Empowering HBCU Students: Keri Clarke-Pearson’s Mission to Create Opportunities

Welcome back to another inspiring episode of "The Beauty in You." Today, we have a special treat, an empowering guest who shares her journey of self-discovery and career fulfillment. In this episode, you'll hear the fascinating story of Keri Clarke-Pearson, who transitioned from a career in accounting to becoming a diversity HBCU recruiter at PNC. She turned her dissatisfaction into a mission to support HBCU students in finding their own career success.

We'll dive deep into the importance of pursuing your passion, the value of mentorship, and the challenges faced by African Americans in the workplace. Plus, we'll tackle the stigmas around asking for help and the critical role of building a strong, supportive network. Keri and Chi Quita will also discuss the significance of self-care, the beauty of healing, and how prioritizing happiness can lead to a fulfilling life.

Don't miss this episode filled with wisdom, encouragement, and actionable advice for anyone looking to transform their career and personal life. Stay tuned, and if you love what you hear, don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to "The Beauty in You" podcast!

To work with Keri:

www.achievewithpurposecoach.com

WWW.ACHIEVEWITHPURPOSE.NET (FREE E-BOOK ON HBCU networking)

To work with Chi Quita Mack:
Take Back Your Life 1-on-1 Coaching — Life Coach - The ChiQuita Mack
To Purchase The Beauty in You Workbook:
https://www.thechiquitamack.com/shop-tcm/p/the-beauty-in-you-a-guide-created-to-help-you-discover-the-best-version-of-you
Chi Quita Mack's Website: https://www.thechiquitamack.com
Chi Quita Mack Shop/ Merchandise: https://www.thechiquitamack.com/shop-tcm
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechiquitamack

Transcript

Jacqueline G. [00:00:01]:
Welcome to the Beauty in you podcast, a safe place created for all women to come relax, get inspired, and be constantly reminded that they have not lost the ability to be who they once were. Join us as we dive into the true meaning of rediscovery through inspiring guests and topics such as healing, self love, and creating a positive mindset. So sit back, relax, and get comfortable as we dive into this week's episode. Here's your host, Chiquita Mack.

Chi Quita Mack [00:00:30]:
Hey, y'all. Welcome back to another episode of the Beauty in you podcast. I'm so excited. Today we're in my home state, Georgia. Yay. Our guest today is a seasoned career consult and recruiter with over 15 years of experience. Y'all, that's major. Let's just be clear on that.

Chi Quita Mack [00:00:51]:
She has held key leadership roles at top Fortune 500 companies like Humana and PNC, where she's made a significant impact by unlocking human potential and guiding individuals toward academic and professional success. Currently based in Georgia, she is passionate about advocating for our HBCUs and is dedicated to helping others define their career aspirations, navigate life, and transition into the workforce. Welcome to the beauty in you podcast, Kerry Clark Pearson. How are you?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:01:27]:
Hello. Hello. I am so happy to be here moving and grooving.

Chi Quita Mack [00:01:31]:
I am so happy to have you. I cannot wait to dive into all the great things that you do, especially supporting hbCus. HBCU grad right here. Represent. But you already know, before we get into all of that, I want to know the woman behind it all, the woman behind the mission. And I want you to take us on your rediscovery journey.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:01:55]:
Absolutely. So, you know, when you're younger, you kind of have an idea of what you want, or you hear the term success. Is this the, the white picket fence, you know, living in a certain community. But for me, I wanted to take a step back and think of how can I help others? What is that key component? So when I went to an HBCU, I went to Hampton University, my home by the sea. Yeah. Always loved going back there. But when I was there, I learned so many things. I met so many people, and so are so many wonderful experiences.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:02:27]:
And then when I got into the work world and became a recruiter and started helping other people find their passions and their jobs and their opportunities, I realized that there were certain disconnects. There were unwritten rules, things that, you know, if you knew, you knew, but if you didn't know, you didn't know. And a lot of folks that had so much potential weren't getting those opportunities and I realized that I really wanted to help others. I wanted to make sure that the opportunities that I had and that other people have that we can make those bigger and better and get folks prepared when they take that next step in. And it made me stop and say, okay, what do I want to do? How can I help empower these folks?

