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Navigating Corporate Culture Without Losing Yourself · Energy is Currency Podcast

• Alexis: Hey y'all, welcome back to Energy is Currency. We got another episode with Lexi and Gigi. Gigi, how you doing, girl? is given very, very Dr. Quinn Medicine. It's given ⁓ Dr. Queen Medicine Woman. That's okay. I got a little Miami vibe going on. So we are given cultural representation today. What culture? We don't know, but it's given something. Okay, so speaking of culture, tonight we want to talk about corporate culture, corporate environments, and all of like the politics needed to survive in corporate America. Gigi, how do you feel about that stuff? gigi: Exactly. I think it is a necessary evil. Have been in corporate since, ⁓ twenty ten. And I've seen it play out on multiple sides and I've seen people play the game and win. I've seen people play the game and lose. So I think you have to find the finite balance of what you're willing to compromise or what you're willing to play in in this game of corporate America. 'Cause it is very much a game. You can work hard, you can put your head down and try to do all the right things and still get overlooked if you aren't doing the social cues like going out maybe after work with your coworkers and socializing, ⁓ putting together events or just showing up and being present and being a part of what they've labeled company culture, ⁓ is what they've titled it as of late. Alexis: My response is blah. I think it's toxic and ⁓ and I feel like gigi: Mm-hmm. What's Alexis: It's a made up culture to legalize social interactions. And I think some people are too heavy on the manipulative side of how to implement corporate politics. And I feel like some people don't know how to turn the corporate politics off. Like gigi: Mm-hmm. Alexis: For instance, when you when you tire your man or your partner, okay, the Jibitzekwa, okay. When when you mad at them and you over the relationship, when they say, Hey baby, good morning, it's like greetings. And you will receive a prompt reply. Listen, you receive a prompt reply within 24 business hours, right? So it's like, girl, he ain't on the clock and you not either. gigi: Right. ⁓ And that's if you answer the phone. Right. Alexis: And I see where people who may win at work and in their career with that style of cultural ⁓ skill set, I see them lose in other areas of their life because they don't know how to build genuine relationships. gigi: Right. Mm-hmm. So you see them grow professionally and decline personally. Okay. Alexis: Yes, yes, definitely, definitely, definitely. gigi: That is yeah. That is accurate. I've I've seen people climb the social ladder and they are a rock star at work. And then outside of work it's like, Okay, well what do you do for fun? And they'll tie it back into work. I'm like, Okay, but if we separate work, what do you do when you go home? Right. Do you live here? Alexis: Do go home. Security. gigi: Right. Alexis: Right. And that's like I I think it's amazing. I think it is amazing. Let me be clear. I think it is amazing to be successful in your career. I do. I think it is admira admirable to be able to look at people and they speak their language. You know what I mean? The company jargon and the technical communication and the you know the the cend the what the little abbreviations for stuff and it's like what does A B J mean? And it's like something. gigi: Exactly. Mm-hmm. Alexis: totally different than biscuit and jam. You know what I mean? Like that's what I thought A B J meant. So I love seeing people in their element. But I also want to see people have the balance of not always being in the professional element. Whereas like you can tell people like you you can take your tie off or, you know gigi: You can relax. This is a safe space. Alexis: Or you not you can't charge this to the company account bait. This isn't this is a Whole Foods. gigi: Right. Look, this is Food Depot. What what are you doing? What are you doing? Alexis: Okay. So I've just seen and I've seen where people is definitely I feel like this is a classist and an ableist ⁓ skill set to be politic ⁓ corporately politically savvy because people who don't have nepotism, people who didn't have entry-level jobs or are in the entry-level job and maybe they didn't have you know, referral somebody within the company to help them get a grasp of things or their culture is so ⁓ separated from corporate environments that it feels starkly new and different. It it makes me have a distaste for ⁓ for corporate politics because you're not accepting of people who don't know the language very well. gigi: You're not welcoming. Alexis: And then sometimes it doesn't make sense. Like ⁓ for instance I'm gonna say Americans because we are a ⁓ an assortment of people. But we sound super sadity and stupid when we're talking to people from other countries and are like, they don't know English. They didn't say that they didn't say that correctly, or they used broken English to describe something, or you know what I mean? But it's like girl, they know four languages. You know one. Baby, they trying me and my two gigi: Yes, they know two languages and we know one. Right. And we know one. Barely. Barely. 