Welcome to the show. I'm Rashaan MacDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass, where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success stories and start planning their own. Listen up as I interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities and ask them how they are running their companies, and speak with dog profits who are making a difference in their local communities. Now, sit back and listen as we unlock the secrets to their success on Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Now let's get this show roll along. My guess is on hold. She is the CEO of the Collaborative Training Company at CTC, an Atlanta based management and professional services consulting firm founded in twenty eighteen. The Collaborative Training Company is a professional services consulting firm. They support human resources business units by designing and delivering customized workshops that increase employee retention, which is very important. Please welco with the Money Making Conversation Master Class. Brenda Johnson, how are you doing, Brenda?

Welcome to the show. I'm Rashaan MacDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass, where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success stories and start planning their own. Listen up as I interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities and ask them how they are running their companies, and speak with dog profits who are making a difference in their local communities. Now, sit back and listen as we unlock the secrets to their success on Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Now let's get this show roll along. My guess is on hold. She is the CEO of the Collaborative Training Company at CTC, an Atlanta based management and professional services consulting firm founded in twenty eighteen. The Collaborative Training Company is a professional services consulting firm. They support human resources business units by designing and delivering customized workshops that increase employee retention, which is very important. Please welco with the Money Making Conversation Master Class. Brenda Johnson, how are you doing, Brenda?

I'm good, Rashan, how are you? And congratulations on being Men of the Year stim Atlanta Women and doctor Max and Kine are close friends of CTC. So I'm thrilleding here that.

I'm good, Rashan, how are you? And congratulations on being Men of the Year stim Atlanta Women and doctor Max and Kine are close friends of CTC. So I'm thrilleding here that.

Thank you. You know we run into each other. I finally got your show, Brenda, I'm so happy as you go. I'm busy that day. I'm busy that dude, I'm business that Tuesday. So finally have you on your show. Tell everybody. I know I read it in the intro, but tell everybody in layman terms, what exactly does your company does? A collaborative training company.

Thank you. You know we run into each other. I finally got your show, Brenda, I'm so happy as you go. I'm busy that day. I'm busy that dude, I'm business that Tuesday. So finally have you on your show. Tell everybody. I know I read it in the intro, but tell everybody in layman terms, what exactly does your company does? A collaborative training company.

For sure, and thank you for the opportunity to be on the show. So we work in the space of kind of what we call workforce development, which is generally connecting talent to jobs, jobs that are sustaining, that have a career pathway that like you could actually support your family with these jobs. What I do a piece of it is learning and development professional development, So I work with companies and nonprofit organizations to make sure that their talent is upskilled enough not only to perform well in their current role, but what's that next step. Right, You've got an engineer, they're doing great, but when we want to transition them to manager, that's a different skill set than maybe this technical skill that you have. So we do a little bit of that we do post hire support. Companies are moving into what we call the skills based hiring, which means a lot of companies have taken a lot of time and consideration to remove some of the four year degree requirements so that they can get this labor pipeline that they need. Often, when you remove the four year degree requirement, you may have really skill talent that are coming from places where they've never worked in a corporate environment. So we will come into the company and say, with this cohort of skill talents your prentices, we'll do an extra week of onboarding to help them understand some of those professional behavioral norms that might be new to them, help them acclimate to the culture. This fit this word fit? Oh, we love them, they have the right skills, but we don't know that they will fit. So we help companies unpack what does that fit mean. Does that mean you're a fast paced company and you need people to hit the ground running. Does that mean you know you assign people to mentors? What does that fit? So we help companies define what is this ideal employee that you're looking for and then connect these talent sources to that.

For sure, and thank you for the opportunity to be on the show. So we work in the space of kind of what we call workforce development, which is generally connecting talent to jobs, jobs that are sustaining, that have a career pathway that like you could actually support your family with these jobs. What I do a piece of it is learning and development professional development, So I work with companies and nonprofit organizations to make sure that their talent is upskilled enough not only to perform well in their current role, but what's that next step. Right, You've got an engineer, they're doing great, but when we want to transition them to manager, that's a different skill set than maybe this technical skill that you have. So we do a little bit of that we do post hire support. Companies are moving into what we call the skills based hiring, which means a lot of companies have taken a lot of time and consideration to remove some of the four year degree requirements so that they can get this labor pipeline that they need. Often, when you remove the four year degree requirement, you may have really skill talent that are coming from places where they've never worked in a corporate environment. So we will come into the company and say, with this cohort of skill talents your prentices, we'll do an extra week of onboarding to help them understand some of those professional behavioral norms that might be new to them, help them acclimate to the culture. This fit this word fit? Oh, we love them, they have the right skills, but we don't know that they will fit. So we help companies unpack what does that fit mean. Does that mean you're a fast paced company and you need people to hit the ground running. Does that mean you know you assign people to mentors? What does that fit? So we help companies define what is this ideal employee that you're looking for and then connect these talent sources to that.

Well, now let me ask you this so can someone come to you as an individual? Sir Rushan McGaugh, let's me and you know, and I want to get a job, do I come to you? Or how does that work?

