The Benefits of Being Skilled Through Alternative Routes

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Kelly: . You’re listening to Let’s Talk About Skills, Baby. I’m Kelly Ryan Bailey, and this season we’re talking all about The Great Resignation. The global pandemic disrupted so much for so many, and one of the largest effects has been on where, when, why, and how we make a living. We’re taking a look at why people have been shifting jobs, paths, and careers at such an accelerated rate and how leaders from different industries are navigating this challenging time. Hope you enjoy this episode.

Hey skills nerds, with me today is Bridgettete Gray.

Bridgette is the Chief Customer Officer at Opportunity at Work, founding member of Chief DC, and leap ambassador. I have really been looking forward to having Bridgette on the podcast after our first meeting, she was still the Chief Impact Officer at Perscholas at the time. We connected on her passion and bringing opportunities to those underserved.

I know you guys will really enjoy meeting her too. Thank you so much for joining us today, Bridgette.

[00:01:11] Bridgette: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

[00:01:14] Kelly: Definitely our pleasure. Well, let’s get started. Your whole career has been around getting underrepresented talent into stem fields, leadership roles, and roles that fit their life. Where did that passion come from?

[00:01:27] Bridgette: That passion started well over 20 years ago. I always tell people that the passion came from when president Clinton signed the welfare reform act in 1996. I really jumped in and raised my hand to try to help women transition into careers from public assistance. And so I always tell people, my first career in this space started out as a coach, as a career coach, I literally was training women.

Like how do you go get a job and how do you move your lives forward? And so that passion came because I was a young mom, and for the sake of having a really supportive family, I could have easily been one of the women that were dependent on public benefits. And so I saw myself as having some access and opportunity that they may not have had.

And I wanted to convey to them like, how do you move yourselves forward in a space? And how are you not defined by a temporary space. And so it was really important to me to be a representative for women’s. Particularly in how women move themselves forward, especially as they’re raising their children.

So that passion like blossomed with them. But I saw so many flaws in the welfare reform act. I saw how the act was built out, but it wasn’t really supportive of women. It was this place where I first saw how people use the deficits of people when they’re talking about progression and it was so interesting watching women try to get jobs, but couldn’t because they were defined by who people thought they were, they were defined by the stereotypes.

So my, my goal was to figure out how do I get on the side of like developing training for people? How do I get at the table to help government understand? This is not the way you move people from what you call welfare to work. That’s not the way you do that. And so I started building out training curriculum and working with other organizations and eventually found myself in this lifelong career of helping people get to financial sustainability.

[00:03:32] Kelly: Well, that is a fantastic backstory, Bridgette. And you know, it’s really interesting. I don’t talk with a lot of people on the podcast that have really stayed in sort of the same trajectory on their career. Right? I mean, we talk with a lot of people that have made a ton of various different moves.

Oftentimes the passion is always still there, but I’ve noticed that you’ve made a lot of transitions to sort of keep core to this passion that you have. How have you managed transitioning roles and seeking new opportunities in the same industry while also helping others?

[00:04:06] Bridgette: Yeah, you know, it’s not easy. And so I’ve always looked for opportunities where I can make the greatest impact. I also believe firmly that you should never stay in a place so long that you start to get jaded and you lose your purpose. And so there’s always a space for me to want to expand just what I do, expand new knowledge, really try to understand.

When I look at my career, I’ve been in the direct service space where it’s been direct training, curriculum development, running training programs. This is the first time I’m actually on the other side of that which is very new for me. I’m on the side that still in this workforce space.

So getting people where they need to be, but I’m just not impacting them day to day through a training. I’m doing it more so with employers. And to me, that is the absolute next phase of my career that I want to focus more attention on. It’s like, how do I do opportunities like this, where I’m actually talking about stars in a way that’s really impactful?

How do I make sure that I’m talking to employers on a daily basis around how they can gain more skills based talent into their pipelines? So my focus hasn’t changed. It’s just the direction that I’m choosing to go in now in order to make more impact and create greater impact. That’s what I see. And I still work with the talent developers that are out there because that’s my love and my heart.

And so I just want to figure out how to connect people again to more jobs, but also help employers really understand what it means to diversify your talent pipelines. What that truly, truly means.

