Latest / Authentic Living / Good Enough Now
Transcript
- 0:00Hi, everyone.
- 0:01It's, Roxanne Derhodge of authentic living with Roxanne.
- 0:04Thank you so much again for tuning in, to my podcast.
- 0:08So today, I have a very special guest, Jessica Jessica Pettit, and Jessica and I met at, the
- 0:15Capps Convention in Ottawa.
- 0:18Jessica, graced us with our presence, being surrounded by us, nice Canadians, like she kept
- 0:24saying.
- 0:24You guys nice.
- 0:26I remember that, where she was a keynote speaker, at our conference.
- 0:31And I completely enjoyed your Kino said, made me chuckle and laugh and understand things from
- 0:39a different perspective.
- 0:41So I'm just, I'm just gonna, I have a bit of a bio and I'm gonna read it, but what I like is
- 0:45for my guests to just, you know, tell, the listeners a bit about you when I'm done.
- 0:51So Jessica is, has a master's degree, in education, And she's also, a CSP in the
- 0:59speaking world that's a certified speaking professional, which means that she spoke lots
- 1:04and lots and lots for a very long time.
- 1:06And she pulls together, 15 years plus of, comedy, and you've, trained in comedy, and
- 1:14along with diversity training in a wide range of organizations, to move groups from abstract
- 1:21fears to actionable habits, to lead their teams to work together.
- 1:27With a sense of belonging understandings, colleagues take more risks with their ideas,
- 1:32converse Precious resources through collaboration and maintain real connections
- 1:38with clients over time.
- 1:39That sounds very nice because oftentimes, you know, diversity is such, a difficult topic for
- 1:47so many people.
- 1:49And, I remember when I came to Canada, and I was, sixteen years old.
- 1:55And, you know, at that point, a lot of people didn't know where Trinidad and Tobago is on the
- 2:01map.
- 2:02And they didn't know kind of where to place me.
- 2:04And I remember remember thinking, oh, well, that's kind of different.
- 2:08Why don't you know where we are?
- 2:09And so having lived a bit of that, you know, growing up elsewhere and then moving to North
- 2:14America, I, I have a real experience of what that was like having lived it myself.
- 2:19So, Jessica, thanks so much.
- 2:21So tell the listeners, who you are and what's brings you, to a space where you talk about
- 2:30diversity and being real.
- 2:33Yeah.
- 2:33So, what's interesting about the concept of being real is that I think most of us, and
- 2:39maybe I could say most women, maybe I could say most entrepreneurs, maybe I can say most human
- 2:45beings.
- 2:46I don't know.
- 2:46I'm only coming from my own perspective.
- 2:48But, I've spent years years years trying to, quote, be myself in a container that fit other
- 2:56people's expectations or desires, but I never really asked what they were.
- 3:01So I was making assumptions about what other people wanted and then trying to be what I
- 3:06thought other people wanted me to be.
- 3:07And it's just not really exhausting, really.
- 3:11My my own diversity work, I almost, completely burnt out doing the same thing I
- 3:16was always doing.
- 3:16I wasn't noticing
- 3:19an differences or any changes or anything.
- 3:22And, it was really frustrating.
- 3:25And so about 3 years ago, I decided, that what if the consistent tool that I have trying to do
- 3:32good work, but also trying to, like, have good conversations and good relationships what if,
- 3:37like, the base of just me was enough?
- 3:41And, I did a lot of research on the concept of enough And, I think that it brings
- 3:47authenticity, vulnerability, curiosity, and generosity together.
- 3:54Into a way that has been a much more invigorating way of living my life and accepts
- 4:00my imperfections and motivates me to try new things That is who I am, and that is what I try
- 4:06to inspire in other people.
- 4:08You know, you talk about perfect and, you know, I, I saw a client this morning and, and her
- 4:14thing was her story was, you know, I tried to be perfect, with what I grew up around.
- 4:22And, you know, it kind of worked out, say when I was, you know, twelve or thirteen years old,
- 4:26but then I Roxanne this adult, and I'm still not, you know, I'm trying to be the same way.
