🗣 Dry January meets the HR Mood Board

🎉 Yo! We are back at the weekly office party, where everyday feels like #casualFridays. Dropping mics and sounding off.

WHEW! How are y’all doing?! I’ve missed blessing your inbox with necessary banter.

I took some much needed time away to not only travel back home (HOUSTON!) for the holidays, but plan out what this quarter would look like for ‘Yo. You’re on Mute.’ I literally stepped away from the laptop to soak up the everyday things I enjoy doing. Those tend to spark the most creativity and inspiration. The key is to not force it, just flow with it.

Here is where I landed during that time. This space is going to continue amplifying creative paths into the everyday career conversations. BTW, this was my 2024 wish on the I Hate it Here podcast that dropped earlier this month.

This month continues to be about reflection at the intersection of career + creative. Don’t we all want to add a bit of joy into our work? When you unlock some creativity into your work, you activate your authenticity. Then my friends, you are in THE FLOW.

⛽️ Fueling creativity + community + connections ⛽️

🗣 Special Sound Off: While I love a cold glass of Prosecco and dabbling in my new hobby of making charcuterie boards, I started the year off doing the Daniel Fast. It’s provided mental and spiritual clarity through exercising some real discipline. I’m a foodie at heart + I love caffeine so this is hard, y’all. Pray for me. Literally.

If this email was forwarded to you, tap in and join the cool collective.

“How do you want to show up?”

This recurring theme of doing better work has always come up, but what does that actually mean? I’m a visual learner, therefore I have to grab a notebook + a pen and write that sh*t down. I compelled to mind map the system that gets implemented for better outcomes.

But my brain is always on. ALWAYS. It’s the ‘excessive tabs open on your computer’ (but in your brain) syndrome. While the ideas are free flowing, the noise is LOUD. Thank God for meditation.

As I sat down and thought about this in work and other areas of my life, I came to a realization that really hadn’t altered much over the years. I want to show up authentically. I want to show up as my full creative self that serves her community and has a foundation of gratitude along the way. Sounds amazing AF, right?

Here’s the thing. Getting there is NOT easy. I truly believe most of us want to show up whole in the workplace, but that could look different each day. We want to belong to communities where we can be ourselves. No code-switching, masking, settling, ALL of that. Spaces haven’t always felt designed for us to show up as ourselves. These spaces weren’t traditionally for the underrepresented groups to thrive.

But baby. It’s a new day and time. The audacity of hope teaches me that things are shifting. These times will naturally create that better work we speak of.

💡Joining a startup and losing my mind really opened the floodgates to incremental ways that I could make big waves.

I know at the beginning of the year people enjoy creating vision boards, which give you some element of life direction. Personally, I love a good living mood board that uses goals, aspirations, and all the feels out there to create a vibe. I use them to depict a personal narrative through aesthetics.

But what would I want on my HR/People Operations mood board? Think vibrant colors, contemporary art splashes, and the following essentials we need for 2024.

🎨 Creative Freedom.

If I had to sum it up in one sentence, Creative Freedom is liberating. It helps get you back to activating your authenticity, and it’s the cornerstone to innovation. A creative person doesn’t mean that you have to be the best musician or artist. Creativity is something everyone has and it shows up in different ways.

I truly believe as we navigate through a workplace shift, being more creative with how we solution will put some joy back in our (and other team members of all levels) efforts.

📓 Social Learning.

I don’t believe social learning is a new concept at all, but it’s gaining more traction. The digital era has minimized our attention span while maximizing our consumption levels. Do you ever cringe at the iPhone notifications that tell you what your screen time looks like? UGH.

Social learning in the workplace has the power to improve relationships, drive engagement, and learn in new ways that could be more digestible and less distracting to our flow. The first step is creating a culture of ongoing learning and knowledge sharing. Traditionally, we love to work in silos, don’t we? 😭

🤝 Community Impact.

