Occupational Wellness with special guest Diane Brazil ⋆ Christine Gautreaux MSW

NOTE: While it’s not perfect, we offer this transcription by Otter.ai for those who are hearing impaired or who don’t find listening to a podcast enjoyable or possible.

Shannon M. 0:08
Hi ladies, I am Shannon Mitchell, a black millennial business owner, the founder of shallow glow LLC, an all natural skincare company that helps you glow from head to toe. I am a champion for your daily self care, business care and intentional wellness.

Christine Gautreaux 0:21
Hey, y’all. I’m Christine Gautreaux, a white social justice advocate, and international speaker, coach, published author and dancing social worker who helps you upgrade yourself and community care.

Shannon M. 0:35
Together, we are women connected in wisdom, a podcast grounded in the eight dimensions of wellness.

Christine Gautreaux 0:39
And we like to get together every week for intentional conversations between us and special guests about how to be wise in business relationships and wellness. How do we juggle this all? Hey,

Shannon M. 0:52
yeah, and like you said, they were talking about occupational wellness. So I’m gonna go ahead and give us a definition because I love talking about work and how it relates to health and what we can do to be effective. So occupational wellness represents living in the purpose, passion and productivity in one’s chosen profession. This includes work life balance, and quotes, right, as a fulfilling and productive professional life. It’s fitting to weave together with a healthy personal life.

Christine Gautreaux 1:23
I love that definition. And knowing that it’s fluid, right, like there are some weeks that are going to be more intense and others on both sides, right, whether it’s professional or personal. I’ve had personal weeks that, you know, the personal God more than the professional and it’s, yeah, I think that’s one of the things as women that we often, like we’re we do a lot. We’re often the caregivers, we are the household managers, we are I mean, yes, things are getting more, are they getting better? I mean, statistics still show that women are carrying the brunt of like the household management, in addition to childcare, in addition to, you know, having full time jobs, and I need to pull up that article. I was reading it. I think we talked about it a couple of seasons ago. But yeah,

Shannon M. 2:15
I mean, I would be interested, interested to see what the numbers say, what I can say is we’re having a conversation, right? I created an official business, we’re on air doing these things. So as far as that part of the conversation is concerned, I would say yes, that’s getting better, you know, to balance it, and how it looks it again, the numbers across the board for relationships, I would be interested. But when I think about finances, right, and occupational wellness, the way I think about it is the man is paid more. And they say it’s because he has a family to support. Right, he has a wife and children. So yes, to pay these things. But now that we see that women are paying bills and doing things now that we’re out of the household, we’re starting to have those conversations. And that’s why I’m so excited to talk to her, I guess today today about her book about the experiences that she’s had and how she balances her wellness. Because it is tricky to do it is tricky to work. 14 hour shifts, and then go home and cook and clean and make sure that you stretch and write in your journal and do all this stuff and then wake up tomorrow and do the same thing, you know, and look presentable for

Christine Gautreaux 3:23
work, right.

Shannon M. 3:28
I think there’s hope I see hopefully young men and wanting to get better, wanting to learn more and meet us where the where the context puts us, I guess for lack of a more specific way to say it.

Christine Gautreaux 3:40
Yeah, you were I wanted to pull up the date on what you were talking about. It says I pulled up from PayScale and I’ll put it in our show notes, but says the gender pay gap is closing over time, but at a glacial speed. And in 2022. So current data, the uncontrolled gender pay gap is 82 cents for every dollar that men make. Which is the same as last year. And that’s white woman. I mean, let’s be clear about that. Because there is a difference between women of color and white women on that. So that data is generally based on white woman. And I think it’s closer to 60 cents if and I don’t have that data in front of me. But yeah, it is who

Shannon M. 4:25
when you said if it was getting better, I thought you were asking it. I thought we were talking about the balance of a relationship and the responsibilities at home and if that’s getting

Christine Gautreaux 4:35
Yeah, I was and then you said that about gender pay and I had to go look it up because I want it out. Are we making improvement there?

Shannon M. 4:44
That’s what we talk about so Haig’s and everything else right because when you look at the numbers, and you see the bills and you know that we can’t just make enough for expenses, you know, there has to be money for taxes to be put aside if your taxes are deferred and saving for the trip and saving for the birthdays and of course it Everything else, much less retirement and you know, three generations being set up. So that’s why we have to have the supplemental income a lot of times because of one job and the hours are not all the way at and, and that’s what I’ve been interested in talking more so about with with my group, it’s not just the money, but it’s also the time, right? So if you say free time, it’s still costing me something, you know, to care for these people to care for the kids to get this stuff ready for the House to do the laundry to spend all the time these other places. It costs us a lot, you know, and so our goal will make negative wisdom, it’s for it to not cost you your life and your health. And how can you do it in a more balanced way with some support. You don’t have to do everything by yourself.

