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28:19

Fiftyfaces Focus 2023 Pride Special

by Aoifinn Devitt

A podcast that celebrates the careers of LGBT professionals around the world throughout the month of June 2022. We talk about how much has changed for LGBT inclusion in the workplace, and how much change is still needed.

Copyright: Copyright 2023 Aoifinn Devitt

Episodes

Episode 29: Ray Tierney - Cybersecurity Expert: On Security, Safe Spaces and Life Hacks

32m · Published 25 Jul 00:00

Ray Tierney is a cybersecurity specialist who was formerly a paramedic.  Prior to that she was a Security Forces Security Specialist. We chart her path through school and into a series of professions that were explicitly intolerant towards LGBTQ identities and discuss how she was "outed" initially by a polygraph test, which contained particularly intrusive questions.

We talk then about her transition, societal pressure that led her to detransition, and then the decision point that led to her committing to her transition once more. We discuss the rising tide of opposition and hostility to transgender people across the country (US) right now and the real stresses that this causes in their everyday life.  We speak about allyship and where it is genuine and where it is not and the advice that Ray would have for her younger self.

Finally Ray cites a number of organizations and affinity groups, including those listed below, which have supplied support and community to her and she recommends them as resources for others.

Trigger Warning: This podcast contains a discussion of suicidal thoughts. If you or anyone you love is struggling please seek help from one of the organizations below or one of the suicide helplines in your country.
 https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

https://translifeline.org/

www.veteranscrisisline.net

The 2023 Pride Series is kindly sponsored by members of our Rainbow Network including Laura J. LaTourette, who is a financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based in Dahlonega Georgia but with a national client base Laura has a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ elders. You can find out more about Laura's practice by following her on:

Linked In
linkedin.com/in/lauralatourette 

Twitter: 

  • LauraLaTourette

Episode 28: Ronnie Woo - Chef and TV Personality: A Four Star Journey of Authenticity

22m · Published 12 Jul 00:00

Ronnie Woo is the chef and owner of The Delicious Cook, an LA-based private chef company that specializes in four-star dining experiences. He is an accomplished chef, television personality, and cookbook author (Did You Eat Yet?, March 14, 2023) celebrated by his fans and peers alike for his infectious personality, background in dating & relationships, and creative Asian-American cuisine, which combines Asian dishes with All-American influences.

Our conversation starts by discussing Ronnie's childhood and love of food, which we trace through his high school years and early years as a model.  We talk about entering television, and the sometimes stop/start journey that that can entail, and how a recalibration of expectations and dreams is often necessary throughout life. Ronnie discusses what works for him and how he processes feedback in order to improve.  We hear how he connects with his audiences and the role that mentors and role models have played for him throughout his life.

You can find out more about Ronnie on the following website: www.ronniewoo.com and his IG is @ronniecwoo.

The 2023 Pride Series is kindly sponsored by members of our Rainbow Network including Laura J. LaTourette, who is a financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based in Dahlonega Georgia but with a national client base Laura has a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ elders. You can find out more about Laura's practice by following her on:

Linked In
linkedin.com/in/lauralatourette 

Twitter: 

  • LauraLaTourette

Episode 27: Erryca Robicheaux DEI Leader: Visibility and Acceptance, with a side of Joy

25m · Published 23 Jun 00:00

Erryca Robicheaux describes herself as shaping the future of Diversity and Inclusion through technology.  She is a certified DEI leader and strategist as well as a Neurodiversity ERG lead.

 

Erryca grew up in Louisiana in a deeply religious household where attending church multiple times a week was common.  She describes some of the belief system and backdrop to that time, and then how she was “outed” at church which was when she had to tell her parents that she was gay.  Her journey back to the church is one that we discuss, as it reveals the complex, intersecting, aspects of that relationship that many members of the LGBTQ+ community have to navigate.

 

We move then to her career and discuss the intersectionality of her neurodiversity with being gay, and how this is actually quite a common area of intersectionality, particularly for lesbians.  This requires a particular kind of inclusion that is in tune with the individual’s needs but just because it requires effort, Erryca’s view is that it is an effort worth making.

 

Erryca is an advocate for better visibility and acceptance on LinkedIn which is where I came across her profile, and she talks there about sometimes being forced to lead a double life and suppress a side of herself for corporate acceptance. She also discusses the pushback that something like a social media post can attract, in particular a recent one in which she was pictured with her jeep and a rainbow flag on Instagram in a joyful image that was actually grabbed by Jeep for their own post. 

 

You can find some of Erryca’s social media posts here:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7067926967219597313?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7067926967219597313%29

including the famous Jeep Instagram pic that effuses such joy.