- 4:31I'm trying to, you know, be perceived a certain way by people, but I'm realizing it's not so
- 4:37good for me.
- 4:39I, I'm really not being real, but it's kind of hard to step out of that role.
- 4:46Your trainings.
- 4:47Do you do you find a lot of people talk about things like that?
- 4:51Yeah.
- 4:51Totally.
- 4:52Specifically, when we start talking about diversity where You have well intentioned
- 4:56people who don't wanna hurt anybody's feelings, but they're not willing to do the messy work
- 5:01of, like, you are hurting people's feelings.
- 5:04So they think that if they can, like, upload the right vocabulary or collect enough
- 5:12different experiences or people that they will then be absolved from potentially offending
- 5:18someone and that's one impossible.
- 5:20And 2, that's the easy part.
- 5:22The hard part is recognizing that you don't even know when you're offending someone, and
- 5:27you're responsible for it.
- 5:29So part of part of doing authentic work is really being vulnerable with yourself and
- 5:33allowing yourself to be curious
- 5:33and generous with yourself
- 5:39so that when you can be responsible for who and how you are, then you don't feel the need for
- 5:44perfection.
- 5:45You don't feel the need to satisfy other people's which is you haven't even found out
- 5:49what they are, you're really just working on your own.
- 5:54Not necessarily in a narcissistic way, but I don't think I think that if at the root of it,
- 6:00we're all self absorbed, then we might as well use what we're good at, right, and do our own
- 6:06work.
- 6:07So you work a lot with teams.
- 6:09So I'm, you know, I'm curious because I've, obviously, I've been, you know, I've been a
- 6:12leader.
- 6:13I've been parts of teams.
- 6:14I've had to work on a lot of projects and sometimes, you know, in teams, you have people
- 6:20that are stuck.
- 6:23Right?
- 6:23They kind of think that my way of doing things are the way that it should be done.
- 6:29And they it's hard for them to look outside of themselves to see.
- 6:33Well, you know, maybe Jessica's way is different, but it's okay.
- 6:37So when you get teams that are stuck, right?
- 6:41Let's say you have some that kind of gel really well.
- 6:44There's 2 or 3 that kind of clump together and 1 or 2 that are kind of diametrically opposed.
- 6:50So that's a lot of moving parts.
- 6:53How do you kind of intervene when when you work with these teams?
- 6:57Well, first off, I don't know any team that isn't stuck on something.
- 7:01And, a a good self assessment for any group trying to collaborate or work together is if
- 7:06you think you're a really healthy, really successful team, look at the stuff that you're
- 7:11not doing.
- 7:12Mhmm.
- 7:12Because you've probably shuffled out all the stuff that causes any conflict or controversy
- 7:17or stuckness so that you're only working on the things that everybody agrees on.
- 7:21Mhmm.
- 7:21Or, and this happens a lot with like search committees.
- 7:25Is you've fallen told people who behave exactly the way you do to work together.
- 7:30And so surprise, the work is great.
- 7:33The outcome isn't great.
- 7:34It's not very innovative.
- 7:36It's not conserving resources.
- 7:39It's not being efficient.
- 7:41It's not risking something or trying something new, but, like, look, the work is great, but
- 7:48that's not what every team is really charged with doing.
- 7:51And inspiring one another to think outside of the box and be innovative, etcetera.
- 7:55The two people in your scenario, the two people that are diabolically opposite, If they could
- 8:00agree on something, it would probably be something that is significantly more efficient
- 8:04and more innovative.
- 8:06What we end up doing is we keep the two people who are diabolically opposite of one another
- 8:11away from one another to reduce conflict and then just maintain the status quo.
- 8:17So I would say you have to encourage this and you have to encourage people who are in
- 8:22conflict to figure out what it is they're bringing to the table that is less good or less
- 8:29qualified than the other person, provide some humility in that conversation, and what that
- 8:35other person can do that you can't do.
- 8:37And then once you have a better understanding of each other's strengths, then you can work
- 8:42together.
- 8:42And then all of a sudden, all this new These new ideas can happen, and then that becomes a
- 8:47habit.
- 8:49Because, you know, a lot of teams, they they you're right.