Christine Gautreaux 5:46
I love that. I love that. And I love like how can we be connected to other women and other people who can help us to make our lives easier? And and when we do run into trouble like that we can reach out and say how or I need support or I need mentorship or I need, you know, what would you have done? Right?

Shannon M. 6:11
And I think that is so important. I can say that’s helped me. With my professional growth in general, each step of the way. There’s been somebody at this location, you know, who can help me with the team helped me with my relationship with the team helped me see how my skill set fits inside of the standards and the goal of the organization. So I know how to maneuver to be not only the biggest asset I can be to the team, but also strategic. So I’m not overwhelming myself for having unrealistic expectations. It definitely helps keep me sane.

Christine Gautreaux 6:43
I love that. Well, like you said, excited to talk to her yes today, because she has years of experience and wisdom to share with us. Are you ready for me to introduce her?

Shannon M. 6:54
Yes, of course.

Christine Gautreaux 6:55
All right, let’s do it. Diane Brazil has been a feminist for over 55 years, a retired Business and Technology journalist, Guru and author of shadow Valley, which is a novel about the undervalued underbelly of Silicon Valley. And I know she has way more things she can tell us about because that is a short bio for this incredible woman but welcome to our stage. They Oh, look at that cover behind you. I love it. Beautiful. That’s big congrats.

Diane Brazil 7:32
authors who are doing podcasts now do that.

Christine Gautreaux 7:36
Congrats, congrats. Congrats

Diane Brazil 7:38
Thank you very much.

Shannon M. 7:40
When you see my book behind me now, you know said Diane said author’s podcast

Christine Gautreaux 7:50
I love it. Well, how are you today? Diane, let’s start with that. I’m just doing great. Oh, here in hot California. Yep, we’re in hot Atlanta. So both Shannon and I are in Atlanta, which they call hot Atlanta. But when I moved here over 15 years ago, I kind of had to laugh because I moved from Houston, Texas, which was about 10 degrees hotter and way more humid. So I was like, I’ll take it. But then you know, 15 years later, my body has adjusted so I am definitely one of the ones like me.

Well, and you know, our, the global warming and our climate crisis and what we’re in right now. And the temperatures rising it is it is pretty obvious with some of the weather things we’ve had been have going on. So we actually haven’t asked you when you came on before like and we always say to our listeners, like how much water have you had today, let’s give gratitude for the water and we’re staying hydrated. So Diane, tell us about this book you’ve got tell us about it. And then we’re gonna weave it into occupational wellness.

Diane Brazil 9:07
Okay, so I worked in Silicon Valley for 45 years, I was a business and technology journalist. Most of my experiences working inside technology companies, almost all of it. And I basically was a fly on the wall as a writer. I wrote proposals and speeches for executives and newsletters and white papers and anything accompany might need written. And after I retired, I just felt like I needed to tell story, the stories that people didn’t know. People don’t know what it’s like on the inside of those technology companies. Everybody who’s written about it is from the outside. They haven’t worked in it. They don’t they don’t know what it’s like in there and nobody’s really written a book about what it’s like in there. So I wanted to do that. And I had to tell this stories from my own experiences, even though I call it fiction, most of it’s not fiction. And it’s full of stories about, I’m sorry, say, how technology companies that have been blocking unions all these years. It’s about sexual harassment. It’s about the bro culture. Right, and how that still exists. So I just needed to tell the stories, because nobody else was telling them. So I wrote this novel. And that’s shadow Valley.

Christine Gautreaux 10:43
So where did the title come from? Shadow Valley?

Diane Brazil 10:46
Oh, because it’s really about the underbelly of Silicon Valley. It’s really about the underbelly. It’s, it’s what goes on in the shadows that nobody sees.

Shannon M. 10:59
So then I hear you talking about the stories, right, the women and things that aren’t always talked about, I was thinking about it earlier, I was grocery shopping. And I was in Publix, because it’s next to my ups box, right. And I looked in the bag, and you know, there’s a difference between the part of a store or restaurant you see when you’re a guest. And then when you start working there, you’re like, and here’s all the other stuff that makes your, and you can’t see it, you know, now it looks kind of normal, or like they get to leave. And I have to say, you know, especially where I work, celebrities, all these people come in on vacation, and we’re here working. And so it feels different. When you’re on the different sides. You feel like you balanced your occupational wellness, when you are in a situation where the stories and the the things that you dealt with might not have been easily spoken about. Since I