'Cause we still trying to congregate verbs. Like, huh? What? Alexis: Okay, and me and my language and a half, if I even think something is French, I'm jumping over into that and I'm not good at it. So I'm I'm literally just puckering my lips and saying gibberish. But I feel like it's an opportunity. So you know what I mean? But it's like for people who are outside of the grooming of corporate politics, I feel sorry for. gigi: It is a learning curve. I'll say that. If you're entry level and you're thrust into corporate America, it definitely is a learning curve. ⁓ having to navigate the lingo, having to navigate the social cues, having to navigate the meetings and the meetings about the meetings and professional emails and phone activities and hierarchies and you don't just jump straight to your supervisor's supervisor. You actually gotta talk to your supervisor first. So so the corporate ladder just learning all those things, it it is a a a cumbersome place. It's a task. But what I can say is in my entrepreneurship, I'm glad for the corporate foundation because when I'm building my business, my business is professional. So I do appreciate how I was able to leverage what I learned in corporate over to my entrepreneur side. Alexis: It's a task, yeah. That is a phenomenal point. That is a phenomenal point. We may be annoyed by the political backlash of it, right? But the absence of cult of corporate, like corporate culture in a business, in a small business, that is the main reason we're mad at small businesses. It's not that the food isn't good, is that the customer service didn't have a corporate structure to it. gigi: Anyone know? Systems, like you were just talking about SOPs? Yeah. ⁓ Isn't it on? Sucks. Yeah, it sucks. Alexis: If you know what I'm saying, and that's one of the things that VTAC is so good at. We help with employee handbooks, we help with developing teams and structures and things like that. Where you have an environment where there is a language, where the business now is its own universe and ecosystem, right? But the absence of that, girl. gigi: Right. Chaos is chaos. It's like the employees register. Alexis: You call a service provider and they like, What you want? Ma'am, what? gigi: Right. Look, hello. What did I find? Alexis: Who's I calling? Who this? Who this? Who over there? You know, and this are you ordering stuff or not? Or or when small businesses are gigi: Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm. Alexis: They're using the jargon, but it doesn't make sense. I know in the hair care yes, in the hair care industry with the penny pension and the deposits and you gotta pay this extra and you gotta pay that. It sounds like they're trying to develop a corporate culture. But it's but I'm gonna be honest with you, a lot of it is based upon emotional reaction. gigi: They don't have practices in place. Yeah. Alexis: So we gonna we gonna we're gonna keep it a buck with one another. Some of the rules that we make up in our businesses came because the client tried us and we said we ain't gonna do that again. Now it's an SLP. No, baby, that was a reaction. You just wanted to fight her. You should just fight her. You don't have to make it to where right or not a client are required to be bring boxing gloves to the appointments now. It's like, girl, is this. gigi: Now is the standard procedure. Right. Right. Now all y'all gonna pay, right. Huh? Alexis: But but that's that's them trying to buffer that emotional response. And corporate culture was supposed to create an environment that wasn't emotionally driven. There were logical explanations and systems involved so that this isn't feeling for feeling. Because if I feel like the price is five dollars and you feel like the price is ten dollars, who right? Okay, I went to a grocery store one time and they had a big box of turmeric. gigi: Mm. We haggling, we bargain, we haggling, yeah. Alexis: like fresh turmeric