The 2023 Pride Series is kindly sponsored by members of our Rainbow Network including Laura J. LaTourette, who is a financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based in Dahlonega Georgia but with a national client base Laura has a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ elders. You can find out more about Laura's practice by following her on:

Linked In
linkedin.com/in/lauralatourette 

Twitter: 

  • LauraLaTourette

Episode 26: Dr Safi Mojidi of Hacking the Workforce: How to Move from Empowered to Employed

27m · Published 14 Jun 00:00

Dr. Safi Mojidi describes himself as a Point Guard of Cyber and Data Privacy.  He is the Founder and CEO of Hacking the Workforce, which co-creates employment opportunities for QTIPOC to upskill their lives and move from empowered to employed in cybersecurity. He is a Board Member and Director of Partnerships at TransTech Social Enterprises and has had a long career in cybersecurity.

 

We start with a discussion of Safi’s roots in Nigeria and his prowess in sport, in which he played in the Nigerian national basketball team.  This formed a pillar of his youth and even still he sees his role as a Point Guard.

 

We look at the field of cyber security and the fact that it can largely be done as a remote role today.  While this can enable a more inclusive work environment and a more diverse work force it can also be isolating and can diminish community. The challenge of finding gainful rewarding employment is one that lies at the heart of the Hacking the Workforce initiative, which is a non-profit focused on empowering QTIPOC to upskill their lives. Safi mentions that while there has been progress made in the workplace there is still a gap when it comes to intersectionality and individuals who may be trans and from an ethnic minority. Safi’s goal is to ensure that this segment does not fall through the cracks.

 

Moving on to broader workplace issues, we discuss the toxicity that can exist at various workplaces and why “just leave” is not always the right answer, although it might be the most appealing one. 

The 2023 Pride Series is kindly sponsored by members of our Rainbow Network including Laura J. LaTourette, who is a financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based in Dahlonega Georgia but with a national client base Laura has a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ elders. You can find out more about Laura's practice by following her on:

Linked In
linkedin.com/in/lauralatourette 

Twitter: 

  • LauraLaTourette

Episode 25: Nathan Ortiz of Red Door Interactive: The Power of Inclusive Design

25m · Published 12 Jun 00:00

Nathan Ortiz is an Associate DevOps Engineer at Red Door Interactive, based in the San Diego area. He previously was a software engineer at Trainsquare and prior to that was in the US Navy. 

 

Our conversation starts with Nathan’s childhood in which he played a lot of different sports and after which he ultimately pursued a career in the navy. It was there that he found a supportive LGBTQ+ community which he quickly grew to treat like a family.  This was when he began to question his own gender identity and ultimately transitioned to identify as a man. 

 

Now in the field of software design, Nathan describes what inclusive design really is, and why it is only through the lived experience of users that flaws or failures of a design can be revealed and addressed. 

The 2023 Pride Series is kindly sponsored by members of our Rainbow Network including Laura J. LaTourette, who is a financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based in Dahlonega Georgia but with a national client base Laura has a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ elders. You can find out more about Laura's practice by following her on:

Linked In
linkedin.com/in/lauralatourette 

Twitter: 

  • LauraLaTourette

Episode 24: Vikki Le - Youtube Creator, Counselor and Ally: Love Letters, Visibility and Empowerment

30m · Published 08 Jun 00:00

Vikki Le is currently studying in the medical field and is a Youtube content creator as well as marketing specialist.  She has focused on concept creation for transgender individuals including in the beauty, fashion and modeling industries and has spent time as a counselor to transgender youth.

 

Vikki grew up in South East Asia, an area which is actually quite accepting around transgenderism.  She discusses her own transition, which she documented in quite a bit of detail on her Youtube channel mainly as she had found so little available on line in terms of knowledge sharing when she herself was considering her gender affirmation surgery. On her channel she was vulnerable and open and gained a huge following, some of it negative.  It was ironic that the negative attention that this disclosure attracted actually drove engagement and reach, and Vikki describes how she learned to drown it out and focus only on the positive messages.

 

In her career Vikki has worked in a number of different roles including modeling and beauty, and she describes some of the treatment that she has received in workplaces which has amounted to harassment and overall inappropriate behavior.  She claims that this practice stems from a fetishization of transgender people that still persists in the media or popular discussions today, and it is her hope that when stories like hers and so many others are normalized that the diversity of transgender individuals will be seen and celebrated. 