Diane Brazil 11:53
started working in technology in 1969. And sexual harassment for me started right then. And I saw it happening to other women too. It was nothing new. But that’s when I started to experience it on a really kind of intense level because of the bro culture. And because it’s a protected activity, other men even see it happen, men that don’t do it. See other men do it. And they don’t do anything about it. Very few men do it. By the way, I really need everyone to hear that very few men do it. But the ones that do it, do it to a lot of women, they tend to get by with it, they don’t get by with it, and the other men even see him don’t they just kind of pretend like it’s not happening. So to go into an environment like that, with no tools to deal with, it was very scary for me. And it is it’s very scary. So I didn’t have any tools, then I developed some over the years to help protect myself. And now I think, based on my experience and some of the research I’ve done and a lot of the other women that I know that I’ve talked to now, I think there are some things you can do. But back then, no. There really was nothing I could do. Again, I think I mentioned to you that I went to HR about a couple of things, and I lost those jobs instantly. So that wasn’t the solution. The solution for me ultimately was to connect with other women connect with my own female power, which I love to talk about, because that’s a real thing. To learn how to identify and avoid perpetrators, how to help other women. And again, it’s, it’s still not enough, sometimes you still may get a boss who’s a sex best. And then your choice is to stay there and be pestered or leave the company. And I did that many times. On the other hand, I think now that there are some tools for women, I think there are some things and and the number one thing I would say is watch women connected in wisdom podcast, watch them all, because they address not just workplace wellness, they talk, we talk about mental, physical, spiritual and emotional wellness, you need to manage your health in every way so that you can tolerate this environment, if you’re going to stay there. If you’re gonna stay in that technology environment, which is very exciting, very. If you’re gonna stay there, you better buckle up in every possible way, because nobody’s going to protect you.

Shannon M. 14:46
And that lesson, you know, is what I had to learn in life in general. Yeah, you know, we say Oh, you didn’t treat me this way. You didn’t treat me that way and not to minimize sexual harassment that is and that so I just in general, right? So I said, You know what, instead of being mad that they didn’t take care of me instead of being mad that this person cheated on me, I cheated on myself. I didn’t do what I said I would do for me. I didn’t make sure that I had what I needed to be able to protect myself financially to be able to to fight has been usually in this situation, right. Let me get connected to some wisdom, because maybe I don’t know what to do. You know what I can ask Christine, I can call Diane. And especially as Christine’s talking about dropping off our daughter in college, I actually did have somebody in college, I was an RA on campus. And so we dealt with all of the residents situations, right, we were on duty or get called for lockouts, different things like that. And I had to deal with somebody who was attacked, and in all that, went through training, and still wanted her to have the privacy forgot that I had to continue to tell, you know, continue to move the information up the chain. And we had to do that. So holding those hands through the end college with the authorities, maybe not believing them, you know, it’s it’s trauma to repeat the conversation or go through the process that has to happen happen after for justice to be served, or for them to go through the case. Sometimes you do back out, you know, and say, You know what, I just want to stop talking about it. What do I need to say to make this go away? And so how to still be heard and still process? That is I can only imagine a trial Hall in itself? Well,

Diane Brazil 16:27
I would like people to shadow Ville book.com and read excerpts. Because there’s some examples in there of sexual harassment that these women that experienced that were just trapped. Like a boss that grabbed them, a boss said, you want your paycheck, Honey, hold it out in front of their face, stuff like that. I saw those things happen. Some of them happen to me. So sometimes it you just have to move on. I hate to say that.

Shannon M. 17:04
But that’s genuinely what it is, you know, continuing to move forward. There was

Diane Brazil 17:08
this forward is a better word. Thank you.

Shannon M. 17:11
Yeah, no, of course. And then she said that. I think this person, they were dealing with the death of close individuals. So both of them, Brian, they were like, it just doesn’t stop hurting. How do you how do you make the pain stop? She and I think they said it doesn’t stop. You just keep going forward, you know, process it? How do you hold both the grief and the gratitude in the situation? Some it might be more difficult to find the gratitude, you know, but just to still be there to keep moving forward. I hear what you’re saying you What do you want for yourself? Now we know that this happened, this wasn’t what you want it for yourself? How can you shape your life to be more of what you want? And when we talk? Well,

Diane Brazil 17:49
I’ve heard you say either one of you say know your needs and limits and honor those. And you know, if somebody is doing this to you, and you have no way out, that’s your limit. And your needs are not to be treated that way. So in technology in that bro culture, women are having to make these decisions every single day. And according to the research I’ve done, it hasn’t changed since I left.

