a future network for more than 100,000 women to connect and amplify each other’s voices!

SHOW NOTES:

Morgan is the woman behind the online social account, “Black Girls Who Blog”, a community of more than 100,000 women that amplifies and celebrates the voices of black women and girls (0:30.)

After the creation of her own blog and reading the blogs of others, Morgan realized she would love to create an illustration of the phrase “Black Girls Who Blog” which then resulted in an apparel collection and the launch of the infamous Instagram handle (5:00.)

“Despite your best intentions someone is always going to disagree with you or have a piece of criticism. Remember where your heart is and take those comments in stride. Don’t let it diminish what you know to be true. ”
— Morgan Pitts

Through the use of the hashtag [#BlackGirlsWhoBlog], Morgan identifies women in the community to surprise-feature and honor on her platform (9:45.)

No matter how great of a marketing campaign you have, the best advertisement is word of mouth referrals. Readers develop a certain level of trust in the products and services bloggers discuss (15:10.) 

Morgan recommends to find your tribe, you need to expand your circle to communities with like-minded interests and build genuine relationships with people that inspire you (18:25.)

“Just be yourself and do things that are true to you. ”
— Morgan Pitts

What’s next? Morgan is taking things one day at a time and letting the universe guide her to the next project. She is appreciative of the amazing reaction “Black Girls Who Blog” has had so far and will continue to do her best every day. (22:10.)

Want to continue to follow Morgan’s journey and Black Girls Who Blog? Follow here!

Thank you readers, to tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story! 

Honest Storytelling With Founder of The Confetti Project Jelena Aleksich

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Meet Jelena, mental health and grief advocate and founder of The Confetti Project: a photography challenge that turned into an opportunity to encourage others to answer the question “what are you celebrating”. Tune in below to meet Jelena, and learn how you can use real-life experiences and honest storytelling to build a brand, community, and more!

JelenaBravaPodcast

SHOW NOTES:

Jelena’s work has served as a source for many brands, people, and start-ups. She was inspired to start The Confetti Project when she left a previous job (1:00.)

After an OK Go concert, she left the event with confetti in her pockets. She was so surprised by it and the confetti brought her so much joy! It made her question, “what does confetti mean” and she immediately started to gather photos of confetti (2:05.)

She then began asking others around her, “what do you celebrate in your life right now?” and “what are you grateful for?” These questions would stop people in their tracks. Jelena quickly realized that this project may be unlocking something bigger than herself and she owed it to herself to explore it (3:02).

“Any time you are carving your own path, it takes a lot of trust. Listen to your internal compass and be fearless. Go after those moments and things that make you feel the most alive. ”
— Jelena Aleksich

After traveling to Dubai Jelena asked people who were all so diverse the same question, “What do you celebrate?” and their answers were exactly the same! She realized we all have way more in common than we think we do.  Celebration and being human is universal (9:00). 

Jelena finds anytime we take time for ourselves to check-in and explore our passions not only impacts ourselves but creates a ripple effect to those around us (11:20). 

“Every human life is worthy of celebration.”
— Jelena Aleksich

Now more than ever people need to be inspired by the good in the world. (17:55)

 When storytelling, the key is to be authentic and genuine and bring to life why you are doing what you are doing. The ‘why’  should be the nucleus of what you do. Your brand becomes the platform to make it happen (19:00).

Jelena’s next projects are Confetti Grams, virtual community confetti circles, such as this healing community workshop on grief, and Casa Confetti where people can share what they celebrate (22:10).

When taking a leap, ask yourself what you are passionate about and believe in yourself. There’s no reason why you can’t do what you want to do. Surround yourself with people that believe in you. The whole nature of pursuing a dream job or starting your own business is constantly learning from it and making yourself excited by growing and evolving from it (24:30).

To learn more about Jelena be sure to follow The Confetti Project on Instagram!

Thank you readers, to tuning into the Brava Podcast. If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes! 

What from our conversation inspired you today? What do you hope to hear next? Tweet or message us on Instagram @BravaPodcast to tell us what you want to hear, even if it’s your own story!