- 8:51They muddle through things.
- 8:52They get they hit the certain metrics that they need to.
- 8:55Like you said, it's not it's not over the top.
- 8:58It's not explosive.
- 8:59It's not innovative.
- 9:01And, but they're still hitting, maybe, targets, but they're not going to superseding them.
- 9:07So a lot of organizations sometimes say, okay, well, it's kinda, we don't want to look at
- 9:12that, because we're afraid.
- 9:14And I don't know if you've gone into organizations, and I know I've worked in
- 9:17multiple hospitals in my career where they a lot of times those systems move difficult
- 9:25people or perceive difficult people instead of dealing with them.
- 9:31So if you were to come been called in to consult with, say, a CEO that has, say, one
- 9:37difficult person, what, what kind of guidance do you give the CEO or the, say, the senior
- 9:42team Let's say this person is pivotal, they're important to the organization, but they're
- 9:47difficult to work with.
- 9:48Yeah.
- 9:49I mean, some people are just difficult.
- 9:50Right?
- 9:50So, I think the first thing is to figure out is, what what is it about the person that is
- 9:56difficult?
- 9:57So, like, I think is I was a very difficult child.
- 10:03I was very difficult in the classroom, but it's because I was understimulated and bored.
- 10:09So as soon as I got enough agency to, like, make up my own research projects and I was old
- 10:15enough to, like, on my bike, get all the way to the library without crossing any, like, rules
- 10:21or boundaries or something, and I could check out my own books I became much more tolerable
- 10:25in the classroom because I was doing my own work.
- 10:27I was I was more interested in what I was doing, so I could do their stuff to get to do
- 10:32what I wanted to do.
- 10:33Possible that it's just a structure.
- 10:35It's possible that it's a, typically speaking difficult people either are missing structure
- 10:42connection to something larger or, real understanding they're bringing something to the
- 10:52table that nobody else is.
- 10:53And so that would be my first place is to kind of figure out where is the source of difficulty
- 10:58coming from.
- 10:59The other thing I would say is that when we do, we get very nervous about conflict or we get
- 11:04nervous about what, like, a firing would look like either across identities or across, like,
- 11:10the capital that that person brings in.
- 11:13Sometimes they're the founder of the organization.
- 11:16Right?
- 11:17There's all different kinds of politicking and things like this.
- 11:19And so when you move someone or you create a job for someone that's difficult and you're
- 11:24hoping they hate the job enough they leave on their own.
- 11:27First off, you're really devaluing the work you've moved a difficult person into.
- 11:34Because now that place has to deal with this difficulty and it has a negative impact on how
- 11:40their work is pursued in the organization because everybody kinda catches on to what
- 11:44you're doing, usually except for the difficult person.
- 11:48So what I really what I really encourage when I work when I do consulting with organizations or
- 11:53associations or businesses is to be able to do a self assessment of what's missing of the
- 12:01strengths of the people that you're working with and what the experience of the people
- 12:06you're working with and then either hire or tap into the few people who have those skills.
- 12:13So that that there's there's an acknowledgement of a role someone is playing, even if they're
- 12:19the only one who does this.
- 12:21You know?
- 12:22So the ability to be, make connections that are connected to significantly larger ideas would
- 12:30be really annoying in the middle of an accounting meeting, but, but it's also the case
- 12:36that accountant's books can be completely a 100% in order and not necessarily realize that
- 12:43when paired with the strategic plan and the vision of the organization, the organization
- 12:48isn't going to thrive.
- 12:50Mhmm.
- 12:50Because, I I like to use lamps as a metaphor.
- 12:54Is that you have some people that bear a downward facing lamp, so they only see this.
- 13:01There are other people who are an upward facing lamp, So they only see significantly bigger
- 13:06than themselves.
- 13:07And then there's the people who are really difficult, and they're like a strobe light.
- 13:11Right?
- 13:12They just wanna do But you need all 3 in order to actually be really successful.
- 13:19So really it's about, you're looking at resourcing all the strengths at first.
- 13:25And then once you do that, then you're looking at, okay, what are the limitations or the
- 13:29blockages that allows the team to gel in a way.