Shannon M. 18:20
So can you go a little more into when you say bro culture, I have an idea of what you mean, what do you specifically

Diane Brazil 18:28
young young men are favorite by the way. It’s young males. Okay. In fact, if you’re over 40, in technology, you need to be careful putting the word senior on your resume. Like if you’re a senior something specialist or something, you take that word off of there. Because when it goes through the longer it when it goes to the algorithms to scan resumes, those get popped out. They want younger people all the time, they’re overturning the older people and bringing in younger people may think that’s a good thing. Older people think it’s a bad thing. Because there’s no wisdom in those companies. You follow me? I was hired in one company because I was 55 years old. And the guy that hired me said we need somebody like you here. That doesn’t happen in technology. This was the only time it ever happened to me. So I’m not sure I’m answering your question. You have to we have to honor ourselves, which I did. I moved on when I had to. I kept getting better at my job. That was really important. I learned every every place I went I learned something new I made sure that got on my resume. And I did better and better every time. I would highly recommend that focus on your career plus your health in all these ways that you ladies talk about all the time.

Christine Gautreaux 19:43
Well, I think and I’m gonna circle back to her question about bro culture. When I think about bro culture, I think about white dominant culture.

Diane Brazil 19:51
I think about definitely. Male. Yeah,

Christine Gautreaux 19:54
I think it’s about toxic masculinity. I mean, I I think about the leaders that we see in the news, the technology leaders that are all over the news, and they’re misbehaviors that are starting to come to light. Now, you know, we were having this conversation pre show about accountability is starting to happen with social media, with cameras with texting, and when I mean, it’s got a, you know, there’s a good side and a bad side to it, as we’ve seen in the news this week with some texts being turned over, or messengers being turned over through the medical company to prosecute women for health care decisions in abortion. And so like, there’s this is this techno I mean, even I was fascinated to have you on Diane talking about tech, because, you know, I am of the generation, I’m a little younger than you are. But you know, I didn’t touch a computer until I was in high school, which is unfathomable for my children. Right, who are now 20

Diane Brazil 21:02
When I started my career, we didn’t have computers, so they’re-

Christine Gautreaux 21:05
Right? Absolutely. Right. So then you worked in the tech field. And now technology is in our everyday lives. I mean, there’s really not, it’s everywhere. And I mean, I think about I started to think about you, we’ve been watching the reality TV show alone. And I was even thinking, well, there’s even tech there because they’ve got the cameras and they’ve got their magic button they can press to get off the island if they need to. But you know, technology is everywhere. Yep. And it influences us and every way will you give our listeners some of the statistics you were talking about, about the leaders in technology right now.

Diane Brazil 21:47
You know, the top five technology companies have 25% women employees, and that includes assemblers, and almost all assemblers are female. So that’s Google, Amazon, Microsoft. There’s sorry, that’s okay. They call it GAF, M G, A, F A M, it’s the top five, right? And 25% female employees, and that includes assembler, so it’s really low and very fewer in management. So here’s the deal, because of female because we do have special powers. Can I use that word that men don’t know about this book? The female brain, you know, this book, the female?

Christine Gautreaux 22:35
Say more about it. Right? Right.

Diane Brazil 22:37
It’s written by a nurse, a neurologist, a neuro physiologist. Men’s and women’s brains are different. And in terms of operational activity, we can spot a phony in an instant and men can’t do it. That’s we can spot a liar and a phony really fast and we can feel insincerity in our gut. And men are going Oh, okay. They’re just they don’t get it. They don’t get it. They can do things we can do. Right? One thing that men do that we don’t do is they’re they they forgive everybody to a fault. Okay, that might be a good thing, when you were living out in the wilds and chasing animals around? I don’t know. But women can see through a phony. We need women in technology. Technology needs women. Let me just say we need to flood technology. And to show them what it can really do. They don’t even know you. They’ve blocked women for so long. They don’t even know what we can bring to the table.

Christine Gautreaux 23:44
Well, I think about you know, I love that you gave us this this the female brain I just looked at at Diane and Shannon, and it’s by Luann bryza Dean is the dean or Riza dine and we’ll put a link to the show notes. And that is She’s a neurologist. And, um, yeah, happy to. But I think about what we were talking about pre show, and we were talking about the documentary that was on Netflix, the social dilemma. And if y’all haven’t watched the social dilemma, I’ll tell you, it’s really good and terrifying all at the same time. So it was recommended, right? But it talks about how social media, how tech, social media, in particular, controls our decisions. And then I back that up and I think about what you’re talking about, about who’s in charge of that. Right. And that it being young, young, white dominant. And I’m also curious, I don’t know if you know this off the top of your head, I’m curious how many of them are under 24. Because

Diane Brazil 24:54
they, I went to the company to hire me because of my experience where I was was 55, the average age was 27. And more than half of them were millionaires already because of stock options. And they were almost all young white males, right? The behavior you would not believe about, you would

Christine Gautreaux 25:18
totally believe it. I mean, you think about the brain fully develops at 24. I thought it was 25. It might be 25. I can’t remember 2425. Right. Yeah. And then you’re just two years past that. And given all this money and responsibility and power, right? And yeah, and they’re

