Brandice Daniel working with aspiring designers and creatives.
KD: What advice do you have for people of color who are struggling to overcome racism and prejudice in order to achieve their career goals? BD: “You have to make a decision. Make a decision on what you want for your life. And when you make that decision you’ll know what you need to do. If you’re at a company and they’re not valuing you, leave. Go somewhere else — because that’s not the case at every single company. Speak up. Have conversations. The last thing I would say is know “the game.” Many people of color go into the industry naive about what it takes to move ahead, what it takes to be promoted. Study your environment. Find someone who will be an ally, someone you can get the answers to the hard questions from. That person isn’t always Black; I’ve had tons of support from our Black community, and I’ve also had support from white women. So, I think it’s to find your allies; it doesn’t matter what color they are.” KD: What advice do you have for people who struggle with social anxiety, to overcome that nervousness and put themselves out there? BD: “It’s practice. In everything we do, we are building a muscle. We are born with certain muscles. Others get stronger throughout the years. We are constantly having to build that muscle. I wasn’t really good at public speaking for a very long time. I would get up and say ‘uh uh uh…’ So I took improvisation classes! Improvisation was incredibly helpful in giving me the skills necessary for talking with other people. Networking used to be very hard for me. I would go to events and struggle to start a conversation with the strangers surrounding me. You can never undervalue training, coaching and personal development — personal development is probably one of the most critical things that you can do for your own success.”
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