[Music]
i want to talk about
flexibility
like flex
ability
like
not rigid
like
flexibility
i want to talk to everybody about how
important that is in all of our lives
right now especially our work lives but
i want to start with lafon about why
especially in this
new era of work that we're in like why
why is flexibility so important
in work today yeah so i think right now
we're in the you know great resignation
the great realization whatever you want
to call it and flexibility is one of
those top things that everyone needs and
i think it's based on you know who
someone is and and they will have
different needs i think what flexibility
shows us is intersectionality so
normally what i what i what i share are
my layers because that's depending on
what layer shows up that day i may need
something different and that's flexible
too so i am black i am queer i'm a woman
i am of a mature age
uh i have an adult
mature um i have an adult son and so all
of those different layers mean that i
may need something different in the
workplace i may need a flexible schedule
or i may need to take time off
differently i may need to approach my
work differently and i think what we're
seeing right now in the job market in
all industries is that people are are
screaming
this is what we need
it is no longer up to a company or an
industry to set the standards it is a
job seekers market and there are demands
that job seekers have right now one of
those demands is flexibility i need a
flexible schedule or i need to
like retail saw the biggest resignation
numbers ever in april of last year
because
um
there weren't flexible schedules they
might not know if they're going to be
working or when they might not have
consecutive days off people are dealing
with children at home or other
caretaking responsibilities
they may be ill there's all sorts of
reasons why people need flexibility in
the workforce and so right now it's an
exciting time maybe not for companies
and employers but it's an exciting time
for job seekers to be able to say this
is what i need or i will go
someplace else right yeah i think too as
an employer the thing i've been trying
to say to my team is that hey you got to
tell me what you need in order to do
your job well
so if you need every tuesday afternoon
off to like go do yoga and eat tacos
like cool
just tell me was that me that's it that
might have been the email i got now i'm
realizing it was from you no but it's
like but it's like if that's what you
need
tell me and then i will work around that
but i do realize in a company retreat
that we did i'm at home and grad just to
really hear from everyone for us to be
in the same room we learned that you
have to teach
people that are working for you to be
empowered to tell you what they actually
need that's what i learned at the
retreat because i was like if you're
burned out if you're not really feeling
it's more about like are you not saying
to me what you need in order to not be
burned out in order to be productive
because if theirs is things like oh well
i assumed you would this or maybe you
would be upset it's like please don't
don't don't do that to me and i won't do
it to you it's like let's come together
and have a conversation about what we
both need out of this and i think that
is the biggest thing i took out of that
retreat was that we all have to
communicate with each other about what
we need to do our jobs well yes but
in
in fairness to the people that aren't
speaking up i can remember when i was in
my first and second jobs and obviously
this was some time ago but still
relevant
um
it's very scary yeah to go to the person
that's paying your fees your salary
and just say you know something i have a
son
and i have to pick him up from school by
three or um
i need to get that that that that yoga
and those tacos is very it's been
together because everyone goes together
the fear is
that that person is just gonna say well
then you have to go you don't work here
anymore
the little bit of benefits that we were
paying you were no longer paying you the
rent or the mortgage that you thought
was paid is suddenly not paid
so it's very scary so i'm wondering has
anybody dealt with that moment where
they had to actually stand up
to like an employer or a producer or
anything like that and had to kind of
put their foot down
yeah i mean just being on a tv show you
know they have all luck on me so whether
if i had another job to do they can tell
me no you can't go and do that we have
first dibs so i always had to kind of
stand up for myself and tell them like
hey this is something that i really want
to do and yes this is one opportunity
that i'm grateful that i have right now
but i need to do other opportunities as
well so i always speak up i feel like
i'm a very person i'm a person that
communicates well and i feel like if
there's no communication then you don't
have anything but i also feel like with
covet too that it has made things more
flexible in a way i mean of course it's
a terrible thing of what happened but
you know instead of going into meetings
in person you can do it on doom instead
of going into an audition you could do a
self tape so things have worked out for
me in that way and i think there's also
flexibility in productivity because one
thing that i've learned in these last
two years is
what got me to success is not going to
sustain me in success so what got me to
success is this drive this like gangster
nest never let him see you sweat like go
hard in the paint
that's real and i got tired i'm tired
that's not sustainable and it's like
it's very it's you you'll get results
yes um but after you get the results
then you have to like reevaluate like is
this is this good for my long term is
this good for my short term is this good
for my now like am i sleeping am i happy
you know like i got the i got the
results but like is is that it is that
all interesting change though too is
like when you're trying to get in and
you're saying yes yes whatever i got to
do and then you get in and then you
create this life for yourself and then
it's about oh now i gotta start saying
no yeah and that is the hardest thing
because you're so trained to be like nah
these are opportunities talking about
that i need to take advantage of them
but then once you're in a space then
it's about okay how can i give somebody
else an opportunity like that's wrong
where you go like you know what i don't
need that like i'm over here let me
spread it and i think sometimes that
people do get caught up in the i don't
want to say no to opportunities still
because i don't know when this is going
to be done but lack mentality even in
even in abundance because you can have a
lack mentality when you are like
overflowing but to be able to say like
yo fam like
there is actually power in ana
or not right now or you know what like
what is this for or or just
i'm getting i'm literally my blood
pressure is going up