Diane Brazil 25:39
writing algorithms, which is disturbing to me. One, one good example of how algorithms disturbed me is how they’re using them to diagnose us now. You go into your doctor’s office now in some health care places, and they’re sitting there typing while you’re talking the whole time. And then at the end, the computer tells them what’s wrong with you, and what drugs you need. Those algorithms scare me. Right? And then there’s other ways that algorithms are running our lives. And algorithms can’t imagine that can’t remember, I mean, they can’t connect things that doctors might think, gee, maybe that’s something to do with what your father had, you know, no, no, I’m saying they can’t connect things that can’t imagine possibilities. Algorithms can’t do that. So they’re limited to this information you put in in this box and what comes out the other end, that scares me. And all these algorithms are written by young white males. So is there any bias against females or people of color in those algorithms? Probably

Christine Gautreaux 26:51
implicit bias? Well, especially if they haven’t done their work on that. Which, I mean, I would be shocked if there were many 2526 27 year old white men that have done in depth work on their implicit bias. I mean, they may have started the work. But yeah, that age that

Diane Brazil 27:10
would happen. Right? See it themselves. I one thing that I read this, men and technology 63% of us don’t even believe that women are paid less than men. It’s a fact. When we were paying 20% On the average, 20% less if you’re white female, 30% less if you’re black female, I’m sorry, Latina, female, and 40%. If you’re black, same job, same experience. Same everything. Apples two,

Christine Gautreaux 27:42
oh, probably not the same. I would probably say.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. That’s still happening

Diane Brazil 27:54
that’s still going on. There’s no question about that.

Christine Gautreaux 27:57
Right. And we are. For our listeners, we are talking statistics in the United States, because we do have some international listeners. So I just want to be clear on that. And I am sure, depending on what country you’re listening from, it may have the same. I mean, I’d be interested for folks to look it up in the country that they’re listening for, and let us know if they’re able to. So yeah, it is so Okay, so all that to be said. Women are still facing discrimination. They’re still facing some harassment, they’re still facing barriers, that people who identify as men don’t. So what do we do for occupational wellness? Like when we think about how do we thrive, not just survive, but how do we thrive and flood this market and get our voices in there? Because we know when women are hired like it is it is the benefit to us all we know when diverse voices are hired, it’s to the benefit. I mean, studies show I mean studies show all across the board, when you have diversity of women and ethnicities and genders and it improves your performance, your production, whatever you’re doing, I mean, the research that it’s the fastest. The research, the research backs that up hands down. So what do we do? What do we do? I think

Diane Brazil 29:25
more gender diversity because clearly gender diverse workforces do produce more they their ROI is greater it I mean, you’re right that that is that anyone can Google that. So what’s the solution is the solution is more gender diverse workplaces. How do we do that? I don’t know. We have all these girls and STEM programs and all these girls graduating with colleagues, you know, with bachelor’s degrees in computer science, or here. We’re ready,

Christine Gautreaux 29:55
right? Hey, y’all, this is a great place to take a break. Take it Deep breath, and hear from our awesome sponsors that make women connected and wisdom podcast possible. Shannon, we are so grateful that Shayla glow is the sponsor of the women connected in wisdom podcast. And I wanted to take this moment to ask you when you think about the people who use Shayla glow, or are we talking about?

Shannon M. 30:21
That’s a good question. I think about three groups really, one, the group that’s removing hair, right, so whether you’re using laser hair removal, waxing, shaving, you got to make sure that you’re putting back what you’re taking out. The second group, I think about those who have dry skin, and the problems that that might cause right, the scars, itching, burning, whatever the situation is, you definitely need all three steps, right? The exfoliation making sure you’re taking the dead skin cells off the oil, putting in the moisture, and then the shea butter with the aloe, sealing it helping you heal those things help both groups, right. And third, for the third group is those with chronic illness. You know, the story is personally from cancer and different diseases that our population is dealing with on a daily basis throughout families as individuals. So I’m thinking about my mom and my grandmother, and those around me with the same generational ties, right, and what positive healthy habits, we can start to make sure that we’re maintaining our wellness, especially because the skin is like the cape, the exterior the the shield for your immune system. So with COVID, we have to be intentional about covering ourselves. And those are the groups I think about.

Christine Gautreaux 31:33
I love it. And you know what else I love about your product? It’s all natural, handmade. And it smells great, y’all, so yay.

Shannon M. 31:43
Yes, Esthetician tested and approved. Yes. Yes. What about you? When you think about your company? What groups of people do you think about?

Christine Gautreaux 31:53
Well, you know, I work with individual coaching clients, I work in community classes, and with corporate teams, and with all of them, I use a strength based embodied approach to help folks connect with themselves and access joy, reduce burnout, and build resilience. You know, especially during these times, I think we need it, I think we need all the hashtag partnership power we can get.

