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Was recently asked by a reporter about times when I was discriminated against / overlooked for a promotion / while working in digital... She wasn't really prepared for my answer, but we had a great chat, my answer was... "How would I know?"
https://wilreynolds.medium.com/was-i-overlooked-for-jobs-because-i-am-black-how-would-i-know-129a13b98299
https://wilreynolds.medium.com/was-i-overlooked-for-jobs-because-i-am-black-how-would-i-know-129a13b98299
I went on to say look I was raised to have to be obviously exceptional to get a fair shot. And digital was one of the best industries to be in for that. Here were a few of my reasons.
1 - scoreboard - people will be biased but I think in digital at least I can prove myself with my data. See that number one ranking, that was me, see that traffic spike that was me too. It helps to at least give you the opportunity to show you real impact publicly.
2 - publishing opportunities - back when nobody knew who I was people like @annhandley let me publish on marketing profs in 2001-03. Readers don't really care about the race of the person who wrote xyz blog post, when I read blogs I want great ideas / new perspectives / new data
3 - you can get published, Ann wasn't looking for black authors she let anyone submit, so I submitted, when she let me in the numbers proved themselves. This is such an advantage for black people in digital. Nothing keeps you from publishing but you.
4 - once you start publishing, you have data and social proof on the popularity of your posts (if your posts don't get traction maybe your ideas need work) but mine did and I could show that data, that led to me getting opportunities to speak b/c @shawncollins gave me a chance
5 was I overlooked for a promotion? How would I know? That assumes that I know everything my competitors did to get the promotions over me as well as I know what I did. How would I ever know? I wouldn't. So I've never allowed myself to think that way.
6 so ultimately, while there's bias everywhere, I'm grateful to at least work in an industry where I can point at my data and let the scoreboard of my results try to level the playing field a bit. And with platforms to publish on nothing really got in my way.
Also Major shout to @randfish who really helped me change my speaking style. After we meet up at a conference in Portland wàaay back in the day. His feedback gave me all I needed to get confident enough to present the way I do today.