[00:05:41] Kelly: That speaks so much to me because you know, it’s one of those things when you start to help people and you start to see the barriers that are in place to them being successful, you start to realize that. I know this is something that happened with me and my journey I started to see, well, wait, I mean, we’ve got to fix this over here and hold on, we’ve got to fix this over here.

So I really appreciate what you’re saying. And it’s quite interesting when yes, you can sort of stay in the same field, but maybe tackle different issues or challenges or problems along the way. So you did, you know, you were just talking about this. You did just make another transition. So tell us what led you to Opportunity at Work?

[00:06:22] Bridgette: You know, it’s funny. My transitions have also changed based on demographics. Particularly like age demographics. And so when I think about it, I was with Year Up for six years, that is young adult space. So I got a really good download and like what it means to work with young adults. I’ve worked in spaces with people that are 55 and over, then working at Perscholas it was all age ranges, 18 and over.

And so this transition to Opportunity at Work is just a combination of all of my years of experience and what I’ve done. And this transition has been phenomenal. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave Perscholas. I’ve been there seven and a half years, and you know, all the anxieties come in when you start to think about moving and transitioning.

But I knew that it was more that I could do. And I wanted to do that and I had known Byron for a really long time. And so I scheduled a call with him. I’m like, you know what, let’s just kind of chat a little bit. And here I am. And the thing that I really love about Byron is he saw the background fitting really well into this new role that they were creating an Opportunity at Work.

The role is a new role and it was a really one that touched on all of the customers that we see on a daily basis, which are stars, talent developers, and employers. That’s the trifecta of my background. And so bringing all of that into this space that we can now develop, create this platform that draws employers to a single one-stop shop for diverse talent.

 Being able to head that and run that, that it’s just like fantastic to be able to do it.

[00:08:02] Kelly: That’s so amazing. I can even, no one can see your face right now, but I can see just this like happiness on your face.

[00:08:10] Bridgette: I love this work. Absolutely.

[00:08:13] Kelly: Well, before we dive a little bit deeper into Opportunity at Work, cause I definitely want to do that. I want to talk a little bit about, you know, you’ve mentioned in that conversation with Byron, you know, talking about sort of like this trifecta, but you know, digging back into that a little bit more because we are talking a lot about skills-based hiring, right.

What are those top three skills that you would say have sort of been your anchors along this year?

[00:08:40] Bridgette: First thing I would say will be relationship building. I don’t meet anyone that I don’t think I can build a relationship with. Even if it starts out rocky, I can still build that relationship. So that’s one. The second one is transparency and honesty. I am always transparent with people, even if it’s the hardest thing to say to them, even if it’s the hardest thing to say to an Employer.

And I believe in that. And then the last thing would be just as purpose driven space. Like you have to show up with purpose every day or what you’re doing won’t matter, you won’t approach it in the right way. So those three things are really important to me to show up with truth and honesty and transparency and build relationships and always have a purpose at the top of mind.

[00:09:27] Kelly: I love that you called out, you know, skills that you wouldn’t necessarily link to any sort of formal education.

But for our listeners and maybe even some of the stars that are listening in, how did you work to really develop or hone those types of skills? Because they are truly skills.

[00:09:47] Bridgette: So I think that I always tell people that, you know, I grew up as a professional at Year Up. I have to give Year Up credit because the way that the organization develops you as a leader is very, very solid. I remember years ago, Gerald saying that we develop strong leaders. So if you choose to leave here, another organization will know where you learn that skillset from.

And there was no fear about growing you to be your best that you can be in losing you. He saw that as a value add. And so I learned how to be a professional. That truth, honesty, transparency came through the process and practice of feedback and how you give it, but more importantly, how you receive it, how you make sure that you are always open to grow through the power of knowledge and the power of learning, how to be better.

And so I learned that there. And so what I would tell stars would be, always take something from every interaction, every job you have. Don’t ever think that there’s a place where you can’t continue to grow, learn, beef up your knowledge.

And we’re talking about knowledge that is not written in the textbook. It’s the things that you have to watch, you have to listen for, you have to hear, you have to ask questions. So people think about hard skills that you have, but then there are those what people deem as soft skills.

I tend to think of them as more business essential skills, but also life essential skills that you need to have. And that’s what I would say to stars. It’s just always continuing to hone in and develop those and don’t ever take someone talking to you about your growth as a negative, if it’s delivered in the right way, and if it’s coming from someone’s heart, it will be truly impactful.