Shannon M. 32:15
Yes. Okay. Well, what I see, I would say, start companies, you know, not everybody can be a boss. And I know there’s the, there’s a culture of a boss XYZ, somebody is going to be the owner of the company. And we need teams of people to be in the company as well, you know, so whatever position you fit in, be the best in that position, and your purpose and your passion, right. And the chosen profession that you choose, like we’re talking about. But I’ve been listening, what is the book that I’ve been listening to Lord, we were talking about it was talking about, actually, I think it was Malcolm X speeches, and it’s a list of different events, right. And he’s talking about employment in the community. And again, why ask for employment when we can build it ourselves. So of course, you know, the work environment should be a certain place a certain way, you will want it to be equitable, and offer opportunities and offer equal pay. But I also say, instead of giving your ideas to this company, if you instead have the idea, see if you can get a group of women that are in your classes, you’re in school together, you know, when start a startup business and grow it just like they did. And that’s a great idea. Yeah, access to capital. There’s other questions, but that’ll be figured out along the way. And I think that

Diane Brazil 33:34
it’s harder for women to get venture capital. It is way, way, way harder.

Christine Gautreaux 33:39
I Yeah. So I was thinking about our guest, Dr. Cynthia Phelps, who’s incredible woman in tech and has been for years. And I know that Yeah, I know that that’s true, like, on on the pitch. And yeah. And I also think that connection of connecting to other women in the field connecting to mentors, and you know, we mentioned it before the show, but I don’t think we’ve we’ve talked about a non area is about male allies, like we need to look for those allies who are feminists to do believe in the power of women and that are willing to support and to be to be a true ally, whether that’s gender or racial, and like how do we lift each other up, and not performative or tokenism? But like, how do we how do we truly stand up for each other?

Shannon M. 34:36
Yeah, and that’s what I was gonna say next is like the answer communication, right? I know when something happens at work, I have my people that I go to like, Hey, you have a second, I need to run this by you. Okay, like right now, so I need to go this person. And so if you feel like you’re being attacked, this person keeps rubbing up against you and you don’t know what to say, you know, it definitely helps. Even we’re talking about your mission. mentally and emotionally to be able to say, hey, this just happened, what should my next step be? You know, so you can start processing. Usually this person is telling me you’re not crazy, you’re seeing it right? You know, these are the things that you’ve already done. And then if you need to write it down, you know, hey, on June 6, I told, I told, I don’t know, Bob, that I was uncomfortable with this, this is what happened, do you know and then definitely have to write down exactly a log for yourself. So one of our female

Diane Brazil 35:29
powers is we have we talked to our girlfriends. I don’t think men talk about things like this with their girlfriends, like we do with our girlfriends. So we have that we have people to bounce things off of and maybe somebody who’s been through the same thing. And that’s another female power in my book. You absolutely call several people.

Shannon M. 35:53
Yeah. And we talked about that in the coffee and chat to being intentional about who those who those people are, you know, just because this person is female, does that mean that she might have your best interests at heart? It depends on the politics and the social dynamics of the work environment. You know, so allies in general, who I would look for, whether they’re male or female, or whatever the pronoun of choice is? Yeah,

Diane Brazil 36:18
I would say in the workplace, especially in such a hostile environment. Be careful who you can find in Yes. Male or female? Yes. Look for your look for your confidants outside the workplace.

Christine Gautreaux 36:33
That’s, you know, you just saying that, Diane, I was thinking about what Sheila wrote about self care in a large organization in Stillpoint. And one that we had, she did a whole chapter on it, and it was we we often play with it in our Tuesday morning groups. But the first thing that she said was to acknowledge that you’re working in a warzone. Yeah, like, you know, because oftentimes, we tend to say, oh, it’s not that bad, or Oh, this isn’t happening, or we try to, because we’re trying to survive like that we, we often minimize what is actually happening, whether it’s sexual harassment, racial harassment, or Yeah, right, absolutely. So let’s see, I wanted to see if I had some major steps in becoming resilient in early identification of environmental stressors. Let’s see. Assessment. Oh, she says that, to accomplish this sleight of foot dance routine usually demands advanced skills of assessment, premonition, and more than a little bit of inside information. So if you already know that your workplace is a warzone, see the next checklist below on how to be self caring while working in work work zone. So let me just say a few of those because we talked about resilience and what do we do right? The first thing is, first of all, realize and never lose sight of the fact that a war zone is where you are, right is a dangerous situation that you have found yourself in. So number two, set aside some specific time each day to plan your escape. So you may not be able to leave right this moment because you’re putting food on the table but have that you know, we talked about it manifesting Mondays, if we want something different than where we are doesn’t mean we have to leave right away. But we make that plan we set that intention, what do I want? What kind of environment do I want to work in and imagine that right? Number three, take some time out each day to escape in your mind create pictures of peace and tranquility and nourish feelings of calm and serenity. Like just taking that one minute deep breath in maybe in the bathroom or it may be somewhere else that you imagine your happy place you know, we used to joke about it on SNL every day you got something to put into your

