EP 120: Unapologetically You — Identity, Leadership, and Career Decisions with Sabrina Parsons

In this episode of Thriving in Intersectionality, host Dr. Lola Adeyemo sits down with Sabrina Parsons to explore how leadership is shaped through identity, lived experience, and the moments that challenge how we see ourselves in the workplace.

Sabrina shares her journey from growing up between Mexico and the United States to leading as CEO of Palo Alto Software, reflecting on how her bicultural identity shaped her sense of belonging, voice, and leadership over time. Navigating spaces where her identity was often misunderstood, she learned to move from questioning where she fit… to owning who she is without apology.

Through her story, we explore the intersection of identity, career decision-making, and leadership development—and how pivotal moments, like choosing discomfort or rejecting expected paths, can redefine the trajectory of a career.

This conversation offers a deeper look at how leadership is not only built through experience, but through how we interpret the environments we move through—and the choices we make within them.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• How bicultural identity shapes belonging, voice, and leadership

• The experience of navigating spaces where identity is not immediately visible

• The shift from questioning identity to owning it unapologetically

• Sabrina’s “elevator moment” and how it changed her career path

• Why career paths are often shaped by decisions that don’t make sense at the time

• The importance of relationships and human connection in career growth

• Why showing up consistently is often more important than perfection

• How risk-taking early in your career can shape long-term success

• The evolving expectations of leadership across generations

• Navigating leadership as a working parent without compromising your values

About the Guest

Sabrina Parsons is the CEO of Palo Alto Software, where she has helped millions of entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses. She also serves as Chair of the Oregon Growth Board, contributing to statewide economic strategy.

Born in Mexico City and raised between cultures, Sabrina brings a unique perspective to leadership shaped by her bicultural identity, experience as a woman in tech, and journey as a working parent. Her work focuses on helping individuals and organizations build with intention, clarity, and purpose.

About the Podcast

Thriving in Intersectionality explores how identity, lived experience, and leadership intersect in today’s workplace.

Through conversations and reflections, Dr. Lola Adeyemo uncovers the insights, challenges, and leadership lessons that shape how professionals navigate, lead, and build impact within organizations.

Each episode invites leaders to define intersectionality in their own words—and reflect on how their layered identities influence how they show up in their work.

If this episode resonated with you:

⭐ Check out Dr. Lolas reflective deep dive on Substack

⭐ Leave a review to help others discover the show

⭐ Share with a colleague or follow for more conversations on leadership, identity, and workplace culture

 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Thriving in Intersectionality Podcast. A podcast that explores the real experiences of professionals navigating the workplace with layered belief identities. I'm your host, Dr. Lola Ateemo, the CEO of EQI Mindset and founder of the nonprofit Immigrants Incorporate Inc. I'm also an author, speaker, and a workplace inclusion strategist. I work with organizations to build communities of belonging through strategy, storytelling, and systems change. This podcast amplifies the voices of professionals from intersectional backgrounds, immigrants, ethnic minorities, first-gen professionals, veterans, working parents, individuals with disabilities, and so many more. Through solo reflections and guest conversations, we'll uncover the eating challenges, celebrate the wins, and offer insights to help you thrive, not just survive in the corporate world. Because in today's global workforce, belonging isn't just a bonus, it's the catalyst for real growth and impact. Let's dive in. Hello, good day. Welcome back to another episode of the Thriving in Intersectionality podcast. I will start with what intersectionality is, a little bit about that. Hopefully, you get curious enough to find out more before I bring in my guest. So today, um, my guest is Sabrina. I will also introduce her in a little bit. Okay, let's talk about intersectionality for a minute. Intersectionality, of course, the title of the podcast, um, so I I want to make sure you know what it means. It's a framework that recognizes our multiple aspects of identity, such as gender, race, ethnicity, immigration status, class, among so many others. How all of these identities overlap and interact, creating such unique experiences of privilege or discrimination that you can't understand by examining just one of these factors in isolation. And this framework is what I will be leveraging to introduce my guests to you. My guests are usually people that are doing amazing work in the world. And of course, we hear about their work, but what we don't hear about, what we don't often talk about is the behind the scenes that makes people who they really are, and how they see that showing up in their work. So welcome, Sabrina. Thank you for joining me today.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Thank you. I'm really excited to be here, and uh, I love the topic of intersectionality, and uh yeah, I'm just excited to join you.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Thank you. All right, uh, a little bit about Sabrina. Sabrina Parsons is the CEO of Palo Alto Software. She's helped more than a million entrepreneurs find their food in. As chair of the Oregon Growth Board, she helps shape statewide economic strategy. She's a working mom of three and brings a grounded perspective to leadership. She's also very passionate about helping women build sustainable careers and lead with confidence. So whether she's scaling a global brand or building local youth programs, Sabrina shares honest, actionable lessons on leading with purpose and impact. Thank you for being here, Sabrina. Thank you. I love that. Short and sweet way to just capture a little bit of all the things, amazing things you're doing. And um so now we'll go back behind the scenes a little bit to know who Sabrina is. If you're watching this, if you're listening to these, is um, you know, when you think of the word intersectionality, uh personally, Sabrina, what aspects of your identity have been the most relevant in shaping your leadership journey?