[00:11:30] Kelly: I am such a huge fan of Year Up as well. And I am so glad to hear, I mean, I hope organizations are listening now to here, you know, when you’re really able to think of your employees in that way, your family in that way, what a huge difference that can be.

[00:11:47] Bridgette: It is, you know, again, I learned how to be a professional at Year Up and I got a chance to practice it at Perscholas. Six years in one organization, seven and a half and another. That’s 13 and a half years of honing in on what it means to be a professional and what it means to be a human, and to have human interactions with people and to treat people like humans.

And so I wouldn’t give that away. And now I feel I’m at the pinacle of all of that and Opportunity at Work. I feel like I’m at the place now where I can continue to teach and grow people in the same way I feel like I’ve learned and grown.

[00:12:24] Kelly: That’s fabulous. I am so excited. Well, I mean, most people we have been hearing about stars. So tell us what is a star?

[00:12:33] Bridgette: Yes. So stars are those that are skilled through alternative routes. And so stars are those who do not have a four-year degree, but have learned skills through former work experience, former life experiences, military programs, bootcamps, or even having gone through a talent developer, like Perscholas, or Year Up, that’s who stars are.

And we know there are 70 million of them in this country. Who have not necessarily gotten access, and opportunity to some of the most well-paying jobs because degrees have been a proxy for hiring. And so we are here to really help employers understand that your talent pipelines don’t have to be dry.

They have to be diversified. You have to really think differently about how you pull talent in. And we feel like stars are the way to diversify a talent pipeline, but also just to build really strong businesses on the heels of diversity.

[00:13:32] Kelly: It’s interesting because a lot of times when we say the word diversity, we often think of the T, right. And I don’t even need to say it out loud because I’m like seeing you shake your head. And I know everyone listening is shaking their head too. What we often don’t talk about also though, is diversity of thought.

And I always like to point that out and I think it’s great the way you guys describe this because people have all different types of upbringing. All people look differently. There’s all of it, right? Diversity is not only that, it is many things. And so when you think about where all of your talent is coming from, and if all of your talent has, let’s say a bachelor’s degree or above, because they can afford it. Or many other reasons, you know, beyond that. That means potentially you’re, you know, not really thinking of diversity in the right way. Right?

And so like, I love that you guys are pointing this out. Yes. Diversity with the type of people. Definitely a thing. But also thinking of this in terms of a lot of companies are very interested in innovating and staying ahead of the game and the way to do that and the way to really understand your clients and customers is to make sure that your workforce represents them.

[00:14:43] Bridgette: So I always compare it to product marketing. And when you have a product you want to market it, oftentimes the people That are sitting around the table may look the same, may have the same background, all came from a post-secondary degree. And so the experiences are similar, even though you may be different.

And so you, you take a product and you try to market it to the community. Well, if you don’t have diversity of thought, Diversity of education, diversity of race, diversity of gender. Then you’ve already lost because the way you think about marketing is through the lens of everyone. That’s just like you sitting at the table.

And that’s the way we need employers to think too, is that if you’re only bringing in the exact same profiles of people, And the same exact thoughts. You are not diversifying the potential that your company has because you haven’t diversified the thoughts around. Everyone’s experiences are different, but they bring those experiences into the workplace and completely can change the way a business approaches their business.

It also opens up a dialogue and it keeps people in the space of being able to get to know a person truly as a person and not all of the labels that you think about a person. I think when you can diversify to that extent, what you’re doing is you’re creating a space where we can work on some really deep systemic issues that are even in our country because you’re diversifying the folks that are around, so it opens up dialogue for other things.

[00:16:26] Kelly: That is so beautifully said, I just feel like there’s going to be so many pieces that are pulled from this and we’re going to be able to use quotes and all sorts of things. Cause it’s just the way you describe that is the best way I’ve heard, described that.

[00:16:40] Bridgette: Oh, thank you.

[00:16:41] Kelly: So how do you see the job seeker talent recruiting process changing and how can more employers look for star candidates on their teams?

[00:16:52] Bridgette: So, you know, we keep talking about this great resignation. And I don’t necessarily know if I absolutely agree with the great resignation thoughts behind it. I do think people are taking more ownership of their choices and career pathways, and they’re seeing opportunities where they want people to know that I am here.