root for sale, but they didn't have the labels on there. They didn't have like the price on it. So I get to the register. Girl, when I get to the register, the employee asked me, the customer, how much I thought it cost. I said like a dollar. Girl, that thing was a smooth $15. And she was like, everybody was laughing at me. And I'm like, girl, I'm not an employee. Fire me now. Fire me today if that's the case. gigi: So it's fine. My pearls. I am not your supplier. I don't know. I'm a customer. Alexis: Better be glad this one in my purse. So okay, I love your point. I do. I absolutely do. I love your point that it is necessary because when you try to start your own business, you have a foundation of what a functioning business looks like. I think a lot of people have. Go ahead. gigi: Yeah. Because because business ⁓ isn't always gonna go well. You're gonna have those customers that are unsatisfied. So what does your refund process look like? What does your lack thereof look like? What are your terms and conditions? What did this customer sign up for? And that has to be consistent with each customer. Because customers talk. They write reviews, they talk. So you have to have that in place to back it up for your safety and also for the customer's expectations. Alexis: And that's if you have the skill set to manage conflict. One of the standard operating procedures are conflict man mitigation in ahead of time. You know what I mean? So if if you get tired of people showing up late, having that policy and that system in in advance communicates with people, hey, this is how we interact. This isn't how I feel. It's so funny. So I I definitely have a cancellation policy, right? gigi: Right. And this is how I'm gonna enforce it. It's right here. I girl, I know it. I look, I done paid it. ⁓ go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Alexis: Friends, this is what you call hit dogs hollering. Okay. Maybe you've listened to a different episode. gigi: This this this not a ⁓ what's that thing they do in with the documentaries where you sit down and you Alexis: Ha ha But look, but look, so I I had an experience where a client was like, I need to cancel, and they were having an emergency, right? But losing money was an emergency for me. So who's who who's supposed to manage whose emergency, right? And so I just let it go. And the client had an attitude about it that I was willing to charge them a fee. So meanwhile, meanwhile, back at the ranch, life went on, the client still comes to me, and now the client has their own business. And they're in that first six months of it and and they looking at all the cancellations that they dealing with. And I'm like, huh, you understand them ⁓ cancellation policies now. Uh-huh. It's landing. ⁓ the plane is landed. Okay, we've arrived. Okay. I am standing in the middle of the yacht. gigi: Mm-hmm. Right. You you see? Right. Right. Makes a little more sense, huh? Alexis: With an emphatic with my carry on, I told you so. Okay. ⁓ gigi: Love it. And but that that's a real realization. Like you don't know what you don't know. And and I I fear if I hadn't had the corporate background, I don't think my business would have sustained the fifteen years that it has. And I don't think my clientele would have been surviving off a word of mouth. Alexis: For sure. Okay. Now it depends on what kind of business you have. It depends on what kind of business you have. And it depends on what stage of development your business is in. So little side note, little marketing rabbit hole. All businesses have at least four stages. That's the introduction. Everybody, you need marketing and advertiser because no one knows you exist. The second one is growth. That's when people know you exist, but you need to spend more money with them. Okay. Then you have maturity. You can gigi: Okay. Right. Okay. Alexis: Spend heavily on advertising, but is much more nostalgia now. Remember how good we were? Come on back to Big Daddy, right? Okay. Okay. A vac. But but the last stage is the decline stage. Baby, we packing boxes at that point. It's time to find something new to do. So everybody isn't in that stage. You gotta understand. gigi: Right. You remember us. Look, I know you tried those other places. But we still here. I forgive you. Right. Alexis: business and corporate functionality period in order to know how to operate in every department. That's not just how we talk to each other, but how do we operate different departments and segments? gigi: Yeah. And one things corporations do do is they break it down into quarters and they say, Hey, what's