Chi Quita Mack [00:03:11]:
That's awesome. Helping others, I think, is so big, and you have to have such a big heart when doing that. Is helping others something you've always found doing even in your younger, like, back in the day, days, like, growing up. I know for me, like, I've always been, like, since elementary, like, I feel like I've always had a group of people that came to me with something. I'm like, I've always been doing this. It's kind of natural for me to help others. Is that something that you can relate to?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:03:38]:
Absolutely. It's the first thing. I'm always looking at the person, well, how can I help you? Or what are those next pieces? Because at the end of the day, if we do it together, we're so much stronger, and we can take that next step in. I can even remember before I started college, being in high school and being on the fencing team and starting to kind of take those next steps and not really knowing what I was doing. So I felt like I needed help. Can somebody guide me and show me the way I'm supposed to stand, the way I supposed to move? And then afterwards, I said, I want to help other people do that. And it just started to become natural with everything that I worked on when I went to college, I became a student leader because I wanted to help the freshmen that were coming in to guide them for those next steps. Then even in work world now, just making sure that when you see someone that's lost or if you can just nudge them in the right direction, then they got it.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:04:27]:
And that joy, that spark that I see that comes in their eyes is what makes it all worth it for me, right? That they got it. That aha moment. Yes. Now I can do it, too, because really, it's all about a mindset. If you can get folks to feel comfortable and just stop overthinking everything, what is it that you want? What is it that you need? How do we make that happen? Things can be done so great.

Chi Quita Mack [00:04:52]:
Yes, absolutely. Leadership. Leader. You're definitely a natural born leader, and not all people have that confidence. That confidence piece plays a huge role into leadership as well. I love that you help others and that it comes natural to you. It's like you're living in your passion, you're living in your role, you're living in your purpose. But I gotta ask you, what do you do for you? How do you take care of you?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:05:23]:
That is a great question because a lot of people that enjoy helping or working with others don't do for themselves. And that's why they burn out so quick and so easy. And I've actually been guilty of this a lot of my life, just focusing on everyone else. But what do they say? That when you're in an airplane that when the oxygen falls, you have to put it on yourself first in order to help others. Yeah. So I'm trying to apply that into my world now. So I love to paint. I love to create designs and, like, children's furniture.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:05:50]:
So, and I actually started by doing it because there were like, you know, those little stools that you can get that have your name on it, that say. And you're like, oh, my God, that's my name. You get super pumped. My niece was saying that she wanted one. Her name is Danae. And so it's not a normal spelling that you see on those standard kind of plates. And so there was nothing that identified with her, and she was upset about that. And so one day I just went home and said, you know what? I'm going to create a stool that looks like you.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:06:19]:
So I made like a little black tinkerbell and put her name on it and sealed it. And so she still has it. She's in her twenties now. She probably, it's in the closet at this point. But it was a great, it felt so good for me. And then I just started painting after that. And it was just different things that would be able to let out my own expression of thought. But at the same time doing and moving and tinkering around a lot.

Chi Quita Mack [00:06:43]:
Yes. See, I love it. I'm so happy that you are taking care of yourself because you do it. Like I said, you do a lot for everyone else. So it's so important that we find ways to be intentional for ourselves. It's important to give back. It's important to help others. And being a leader just comes natural for me, too.

Chi Quita Mack [00:07:00]:
Confidence, not so much at first, but the leadership part, I always knew. I'm like telling people what to do, but I had to also learn how to be intentional about putting myself first and being intentional about fueling my tank before I can fuel other people's tank. And I found that has been very, very necessary. Although you help others and you're really big on that. And then you see the spark in people's eyes when they do get it. What advice would you give someone who is afraid, who's on the other side of that, who's just even afraid to ask for help even though they know they need it?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:07:40]:
Yeah. I think sometimes the reason why people are afraid to ask is because they're. It's of how they'll be perceived. Right. They're concerned that I'm gonna look dumb. People aren't gonna wanna trust me or you know what? Everyone thinks I have this perfect picture going on right now. If I say anything or do anything, it will shatter that image. But it's taking that step back out to understand how to kind of connect with them, creating an open space to say, you know, this is something that we can work on together, but you will have folks that don't want to come to you.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:08:14]:
And I would say for those that are really stuck and focused in on, I can't ask for help, think of other ways you can incorporate people in. Right. So it may not necessarily be helping. It may be partnering, it may be collaborating. It might be, you know, hearing different perspectives. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to change your point of view at that point or change everything, but it opens you up to different ideas and different thoughts, which actually can trigger other pieces. Right. So I'll give you an example.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:08:46]:
I was asked to do this challenge, and I said, okay, you can do this. You'll be able to knock it out, and you have to do it within a week. Okay, that sounds great, but I need help. There's no way I'm be able to do this in a week. But maybe I don't want to ask for that help. But now I'm taking notes. I know everything that has to get done. I know when it has to get done.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:09:05]:
And now I can formulate, okay, this person asked this question that could be helpful or this, and that might trigger the next piece. And I feel like sometimes if you can have an educated question or know exactly what to ask, it doesn't feel as hard to get the help that you need.