I am available, but I need you to treat me equitably. I need to be included in this process in a very different way. And so I think what employers really have to be thinking about is you can’t keep having the same, so I’ve been in this space, like I mentioned since 1996, it’s been the same conversation since 1996, which has been, we can’t find talent.

You know, like there is so much talent out here. The question is, what type of talent are you looking for when you say you can’t find talent? So I think employers really have to dig in deep and started to do an actual assessment of their entire business, their assessment around their HR assessments. How are you thinking about people?

How are you writing position descriptions? Why is the first thing that comes to mind, I need a person with a degree? Unless it is a specialized licensed field, then you should be able to take most roles and strip the degree requirement and really think about it from a skills approach. And so I really think that businesses should also think about the alternative recruitment pipelines that they could utilize as well.

There, you know, you have this typical process of going to what’s known. This process of what you’re most comfortable with, but why not try Opportunity at Work who has stars on their platform that you could could hire? Why not try one of the talent developers like Prescholas, or a year up versus thinking about sticking into the box that you’re usually in. And you can find talent anywhere.

You can find them from the places I just mentioned. It all comes down to marketing too. I saw something the other day where someone talked about. We’ve been trying to diversify our pipelines and we’ve gone out and we’ve tried to recruit diverse candidates and we’ve just had no success. So we’re really curious to know how you’re going to do that.

And my first question is where are you recruiting from? Because it goes back to this marketing piece. If you are recruiting in traditional ways to meet diversified talent, then you’ve already lost because that diversified talent may not be using those outlets that you’re talking about.

So you have to understand who you need to reach out to and what vehicles you need in order to do that. And it’s not the traditional.

[00:19:34] Kelly: That’s some really great advice as well for organizations to listen in on here, I happened to be in a conversation yesterday when someone from Accenture mentioned that they had stripped the degree requirement from like 80% of their job postings. And so I know that it’s possible. Right. And it does take some effort, but I think it’s really important to start thinking about those things.

[00:19:59] Bridgette: Yeah. IBM stripped ’em, I think 50% of their job postings do not. LinkedIn just announced that they too are stripping bachelor’s degrees from their job postings. You’ve had Google who has used their Google credentials in lieu of a bachelor’s degree. So the companies are putting forth the effort to try to do that, but we have to make sure that even when you do that, you’ve got to figure out where your recruitment pipeline is going to come from.

So you can strip the degrees, but if you’re still using the exact same systems of recruiting, You’re still going to miss out on the 70 million stars that are already out there. You’re not going to find them. So you have to connect to the organizations and people. And so I applaud all of them for doing that. Let’s take it a level deeper.

[00:20:48] Kelly: I totally agree. Now I know you said 70 million stars. I mean, this is just a huge number. Is that only in the US is that worldwide?

[00:20:57] Bridgette: US.

[00:20:58] Kelly: Wow. Can you even imagine. That’s huge. So, we’ve talked a little bit about the big announcement that Opportunity at Work just made, with something called Stellarworx. We’re saying here to employers to think beyond where they might look for talent. So give us some details around this, and maybe this is a resource, right?

[00:21:26] Bridgette: It is absolutely. So I’m happy to talk about Stellarworx. Stellarworx is a one-stop shop. And so, you know, we’re not leaving anyone out of this process. So the Stellarworx is open to employers, talent developers, and stars. And the way this works is we partner with talent developers across the country.

And again, that’s your Merit America’s, your Generations, your Year Up’s, Perscholars, Empowers. They bring stars to the platform, stars create their profiles. There is an algorithm that determined skills based off of the curriculum and the training track that a star has come through through their talent developer.

So talent developers have a little bit of work to do. They have to come in and have to upload their curricula, and then we use a algorithm that matches up skills from that training track to the skills that the employer needs for the jobs. And employers can come on to Stellarworx, they also build their profiles. They put a description up, their logos are there. So it’s really personal for the employer.

And That is the place where they can now meet these 70 million people that we call stars. They can meet them there And start to work on their hiring process.

[00:22:37] Kelly: And is this available? Just open to the public?

[00:22:40] Bridgette: It is not open-access, it’s the relationship building now. And so right now, all of the stars that are coming to the platform are coming through our relationships with talent developers. We eventually though, we do have a product roadmap. And so we are thinking about ways to enhance product, but also ways to make it easier for employers and for stars to find us.