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Wow, that's such a great question. And I was uh reviewing before this podcast and really thinking about that question. Um, I don't know that, you know, a lot of times I don't think people think about how your leadership is changed and structured and why you are where you are. And I think it is a lot about intersectionality, where you come from and um and your experiences. So I think there's a few things that I feel like have been um kind of major reasons of why I'm here and have influenced my leadership. Um I um am bicultural, um and um I have uh ethnic diversity that people don't always know about. Um I was born in Mexico City. My mom is Mexican, her whole family, so I am half Mexican. Um clearly I am not what people expect when I say I'm Mexican. Um, and that's been an interesting thing in my life. I uh I didn't speak English until I was eight. I lived in Mexico City uh and um didn't come to the US until second grade. Um my dad is American, and so he always spoke English to us. So I knew how to speak English and understand it, but I refused to speak it until we moved to the US. Um and so I very much identify with my Mexican culture and background. Um, I'm very close to my Mexican family, um, probably closer than to my American family. Um, and even once we moved to the United States, um, I spent every summer in Mexico in Mexico City and then outside the city in Cuernavaca. My grandmother lived out there. Um, I'm one of five kids, so uh big family, and my mom really missed being in Mexico. So we would go down all summer. My dad would stay in the U.S. and work and join us for a week, kind of at the beginning and the end of the summer. But so being Mexican is something that's been a very big part of who I am, my identity. But in the United States, it is something that once I came to the US, I felt like people didn't understand. Um, people assumed I was, you know, white American. And um I felt often like I didn't fit in in either world. I wasn't Mexican enough, but for me, my Mexican part of my growing up was such a big part of me that it didn't really always identify with um being, you know, a white American. And so that is definitely something that um kind of was uh throughout my life, I would say kind of I struggled back and forth with what is my identity, do I hide it, do I not say it? Oftentimes as a high schooler and even in college, I would hear derogatory things about Mexicans because people didn't realize that I was Mexican. Um, or I'd walk into a Mexican grocery store, which is where I shop often because I miss all the food from my childhood. Um, and then people are speaking in Spanish and they would say things not realizing that I could understand. So both sides of this. Um, and I think in college I was really able to um kind of just really own my identity and speak up. And, you know, when I was in situations on either side in a Mexican grocery store, start speaking, you know, unaccent unaccented Mexican Spanish, and people's eyes would just go white and just be like, you know, what? Why is this Juadita speaking Spanish? Um, but it was, you know, a way to break the ice and it was actually really um there there was just this acceptance as soon as I inserted myself and in the same way with friends in college to just say, hey, you know, I don't know you if you know, but I'm Mexican and maybe you shouldn't be saying these things. Wow. And you know, really just owning that identity. Um and doing that, I think helped me as I got out into the working world and the tech world, and as a woman in tech in the middle 90s, really taking that same approach. And when I was the only woman in the room to really own it and speak up and not apologize for who I was, and so I think that has really helped me, and I think that's the biggest thing that I've learned is to be unapologetically who I am, as you know, someone who is Mexican and American, as someone who is a woman in tech and as a working mom, and to just really be proud and unapologetic about all those things.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Oh my gosh. Yeah, and and the reason I was saying wow when you talked about that in college is because I, you know, a lot of us it takes a while to kind of start to own that. And um, thank you for sharing that background because I think some of those things, I'm glad you said it it helped you to think and reflect back on this. This is really the reason why I love that in these conversations, is to also help the people that are maybe struggling with that identity crisis now to understand that you know, give yourself permission, you know, in proudly immigrants, uh Mexican, American, both, and learning to use your voice early around that intersection. But I I think that's also as you said, those are things that shape the way you lead right now. You have had to navigate that for a long time. Yep. Yeah. And then a big one is also a woman in tech. Right? I mean, it's still a struggle now. I can't even imagine what it was, you know.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

