The Changing Faces of Creativity: New York Q&A Part 2
Hollie Alexander— mixed race, female immigrant
When asked about how she brings her identity to work…
I’ve never been called Black until I moved here. It was odd because it was news to me and then somebody explained the “one drop” rule to me and I’m like OK, history – I get it. It was like a weird mix of empowerment because I’ve never been felt to identify as that—one race, but also it’s quite a difficult one for me because I’m denying half of my existence and my culture and my identity that I’m very proud of. Like everything that is my Dad onwards is not being recognized in my being. So, I will correct people and say, “I am mixed race.”
When asked what do you wish people knew…
We are at a point now where we can all be honest. Identity is a hot topic and not just in terms of race or ethnicity, but sexuality and gender too. So let’s just have those conversations. The worst thing that I can do is say, I’m not comfortable having it so I’m not going to answer. It doesn’t mean you can’t ask.
Charinee Chairasmisak— Born in Hong Kong, raised in Thailand, grew up in China
When asked when she feels most supported in the workplace….
I just enjoy working with all of my coworkers because they’re curious about my background. They’re listening and they’re asking questions. I just became a mom and am self conscious about only posting about my baby online, but the people I work with don’t mind hearing about that [baby]. So I think I just feel really comfortable about how curious my co-workers are about me.”
When asked what it means to be an anomaly...
A sense of belonging, but still being yourself. I think you can just be proud of who you are, but also being mindful and open about the people around you because diversity isn’t about just making sure we have representatives from every race and color. It’s not just to show up. It’s about being curious about each other. I think that’s the one thing about being able to speak many languages; it helps you think very differently because languages form your thinking so the way you express something might mean something else for someone else. Anomaly lets you be yourself.
Daniela Ramirez— Mexican American, Guadalajara born, Texas raised
When asked about her identity….
When I tell people that I was born and raised in Mexico they are always surprised. It became an identity crisis the older I got because I was born and raised in Mexico with years that I don’t remember, then I grew up in Texas, went to a public school system there and then I started to become more aware [of my identity]. I wanted to learn more about it [my Mexican side] so I started to ask more questions to my Mom and she said, “You’re both…don’t worry about it!” But, I was just like well, what do I tell my friends I am because they don’t really know any different?!
When asked about how her experiences have shaped her in the workforce….
Being in New York the mentality is very fast paced. It is very hustle-bustle, go, go, go, especially when you work at an advertising agency in client services, it tends to be output oriented. So I think working at Anomaly has been special because I feel like it’s very much an inclusive environment where all voices are heard. Just stepping aside from that, I try to be more intentional about my approach in terms of understanding where people are coming from because I feel like people are always coming from a place, it’s just about trying to figure out where.
Alex Sampson— Black, Chicagoan, Proud HBCU alumnus
When asked about the importance of community for him as a person of color…
Community has always been very very important for me. Being from Chicago, having parents from the South, I’ve always known that community is your first line of defense, your first support team. I think that extends when you go to school. I went to an HBCU and I think that community is one of the strongest I’ve ever seen. Even as an adult now, I hang out with those same people from college. I just think having a group of like-minded individuals that have your back and you have theirs and you can bounce things off of and learn and grow with is really important for personal development and success in your career.
When asked how people of color can create community inside the workplace..
It’s about outreach, when you see a new person of color here, extending an invitation and making the effort to welcome them in. Being new to a job is tough. Being new to a job and being Black is extra tough. So it’s really important that we foster a community of inclusion and outreach so that we can just be stronger and make sure that people feel welcomed and appreciated.
When asked to describe what true inclusion is…
I think inclusion is an invitation to the table but also, continuing to fortify and educate throughout their career. So you don’t just bring them in to be here and say we have now included you; you have to make an effort to show them why they’re here and why you chose them to be. Make them feel welcome and help them progress.
Bona Park – Korean American, immigrant, rescue dog mom
When asked what role she plays in creating community…
It’s so interesting because I have never really explicitly thought about that until I got to Anomaly. But, I’ve just kind of realized how important it is to understand all the hardship that I had gone through and what it took to get here. I realized that I have achieved a lot so how can I actually help spread that to other people who look like me and who might have some doubt, by sharing my story. My culture is about keeping things in and keeping things to yourself to save face so it’s a lot about being transparent and being like, yeah, it’s hard, but we can help each other out!
When asked what true inclusion looks like….
It’s making sure that everyone feels comfortable in a room and that no matter what your background or all those type of things, you should feel like you have a right to be in that room. I personally had a lot of issues with that in feeling like I don't deserve to be in this room because I don’t look like certain people or I don’t feel like I have the right credentials because my background is different.
Corey Phifer— 55% Black boy, 45% Joy - 23andMe
When asked how important community in the workplace is…
Having a community is imperative, because we’ve all had to navigate to get where we are differently and if you don’t have that support, especially from people with similar experiences, it’ll impact the way you work.
When asked what true inclusion looks like…
It’s prioritizing different backgrounds and ethnicities and people coming from different spaces and having these platforms to where those people can be raised up. For example, because we are limited in how creatives pull imagery and how they’re included in decks and things like that, to have TONL come out and build out a library where creative people can go to pull images of people of color is a great example of how Anomaly prioritizes needs. I think that’s big for inclusion. Read more stories in Part 1 and Part 3 of "The Changing Faces of Creativity" Narrative and Photo Series! Be sure to shop the entire collection below!