And so the goal is to eventually think through how do we find stars anywhere? You know, how do we make sure that this platform is available to a star, even if they’re not connected to a current talent developer, because we can’t also be the problem. Right? We have to be part of the solution. And so in order to do that, we have to open ourselves up outside of the relationships that we’ve already built.

Right now, the jobs that employers mostly posted are tech specific jobs or tech adjacent roles, but we’re now entering into the advanced manufacturing space. We’re entering into the customer success space. So all the customer support roles. We’re really thinking about how do we expand ourselves to multiple industries because we can’t limit ourselves to just tech.

We have to make sure that we’re opening up to all the industries where stars are mostly working. And I think COVID is the thing that really, you know, stuck out for us. When you think about the frontline staff, doing all of these jobs that have so much transferable skills, think about that. We depended on frontline staff to support our country and take care of us during COVID.

So, if we depended on them to take care of us during COVID, they were essential workers, how could they not be essential in your business now? Those skills that they’ve learned are easily transferable to all of these industries. Healthcare is another space we would open up to. And when we talk about the 70 million stars, so you know, just a number breakdown, 61% of black workers and 55% of Hispanic workers and 66% are rural workers of all races.

That is how we’re thinking about stars.

[00:24:41] Kelly: That’s really good to understand. Just for anyone listening that is not familiar with the term talent developer. Can you explain that?

[00:24:51] Bridgette: Yeah people would call them training providers. And language means a lot to me. And I think we were calling them training providers when I first came to Opportunity at Work. And I was like, oh, let’s change that to talent developers. And so talent developers are training providers. They are nonprofit workforce development training, community colleges. And so it’s anyone that’s providing way of developing talent. Whether it be through a hard skills or what people deem as soft skills, anyone that’s developing the talent that will be acquired by an employer.

[00:25:27] Kelly: Yeah. And I agree with you mentioned earlier with soft skills, while we’re at changing names of things let’s go ahead and just change that too. I think you had said life skills, which is the term that I use.

[00:25:41] Bridgette: Business essential skills.

[00:25:42] Kelly: Business essential skills.

Yes. Yes.

[00:25:44] Bridgette: Because these are the foundational skills that most companies look for, but they are essential to running businesses.

[00:25:52] Kelly: Yeah. A lot of times we’ll also call them human skills because of the automation, craze you know,

[00:25:59] Bridgette: Absolutely.

 When we were talking earlier about the Stellarworx in the validation of skills, because Stellarworx is a skills-based platform, there’s this validation of skills. And so, you know, sometimes employers will ask us when, and I get it.

Employers are nervous. They’re used to a process and they don’t want that process to change if they feel like they’re getting talent through that process. Right. And so I get it. Employers are nervous and we’re empathetic to that, but we’re also very bullish about it too. We needed a change like now, we can’t afford to wait.

And so when I have employers ask me, well, how do you validate the skills of someone without a four year degree? My question to them is well how are you validating the skills of someone what’s a four year degree? Because there is no question that comes up. There are jobs that people post that they just say a bachelor’s degree.

And it doesn’t even tell you the field, the bachelor’s degree may not even equate to the role you’re going into. And so how are you validating degree skills as well? We have to get away from this place where we’re always creating this what I call a jib jab between distinct groups or distinct things. Validation of work skills, training skills, the same way with college skills, they’re in the same bucket. The difference is some folks could afford to go to college or got in a lot of debt to even go to college and not even get a degree and some folks couldn’t. But the talent is still there. Talent is always equal, opportunity is not.

[00:27:41] Kelly: I’m so glad that you said that, and it is a really important point to remember on all sides of this equation. So thank you.

[00:27:49] Bridgette: You’re welcome.

[00:27:50] Kelly: So we started off when we talked a little bit about your passion and how you got into this. And I wanted to circle back on that for a second, cause you talked about being a young mom and helping moms get back into the workforce.

And now you find yourself as the founding member of Chief DC. I know some people might not know Chief, although I’d be surprised if they don’t at this point because it’s gaining popularity, but I’d love to just hear how you got into that and a little bit more about that.

[00:28:19] Bridgette: I can’t even remember how it came. Oh, I saw it on LinkedIn. That’s where it was. I was on LinkedIn and I saw this thing pop up called Chief and I clicked on it and I was like, oh my God, this is so interesting because I’m in the C-Suite. And, you know, it’s not easy being a woman in C-suite. It’s even harder being a black woman in C-suite.