You know, what's what's interesting is that it is still a struggle. I feel like it's a very similar struggle, which is kind of a sad thing, but it wasn't it wasn't necessarily worse when I first went into tech. Um, we just still haven't made headway. Um, there's some, and you know, you have seen a little bit more understanding of how a company needs to approach, you know, uh recruiting women, retaining women, what does that mean? So there's more written about it and there's more of an understanding, but you know, we are where we are in 2026, and I wish we were further along. Um, I think the one thing I do appreciate is I do feel like um the younger generations, because I am Gen X, um, and you know, it's I feel like millennials and even Gen Z across the board are more protective of their space. And I actually think that's a really good thing and will hopefully move the needle for women in tech and women in leadership in a bigger way because my generation didn't we didn't protect our space, we just tried to, you know, be in the man's world and you know, as Cheryl Sandberg said from Facebook, lean in, right? We didn't say, wait a minute, I don't want to lean into your world, I want to create my world. We we more often in my generation just said, we're just gonna suck it up and we're gonna do what the men do. And I do appreciate that I see younger generations say, no, I'm not gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Yep, yep. I I see the same thing. I mean, I'm millennial, I think we are still struggling because we're kind of that sandwich generation, too, where we see we understand the people that came, you know, before us. We walked with them, we watched our parents, and then now we're seeing these kids, we're raising some of this newer generation, and we're like, wait a minute, these two people have seen the realities of different worlds, and and so we are we are um I was in a conversation with somebody that does generational translation work, and so they call millennials the translator generation because in the workplace we've worked for you know boomers and we're working with Gen Zs, but we understand both. Like it's not that one is bad, so we are in this position where we kind of like get what they're saying and where they're coming from, and we get where these people are saying and where they're coming from. But I love the way you put it is the learning to protect our space and hone our identities, um, which I I really hope that people walk away with from your experience. I did want to uh talk to you about uh something you mentioned. What gen what um I know uh from your bio that it's software, what engineering uh program did you finish with? What what kind of industry?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Uh so our software is software as a service, so it's cloud software, and um that's been so I've been running Palo Alto Software since 2007. When I started running the company, we were we had a product called Business Plan Pro, and it was a Windows software. Um, I came in and I transitioned the company from Windows software to cloud software as a service. And so the biggest thing with software as a service is the technology is always changing. It isn't a technology, it is constantly needing to change, adjust what is the back-end platform, what's the architecture? And I think we've changed that for live plan, you know, at least a handful of times since we launched it in 2012. And I think that's yeah, and that's where we're at, I think, with technology right now is that you have to be willing to move quickly, right? We're all seeing this, even just like your experience online with the internet with search in the last year. How much has that changed with AI, right? I mean, just huge changes in behavior and what people do and how people search and interact, and in the same way that's happened to software. So we are constantly changing technologies, adding technologies, adding different programming languages. And one of the things that's been really interesting to see is as AI comes out, there's a lot of discussion, a lot of fear, particularly for computer science, engineers, people who are studying. It's like, oh, coding is leaving. You don't have to code, you're never gonna have to do that. Like it's done. And actually, that's not true. You are going to be able to do things more quickly, and AI certainly can put together code, but that actually means that we need people who understand the theory, the architecture, the way to optimize. Um, you can't just let the AI just do it because it cobbles together things that aren't always what you want and what you're looking for. So that's one of the most interesting things that I've seen. And we've been really um making sure that we make um, you know, we make room in the schedule, that we support the tools, and that we allow our engineers to really play with a lot of different tools. And from our perspective, we've said we are not going to get rid of engineers, we just want to move more quickly.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