 

You can follow Vikki on her Youtube channel, which she describes as a Love Letter to Her Younger Self here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf0FFIM_5lPeEhCHiWoSfHQ


The 2023 Pride Series is kindly sponsored by members of our Rainbow Network including Laura J. LaTourette, who is a financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based in Dahlonega Georgia but with a national client base Laura has a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ elders. You can find out more about Laura's practice by following her on:

Linked In
linkedin.com/in/lauralatourette 

Twitter: 

  • LauraLaTourette

Episode 23: Maggie Lower of the Board of Grindr: Blending the Art and Science of Marketing with the Magic of Representation

55m · Published 06 Jun 00:00

Maggie Lower describes herself as a Pop Culture Enthusiast and Music Lover as well as a CMO and Board Member. She was previously CMO for Hootsuite, a social media management platform where she fostered a collaborative marketing approach. She joined the Board of Directors of Grindr the largest LGBTQIA+ social networking App and has won multiple awards as an LGBTQIA+ advocate and been a keynote speaker. She also holds multiple roles as Senior Board Advisor.

We start our discussion with a quick run through Maggie's childhood in Chicago and St. Louis, her love of sport and her early career in which she followed some inspiring leaders. In discussing work dynamics she makes the interesting observation that just as actors follow directors, employees will follow inspiring bosses and she charts some of the moves that have been pivotal in her career.  She charts the mentors who believed in her, and mentions some of less sensitive encounters that emboldened her.

Her focus on marketing was sealed with her MBA at Kellogg and I take full advantage of her insights as a CMO to ask her about some of her core beliefs with respect to marketing - the need for authenticity in adherence to values and to avoid "random acts of marketing" that are not linked to the overall purpose.  We hear about damage control and messaging, in particular around the Bud Light case study, and how it relates to brand voice. Social media too should relate back to brand identity and voice, and we move then to talk about Maggie's role on the Board of Grindr and what she seeks to bring to that and other board roles.

In discussing her own personal story Maggie has some tales of her own coming out experience as well as the awkwardness encountered around pregnancy and parenting at work. This is all taken with a dose of humor however, and Maggie leaves us with gems of wisdom and strategies that everyone will be able to employ.

The 2023 Pride Series is kindly sponsored by members of our Rainbow Network including Laura J. LaTourette, who is a financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based in Dahlonega Georgia but with a national client base Laura has a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ elders. You can find out more about Laura's practice by following her on:

Linked In
linkedin.com/in/lauralatourette 

Twitter: 

  • LauraLaTourette

Episode 22: Dru Holmquist of Out in Finance: Driving Visibility and Promoting Authenticity

28m · Published 05 Jun 00:00

Dru Holmquist is Principal and Head of Client Facing and Wealth Management Consulting Practices at Cutter Associates.  Now based in San Diego, Dru is also the founder of Out in Finance, an industry affiliate group for LGBTQ+ professionals in finance.

Our conversation starts with Dru's upbringing in Minnesota, his early married life and how he approached coming out in stages - first in his personal life and then at work. He charts the mentors that he had in his professional life, many of whom had a personal interest in Dru, being akin to family.  These mentors celebrated his coming out and enabled him upon the journey to become his authentic self.

We move then to talk about the industry affinity group Out in Finance which Dru founded so that other finance professionals from the LGBTQ+ community could meet role models, share experiences and gain the confidence to grow their own visibility. We talk about the growth of that organization, its impact and the corporate partners who support it.  We end with a note of optimism for the future, about how far we have come.

You can find out more about Out in Finance here: https://outinfinance.org

The 2023 Pride Series is kindly sponsored by members of our Rainbow Network including Laura J. LaTourette, who is a financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based in Dahlonega Georgia but with a national client base Laura has a particular interest in working with LGBTQ+ elders. You can find out more about Laura's practice by following her on:

Linked In
linkedin.com/in/lauralatourette 

Twitter: 

  • LauraLaTourette

Episode 21: Laura J. LaTourette: Financial Planner, Farmer, Llama Lover and Authenticity Champion

34m · Published 02 Jun 00:00

Laura LaTourette is a financial planner that describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based on her own 18 acre farm in Dahlonega Georgia,  Laura has been a financial planner for over 20 years and is also a National Resource Center Ambassador for LGBT Elder Issues. 

Our conversation starts with Laura's somewhat unconventional first years and her early self-advocacy and independence. She speaks about her early family life and how having a "hole in her heart" led to her finding her authentic self and coming out as a lesbian.  Now married to her wife and living her retirement dream today - she has lived on a farm where she lovingly raises llamas, grows an abundance of vegetables and posts regular dreamy landscape photos to Twitter. 