And so I wanted a space where I could connect with other women who may be in the same space that I am, really needing the support. A place where you may not always be able to talk about the challenges of just being a C-suite leader in your organization. You can’t talk about that with people internally.

You want to talk about it with other people who are going through the exact same experiences. So I completed an application and went through the process of getting vetted and was really excited when I was added as a founding member for a DC. And the Chief process is just amazing. I mean, we have a core group out of all the folks that are all the chiefs in VPs and SVPs that are included.

I have a core group that I meet with every single month. We’re led by a coach and we’re talked through challenges that we may be facing, or we just have opportunities to bounce things off of each other. It is just the first place I’ve had where there are women that look like me, and I see a lot of them which you don’t get to see that often.

And women that are not like me. So as we talked about diversity of thought earlier, being able to come to a place where all the women don’t look alike, all their backgrounds are not alike. So we have a diversity of thought and we’re really able to support and help each other. And then we get access to so many external speakers.

Michelle Obama. I felt like I invited her into my home via zoom. Like, do you know how that feels to have Michelle Obama in your home via zoom? Being able to just have amazing guest speakers, men that are coming in that are really supportive of this organization as well. I was really excited to sign up and get embedded approved and now a member.

[00:30:28] Kelly: I saw your post on LinkedIn about the Michelle Obama. I was like, oh!

[00:30:34] Bridgette: No, that could have been a MasterClass. Actually, she should turn it into a masterclass of what it means to be a woman and a woman leader. There was one thing she said that really stuck out at me and it feeds into, I feel like the passion that I have for work, which was as women, we don’t have the right to give up, because we bring life into this world.

And even if you don’t bring life into this world, it still doesn’t mean you have the right to give up because we have a tendency as women to always take care of the world. And I’ve seen that in my own career journey where, my journey has always been about taking care of people, always being the voice for a person that may not feel like they have the voice, or may not feel like they know how to even articulate what they’re thinking.

And So I really appreciated her talking about that. Cause we don’t have the luxury to give up but we do have the luxury to take time for ourselves and to back away and to expect people, to give us a space for self care.

[00:31:36] Kelly: So true. Setting boundaries is like one of my new year’s resolutions. Not everyone’s on board with it yet, but.

[00:31:43] Bridgette: You have to make them get on board with it.

[00:31:47] Kelly: Yeah, Yeah, you do. You do, but you know, I’m so glad you shared some about that. Of course, you know, people should, women should definitely go and check out Chief and join. But I’m just glad you shared a little bit about that particular session, because I think she’s just amazing and it’s so right.

I mean, you know, I’ve heard often women or, you know, mothers, but I would say just women generally, you know, it’s sort of like we multiply everything and you’re right. I think that we just naturally lead with empathy. And so when you lead with empathy, you’re thinking about how can you lift all the others up around you, as opposed to just focusing on yourself.

[00:32:26] Bridgette: 100%. And I also think too being a black woman and seeing someone like Michelle Obama, there is a relatable piece there. And so I think about that in my own career, you know, being a black woman who has been able to be pretty successful in just my own career. I know there are other black women that are looking at me.

There are black women on my teams that look at me and look up to me. So it’s really important that just as a woman, but then also as a black woman, there is a way that I need to show up every single day to make sure that I am available to people that need me, but also able to give feedback when people need it.

And So it’s the same way I look at Michelle Obama. I know that people look at me in a similar way, just from a leadership and a supportive type of way. That’s a lot of pressure, but it’s pressure that I welcome.

[00:33:18] Kelly: Before we wrap up, I have one more question for you. What’s something on your career bucket list?

[00:33:24] Bridgette: Oh, I want to own a yoga studio. Actually a mobile yoga studio. So I’ve been really, you know, yoga saved my life. I tell people that all the time. I had gone through, so at one point, I had gained a ton of weight and I worked really hard. And I started doing yoga. I started practicing yoga.

I remember being on my yoga mat one day, and this is how I knew yoga was exactly right for me. I was on my yoga mat and the instructor I had was just amazing. I absolutely loved her. And she was telling the story and I didn’t even realize it, but I was crying. And tears were streaming down my face and I thought, Oh, my God, what in the world is happening right now?