We want to move more quickly. I love it. Yeah, and I think that's the whole point. Um, I I I I don't envy people going to school now because it's a valid worry. Like people are concerned about I'm going to school to do a five-year, four-year degree programming, something that might not even be needed. Um, but I think when it comes to the technical skills, the technical roles, those still need people that understand what's happening. Um, because that's how the technology can get better, is to actually support um real work. But um, a little bit of memory laying down before we talk a little bit more about some of your work insights, I wanted to understand a little bit more on to how did you get here? So, could you walk us through your career path, maybe a little bit about some of the key career milestones for you and uh people down movements that led to where you are today?

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yeah, that's a great question. Um, I did not uh study to be in tech. Uh I went to Princeton University and I have a uh major in history and a minor. I was thinking you definitely went to the computer engineering degree. No, no. Um I have a uh degree in history and a minor in Latin American studies and early childhood education. Um I uh came out of Princeton not knowing what I wanted to do. Um I very much took my time at Princeton to just take interesting classes, and that's I kind of happened into history because as I finished my sophomore year, those were the classes that I was taking, and I really had a fascination with um the way history changes depending on the perspective of whose eyes you're seeing it, right? We we think about history as if it's like, oh, these are facts, it happens, but actually it depends on what perspective. And my thesis at Princeton was actually um the Mexican-American War from the Mexican perspective, and so to write it as a student in an American university, but only using sources from Mexico and written by Mexican historians to write my thesis so that I could experience that perspective. Um, and so I came out of college and I didn't know what I was gonna do. Um, my summer before my senior year, I worked at Quest Communications, big telecom company that then it's gotten eaten up and part of like the huge, you know, telecom, but back in summer of '95, um it was headquartered in Denver. I worked in a you know downtown office building on the 17th floor. Um I had to go into work every day, nine to five, and I would get in the elevator, and the internship um wasn't really well structured. The people, the quest was growing very, very quickly. I think, you know, four months before it had been 150 people, and then when I got there, it was 350 people, and they were hiring so quickly. Um, and I think somebody had said, let's have interns, and then they didn't really know what to do with us. And so it was very boring. I felt like I wasn't doing anything, but they were paying me and I needed the job. And as much as I tried to be helpful, just things were moving too quickly, and no one knew what to do with me. And so it was every day was very long and very boring. And you still had to stay till five. Yep, I had to stay till five, and um, I remember having this moment, and I've talked about it with my kids because two of my kids are in college now and they're trying to figure out what they're gonna do. Um, and I I call it my elevator moment. I was in the elevator, it was a Wednesday morning, and I get on the elevator, and there's all these people in their suits, men, women, we're going up. I'm going up to the 17th floor, and there is this collective sigh from everybody in the elevator of like, oh, we made it to Wednesday. Thank God it's Wednesday. And here I am, you know, 21 years old, and thinking that like being out in the real world is gonna be so exciting and so interesting. This doesn't look like these people I enjoy life, and my job was boring, and I'm in this elevator, and everybody hates what they do, and they're counting down every day until they get to Friday. And I just sat there and I just thought to myself, I can't do this, this cannot be me. I cannot be this person. Person, I can't do this. And so that was a very critical moment for me because at that time I was supposed to go back to Princeton, and all of my friends were doing all these interviews for investment banking and management consulting, and that's what I was gonna do. And that moment I said, I'm not gonna do that, I can't do that. I need to find something else. And I graduated from Princeton in 1996, and that summer I moved back to the Bay Area where I grew up, and the dot-coms were just booming. And I jumped into tech and entrepreneurship and being involved in startups and really never looked back. And that guided me to where I am today, where we produce Live Plan, and it's a software that helps entrepreneurs figure out how to succeed in business. But it really came from that moment of saying, I can't do this corporate thing, it's not for me. And I need to be somewhere where I have a little bit more control in me and agency and able to do things. And in the startup world, that's what you have because everybody's putting on a million different hats and you're just running as quickly as you can, and it's all about you know doing everything, and you don't have these very strict corporate boundaries.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Boundaries and boxes, yes, absolutely. I think you are either cut out for it or you're not. Um I know some people, you know, we just want like just do the beat I need to do and then go live my life, you know, kind of compartmentalizing uh things. But I love that, and I love that you're sharing it with with um with your kids now, because that's sort of like where we are too right now, advice um for people that are coming up behind, and and so drawing from your own experience and also from what you're seeing in the world of work right now through the lens of the younger generation, the next couple of years, as long as as far as careers are involved. So, um, could you share some lessons maybe from your journey and that helped you? What are some of the things that helped you as you navigated these decisions, these transitions? I mean, jumping into entrepreneurship very early on is kind of, you know, it wasn't the thin. I mean, there are more people trying to jump into entrepreneurship these days than then. Um, so what are some of the lessons from back there for you, for anyone that is listening, that is maybe has a similar background or intersection to you? What are some of the things that you would advise them uh from your life that worked for you?