Chi Quita Mack [00:09:23]:
Yes, absolutely. And I do find within our community, I'll say the african american community, it is harder to ask for help because I feel like there is a stigma there to where we have to do it on our own, and we have to wear this strong Persona all the time, like, we have all the answers. And so it is a little bit harder for those within our community to reach out and ask for help, even though we know we need the help or would really benefit from a collab or partnering with someone else, but it's just that stigma of what if people think that I don't know what I'm talking about or that I'm not going to be able to do this. Like, I can't show that side of me. I have to be dominant all the time. Have you found that to be the case in some of your situations of helping others?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:10:15]:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Some folks just, you're only ready when you're ready to be helped. Right. There has to be a moment where you say, I'm going to take a chance, I'm going to connect, but it's finding the right people. Right. If you're in, you can know someone for years and years and never truly open up and get that perspective, and somebody else can come in in two days, you're already there. It's the connection, right? It's the rapport.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:10:43]:
It's that safe space that you feel. So you have to find those people first. When you can find that, then I've noticed it becomes a little bit easier because you're not worried about how you're perceived in a situation. And a lot of times the moment that you do it, it's like a weight gets lifted. Like, oh, man, if I hadn't done this like five years ago, I would have been great. But, you know, it takes time to get us there.

Chi Quita Mack [00:11:10]:
It does take time. And that community, I think it's so important to build that community of those that you do trust, even if it's just one person, like you said, to have there to just bounce it off, but like, to really build that community in that family that kind of understand where you're going. Or even if they don't necessarily understand, they're just there to listen to you without any judgment. Like, I just got to get this out because this is, this is really happening. So I think there is beauty in community and ensuring that your community matches and aligns with your values and even your purpose.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:11:43]:
Absolutely. Networking is the key to everything. It truly is the source, right? In my opinion, because money will come and go situate. But if you have a strong support system or even just a network of folks that you make sure that you stay in good grace with, the sky's the limit at that point. Right. But that actually takes me to another thing. Making sure that you're making the right impact and you're using your network the right way, because a lot of times folks will get that great network and they'll be like, man, I have 50 people. They're going to help me.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:12:17]:
Okay, so maybe they help you do something that could be beneficial now, right? You did it very quickly. But then ten years from now, let me back up. Sorry. I'm going to start that one over. When we think about networking, we think about how we're building our relationships with folks. So if you have somebody in a strong network and you're using them for every little thing, when it gets to the big times, when you really need them, you don't have them. So you have to think about Stephen Covey had coming out with an emotional bank account and making sure that you're putting in your deposits and making sure that you have your withdrawals when needed. When we think about networking, we have to be the ones to be there.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:12:59]:
We have to not only just say, can you help me, help me, help me, help me, help me. But what can I give? What can I do? Oh, well, how do I help you here? You just spent like 3 hours with me on this. Let me help you with X, Y and Z. See how you can add value into somebody else's life. A lot of times, unfortunately, you hear gimme, gimme, gimme. And then people don't want to help you again because you just said, gimme, gimme, gimme. And because maybe you're young, you don't realize it. You don't know.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:13:27]:
You don't even know what happened. But if you can build your relationships and build that network where it's actually helping each other out, now you're there for that next step.

Chi Quita Mack [00:13:38]:
Absolutely. There's power, y'all. Listen, there's networking thing. It's amazing. I didn't even realize how good. I call it mostly relationship like, just networking, but relationships. But I didn't realize how good I was at this until my last boss actually pointed it out to me. I worked as her exec.

