Corporations Compassion Culture

Chapter 3Women's Corporate LeadershipPast Perceptions and Current Realities

I was in middle school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when I first read that Oprah Winfrey had attended Tennessee State University. As soon as I saw this, I lost it! In my sixth-grade mind, I saw Oprah riding along the same streets I did when my family and I would travel from Chattanooga to Nashville. She walked the same sidewalks, maybe even ate at the same Nashville restaurants as I did! This had real meaning for me. At the time, I wanted to be a journalist. I had just started doing public service announcement commercials, but Oprah-esque status was the ultimate goal. Each commercial I worked on brought me one step closer. Back then, I had no idea the number of obstacles that faced her or that would face me in my career. All I knew was that every day at 4 pm EST, I could see Oprah. And in her, I saw my own possibilities. She was Black, like me. She was female, like me. She had lived in Tennessee, like me. Seeing her career was like seeing my own future projected and playing out right in front of me.

As it turned out, I did not become an Oprah-esque journalist. Instead, I became an executive in financial data leading million-dollar campaigns, strategizing successful customer engagement programs, analyzing data to mitigate risks, communicating capital markets' shifts, and empowering brands to connect with their communities. In taking on these tasks, I still spend a lot of time thinking about role models ...