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Yeah, um, I have a few things, and um I uh I live in Eugene, Oregon, where University of Oregon is, and so I often um work with the business school professors and so talk with business students. Um one of the things I always tell students, college students, when I, you know, am a guest lecturer in their class or am you know um sometimes I've actually come and taught certain portions of classes. What I always tell them is it's all about people, right? And it's you're here and you think it's like about this class and this grade and this qualification and all these things, and sure, you have to do all of that, but your whole life is gonna be connections with people and don't underestimate that and take advantage of meeting people and reaching out with them and connecting with them because you never know when you're gonna bump into them, you never know when they can help you or you can help them. Um, I always tell all the students when uh I I get to be in front of them when I when I leave, what you guys all need to do is you all need to connect with me on LinkedIn. And you know, make that connection so that when you're getting out of school in a couple years, maybe you want to contact me. And if you've connected me with me on LinkedIn, maybe you put a message. I always say, put in the message where you met me, why you're connecting with me, and it gives me that context. And I and you can then send me a message two years later, and I can go back and I can look at it and I can remember who you are, and I can help you if I have connections. Um, the interesting thing is every time I do that, I will only have a handful of students who actually follow through. Um, but we all know this, right? You meet people and you help them and they help you, and the world is about personal connections and personal relationships, and people like to help each other. So that is one of the big things I've learned throughout my life is to really try to connect with people and be authentic in your connections, help people when you can because then they'll help you. Um, and that is a very powerful tool for your career. Um, because no matter what, it's so much more about the people than you know, the skills are there, right? The other thing I think is really important, and I've been talking with my kids about this a lot, is think when you're in college, you have this idea of the real world, and you're working so hard, and you're wanting your good grade point average, and you want to do well in school, and it just seems very important to you know, all of the grades and the papers and the tests. And I think it leads people to believe that they're gonna get out in the real world, and everyone is focused and competent and wants success. And we all know that's not the case, and the reality is it goes back to that old adage that people tell you that 90% of success is just showing up, is just get there, be there on time, do your homework, be ready, and bring yourself and show up. And if you do that every day, you are going to succeed. Because the reality is that isn't what everybody does in the world. The people who succeed are the ones who show up and do the work every day.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