Chi Quita Mack [00:13:58]:
And so when you work for a two star general, you know, they're like, I need this, okay. You know, really quick. And I just started to build that, like, hi, it's me, Major Mac.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:14:09]:
Hey.

Chi Quita Mack [00:14:10]:
So, you know, can you do this for me?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:14:12]:
Me?

Chi Quita Mack [00:14:12]:
Oh, I need a photo in less than ten minutes. Hi, guys, it's me again. I know y'all don't do this, but I need a favor, you know? And then I realized, like, oh, my God, I am really good at this. And that's one thing. She's like, you know, I'm gonna miss you when you go. Because you were really good at connections. You were really good at building those relationships with people. And I'm like, I was just being nice, you know? And I would always say, you know, if y'all need anything, let me know.

Chi Quita Mack [00:14:35]:
I got you. You know, thank you for looking out if you need me, I got you. And there has been times where they're like, you remember when you said, you got me? I'm like, all right, what you got? You know, and I'm there to help them, but there is value in this building that relationship. And then, yeah, it's not always what you can get get, but it's also what you can give, give to continue that relationship. And some of these people, like, I've had them, I say in my back pocket for years from one assignment because I've been able to build that relationship and kind of keep that rapport with them. So it is definitely important y'all better build those relationships and keep them stay connected.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:15:10]:
A network will take you any and everywhere that you need to go. I'll, you know, I'll give you an example. When I first started off in college, I wanted to do hr. I wanted to go into recruiting. You know, like, you know what? You should be an accountant. You're good at accounting. If you're in accounting, you will always have a job, period. You're good.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:15:30]:
Yeah, it's great. But I like to talk to people. Yeah, I know you can do that on your free time. You will always have a job if you're in accounting. So I'm like, you know what makes sense? Went into accounting. Never forget my first week. I was like, oh, my God, am I not talking to anybody all day? Like, this is just not going to work out. Like, oh, my goodness.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:15:48]:
I was the first one to get my stuff done, and then I'm twiddling my thumbs, like, can I plan lunch for everyone? Can I make sure that we go out here? So then they started doing recruiting. I said, let me join in recruiting. How can I help? I got some free time. I just want to talk to somebody. Let's get into this. And so we were going back to different schools. I'm like, okay, when do we go to the hbCus? Like, oh, they're not really on our course, our list. Okay, well, why not? Well, we just really haven't had that much talent come from there, so we just, you know, have focused.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:16:19]:
And I had to pause when they said it to me because I went to an HBCU. My last experience was university of Maryland, so that's what they saw, but they weren't. So I was like, you know, I went to an HBCU, right? Like, oh, well, maybe if we go to your HBCU, maybe that might work. So that was concerning. And I realized, okay, well, let me look into what companies actually do recruit hbcus. Maybe this might be an interest. I could not find a single one. Now, I'm probably dating myself in age with that a little bit, you know, because we're talking about when it was just the d, not the d, right? Exactly.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:16:58]:
But I just said, this doesn't make sense. So I went back and I actually quit work. I said, I'm just going to figure something else out. I want to do my passion, and I black MBA. And I actually had someone come up and say, hey, are you interested in working here at this bank? This would be a great opportunity. So, you know, actually, it's great. Bank would love it. And I was that confident.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:17:21]:
Like that point, I just, I knew what I wanted and I was focused. So I said, you know, I want to do recruiting, but I want to recruit HBCU students. I know it's a different process. I graduated from one. I know how to do it, but I don't see that opportunity here. So if you ever have one, I would love to connect with you in the future, but if not, you know, it was so wonderful talking with you. And she was kind of taken aback at that point because this is like 20 some odd year old looking like. And so she says, you know, that's actually interesting.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:17:49]:
It's something that folks have been starting to talk about. Why don't you give me a call on Monday? So I called her on Monday, and we ironed out the details. And it was my first job at PDD was actually doing diversity, HBCU recruiting, which wasn't a thing at that point. And so I'm like, all right, but now I got to put my money where my mouth is. Yeah, I got to deliver, actually doing what I'm saying. So when I say, I went to my network, baby, I went to my network. I went to every single Hamptonian that was working at PNC. This is what I'm doing.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:18:22]:
I have officially started, help me. Help us, right? This is not about me. How do we get the person that was just like you in school to come here next year, right? Then it became not just Hampton. Now we're looking at Howard because I was actually in the DC area. So let's make that make sense. Now we're going out to more. So it started to become this thing where now I have all these HBCU alum who are working great positions, who want to give back. I'm not asking them for money.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:18:48]:
I just want their time. Give, like, a little bit of time back to these kids. And that was my aha. Momentous. I was like, this is what I will do in one form or another is help us be successful, period, in whatever fashion that becomes as it goes on. But again, it started with that network, because if I had had the same exact opportunity, the same exact passion, but my network didn't come back to help support and make it happen, that wouldn't have happened. Right. It has to be a group, a connection, a team.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:19:21]:
And that's what made me see the value and the importance of empowering this next generation to continue that next step up.