- 13:32And then what if there is, ongoing conflict, say, between 2 team members?
- 13:39Do you
- 13:40everybody's frustrated by somebody.
- 13:42Right?
- 13:43So typically I get brought in to fix the frustrating person.
- 13:47But the reality is is that we are all frustrating to somebody.
- 13:50Mhmm.
- 13:51So if you or I or Todd can do the work required to figure out how am I frustrating?
- 13:58How do I show up in a frustrating way?
- 14:01Then I actually have a space of empathy for the people that are frustrating me.
- 14:04Because I know what it feels like to be the person causing the frustration.
- 14:08I know what what it feels like.
- 14:10So if I can do that about myself, that I can show up much more aware and responsible for
- 14:15where it is that I'm coming from that could be annoying other people that have it helps other
- 14:21people do the same thing.
- 14:22And conflict is not horrible.
- 14:25Conflict is where a lot of really fascinating ideas come from.
- 14:29What's horrible is avoiding or the the lack of confrontation of, I don't understand.
- 14:36And that's being more humble and bringing a sense of humility into a conflict so that you
- 14:44can actually be creative and innovative and try new things.
- 14:48Right.
- 14:49Right.
- 14:49So tell me more how how you came up with your brand because, I I I find it fascinating, your
- 14:56brand.
- 14:57So tell me how you did you work with someone to formulate, your brand?
- 15:02Or brand Good enough now?
- 15:03Good enough now.
- 15:05Yeah.
- 15:05Because when I listen to you on stage, it is so interesting, right?
- 15:09Because, you know, when we, when I speak to, right, you're right.
- 15:12We get up there and you're thinking, you're trying not to think about what others think
- 15:16about you, but it is so true.
- 15:18You kinda get up there and think, oh, did I wear the right dress?
- 15:20You know, do did I Did I, you know, you know, engage people in this certain way?
- 15:25There's so many things that we go through.
- 15:26And I, I can, I can say as a psychotherapist, in behind closed doors, people you know, show
- 15:32me who they are once they've kind of recognized that I'm safe?
- 15:35So it's a different kind of situation, but on, you know, with your brand, and and being on
- 15:40stage.
- 15:41I what I loved is how you unpacked it telling your story.
- 15:44So tell me a little bit more about that because I really it made me chuckle.
- 15:49But it really made me think because, you know, oftentimes we think, you know, I'm, I'm, you
- 15:54know, from, you know, a different, country, I'm also judging.
- 15:58Right?
- 15:59You know, sometimes if the perception is when someone leaves you and you're foreign, they
- 16:03think, well, you know, you, are you judging me?
- 16:06Of course, we all, we all all inherently kind of, you know, making us an assumption of about
- 16:10a lot of people So I'm just fascinating with how you came up with your brand and how you
- 16:15kind of talk on stage about diversity.
- 16:19Sure.
- 16:19So, I mean, first things around judgments and assumptions, which I think is important in your
- 16:23naming, is that we make judgments and assumptions to feel safe and prepared.
- 16:29And our lived experience has taught us when we can feel safe and prepared.
- 16:35So that's like our lizard brains, right, is that this is the information we need to know.
- 16:41Okay.
- 16:41Let's go from there.
- 16:42And then my my premise is that don't stop doing that.
- 16:46Like, old school diversities, like, you're never ever ever supposed to make judgments and
- 16:50assumptions.
- 16:51Well, how do you ask out somebody on a date versus somebody you don't ask out on a date, or
- 16:56how do you parallel park without making judgments and assumptions.
- 16:59Right?
- 17:00I I don't think it's a practice that needs to be eradicated.
- 17:03I think you just need to be responsible for the the patterns that you are making when there's
- 17:09positive or negative conscious or unconscious bias involved in your judgments and assumptions
- 17:16And what is the story behind that?
- 17:18What is the root of what makes you feel safe and prepared?
- 17:21And then just acknowledge that that is not the same for everybody else.
- 17:25So
- 17:26then you had you can write your story just write at triple space with extra wide margins
- 17:32so that when you're actually engaging with someone else, they can give you edits to your
- 17:37story.