Yeah, yep. I that reminds me of a statement I once heard too that said uh, you know, 90% of the lessons you learn is is not taught. It's caught. Yep. Right. So by showing up in your classroom, it might not be in the textbook, it might be something a guest, you know, a guest speaker in class, it might be something your professor says, it might be from a question your colleague asks. Like some things are cut, some things you can't teach them. So by showing up in the right places and having the right conversations, you can learn so much more than you know doing the bare minimum to meet the grade requirements or requirements. That's awesome. Thank you so much, Sabrina. Um, yeah, I can tell you you have the teaching, lecturing, mentoring kind of vibes, and maybe it's because you have kids that are in college now. All right. Um, so uh I think the other part of the question is leading forward too, right? Is you are in a very very uh well-sought of industry, fast-moving industry, and so you'll see from the inside sort of what what uh the career changes uh look like. I think we talked about it a little bit earlier, is uh for those that are coming out of college that are looking for jobs right now, what are some advice you have for them as far as you know, what should you be doing to build your career for the next few years, either in tech or outside of tech?

SPEAKER_00 30:03

Yeah, um, I think one of the really important things, and uh my oldest son is gonna graduate from college this year, so we've been having a lot of these conversations. Um, I am a very big believer, um, and and not all parents are, um, but I very much uh believe for my kids and for everybody that you need to study what you love. Like you shouldn't just go to college and like, I'm gonna study accounting because that will give me a job, I'm gonna study business because you know, whatever it is, or computer science. I think you need to follow your passion because if you do that, then as you get into the work and the working world and you look for jobs, if you get a job that you're interested in, that you're passionate about, it's gonna be more fun. You're going to want to do it, and it's not gonna be as much work because, you know, as you get out and you're a young person and you're looking at your life and you're 22, like you've got, you know, 40 years of working in front of you. And so what are you gonna do in those 40 years? And if you follow your passions, you tend to be more successful because if you do what you like, then you are not thinking about it like work. It is something that you bring a different level of passion. You want to read that book, you want to go to that, you know, listen to that podcast, or you know, take that online course on your own just because you love it. And I think that then leads people to paths that are more fulfilling and more successful. Um, the other thing I think is important is especially when you're younger, that's when you should take all the risks, right? When you get older and you have a mortgage and maybe a spouse or a partner and kids and bills, it's harder to take risks. When you're 22, 23 years old and you're looking at two different paths and one feels more risky, go with the riskier choice. That's the time to do it. If it doesn't work out, that's okay. You can change, right? You can pivot and go do something else. So I always encourage, especially people who are younger who are not sure, is don't be afraid of risk and take even more risks when you're younger.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

Right, right. I know. I um I was telling somebody that I moved to the US by myself at 24, quitting my job, and and just, oh, you know, I'm gonna go get a master's in the US. And I had my two luggages, and I think about it now, I'm like, wow, you know, like I don't think I can do that now. Like it's you know, there are too many things you're concerned about, there's too many worries, and yeah, similar to you, I I also believe that you know, take take all the risk. The worst that can happen is you decide something is not for you, but now you know you know. Um so thank you so much for sharing that, Sabrina. Uh, before I go to my final time time flies when you are having fun. Um enjoy talking to you so much, and we could stay all day. But if you're listening, make sure you follow up with Sabrina and connect with her. I'm gonna drop uh details in the show notes. Um, is there anything else you would like to add before I go to my final cultural question?