Well, now let me ask you this so can someone come to you as an individual? Sir Rushan McGaugh, let's me and you know, and I want to get a job, do I come to you? Or how does that work?

That's more of what we call a talent coach. And I get so much of that in my LinkedIn inbox because if you follow me on LinkedIn, you'll see that I'm always kind of amplifying opportunities for your career talent how to get it these jobs. So I do not do individual talent coaching, but I am a collaborative partner of many organizations who do exactly that. So with the workforce development ecosystem, we've got to partner, right, you need talent coaches, you need people that are working with the companies on that side. You need your community colleges, your high school programs. We've all got to work together to make sure that this talent is a strong candidate when that job opportunity comes. So I do not do individual talent coaching.

That's more of what we call a talent coach. And I get so much of that in my LinkedIn inbox because if you follow me on LinkedIn, you'll see that I'm always kind of amplifying opportunities for your career talent how to get it these jobs. So I do not do individual talent coaching, but I am a collaborative partner of many organizations who do exactly that. So with the workforce development ecosystem, we've got to partner, right, you need talent coaches, you need people that are working with the companies on that side. You need your community colleges, your high school programs. We've all got to work together to make sure that this talent is a strong candidate when that job opportunity comes. So I do not do individual talent coaching.

Now that that's not you know. Now with that being said, now, how do you identify and nurture the unique talent of job seekers who may not fit the traditional corporate mode? Right now, that's why I'm trying to confuse educate me. I understand what you're doing, but you're saying, Rashan, we place, we help people adjust. We talking about the corporate side, the people who do the hiring side. All you talk about because you don't do the individual coaching right.

Now that that's not you know. Now with that being said, now, how do you identify and nurture the unique talent of job seekers who may not fit the traditional corporate mode? Right now, that's why I'm trying to confuse educate me. I understand what you're doing, but you're saying, Rashan, we place, we help people adjust. We talking about the corporate side, the people who do the hiring side. All you talk about because you don't do the individual coaching right.

Correct, right. So when you work with the larger companies than many of the smaller ones, they already have talent acquisitions. They've got recruiters, they've got campus recruits, they've got that expertise, and so I am not a staffing firm. We do not do that work. So we let them do that methodology that they have to find the talent, and then we come in after they found the talent to get them more ready for success. I don't know if you've ever had a job that on day one, when you got to that job, you're like, this isn't it. I don't think I'm a good fit. I hate it here. But you feel that in the first two weeks. There are reasons that that might happen. That just mean anytime we're placing an environment I'm familiar to us, it can be uncomfortable. You can have this imposter syndrome that they talk about so many of the people. If you place some one that's come from a Walmart or Amazon, warehouse, fastroom retail, and you put them at a job at at and T, it may feel massively uncomfortable. To an extent, they'll go back to that warehouse job right because they feel comfortable I fit. So we let the companies do their own hiring or work with their staffing agencies that they all already have. We really lean into that cohort that you just hired. We want to get them a one to one mentor in that company that has that shared lived experience. So if I get Rashaan McDonald a job at IBM and he's young, early career, hasn't been in corporate, I'm going to look for an older black male because he'll have that lived experience at IBM. This is what I've experienced. These are some things I can help Reshaan navigate. And we use those employee resource groups a lot to tap one to one mentors for this time that's coming in to help them retain at that company.

Correct, right. So when you work with the larger companies than many of the smaller ones, they already have talent acquisitions. They've got recruiters, they've got campus recruits, they've got that expertise, and so I am not a staffing firm. We do not do that work. So we let them do that methodology that they have to find the talent, and then we come in after they found the talent to get them more ready for success. I don't know if you've ever had a job that on day one, when you got to that job, you're like, this isn't it. I don't think I'm a good fit. I hate it here. But you feel that in the first two weeks. There are reasons that that might happen. That just mean anytime we're placing an environment I'm familiar to us, it can be uncomfortable. You can have this imposter syndrome that they talk about so many of the people. If you place some one that's come from a Walmart or Amazon, warehouse, fastroom retail, and you put them at a job at at and T, it may feel massively uncomfortable. To an extent, they'll go back to that warehouse job right because they feel comfortable I fit. So we let the companies do their own hiring or work with their staffing agencies that they all already have. We really lean into that cohort that you just hired. We want to get them a one to one mentor in that company that has that shared lived experience. So if I get Rashaan McDonald a job at IBM and he's young, early career, hasn't been in corporate, I'm going to look for an older black male because he'll have that lived experience at IBM. This is what I've experienced. These are some things I can help Reshaan navigate. And we use those employee resource groups a lot to tap one to one mentors for this time that's coming in to help them retain at that company.

Wow, I'm talking to Brenda Johnson. She's a CEO Collaborative Training Company CTC. It's a professional services consulting firm provides professional development and career readiness training for companies who are bringing people in and making happing them to adjust. Now, I got to say, the magical world that's just been dominating everybody, AI artificial intelligence, robots going to take my job. A robot's gonna take my job. Let me know, Brenda, because I gotta find that right now, help me out hip out everybody, because that's the that's the big fear.