- 17:38So leave room for edits so that I can find out real accurate information about the person I'm
- 17:44about to interact with.
- 17:46They know their story better than you do.
- 17:49You know your story better than they do.
- 17:52So why are you not engaging in that kind of conversation with a sense of curiosity and
- 17:57generosity to get nobody likes to be wrong, so I like to say writer.
- 18:02Right?
- 18:02Like, our stories can become more right now.
- 18:06So That's first.
- 18:07Right?
- 18:07Mhmm.
- 18:08So as a professional speaker in my audiences, I was on an extended trip where every pro I was
- 18:16gonna offer or I'd offer happen to come up on the same trip.
- 18:21And so I just had this weird idea to have audience members write down on sheet of paper,
- 18:27what their favorite takeaway was.
- 18:29And then after I dragged in each one, I stapled them and threw them in my suitcase, and then
- 18:33when I came home, I looked at all the sheets and So there's many things that came from this
- 18:37as far as, like, developing my brand.
- 18:40And it's always interesting to talk about branding and authenticity, right, is that
- 18:44branding is not the font or the color.
- 18:47It's who you are.
- 18:49Right?
- 18:49So, at the National Speakers Association's last event called the BrandLab, and I was actually
- 18:56part of a panel.
- 18:58And I get asked all the time, like, how did you decide?
- 19:02Like, how to be?
- 19:03And I'm like, I don't know.
- 19:06High school, like, I had a 24 hour head gear, and this is what happened.
- 19:12I've got great teeth, and I'm super sarcastic.
- 19:16But it was just too much work to try to be speaker, Jessica.
- 19:20So I just thought I would be, yes.
- 19:23Right?
- 19:23Mhmm.
- 19:24But, like, you know, I'm I'm known for having funky hair and weird glasses, and I don't own
- 19:31hardly any, like, single colored, plain, solid outfits.
- 19:37Right?
- 19:37Like, I I like me a good pattern.
- 19:41But it's also really affirming that I hear or people will come up to me and that I don't
- 19:46remember.
- 19:47And I met them years ago, and they'll always say, like, I don't expect you to remember, but
- 19:51I remember you.
- 19:52Well, courchie do because I wear, like, giant polka dots or something.
- 19:56But, they always say, like, you were so nice.
- 19:59Mhmm.
- 19:59Like, you I you know, there's at the brand lab, a guy stood up and said, you know, we both were
- 20:04checking in the hotel roughly at the same time in the middle of the night.
- 20:08He's like, I had no idea you were a speaker.
- 20:10You had no idea that I was with National Speakers Association.
- 20:13Something fell off his cart And I picked it up and I said, hi.
- 20:17And made eye contact and asked how's flight was.
- 20:20And
- 20:21Mhmm.
- 20:21I don't
- 20:21even remember doing this, but I'm not surprised that I did that.
- 20:25Right, who
- 20:26I am as a person.
- 20:27Right?
- 20:27But that's also who needs who you need to witness when you watch my videos or who you
- 20:33need to witness when you go to my website.
- 20:35So for podcasting, right, like, hello.
- 20:38I just finished breakfast.
- 20:40I am wearing this week's nice outfit.
- 20:43Right?
- 20:43This is what I look like.
- 20:44What's the what's the pattern on the outfit?
- 20:46I'm trying to Make it out.
- 20:50So I'm not
- 20:52Yeah.
- 20:52I don't know.
- 20:53I don't know.
- 20:56Jellyfish.
- 20:58Jellyfish.
- 20:59Okay.
- 21:00Cocodots,
- 21:01streaming together.
- 21:01It looks
- 21:01it looks very, very lively.
- 21:06I don't know.
- 21:07Yeah.
- 21:08It's, I got pockets too.
- 21:10So, anyway, so 321 back to the audiences that I had right on their little sheets of paper,
- 21:14something they remembered, So as a speaker, what's interesting is I offered, let's say I
- 21:19offered 10 programs.
- 21:21I did this little activity, And the big lesson is I will never buy me.