Chi Quita Mack [00:19:28]:
Yes, yes. I love it.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:19:31]:
I love it.

Chi Quita Mack [00:19:31]:
Because you found a need and you just say, okay, this is not fair, but okay, we won't go to the HBCus. That's something that y'all don't do. You're like, okay, wait, why? I'm going to challenge you on this. Like, this doesn't make sense to me. And it didn't work for you, and you found another way to come back to do what you love to do. And that takes strength and that takes courage. And so you're doing exactly what you're meant to be doing. You're living in that.

Chi Quita Mack [00:19:58]:
And I want to congratulate you for that because that story alone is going to inspire so many people. How many times do you talk to someone and they're doing their nine to five or whatever they're doing because somebody told them to do it, because someone told them, this is what you should be doing, because this really works for you and you're going to make a lot of money and they hate it. And every day they're going through a circle and they're not being human, they're being a robot. And it takes courage to be like, this does not work for me. I'm going to do what I love to do and make it work for me. Oh, and I'm going to do what I told you I said I was going to do. So watch me work.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:20:36]:
Exactly. And then take that next step in, right? Yes. And I appreciate that because that's why I created. Achieve with purpose is to help these students do the exact same thing. Let's stop talking about how much something makes. You can be a millionaire and beef, so you could be a billionaire, you could be a trillionaire and hate every solitary day, everything. What is your definition of success? What makes you happy? What makes you giddy, joking and excited? And just like, this was the best day ever, how do we now find that as a job? How do we now make that your career? If you're spending over 80 hours, you know, or 40, 50, 60, 80 hours a week shouldn't be something that you love. It shouldn't be your passion.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:21:21]:
Why not make it that way? Because we're not taught that way. We're taught to do your job, get some money, and then you can be happy.

Chi Quita Mack [00:21:31]:
Yep.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:21:32]:
I had, my first manager ever had made a comment that actually was my final moment to quit, was when he said, so I see that you're in accounting, and that's great and you're doing good at it, but you're so happy when you do recruiting. You're so happy when you're on, you know, the HR side with folks. Why aren't you focusing there? I said, oh, well, because this is going to make me money. But, you know, and, like, when I retire at that point, probably then I can switch over and I'll do what I love. He's like, so you're going to wait 20, 30, 40 years to be happy? And he didn't. He's like, no, no, don't answer me because I don't want an answer. I just, I don't understand. And he walked out of the room, and because I couldn't argue my point back, I was like, uh, yeah, he's kind of right.

Chi Quita Mack [00:22:20]:
Dang. Let me think about this for a second. Right.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:22:23]:
It makes up when someone can argue back with you. They're making their point. If you didn't let them make that point, you just gave them food for thought. That's gonna burrow into your brain.

Chi Quita Mack [00:22:38]:
I challenge everyone that is listening to make it happen, and I say, do it scared. Make it happen and do it scared. We have to break this cycle of just doing what we're told or just going in the path of what we think we should be doing. A lot of people I talk to, a lot of my clients will say, I just really want to live in my passion. I just really want to. I just really want to do what I love, but I don't know what it is. And I always laugh and I'm like, you know what it is? You know what it is? Like, we wouldn't be on this call right now if you didn't know what it is. It's something holding you back.

