No Longer Playing By Your Rules
I’ve been struggling with a decision, although “experience” may be a better word because I recognize that I have not been following my own advice: if it is not a HELL YES, then it is a NO!
As many of you know I have been pursuing a Doctor’s of Business Administration (DBA) in Technology Entrepreneurship. What many of you do not know is that I only started this program because, as ubiquitous as information is, finding valuable information on how to build a business, and not how to develop a product or service, had been elusive. I could not locate any resources, outside of a formal academic program that would provide me the knowledge and skills I needed to build businesses that would scale, evolve, and recover in today’s information based economy. It was never important to me to gain the title of Doctor. All I cared about was learning how to build businesses that could compete and profit.
When I started this journey, in 2014, I was not yet aware of the term “PRIVILEGE” in relation to the different experiences others were having, when compared to marginalized individuals. At the time, to even question these differences was considered, by many, to be problematic, intentionally harmful and discriminatory to those, who we now openly identify as benefiting from PRIVILEGE. As a BLACK WOMAN, to mention, the mere fact that I frequently experienced hatred and that my very existence was often challenged, would have been seen as hyperbolic and an untruth.
So here is where the lines of my initial reasons for returning to school and the reality of what it means to work as a marginalized person in tech, particularly a BLACK WOMAN, starts to blur.
It quickly became clear to me, that the more knowledge and skills I gained on how to build successful technology businesses, the more experiences I had that would confirm that my expertise, as a BLACK WOMAN in tech would often be challenged or downright ignored. It became clear to me, that no matter what I did to ensure that I was properly trained and prepared to help business leaders succeed, I would always be seen as “not good enough” unless I changed the narrative.
“Black women have by far the most outstanding student debt after college graduation compared with both white men and white women. The report found African-American women amass an average of $30,400 by college graduation, compared with $22,000 held against white women and $19,500 for Caucasian male students.”
The above facts only highlight that no matter how qualified I am or how credentialed I become, as a BLACK WOMAN, I will never be valued or receive the compensation I deserve, if I continue to play a game by rules that are designed for me to fail.
Fail professionally, fail economically, and fail systematically.
What I saw ahead of me was years of crippling student loan debt, gained in an effort to prove my worth to PRIVILEGED individuals who would continue to actively find ways to under mind my efforts and discount my value.
Well, no more!
Today, I have decided to leave school and do what I do best, create opportunities for myself by making my own rules.
No longer will I look to PRIVILEGE to define my value.
No longer will I accept less for my work than what it is worth.
No longer will I allow others to determine the value of my expertise in building businesses that are profitable, inclusive, and committed to “doing no harm.”
Today, I will start to focus on writing my book, conducting my own research on successful strategies for sharing organizational knowledge, leading the #causeascene movement, and working with business leaders who are willing to pay me well for helping them avoid the inevitable negative outcomes that are a direct result of creating products and services that are exclusionary and harmful to global customers and clients.
Today, I reclaim my greatness and create a professional life for myself, within tech, that does not require the approval of privilege to succeed.
No more asking permission.
No more allowing PRIVILEGE to dictate my value.
No more waiting because there will NEVER be a ‘right’ time to disrupt the status quo.
TODAY, THE RULES HAVE CHANGED AND SO HAVE I!
NOT ASKING PERMISSION!
GIVING NOTICE!