- 21:27I will never be in my own audience.
- 21:30Because I'm with me all the time, which is why I'm like this.
- 21:34Right?
- 21:35So, even my husband can't do this all the time.
- 21:38He's like, go out of town.
- 21:40But My audiences are the they themselves the audience.
- 21:45So I listened to their topics or the comments that they made And what was interesting first
- 21:50off is I had 2 workshops that in my mind were completely different, and one was kind of a
- 21:56pain to do because it involved a lot of supplies are really expensive.
- 22:00And the other one, I really like to do more because it doesn't have supplies.
- 22:04Well, it turns out the same outcome.
- 22:07For an audience in both of these.
- 22:09So I just stopped doing the one that had really expensive supplies, and now I only offer the
- 22:13one I like to do better anyway.
- 22:15Oh, I didn't know that.
- 22:16Right?
- 22:17So then the other thing is I looked at all the sheets across all of my programs consistently,
- 22:24to see if there was any pattern in what they learned from me or my message.
- 22:29And there was.
- 22:30And, right, you know, if it was a snake, I'd be dead.
- 22:34Was do the best you can with what you got some of the time.
- 22:39And I say this I believe this.
- 22:44It's a punch line to a lot of my jokes.
- 22:46It's a punch line in a lot of my stories.
- 22:48Do the best you can with what you got some of the time.
- 22:50So I was like, okay.
- 22:51Well, That's pretty much who I am generally.
- 22:55And then I reduced it down to 3 words.
- 22:59So do the best you can.
- 23:01If I believe everybody is actually doing the best they can, then it's easier for me to
- 23:05believe that at the heart, everybody is good.
- 23:08Nice.
- 23:09Nice.
- 23:10What a nice way.
- 23:11So, basically, you're just dissected what people liked.
- 23:15The outcomes that you had in all your audiences.
- 23:18Mhmm.
- 23:18And then really it, it reinforced who you really are.
- 23:22Yeah.
- 23:23So I actually do believe that everybody is good.
- 23:25I think some people are struggling.
- 23:27I'm struggling, but I believe everybody's good.
- 23:29Yeah.
- 23:30Do the best you can.
- 23:31With why you already got, then that means that it's not about accumulating more or getting a
- 23:36degree or, you know, when this happens then you are good or you're enough.
- 23:43That's where enough came from.
- 23:44That actually came out of, a conversation with my brother, and I don't know if I told the
- 23:49story during the keynote or not.
- 23:51But when my parents died, I raised my brother, and I felt incredibly incompetent to be an
- 23:56older sister.
- 23:57And read all these books and went to all these conferences and everything.
- 24:00And I was at dinner with my younger brother at some point in time in this journey.
- 24:05And I, like, admitted to him that I felt, inferior, and I didn't know how to be a
- 24:12sibling.
- 24:13And I was trying really hard, and I'm sorry I suck at so bad.
- 24:16And my brother, like, put his fork down and was like, you've been my older sister since the day
- 24:21I was born.
- 24:23You're already my older sister.
- 24:26You could just, like, return a phone call.
- 24:29That would be enough.
- 24:32Right?
- 24:33And I had missed the consciousness of being his older sister while I was preparing to be his
- 24:39sister.
- 24:41Enough.
- 24:43What if what you have right now is actually enough?
- 24:46That's alarmingly terrifying for most of us, but That's where enough came from.
- 24:51And then some of the time, I think sometimes we wait for the perfect time And what if some of
- 24:59the time is now?
- 25:00And what if some of the time is not now?
- 25:03Okay.
- 25:04At least you're taking responsibility for what you're choosing to enter or not enter.
- 25:09Which is really you're talking about being present.
- 25:12Right?
- 25:12Like, I mean, you and I, all we have is right now, And, you know, oftentimes when I coach or
- 25:19consults, you know, or see people 1 to 1, that's what happens.
- 25:24They're either propelled into the future worrying about so many things or the repelled
- 25:27into the past.
- 25:28So that space of just being able to say, wow, you know, and, but we're so oftentimes so busy
- 25:35comparing that were out of that space.
- 25:37And like you said, what it really, this is probably the best it's gonna be.