This is a MUST on the mood board. Community is about connections and I like to believe we all aspire to have fulfilling connections in our lives. As my good sister Rihanna once told us, impact doesn’t have to be huge to start. You can drive impact within your house, your work, or even volunteer efforts. Community impact creates ripple effects and a grounding sense of gratitude.

What is your vision for WHY the work you do is so important? For me, I want to serve my community because it has been wildly underrepresented. I want to specifically empower other BIPOC people to find their creative flow and know their contributions matter.

🏆 The X-Factor: Success

We need to re-engineer how we view success. Now, it will look different depending on how you ask, but that’s exactly why we can’t always go by the vanity metrics society may shove down our throats. Those societal norms have been built on systems that no longer serve us.

What does YOUR success look like? Even if your answer is simply ‘waking up in the morning’ that’s a beautiful measurement because it’s just for you.

How can I help amplify your success or support your work? Reply to this newsletter and let me know.

✋🏽 “If the only person who benefits from your success is you, you’re doing it wrong.”

I used to think there was no HR for HR, and I was definitely wrong.

Sometimes we have to seek out the community and network. If you just screamed at the fact of networking, check out my post on how to network smarter, not harder. Here are two things that have helped me find HR communities.

1️⃣ HR folks! - Join the Safe Space. I guarantee you will find a real HR community that helps each other while also having some fun in the midst of it all. Joining felt like finding a love letter to HR/People Operations. I was sold!

2️⃣ Get active on Linkedin - I was definitely hesitant to get active on Linkedin. It always felt stuffy. To my surprise, I met some amazing people who are not only creative, they f*cking care.

🎙 time to sound off.

My mood board always goes back to my roots in the South side of Houston, Texas. It represents a passion to support the next generation through mentoring experiences. The culture is part of my flow. From our shiny gold cars to our shiny gold teeth. Sometimes your creativity comes from those same roots.

As you move into the new year with that ‘Never not working’ mentality, take a moment and pause. In that moment, think about how you can uncover more of your creativity and what brings you joy. Write it down and share that sh*t.

Let’s let 2024 be the year where our creativity takes over our chaos.

⚡️QUICKSTRIKE HR SOUND BITES

The HR/People Operations landscape is evolving. As the HR World Turns 🌎 could be its own show. Check out some of the happenings below.

• I’m currently reading “How to Keep Your Company Culture From Going to Sh*t” by Charisse Fontes. Check it out!

• I’ve been using PYN employee journey maps to be more thoughtful regarding the [sparks] that we need to recognize + celebrate our team members.

• On Linkedin, Julie Turney reminded us of 10 lessons she learned from burning out in her HR career. These hit home.

👟 SNEAKER INDUSTRY SOUND BITES

Some HR people may like pilates and shopping trips to Ulta. You could say my thing is sneakers + streetwear. If you enjoy sneaker culture - this section is for you.

• BIG NEWS for CNK Daily!! We are embarking on a new experiential retail experience in Texas. A new brick and mortar will be a safe space for HER, a welcomed space for him, and a community space for all.

• Big Salute to Houston’s own Tobe Nwigwe who just inked an upcoming Reebok partnership! 🎉

🗣 COMMUNITY SOUND BITES

Supporting the small biz/brand owner is important to me. Each newsletter, I’ll introduce you to some talented people in my network and beyond.

• The non-profit, Colorwave, is building an ecosystem of amazing talent. These underrepresented professionals are connected to purposeful paths that further their careers within venture-backed businesses.

🎧 A SONG I DIDN’T SKIP ON MY PLAYLIST TODAY

If you need to catch a vibe, but also let people know you’re a badass - this ones for you.

“Can’t f*ck with me when I’m in my element…..” Enough said. 😆

Remember: If you are a Corporate Creative, Entrepreneur, or slanging knowledge through the startup space - I am rooting for you. 👏🏽. Your work [and rest] is important.

Before the break, I set my wellbeing newsletter on the shelf. Plot twist - it was for my own wellbeing. Your girl needed some radical rest. We’re picking that topic up next week. 😉