no but in all seriousness i think so
often as black people as black women as
by poc
anybody in a marginalized community i'm
i'm see i'm speaking up for that side of
it right now i really feel like
even me
so many times i get an opportunity and i
just feel like i should just say yes
um how can i squeeze it in um
it's this amount of money or it's that
amount of money or it's this kind of
exposure it's that kind of exposure but
i should just say yes because the evil
eye is going to look upon me
if i if i if i if i say no it's because
it's industry sorry
this industry makes us feel that we are
replaceable
at any moment you can go and especially
when there's not many of you to begin
with that's
getting to be in this pool
it's like well we can just
yvonne will do it and it and it's like
but and i want her to win too but like i
need this because now i'm a mom and i
have a mortgage and i have all these
things i have a family to take care of
that you feel this pressure yeah so i've
been doing a lot of nervous system work
and so it's like wait say that again
i've been doing a lot of nervous system
work and like your body doesn't lie so
it's like your mind can say i want i
want to do this but then your body
immediately is like i'm already tired
like i'm tired right now as the
opportunities come in so like really i
should say no or one thing i always ask
myself is like you'll do this but the
day before this needs to come will you
be mad because look at your schedule
already and it's like you know what i
know i'm gonna be mad i know i'm gonna
be mad and yeah
it is the scarcity thing of like well if
i don't do this and i don't like it'll
skyrocket it's like you will meet these
people again the opportunity will come
it'll be probably better and so it's
like you're the magic
you like you were saying like it's a
it's a market for people who are looking
for jobs you're the magic so the
opportunity will come it may take longer
but you'll get the thing that you want
it's like a relationship i look at
everything like dating it's like you
know what i may be a little single for a
little bit longer but when i get the
thing that i want like it's gonna pop
i feel like i've experienced that with
being a mom and when i was pregnant
i had this opportunity to do this action
movie and i was super excited about it
but that got ripped under me because i
was pregnant and i couldn't travel
internationally
and it was heartbreaking because here i
am this plus-sized woman i finally get
to kick some ass and some action
pregnant but i'll do it yeah
and then and they said no the
opportunity they were not flexible
nobody was flexible
and you're nervous about will an
opportunity like this come again back
around and it does yes
you and it can come back better okay i
love to make people repeat things that
you say and it what and it does
and it comes back better
and you feel peace with it because a lot
of times we do stuff and we don't have
the peace we have frantic anxiety
associated with it
that's all money and good money come on
now but when you don't have money you
need some money
you're saying but then when you when
you're in a place where even if you're
just a little comfortable all money
ain't good money because like it there's
a cost to everything and you have to
count the cost that's that's exactly it
you start to weigh the opportunity and
the personal cost
to you whether it's the opportunity the
opportunity and the personal cost to you
so is this going to work with my
schedule is this going to work with my
family is this going to take away a
different opportunity that maybe i want
down the road
right it you have to weigh those with
every opportunity that comes your way
and yes if you're hungry you're going to
you're going to go for what you need to
go
i will work for gas money that's right
gas prices well the way the gas is
especially speaking in terms of our
industry we're i believe uh uh in a
transitional space in terms of our
generation that the ones that came
before us
did not have the luxury of saying no to
stuff and so i think a lot of people i
worked for are very blessed to work for
people like avery duvernay gina prince
bythwa mara brockakeel those that was my
trifecta like being all of their
assistants at some point in my early
career and seeing wait a second pardon
me yeah yeah i was jeanna prince bye to
his assistant on the secret life of bees
i was able to do benay's assistant or i
will follow her first narrative film
when i was married rocket kill's
assistant on the game when it went to
bet i was a writer's assistant on that
show is my mouth open mm-hmm
all three of them taking advantage of
opportunities taking advantage
opportunities and
and the thing is is that their their
life and their career looked very
different to how when i came in and even
where i'm at now they're sort of like
okay you sort of picked up on those
things but now i think in our generation
we're sort of like hold up i can't do
everything you know we had to say that
and understand and still be in dialogue
with gina still being in dialogue with
mars still being a dialogue with ava and
how they're saying
yeah that is okay y'all have a space to
do it at this point they were like in
the 90s it was like you better take it
cause it ain't gonna they felt like it
wasn't gonna come around you know what
i'm saying so i think now and so
hopefully as we look at the net you know
even like you know quinta is like not
that much younger to me but she's of a
difference she sort of came a little bit
after and so i see her she's gonna do it
differently than i did and so i think
that's also to me super interesting to
watch is like how every generation has
to define what flexibility and what
opportunity means for them yeah yeah
yeah i just never try to force editing i
feel like i believe in divine timing and
like whatever is meant for you is going
to be for you and nobody can take that
away so if you get presented the
opportunity and it doesn't work out
that's okay there's something bigger and
possibly better for you absolutely and
character i think plays a big part of
that if you know you have a good
character that's coupled with your
talent
people will be breaking down your door
to want to work with you because
sometimes it's not about if you're the
the best candidate it's just i want to
work with you because i see a spark or
like you're teachable or you understand
how to collaborate that's
those are soft skills that you can't
teach everybody exactly because what i
think sometimes is those kind of people
who are doing the hiring they're looking
for flexibility also in the people that
they're bringing on
that they're bringing on board
i could talk with you all about
flexibility
yeah
truly
but we got so much stuff taco and yoga
[Laughter]
so thank you again and please visit
indeed.com
rising voices to learn more about this
whole initiative thank you
thank you thank you
[Music]
you