Her path to financial planning was driven by her own circumstances and once there she realized the importance of providing a safe and inclusive space for clients to be their authentic selves.  She leads therefore with her membership of the LGBTQ+ community so clients know upfront and this is also a way to create more visibility and to normalize the mosaic of diversity in different sectors - in this case the financial planning one. Laura is particularly interested in elder issues - as she perceives that LGBT elders - many of whom experienced the ravages of Aids in their community in the 1980s often don't have an outlet and supportive infrastructure. 

Laura has been supporter of The Fiftyfaces Podcast for some time and is kindly supporting this series, along with other members of our Rainbow Community. 

Episode 20: Pride Series 2023: Intersectionality, Authenticity and Progress

4m · Published 01 Jun 00:00

June is here, and we are delighted to be back with our annual Pride Series, that this year will be a little bit different.  It will be a bit different because although we are launching it in June, we intend to keep adding to the series all year long – because Pride is for life, not just every June. This year – to kick things off, we hear from the Founder of “Out in Finance” about the affinity group he is building, and the relief he felt on being able to be his authentic self as well as from a financial planner who specifically focuses on working with LBGTQ+ “folx” to enable them to live their lives authentically. 

We hear from a Director on the Board of Grindr about the company’s vision for inclusion and her own insights from marketing as well as a software developer who speaks about why he focuses on inclusive design. 

A Youtube influencer reveals how some of her online critics actually drove her engagement stats, a DEI expert and a “point guard” of cyber security round out the initial seven podcasts.  

 

Besides professional inclusion we chat about office etiquette – and lack thereof and tackles some of the issues faced by the transgender community:

 

And we ask if for some, for whom intersectionality is a reality, things are getting worse not better and we are left with lessons for all of us:

 

The guests in the series are :

Laura LaTourette is financial planner who describes her practice as one designed to enable LGBTQ+ folx make a plan to simplify their lives to enable them to live authentically and leave a legacy of love. Based on her own 18 acre farm in Dahlonega Georgia,  Laura has been a financial planner for over 20 years and is also a National Resource Center Ambassador for LGBT Elder Issues. 

Dru Holmquist is Principal and Head of Client Facing and Wealth Management Consulting Practices at Cutter Associates.  Now based in San Diego, Dru is also the founder of Out in Finance, an industry affiliate group for LGBTQ+ professionals in finance.

Maggie Lower describes herself as a Pop Culture Enthusiast and Music Lover as well as a CMO and Board Member. She is was formerly CMO for Hootsuite, a social media management platform where she fostered a collaborative marketing approach. She joined the Board of Directors of Grindr the largest LGBTQIA+ social networking App and has won multiple awards as an LGBTQIA+ advocate and been a keynote speaker. She also holds multiple roles as Senior Board Advisor. 

Dr. Safi Mojidi, describes himself as a Point Guard of Cyber Security and Data Privacy.  He is the Founder and CEO of Hacking the Workforce, which co-creates employment opportunities for QTIPOC to upskill their lives and move from empowered to employed in cybersecurity. He is a Board Member and Director of Partnerships at TransTech Social Enterprises and has had a long career in cybersecurity. 

Vikki Le is currently studying vocational nursing and is a Youtube content creator as well as marketing specialist.  She has focused on concept creation for transgender individuals including in the beauty, fashion and modeling industries and has spent time as a counselor to transgender youth. 

Nathan Ortiz is an Associate DevOps Engineer at Red Door Interactive, based in the San Diego area. He previously was a software engineer at Trainsquare and prior to that was in the US Navy. 

Erryca Robicheaux describes herself as shaping the future of Diversity and Inclusion through technology.  She is a certified DEI leader and strategist as well as a Neurodiversity ERG lead.

Ronnie Woo is the chef and owner of The Delicious Cook, an LA-based private chef company that specializes in four-star dining experiences. He is an accomplished chef, television personality, and cookbook author (Did You Eat Yet?, March 14, 2023) celebrated by his fans and peers alike for his infectious personality, background in dating & relationships, and creative Asian-American cuisine, which combines Asian dishes with All-American influences.


Ray Tierney is a cybersecurity specialist who was formerly a paramedic.  Prior to that she was a Security Forces Security Specialist.

This series was kindly supported by Laura J. LaTourette who describes herself as that Lesbian Financial Planner asking LGBTQ+ folx to make a plan to simplify their lives so they can live authentically and leave a legacy of love and a host of others in our Rainbow community. 

Fiftyfaces Focus 2023 Pride Special has 31 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 14:37:50. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on August 26th 2022. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on May 19th, 2024 18:40.

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