Shannon M. 39:05
yep, I say during the water break you know, especially because we serve food and drinks all the time. I’m I try to be very intentional about drinking water. So remind you know take your water break and take a second to be wherever you want to be drinking your water. Yeah,

Christine Gautreaux 39:21
yeah. Number four she says move slowly and cautiously and watch where you stand in step and there’s a whole bunch more in it but it was what we were talking about. Well that you don’t know always who is your ally and so careful where you stand or stand or what you’re doing. Number five develop connections with persons outside of the warzone and with persons like yourself who work inside so what you’re doing is those connections you’re building those connections. Um, oh, this is this is funny. She says together create peace and tranquility as described above and nourish and support each other. Only in extreme circumstances. Should you talk about the war. or the soldiers and their tactics or weapons. So like don’t feed that is what she like if something’s happening, you have to talk about it. But now this was funny number six in case you and your friends and colleagues have violated the above performer cleansing ritual forgive you forgive each other for increasing one another’s pain, then arrange to view a funny movie together on the computer, or whichever one of you has the biggest screen. Now, number seven, I’m almost done. Should you or one of your friends get emotionally shot? Observe the following steps in CPR, career personality rescue, otherwise the resulting wound to brain personhood and future life work maybe terminal, and then it keeps going. But basically, it’s really like acknowledging it. Oh, this is important for our discussion today. Do not hurt or blame yourself for being in the war zone in the first place. Yeah, for for being wounded in the war. This has been the case. A great part of the world of work operates in the war zone. Although the war has not spread worldwide as of yet to find a work setting that is peaceful is more unusual than to find a government that spends no money on weapons. This my co author Sheila Kay Collins, she wrote this part of the book, this is the book that she and I wrote together.

Shannon M. 41:26
Still point is amazing. And

Christine Gautreaux 41:29
I just when you when you brought it up, we don’t often teach out of that section of the book, but it was so on par, because when we’re talking about sexual harassment, when we’re talking about things being out of balance, it is like a warzone for women. So yeah.

Diane Brazil 41:47
What I wanted to say is almost what she wanted to say, what you said Know your needs and limits and respect them. Number one all the time in the technology or any male dominated environment, any bro culture, be acutely aware of your environment, know where the sacred cows and landmines are. Probably gonna do that anywhere, actually. And girls on landmines could be things like the Secretary is the CEOs, girlfriend. That’s good information.

Shannon M. 42:23
Very important to know. While serious? Yes, it is. And

Christine Gautreaux 42:28
it’s true. We’ve all been there. We’ve all been there. And sometimes you find out when you say the wrong thing. Well,

Diane Brazil 42:37
look for support outside the company. That was my next point to make. Yeah. Always be ready for your next job. Yep. And lots all the podcasts of women Connect.

Shannon M. 42:50
At the beginning and the end, I will

Christine Gautreaux 42:52
list Oh, that’s awesome. Diane, thank you so much for coming on today. Thanks for being a champion for women’s rights. I am a huge believer in storytelling, and whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, or however we tell our stories, that is how we change culture. You know, right, storytelling can change cultures. So thank you for being a writer and for telling your story. And for looking to shift this especially as a mom and somebody that’s I’ve got a 20 year old and a 25 year old entering into this work world and I’m grateful for pioneers like you who came before and are like, hey, hey, let’s pay attention to this. It’s not okay. So I’m so thank you so much for being here. Oh, before we go. Thank you go for it. Shannon set aside problem.

Shannon M. 43:43
Yes. So every week we talk about wisdom and action, Diane, something that we’re doing an action step for our category. So for occupational wellness this week, what are you going to be working on? What’s your hashtag?

Diane Brazil 43:57
Mine?

Shannon M. 43:58
Yes.

Diane Brazil 43:59
Oh, be prepared for war.

Shannon M. 44:03
Be prepared for war.

Christine Gautreaux 44:05
Be prepared. It can be absolutely. I love you Diane

Diane Brazil 44:10
I love you guys. You’re awesome.

Christine Gautreaux 44:13
Do it. What do you think of Shannon? What’s yours this week?

Shannon M. 44:22
That’s a great question. Mine this week is Oh, I like this. And I believe her. I believe this is the other Shannon right. And forgive me if I’m wrong for my authors. I love it when there’s multiple channels. I’ve been me and a lot of Shannon’s recently. But one thing her chapter talks about in the book is writing yourself in you know, she talks about, I’m not gonna tell ya, I’m not gonna tell everything but being able to see yourself and so for me what I mean is in my schedule, you know, I have a lot of stuff going on these take my ServSafe test again. We’re getting ready for the launch. To the virtual summit for the connected in wisdom and making sure that I also include me you know the resting and the hydration since it’s hot and all that other all that other stuff. What about you, Christine?