Chi Quita Mack [00:23:16]:
That's my job. Right? To talk about that. But you know what it is. So what is and they're like, well, you know, well, I really want to do. Exactly. So pause. Let's talk about what are those negative thoughts that's holding you back from, like, that's the issue is like, you have all of those thoughts around what is everyone else going to think? Or what are they going to say? Or am I going to have support or it's all of the. Everything else that's mostly holding.

Chi Quita Mack [00:23:41]:
Holding you back from doing what you already know you should be doing and what you're capable of doing, but you're worried about everybody else that's never stepped out on nothing before to formulate and tell you how your life should be.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:23:56]:
Absolutely. And that's the name of the game. It really comes down to a mindset, right. Not what do you think, just what makes you happy. If there was no dollar associated, what makes you happy? And now let's build upon it. But that's not how we're raised. Right. It's this gives you money, do it.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:24:17]:
And then, you know, when you're 60, 70, 80, 90, now you can go.

Chi Quita Mack [00:24:22]:
Try to figure out when you're not, go do that. Right.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:24:28]:
We got to make it make more sense to us. You know, we can't just keep following these, you know, habits and patterns that we've built up over the years.

Chi Quita Mack [00:24:37]:
Like I said, it is our job to break. Break the cycle.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:24:41]:
Correct.

Chi Quita Mack [00:24:42]:
Cycle. Break the cycle.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:24:43]:
Yes. We have to be that new cultural nutrition in the world.

Chi Quita Mack [00:24:46]:
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. What strategies have you found most effective in helping our HBCU students secure great opportunities?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:24:57]:
Yeah, so I've seen it two different ways. It's interesting when we look at more of, like, our interns, they're just trying to figure out what they're interested in. They're trying to build their story. A lot of times, especially because you're younger, you feel like you don't have one. Right? Or you have the imposter syndrome or you feel uncomfortable. So it all starts with a mindset. Let's understand what you're interested in. Let's understand what are your triggers? What are your strengths? What works for you? And now let's find that internship or that role that can help guide you so you can learn.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:25:31]:
Is that something that you're interested in doing? I encourage freshmen, sophomore, juniors to do every type of internship that they can. When I was in college, I literally did six internships in different fields. In business. Right. I did sales marketing because I wanted to understand what the differences were and why or why not. What would that be for me? Once you get up to like, you're graduating, you're ready for that opportunity. You know, if they've been preparing with the internships, they have a better understanding of what they're interested in and we can help guide them in a lot of times at that point, it's now down to being prepared for the workplace. How do you make sure that you're ready day one? How do you start to learn those unwritten rules that people in the company have created that you need to figure out? Right.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:26:19]:
How do you get that mentor, the sponsor, the coach, that can guide you through that and be a support system, but then most importantly, how do you handle conflict? Right. That's one of the things that I've seen the most, and not necessarily in a traditional sense, but like, let's talk about microaggressions. Let's talk about macro aggressions. A lot of times there, there might be a situation where maybe somebody pulls your hair or touches your hair. I've had it. I can't tell you how many times. But the response, especially to someone who's just started in the work world and not familiar with that, especially coming from an HBCU. What are you doing? Why are you touching my hair? Now they're the problem, right? Because they made the scene, they caused an issue, and now it's, no, it's not about what they did, it's how you responded.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:27:04]:
And that's where I feel like a lot of us get caught up in that response. Right. And even if we don't respond how, then internally we're responding and how do we feel about it? So getting them prepared for what lies in the workplace. Right. Let's decode the system. Let's navigate what we're going through ahead of time. So when you come across it, you already know. Stop, think, ask a question about how it made you know, you feel or tell them how you felt in that in a particular manner is going to change everything because now it's, oh, my God, look at what happened.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:27:43]:
Let's fix this situation. So I feel like it's really getting them prepared to step into this new world of what their expectations are and then how to then have the support in the company. Right. You can have coaches for days, but you need somebody inside that's a higher up than you that you can talk to, that you can connect with. They don't need to be in your department all the time, but you need that connection internally. And those are the things that we have to build up initially and get them ready.

Chi Quita Mack [00:28:17]:
I agree. Just having that, like, who had, like, all these little, like, flashbacks in my head, like, oh, my God, if I just would have known, if I had someone to just tell me that the importance of having a mentor, someone to show you, just navigating out there. Cause being an African American in the workplace, you said, touch the hair. I'm like, ooh, how many times?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:28:38]:
I'm the.