And that’s when I knew that something had unlocked in me. That connected me to this just really powerful practice. And so I started thinking about yoga and trauma. And how do you take something that’s so beneficial to your life, and pass it on to others who may be experiencing some type of trauma. And I really thought about children. Children who are going through a lot. I thought about children in communities of color that may not have access to things like that.

I thought about children and communities of color, where therapy isn’t an option or readily available. So how do you turn a yoga mat into a therapy session? That’s what I want to do. I want to figure out, like, how do you do that? And how do you partner with school systems to like, make this part of an offering instead of taking a child and deeming them as a behavioral risk or behavioral challenge, how do you put them on a mat and start to work through that?

How do you not suspend kids? How do you think about children that are bullying, and being bullied. Both of them need to be on a yoga mat. So that is what I love to do.

[00:35:17] Kelly: Well, I am a huge yoga fan. And that number one sounds amazing. I just want to echo so many of your thoughts there because it’s just, I have cried way too many times on a yoga mat. There’s something about moving your body that way. And I agree when you get a really great instructor, the way they talk, it is like a combination of this body movement and therapy, and it’s like a release.

And I think for children, like I just absolutely love that idea. I have a daughter that’s neuro-diverse and to be honest, it’s something we talk about all the time. People often think that children are like, “bad children”. And this, it perpetuates into adulthood is the thing, right.

But someone who is a bully as a young child, usually there’s something going on under the surface that we just all don’t know and understand. And I think mental health, like I am right there with you. It is so important. And the fact that therapy is not available for everyone, no matter what is kind of insanity.

I think I’m gonna add that to my bucket list, like that should be

[00:36:21] Bridgette: That’s

[00:36:22] Kelly: free resource for everybody. But in the meantime, that concept of like, I dunno, like some combination, traveling, yoga therapy.

[00:36:32] Bridgette: I don’t even think it has to be something that’s really cost-prohibitive. I think that you can start, I live in Maryland, so, you know, I could offer yoga here. But then it could be scaled to other markets. I don’t have to run that. I just want the concept to be one that is just infused into schools.

And when we talk about health and wellness, we oftentimes think about physical, weight gain, body image, body things. We have got to incorporate mental health into that entire process. And so, yes, if I could do trauma informed yoga, I would absolutely love to do that. I read in a magazine a couple of years ago about a woman from India who came to the states and she said Western culture wanting to make her break up with yoga.

And she talked about doing yoga with women who had lost their children to gun violence and they were primarily black women and she started teaching them how to be yoga instructors. And, you know, so when I first went into yoga, I didn’t see anyone that looked like me. I was bigger than most people in the studio as well, but, I was embraced and I want to embrace others as they come into this.

[00:37:45] Kelly: That is just so beautiful. I can, I think big and I’m sure you do as well. And so I’m just imagining you training all of these yoga instructors that go back off into their community and change lives in the world. And it just grows and grows and grows. So.

[00:38:01] Bridgette: And I’m going to India first and train. Cause I want it, I want to go to the epicenter of where yoga started.

[00:38:07] Kelly: I’ll go with you. That sounds fantastic. Yeah, let’s do it.

Well, you guys are definitely going to want to keep up with what Bridgette is up to because obviously she is going to change the world in so many different ways. You can find her on LinkedIn or on Twitter, her Twitter handle is @bridgettetefgray.

And you can find tons of information around Opportunity at Work, which I highly suggest you do opportunityatwork.org. They are on all the socials. I love them and follow them. And we’re going to make a request for all of our listeners today, because we ask that you join the discussion on social with #hirestars, and we want you all, we’re going to challenge you all to continue amplifying stars, hiring stars, promoting stars, and being proud of the awesome star that you are.

[00:38:57] Bridgette: That’s right, yes. And creating stars is a talent category.

[00:39:01] Kelly: Creating stars is the talent category. I absolutely love it. Well, thank you so much again for joining us today, Bridgette.

[00:39:10] Bridgette: Thank you for having me, Kelly I’m really, really appreciate it. This was awesome.

[00:39:16] Kelly: Thanks for tuning in to Let’s Talk About Skills, Baby, a Growth Network Podcasts production. If any part of this episode resonated with you, we would love for you to share it with a friend or colleague who might feel the same. Feel free to reach out to me at Kelly Ryan Bailey on social and learn more about the great events and initiatives we have coming up at skillsbaby.com.

Thanks again for spending some time with me and most importantly, have a great day.