- 25:41We have so many good things.
- 25:43Our, our selective brain kind of picks out the things that are wrong versus kind of going to
- 25:48what's, what's really right.
- 25:50Great.
- 25:51So do the best you can with what you got some of the time because you're good enough now.
- 25:57New brand, and it is way less stressful because it just gets to be me.
- 26:05Hi.
- 26:06So tell me about, been about your com, your comedic background because you're, obviously,
- 26:12you're, you know, people like me have to learn, I mean, to do it on stage, and I've got a bit
- 26:17of humor, not like you, but you you're you've got a comedic background.
- 26:21Would you mind sharing a little bit about that and kind of how that helps you or enhances or
- 26:27sometimes debilitates your capacity on stage.
- 26:30Well, that's that last little bit is probably the smartest part.
- 26:33So, I mean, I grew up with in a family that used a lot of humor and is, big storytellers.
- 26:40Right?
- 26:42They also, like, everyone had a PhD, right, even my grandmother's had PhDs.
- 26:47Wow.
- 26:47Who I kind of envision, like, super nerdy academics who told jokes to stay alive.
- 26:54Basically.
- 26:56Didn't work.
- 26:56They all died before they were fifty, but still they were funny in the meantime.
- 27:02I think humor I'm motivated to humor because I think it is the great equalizer that No matter
- 27:10how much conflict or how much contentiousness exists between two people or a topic, if you
- 27:16can use humor, you can find the middle ground.
- 27:20And if you really can't find a middle ground, then outside of that topic, right now in the
- 27:26moment, you can both enjoy a good laugh.
- 27:30Mhmm.
- 27:31Mhmm.
- 27:31And then that connection helps find more connections.
- 27:35Absolutely.
- 27:36I think it's very helpful.
- 27:37And I think that an ill timed joke, an inappropriate joke, a joke that doesn't land,
- 27:44can also really hinder those connections.
- 27:47So it's it's a risk, but, most of the time I find that the reward is worth it.
- 27:54Do you sometimes find, diversity?
- 27:57Do you do, diversity with, racism at times?
- 28:01Do you do talks Yeah.
- 28:02And how are those, how are those compared to just doing diversity in teams or Are they more
- 28:12difficult to do?
- 28:14No.
- 28:14I mean, to me, it's all the same thing.
- 28:16So I talk about every topic no one wants to talk about.
- 28:19Okay.
- 28:20Anytime I walk into doing consulting or speaking or training work with a group of
- 28:25people, there are more elephants in the room than there are humans.
- 28:29And so I just have to kind of figure out which elephants are unique to that audience.
- 28:35And the way to do that is to hit on the elephant that are rampant in our culture.
- 28:42So politics, religion, racism, fascism, immigration issues, our general fear of
- 28:49difference.
- 28:49Like, that's, like, base 1.
- 28:52Right?
- 28:52And then from there, I can get a little bit more specific about what's actually happening
- 28:57or potentially happening in the workplace.
- 28:59So we can get to embezzlement, fraud, inappropriate hires, nepotism, sexual
- 29:06harassment, My favorite is I was doing some board consulting, and there was a an individual
- 29:13serving on the board who I intuitively figured out was having a inappropriate romantic
- 29:21relationship with three different people in the room, and everyone in the room knew it except
- 29:27for the other 2 of the people that makes any sense.
- 29:30Mhmm.
- 29:31And They wanted to do team building about working together better.
- 29:34And I was just like, so I'm seeing relevant Right?
- 29:40But I can't start with that.
- 29:42No.
- 29:42Goodness, though.
- 29:44Steve, keep your pants on for an hour, will you?
- 29:46Like, I can't do that.
- 29:48So I have to start somewhere and sometimes starting at racism, which is usually terrifying
- 29:54for people to engage with, and terrifying because either it's a daily thing they're
- 29:58dealing with, and now they have they feel that they have to do the education of it or the
- 30:02crazy white lady with a weird hair is going to, like, call out all the white men.
- 30:07I mean, it's been done poorly for so long, but if I can start at racism and we're kind of, oh,
- 30:14okay.