Chi Quita Mack [00:28:40]:
My face is like, you go somewhere. Go over there. Don't touch me.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:28:49]:
Yeah, yeah. Or the things that you don't even realize, like, I'll never forget. There was one time, it was like 15 people at Topgolf, okay? You have the CEO and three of his leaders all out there swinging, and they're like. And now as they're playing, they're talking about, oh, man, maybe we should work on this project later. Oh, you know what? I think this person. Hey, you see Tom. Maybe Tom should join this, or maybe this person. I was coming from another event, right? So I'm.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:29:16]:
And I. Because I arranged it, I walk in, and what I literally saw was to my left of the bar, there was a group of people, and to my right were the golfers. Here's the problem. A lot of those HBCU students were over by the bar, not because they didn't want to, they didn't know how to play golf. Right. That that was not their thing. Some were right, but not everybody. But the ones that were playing golf, guess what? They all got an opportunity.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:29:44]:
They all got a project. They all got the next step because they were in the room, in the space.

Chi Quita Mack [00:29:48]:
Yeah.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:29:49]:
The others that were, by the way, but we came. I mean, there was nothing for us to do. We don't know how to play. Okay? Again, that's an unwritten rule. Go and join in. You may not know it. You may turn out to like it, you may try not to hate it. But guess what? You're in the room for the opportunity.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:30:05]:
And there's a lot of little things like that that it's like, oh, that's not my interest. So I'll just join the next thing. It's not how it works to be a part of it. You have to show up. You have to dare to get the opportunity. So it's teaching all of the norms that you think you know or you don't know.

Chi Quita Mack [00:30:23]:
Unless someone tells you, I don't do that. I don't do that. It doesn't get out there, sit at the table, have the conversations. It may be boring, you know, it may not be your style, but you're going to have to get out there and do that to even have a seat at the table. Now, once y'all get me at the table, game over. Because I'm like, I'm coming. I am coming, but I just need to get to your table. Let me just get to the table.

Chi Quita Mack [00:30:49]:
Let me do what I have to do. And that's so important because I'm thinking about my military side of it because I've been in for a while. And that is one of the biggest things, is, like, the days that I get really, really frustrated. The thing that keeps me motivated is being an inspiration for some other soldier that looks like me, because there's not very many of us. And so I'm always fighting to get at the table. And when I get to the table and I look around, I'm the only one. The only one. And I'm like, it's cool.

Chi Quita Mack [00:31:15]:
I'm good with it. Sir, ma'am, let me tell you what I've noticed. And I'm ready. I'm always ready. Please call me. Do you want to brief? Absolutely, I'll brief. Who am I talking to? It's in ten minutes. I got it.

Chi Quita Mack [00:31:28]:
Don't worry about it. Thank you. Always ready. And that's what I teach. I just had a soldier the other day come to my desk, and he's getting ready to get out of command. And I had another soldier say, but do you really need command? Like, to him, do you really? Did you really need command? And he was like. He said, no, not really. And I said, absolutely at the same time.

Chi Quita Mack [00:31:49]:
And so he's like, no, not really. And I said, absolutely. And then he started laughing. I was like, let me tell you something. We need everything. We need everything because we're competing, okay? Our packet better be tight. So if you have an opportunity for command, even though you're mos. What you're doing now may say you don't really need command.

Chi Quita Mack [00:32:10]:
We do. Yes, we do. So you need all the time, any opportunity you have, absolutely. You're going to take it and you're going to do it to the best of your ability so you can move on. Because now you're competing and there's no difference to that. So I like to teach that. Like, listen, I wish I had someone to tell me because it was rough in the years before, and I just have to be that for them to say, listen, it does not look the same for us from the time, you.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:32:34]:
Know, it is what it is. It doesn't look this, but that's what it is. And how do we then take the next step, you know what I mean? And get there? Because that is, students say, well, why do I have to work harder than somebody else? Like, that's, it's not fair. Life is life. But you know what? You're going to be prepared. And the phrase my, my grandfather always used to say was, you don't have to. If you stay ready, you never have to get ready. If you own it, you own it.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:33:04]:
And so don't worry about somebody else. Right. Let them not be prepared, but you will be. And that's all that matters.