working, what's not, who we letting go, who we keeping and it's not a feelings thing, it's a functions thing. Alexis: Nope. And a lot of the times there are functions, there are invisible functions that make you irreplaceable. What are some of those invisible functions, Shiji? gigi: Mm-hmm. ⁓ we overhired and we're in quarter four and we gotta slate our budget for quarter one, so we gotta let y'all go. That's that's invisible to the employee, but the employer knows, hey, I'm in I'm in the red, I need to be in the black when the first of the year comes. Alexis: Right. Okay. And on the opposite end, you could have you could be on the chopping block, you and your department, but if you haven't invested into getting to know supervisors, communicating some of the the the invisible labor that goes into the department. Right. ⁓ we're having I'm having the club soda with my boss. Let's take a picture. We're gonna need this for verification later, right? Right? Or making yourself available. gigi: Mm-hmm. Go into some of those social after work interactions. You got an advocate, right? Right. Right. Alexis: You know, not in a way that you're overachieving, but where you have value and people feel comfortable and confident in you. Confidence is all about trust. Sometimes in a business you have to do things that make you feel trustworthy that aren't necessarily a part of the ⁓ gigi: You have value. Mm. Mm-hmm. Alexis: It's a part of the culture, but it's not a part of the job description. Like, for instance, the coworker that disappears every lunch and nobody knows where they go and nobody knows what they do, but it's a group that sit around and speculate it. The speculating group, they trust each other. The person who disappears, they don't trust that person. The person who says, I'm only here to do my job and that's it. I ain't finna be hanging and carrying on with y'all. Unfortunately, you're you think you walk in a clean line. gigi: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Alexis: But you don't seem relatable and you come off isolated. gigi: Or you you yeah, you seem unapproachable. And I have been that person in the past, yeah. And it has constantly come back to you seem unapproachable, you don't seem like a team player, which is crazy because we do individual work, but whatever. But I say that to say if you want a different result or if you care about a different result, try try a different action or try Alexis: You see what I'm talking about? Mm-hmm. gigi: maybe engaging more to your level of comfortability. Don't be completely fake. Alexis: And you know what? Sometimes it's in Ooh, and the introverts gonna kill me when they hear this. It's in the small talk. gigi: Mm-hmm. Alexis: Sometimes it's in the small talk. You don't always have to go to this grandiose thing and remember birthdays and stuff. But even silly little small talk where you're just connecting over something basic, that's enough. And and gigi: What'd you do this weekend? I hate that question 'cause you don't wanna hear that I really turned up. Like I'm about to give you the clean version of what I did this this weekend. Alexis: Well, I did a little gardening and, you know, did a little cleaning. For twenty four hours for forty eight hours. That's it. gigi: Right. Yeah, walk the dog. Yep. Absolutely. Alexis: Yep. All done. You know what? I like to lie. So I'll be like, Man, I went and did this NASA experiment this weekend and gigi: Now that gets them engaged. Alexis: Exactly. People find me interesting. I don't know what to tell you. And sometimes I gotta, you know, I gotta up the antsy. I have to because what if all I did was watch cartoons, you know? So now I have to be a cartoon animator, you know what I mean? Or have a critical analysis of the cartoons. But my whole goal is to make people's brains turn in ways that they didn't necessarily need. gigi: I was in other space. And that's actually fun. Yeah. Yeah. And it it gives them a little little small insight to you and makes you a little more personable. Alexis: Baby, the way I have pictures of my cats ready to fire off when I know I'm in the group settings, like I already have like my phone scrolled for like a picture in my camera roll. Yeah, actually. Actually. Girl, let me make you laugh. I literally I was joking when I said I had pictures fired up, but I literally have pictures fired up of my ⁓ gigi: Yeah. Que é ⁓ cima? The baby Alexis: Okay. gigi: Look, they're adorable. Alexis: They are. They are. ⁓ my gosh. But no, that's the whole point, is like have something that people can connect about. I would