SPEAKER_00 33:42

Oh, if there is anything else. Um, you know, I think the only other thing I would add is as a working mom, um, I very much am someone who always wanted to work. I feel like, um, and I know it can be very hard as women, you know, are in the workforce and then they're having kids, and in America, our daycare is so expensive and there's just so many barriers. Um, but so my advice there, because this has been a very big part of my life, is to um to make sure that you're in a place in a job that allows you to be the kind of parent you want to be. Um, if you have a boss that doesn't understand that you need to be at the you know, piano recital or at the swim meet or whatever it is, maybe that's not the right boss. Maybe you need to find a different job that you should be able to excel at your job and still be a good parent. And it is something that you know is hard as a woman because people tell you things and you know, people say, like as a woman, people will say that um, you know, if you don't show up to the thing, you're a bad mom, but if you're not at work, you're a bad worker. And part of it, I think, is that we allow ourselves to compromise on our values. So as a working parent, but working mom, because that's how I can relate, I would say don't compromise on your values. And if you're in a job that doesn't allow you to be the kind of parent you want to be, find a different job. Don't compromise on it. There are people out there that recognize that a woman who is a mom can bring so much, can work just as hard. That work might just look differently in terms of schedule.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Right, right. Thank you. Um, I think that was an important one that I'm sure you know, and that's one of the intersections you shared. Um, so I I'm glad you got that in. Thank you so much for your insights and and sharing your experience around that. Definitely lived experience for me as well, because I I think one of the worked in my background is in biotech, and one of the things I didn't have having my first kid at 29 was a lot of people my age having kids. A lot of people my age were all doubling down on their career. And then the people at my work, you know, the only parent, the only people that had kids that I knew were older, older people with older kids, and it just felt like I was in this place by myself and and I I know it was helpful to like surround myself with the right people. Like, how are you doing it? You know, what are you doing? You know, like I love my job, I want to keep working, you know. I um also grew up in a culture where it's almost like you choose one or the other. Yeah. As a woman growing up in West Africa, it's like if you want to work, you work, you are a career person and you're seen as you know, there's something wrong with you, or you stay home and take care of the kids. Like, why do I have to peek? Um, so that was great, you know, a job that allows you to be the kind of parent you want to be. Um, I I I think I I felt that. Thanks, Sabrina. All right. So my closing question is around food. If you were to share a meal with your co-workers, what would it be and why did you pick that?

SPEAKER_00 37:15

Oh, that's a great one. And it's an easy one because I've done it before when we've brought in um, you know, diff we will have sometimes here at the office uh potlocks where people bring in food that means something to them. Um uh it would be enchiladas suizas. It is a Mexican enchilada dish that is made with um uh it's a green salsa with tomatillos verdes with green tomatoes, um, but it's got cream and cheese. And as a kid in Mexico City, it was my favorite. I loved it. Um, my grandmother, my Mexican grandmother taught me how to make it. And when I had kids, I would make it for them, but only on special occasions because it takes a long time and you've got to make the salsa and roast the tomatoes and do the chicken, and it's just it's a process. And so at home, it became a very special meal, and my boys would request it for their birthday, so it would be their birthday meal. Um, and so that's the meal that I always like to share with people because it's my Mexican heritage, but it's also it's kind of like that comfort food for me, the way in America maybe people think about mac and cheese or meatloaf. For me, it's the enchiladas suices.

SPEAKER_01 38:39

Oh, thank you so much for sharing that. Yes, I love it. I know I feel hungry for it, but thank you, Sabrina, for sharing. Um, and it's been great having you on today. Thank you everyone for listening. Uh, check the show notes. Please don't forget to rate and review this episode. I would love to hear your feedback, I would love to hear your questions. Let us know uh what your biggest takeaway from this episode is, and uh stay connected on LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn, I'm also on drlola-ademo.com uh or to follow my work and to subscribe to my newsletter. Thanks, Sabrina.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

Thank you for being part of today's conversation on thriving in intersectionality. If you're an HR or DEI leader and you need employee resource group or business resource group resources, let's connect and LinkedIn. I help organizations build inclusive cultures through inclusive workplace communities, strategy, and storytelling. Immigrants and first-gen professionals, join our free community at www.immigrantsincorporate.org for career support, networking, and resources in community with peers who understand your journey. Tag our podcast page on LinkedIn or connect with me directly to continue the conversation. Please don't forget to rate and review to help others discover these discussions. Keep thriving in your intersections. Your story matters. I'm Dr. Lola Adeyo, and this has been Thriving in Intersectionality Podcast.