Chi Quita Mack [00:33:11]:
All that matters. Stay rettie. I say that all y'all better stay ready for everything. Stay ready. Hey, do you want to do this last minute? Uh huh. I'm ready when? Okay, cool. I'll be there preparing in a car, reading, but I'm be there, right. I stay ready and I think it's.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:33:29]:
5 seconds I need.

Chi Quita Mack [00:33:31]:
That's all I need. 5 seconds. We in there. Stay ready.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:33:38]:
Absolutely.

Chi Quita Mack [00:33:42]:
Whole different world. Whole different world. As you continue your work empowering students, HBCU students, what are your future goals? Where do you want to see this go?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:33:53]:
My future goals is for this to help really all college students, to take that next step, to be a stepping stone for guidance, for the tools that you need. I feel like it boils down to a mindset. It boils down to being able to connect and build, but I mean, more in the immediate, it would be HBCUs, student support services, helping, you know, ROTC, like taking that next step out to help folks that are ready, prepared and guide them for that journey.

Chi Quita Mack [00:34:27]:
Yeah, I, like I said before, you're such an inspiration. An inspiration to me and your inspiration to all. And I love what you do. I know you're not going to stop, but please don't stop doing what you're doing because we need it. We need it so much. We need someone like you. I wish I had you years ago. I really do.

Chi Quita Mack [00:34:48]:
I wish I had someone to just show me. I mean, I had to figure it out. It's okay. Figured out. But it's important to have that person there to kind of warn you or prepare you for what's out there, because it's not the same for us. And if you have someone that's there, just telling you, like, hey, it's not the same for us. No, it's not necessarily fair, but this is how we're going to get through it because we deserve our opportunity. We deserve a seat at the table.

Chi Quita Mack [00:35:09]:
We deserve the same things that everyone else deserves. And this is, this is how you're going to do that. So I want to continue to just, you know, thank you.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:35:18]:
Thank you. No, and I appreciate it. But you're right, because check this out. The moment we can get to the table, then we can start co creating a table. And that's all space for us to be in. Right. In a great way. I mean, that's just my thought process is how do we get there? What does that next step look like? And helping folks not have to go through the same pitfalls that we went through.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:35:40]:
Because honestly, the goal should be that every generation is better than the last. There should be no reason why this next generation should be picking off at the same place. Like, they should be able to get what we finished and now. You should never have that issue, go to the next. You should always be able to take that lifting as we climb, guiding for success and being that beacon. That's what we need to do.

Chi Quita Mack [00:36:06]:
Yep.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:36:06]:
It's just we got to get there and we got to do it together. Not all these individual things, because there's, it's almost like they have that example of, okay, if you keep scooping out water out of the ocean one bucket at a time, you're not really doing much, right. Everybody doing it at once. We might move the ocean. We might make that happen. Let's do it.

Chi Quita Mack [00:36:27]:
You know, we are stronger together for sure. We're absolutely stronger together. And so we have to break that stigma, too. But we are stronger together. We've had, we have to work together for a greater purpose. We have to 100% have to. Can you tell the audience where they can find you if they want to connect with you?

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:36:47]:
Yes, please. I would love it. Please connect with me at www.achievewithpurposecoach.com. achieve with purpose. Achieve with purposecoach.com dot all right.

Chi Quita Mack [00:37:01]:
Yes, I'll ensure to have everything linked in the show notes. Again, I want to thank you for being a part of my community and being a part of the beauty in you podcast.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:37:12]:
Absolutely. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here with you. And when I get to DC, we'll have to grab lunch.

Chi Quita Mack [00:37:18]:
Oh, you know, I'm ready. I guess I stay ready. So hit me up. Let's go.

Keri Clarke-Pearson  [00:37:21]:
That's right.

Chi Quita Mack [00:37:22]:
That's right. All right, you guys, until next time.

Jacqueline G. [00:37:26]:
Thank you for joining us on this week's episode of the Beauty in you podcast. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe. Visit us@thechiquitamack.com or join us on Instagram at the Chiquita Mack for your daily motivation and inspiration. Tell a friend to tell a friend until next time.