even throw in I'll say this. Use chaotic, ⁓ but simple phrases. You know? So I was having gigi: Mm-hmm. Alexis: I love to tell people when they're like, I don't know what to do or things are going so crazy, embrace the chaos. And just walk up. gigi: Just give ⁓ a little nugget and just and w and and wherever that lands for them. ⁓ okay. Alexis: I've watched somebody's facial expression change when I said something similar to that. And it was like, ha ha. And was like gigi: My problem is I am extremely socially awkward and I don't care and I love it. Alexis: It's never done. I think that's I don't know if I don't know how to categorize that other than a quality, right? Like I Gigi's sense of humor, she can literally make anybody laugh, like hysterically. So of course she's my client when she shows up. But when she does gigi: Yeah, I enjoy it. ⁓ yeah. Right. On on time guys. Barely. Alexis: Go dog dog. Hit dogs are hollering. Who's hitting these dogs like this? I have to schedule her with a break between her and my next client because we're gonna laugh the entire appointment. The whole time. Girl, for the sake of your unburned scalp, please sit still. Please. There are marks, GG. People think I'm hurting you. gigi: I'll pay to feed ⁓ The entire time. And you'd be like, Don't move your head. Right. Did you get some murder? Alexis: Which which brings me to my next point. Find your person that can help you navigate that. And that doesn't mean that they're ⁓ like in a more like a hierarchy type situation. It could be a mentor or somebody that's higher up that's like pulling you with them or like you're connecting. But for me as an introvert, I'm such a pretend introvert, girl. But as an introvert, gigi: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna say introvert. Alexis: ⁓ no, because I process a lot of information internally. And I'm like you, I'm socially awkward, but not funny socially awkward. I'm more like I'm gonna mace you socially awkward. You know what I'm saying? So I know. So I have to have a very jovial friend with me. Like you don't know this, but you're my social friend now. And so, like, when I've worked in different environments, I usually find somebody that's like great at having social skills. gigi: Wait, what? ⁓ Alexis: And I kinda rely on them to like, ⁓ Lex, we're gonna go have coffee, you come with us. Where I don't have to go and get to know or set up the arrangements. I just have to hang out with you and you're gonna hang out with them for me. Yeah. gigi: Let's do this. And do it. You know who I use? I use my husband because he yep yep yep yep. He loves to talk. And I'm just like, talk to him Alexis: And you know what? And you'll slowly like notice that I disappeared a few minutes ago. gigi: Right. Keep talking to him. And I'm at home. Alexis: I'm in the car. And you know what has also helped me as a pretend introvert is Okay, so you know you have the extroverted friend, right? But let's say they're not in a room. You can pretend to act like the extroverted friend. So I have the extroverted friend. I love him to death. He is my soulmate. Honey, we have seen every bit of Beyonce together. Okay. So when I'm in socially awkward environments, I channel his energy now. So I just I start saying his catchphrases, I'll start laughing like him. gigi: Mm no. ⁓ I know who you're talking about. Even Alexis: I'll start, you know, I'll use his accent. Like I'll it's a character for me. It's an avatar. And so if you ever hear me saying I'm just here to play in your face, it's not me. Lexi, Lexi did not come. Baby. gigi: It's like a character. Yeah, okay. Look, Lexi's like, I'm here to mace y'all in face. Alexis: Yeah, you are. Sorry. Sorry guys. Not next time. Next time I'll be myself. ⁓ but this time I'm gonna be pretend to be my friend. So I am cosplaying as a Chicago gay man and I love it. to everybody, you know what I mean? gigi: ⁓ what fun. I love it. Look, sounds like a good time. Alexis: Honestly, I have the best times when I'm pretending to be like him because The one is an inside joke for me where I know I'm playing. So I I've created this joke and this kind of like game for myself where I'm entertaining myself. But also I'm less I'm more disarming and more relatable. gigi: Yeah. It's less pressure. Alexis: Because Lexi likes to talk about science and astrology and weirdly connect stuff. If you haven't seen, if you're not reading all of like the fairy books right now, I don't really have much in common with normal people. And and people get tired of people get tired of talking about my cats. Like they they only can do