- 30:14I see her approach her style, and I can get to speed, keep your pants on.
- 30:19It's causing power dynamics at work.
- 30:22I'm actually serving that team.
- 30:24So you're tipping your tipping your toe in the water based on what's in your what's in your
- 30:29room, of what's in the context.
- 30:31Which makes sense.
- 30:32You know, so racism, you think, oh my god.
- 30:34You know, what a topic to start with, but if it's about paradynamics and differential
- 30:39systemically, guess what?
- 30:40Make sense, right?
- 30:41So it's, so it it depends on what's the context of whatever you're dealing with.
- 30:46Right.
- 30:46And I'm very self I mean, you mentioned this too.
- 30:51I did that, you know, several months ago, but you remember that I I share a lot of stories
- 30:56about me going through this journey.
- 30:57Right?
- 30:57And so because I think it's important to include everyone in the room and no one in the
- 31:02room become the target or the educator, that's what I'm getting paid to do, that stylistic
- 31:08difference allows me to talk about much more controversial topics.
- 31:12Absolutely.
- 31:13Well, it was remember my memory of meeting you was meeting you at the Tim's line, and I did
- 31:17not know who you were, and then you were saying, Oh, these Canadians are so and I'm
- 31:20like, I guess you must not be kidding.
- 31:23That that's all I thought because you were chitchatting, and they're all just so nice.
- 31:26And, and then I was following you and I think you had probably just checked in also to the
- 31:30hotel and you know, and that kind of stuff.
- 31:33And then I thought, oh, she's the keynote.
- 31:35I had no idea because I was chitchatting when we were in the, the lobby of the hotel, those
- 31:40types of you are, you are real.
- 31:42Like, I mean, I often say that that's that's the biggest thing.
- 31:45Right?
- 31:45I'm, I grew up in the Caribbean, and I often talk to everybody.
- 31:48You know, my son goes, Ma'am, do you have to talk to everybody every I'm like, well, what's
- 31:52fun?
- 31:52You never know who you're gonna meet.
- 31:54You know, so it's a it's a nice thing to be able to see that in other people.
- 31:58Now, Jessica, this has been, opening again, just, you know, I know it's not this was not as
- 32:05comedic as when you were on stage, but, but I've learned so much more.
- 32:09About, your, your true core message.
- 32:12I just wanted you to if there's any last words you'd like to share or tell the the listeners
- 32:17where they can get a hold, of yourself or if they're ever needing someone to speak, or just,
- 32:23resources that, I know there's some resources that you can direct them to.
- 32:28So to get a hold of me, generally, good enough now.com is or jess@goodenoughnow.com is a great
- 32:34way to do that.
- 32:36But I also have some secret pages on my website.
- 32:40And if you go to good enough now dot com slash freebies, fee b I e s.
- 32:47There's some free downloads and videos and things like that that talk about the model in
- 32:51my book.
- 32:52As well as, like, the definitions or the activities that are in the book because, of
- 32:56course, it's, like, highly interactive because I have the attention span of a net.
- 33:00But that's all there for free.
- 33:02It doesn't cost anything at all.
- 33:03And if I can ever be of service, let me know.
- 33:06Awesome.
- 33:07Well, thank you again.
- 33:08You know, I think of my brand on authenticity, and and you're right.
- 33:11We're good enough with what we have at the moment, and it may be the best that it is.
- 33:16And the more that we learn to accept ourselves for who we are, it's just a nicer ride versus
- 33:21looking at the other alternative So thanks a lot again for taking the time.
- 33:27Hopefully, we will are I may come to NSA.
- 33:29I'm I'm still on the fence, but I'm I know you're gonna be there from what seen, with our
- 33:34fellow speakers online.
- 33:35So, hopefully we can connect then.
- 33:38And, for my listeners, please reach out to Jesse, if you're needing anything at all.
- 33:43So again, thanks again for listening and tuning into authentically living with Roxanne.
- 33:49And if you're needing any more information, just go to Roxanne.
- 33:54Thanks a lot.
- 33:54Take care.
- 33:55We'll chat with you soon.