Christine Gautreaux 45:14
I think mine this week is going to be I love that you’re so here’s this hashtag include myself or hashtag write yourself in write yourself in okay I think mine is probably going to be hashtag balance and I know that word is overused but really I was out of balance last week it was one of those weeks that I couldn’t help it and so I’m I’m striving towards that balance of have to have not too much work. I’m not speak y’all you can tell that the week was I started talking about it wasn’t bad. The week was awesome, but it took a toll on me. So I think hashtag better balance that better balance better. Yeah, I think that’s mine this week.

Shannon M. 46:01
Better balance..

Christine Gautreaux 46:02
hoof.

Shannon M. 46:03
Okay.

Diane Brazil 46:04
Mine sounds so violent compared to yours.

Shannon M. 46:07
Comparison is the thief of joy. Diane, what you went through was it that it is not it is not an overly dramatic nation. Romanization. And it’s just like Sheila said, like, we cannot minimize, she said, when you get shot. There’s different guns. You know what I mean? Like, you get emotionally shot at work. So you have to prepare yourself for war. A way that we do that is by maintaining peace. Okay, by being healthy. You were ready for war? I stand by your hashtag? I don’t I don’t think it’s dramatic at all, you know. So we’re talking about ahmaud arbery. You got it. You have to be ready, because they will come with it for you. Yeah. And that’s we’re about setting ourselves

Diane Brazil 46:55
You guys are awesome.

Shannon M. 46:56
Thank you so much Diane.

Christine Gautreaux 46:57
so much. Appreciate you, Diane. We’d love this conversation. Thanks for being a wingman. Yeah, all right.

Shannon M. 47:05
Yeah, love being connected to experts. I love what I just want. I look forward to Christine. Us being in the room. I’m looking forward to our virtual Summit. But I’m really excited about our in person conference whenever that ends up being right. And I wonder how many, we’re gonna have centuries of experience in there. By the way, how many centuries of experience we’re gonna have in all of these different dimensions with all of the women and men that are going to be in that room? It’s gonna be amazing.

Christine Gautreaux 47:33
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I agree. It is, you know, I think that is also the joy that we talk about often about being connected to different women from different backgrounds, different generations, different life experiences, you know, I would know what it’s like in the tech world, or Silicon Valley. So I’m really interested to read her book. And, and I, like I said earlier, when she was on, like, storytelling changes culture. So I love that I love the idea of changing culture through the stories we tell, and what do we want to create? You know, what do we want our young women and men to be going into and non binary folks like, what What world do we want to create? Right? And? Yeah, I think about that a lot.

Shannon M. 48:25
Yeah, me too. Me too. And that’s what I love about living in this time, being connected the way that we are, because me creating my world. And like we actually I don’t think I was on that Episode Episode, you guys are talking about the space and it’s like a bubble you have and it’s your land basically, that you’re inviting somebody into, you know, I can have my country, nation and world and you can have yours, and we can collaborate and it doesn’t have to be if I build my generational wealth through my occupations, you can’t have your generational wealth. You know, we can both be well hold and wise all together. But Yes.

Christine Gautreaux 49:03
Me too. So grateful. As always for our conversations and being with you this week. We’re just wrapping y’all episode 7979.

Shannon M. 49:15
So when people asked me how old I am, should I tell them that I’m in my ADC thing?

Christine Gautreaux 49:23
You know, some of my best and dearest friends are in their 80s so you look great for my friends. Shea butter. I love it.

Shannon M. 49:36
Well, okay, ladies, thank you so much for joining us for 79 episodes. We will be back Live at Five next week for episode 80. In the meantime, don’t forget,

Christine Gautreaux 49:46
be well

Shannon M. 49:48
be wise

Together 49:49
and be whole

Shannon M. 49:51
I’ll see you there. See you soon.

Unknown Speaker 49:58
Thanks for listening. This has been the women connected and wisdom podcast on air live on Wednesdays at 5 pm. Eastern via Facebook and YouTube. Be sure to like, share and subscribe be part of the conversation and get connected at women connected in wisdom.com.

Occupational Wellness with special guest Diane Brazil

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About the Author: tierra

The Busy Women’s Guide To Better Mental Health – Emotional and Mental Wellness with Laurel Anne Stark

InnerAlly – Spiritual Wellness with Dr. Cynthia Phelps

The Divine Feminine & Finances – Financial Wellness with Devi Wetterer

Occupational Wellness with special guest Jaylan Salah Salman

Self Coaching and Psychological Safety – Intellectual Wellness with Kate Arms

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