so much. So sometimes I have to just pretend to be Ray. gigi: Not normal people. And you just challenge him, be a character, yeah. It's it's fun. Alexis: Yeah. ⁓ okay. That's that's all that's all a front, y'all. I'm not doing any of it. That's not mine. That's not a lie. gigi: I love it. So okay, so what are some tips that we can give somebody in corporate America ⁓ where they can accomplish their goals without compromising who they are? Alexis: Okay, I got a few. One, schedule in connective time with your job. Whether it's an event or like a lunch or if they're having some type of extracurricular, try to schedule in at least once or twice a month, right? That's not a lot. And and stay for 30 minutes. Yeah, show your face. Stay for 30 minutes. gigi: that mean. Okay. Okay. Show your face. Ooh, come early when it's less people, work the room, walk out the door. Alexis: Hell yeah. Working on out. Yep. ⁓ I would also say s talk small and like embrace small talk where you you don't have to they don't have to know everything about you, but y'all can have like a common little inside joke. gigi: What's what's a small talk topic besides like what's the weather? Alexis: This is a right question. Lexi doesn't have an answer to this. gigi: 'Cause me, again, I'm socially awkward. I'd be like, Yeah, you know, I just had surgery the other day. Completely not small talk. Alexis: I mean, obviously like the weather, sports, entertainment, gigi: Okay, what's what's not small talk? Maybe that's easier. Alexis: Again, these are all ray questions, honey. Non invasive stuff, stuff where you don't reveal like your social security number or your address or stuff. gigi: ⁓ don't immediately be like, ⁓ okay. So what's your slow trick? Alexis: And what's your blood type, you know? Somebody is a ⁓ positive in here, I'm sure that. But ⁓ but find figure out what small talk, and you know what? You don't have to know what general small talk is, but what conversations are you willing to have con small talk about? Right? ⁓ I would say fake it till you make it or find a friend. gigi: Right. Are you well? Alright. Okay. Mm-hmm. Alexis: Those are my big two. And just, you know, see it through. What I'll also say is this you're going to have an emotional experience. Don't suppress your emotions, but don't let them govern reactive behavior. gigi: What do you mean? Alexis: So just because something feels frustrating or discomforting don't mean you gotta you gotta air this bitch out, right? gigi: No. Alexis: Like we was talking about the policies where people are making up new po new policy. You know what I'm saying? Like listen, emotionally decompress. You don't have to pretend it didn't happen and didn't have an effect on you. But give yourself a moment to feel it, figure out what you want to do with it, and then make a decision on how you wanna participate in a corporate environment. Cause you don't wanna act like you don't have emotions. They're gonna say you're cold, they're gonna say you're gigi: Immediately starting today. Alexis: Erotic, you're robotic, they're gonna have things to say. But then you don't want to be too wild and then they're like, ⁓ she's passionate and huh, she's spicy, and you know. So it's like find your balance on how you can communicate and articulate your discomfort. gigi: Aggressive. Okay. They never say passive. It's passionate aggressive. Alexis: You're gonna experience it. But running from it means other people are gonna do it more. Overly confronting it means people are gonna be scared of you. You gotta find a happy mood. You gotta find a happy mood. Right? So you can check out for all my introverts, put your headphones on. I know you wanted to anyway. Listen to this episode on everything, Spotify, Apple. gigi: Mm. I love that. That's good advice. Okay. Alexis: ⁓ iHeart, Pandora, ⁓ app ⁓ I said Apple, YouTube, Amazon Music, like yo, we're freaking everywhere, everywhere you podcast, right? So check us out. And if you're really looking for like some support in your career, visit VTACareers.com. That's where GG and I work. That's the home of our our business and how we are helping people develop their ⁓ develop their per professional careers and their professional teams. So check us out. gigi: Yes. And one other thing, there's a book that I read called Quiet by Susan Kane and it's for introverts, ⁓ how to find their voice in corporate. You should definitely pick that up. Alexis: Hell yeah. That's the book. Get that book, y'all. So we will see you next time. And don't forget, this is your energy. Use it wisely. See you soon. gigi: Mm-hmm. Bye.