Wow, I'm talking to Brenda Johnson. She's a CEO Collaborative Training Company CTC. It's a professional services consulting firm provides professional development and career readiness training for companies who are bringing people in and making happing them to adjust. Now, I got to say, the magical world that's just been dominating everybody, AI artificial intelligence, robots going to take my job. A robot's gonna take my job. Let me know, Brenda, because I gotta find that right now, help me out hip out everybody, because that's the that's the big fear.

I won't say robots, let's say machine learning. I would say there are already jobs that have been replaced by AI components personally. And this is the Brenda Johnson perspective. Humans are uniquely designed to be creative and innovative. So what machine learning can do is only create an outcome based on existing information, existing data. We can feed it one hundred jobs, right and from the hundred, it can create something. But it can't do that uniquely human thing that we do, which is create something from nothing, have a really innovative idea. So what I tell you know, all the young professionals, they're going to check GPT to try to do their jobs right. And I say, if you don't take that output and put your personal fingerprint on that it's garbage because you have lived experience, you have expertise, you have the ability to make it your own. So I'm a fan of AI and efficiency increasing productivity. You can do research a lot quicker with that I but you take that output, and for me, that's my starting point. So there are are absolutely jobs that will be automated, but there are many more jobs that will not be automated, or somebody still has to tell the robots what to do. Right.

I won't say robots, let's say machine learning. I would say there are already jobs that have been replaced by AI components personally. And this is the Brenda Johnson perspective. Humans are uniquely designed to be creative and innovative. So what machine learning can do is only create an outcome based on existing information, existing data. We can feed it one hundred jobs, right and from the hundred, it can create something. But it can't do that uniquely human thing that we do, which is create something from nothing, have a really innovative idea. So what I tell you know, all the young professionals, they're going to check GPT to try to do their jobs right. And I say, if you don't take that output and put your personal fingerprint on that it's garbage because you have lived experience, you have expertise, you have the ability to make it your own. So I'm a fan of AI and efficiency increasing productivity. You can do research a lot quicker with that I but you take that output, and for me, that's my starting point. So there are are absolutely jobs that will be automated, but there are many more jobs that will not be automated, or somebody still has to tell the robots what to do. Right.

I'm gonna tell you something. I was in this restaurant, you know, we're based in Atlanta, Georgia. I was in Pascales, which is a upscale Black African American restaurant, and they brought my food out. A little robot broke my food out. Now I was tonned. I'm looking at it just just turned right there. Light came on, pushed my food out, and I got it that that robot. Nobody knows. The human element was gone, you know. And then then I just it just rolled away. And it was like a side show because everybody in the restaurant was like, wow, wow, I just serving everybody. And I was coming over here today, Brenda, and I was in a red light and I saw a little bit of a robot at the red light. It looked at robots. It was just sitting there waiting for the I don't know, waiting for the light to change. Because in my mind, Brenda, I'm gonna go a lot to you. I would have run over it. I would have run over it if it were came in my lane because I was like, automation is taking our jobs.

I'm gonna tell you something. I was in this restaurant, you know, we're based in Atlanta, Georgia. I was in Pascales, which is a upscale Black African American restaurant, and they brought my food out. A little robot broke my food out. Now I was tonned. I'm looking at it just just turned right there. Light came on, pushed my food out, and I got it that that robot. Nobody knows. The human element was gone, you know. And then then I just it just rolled away. And it was like a side show because everybody in the restaurant was like, wow, wow, I just serving everybody. And I was coming over here today, Brenda, and I was in a red light and I saw a little bit of a robot at the red light. It looked at robots. It was just sitting there waiting for the I don't know, waiting for the light to change. Because in my mind, Brenda, I'm gonna go a lot to you. I would have run over it. I would have run over it if it were came in my lane because I was like, automation is taking our jobs.

Don't kill the technology. So I got to technology. I won't know, don't kill the technology. They're extensive. There was a fast food chain that piloted like AI taking your order at the order board. A riper of incorrect orders was so high they had to kill that. Self driving cars. I spent a year and a half out in the Bay Area. You saw the self driving cars being tested. The County Commission had a meeting the fire departments. The police department showed up and said, listen, these things short out and stop. Just like a computer, computer freezes up. Stuff driving driving cars freeze up, and often they're freezing up in front of the fire station, so the fire truck can't get out. None of us can move it. We can't program it. But there's a lot to be desired in the technology, it's not there yet, and if the companies will do the diligence of piloting, many of these replacements of humans won't work. It's what you see at a big chain. Oh we want you to scan your own stuff. We don't want you to scan your own stuff. It's that back and forth. So I think the business case has to be there. But if there's a dropping quality of outcome, some of that AI stuff is going to world right back to humans.

Don't kill the technology. So I got to technology. I won't know, don't kill the technology. They're extensive. There was a fast food chain that piloted like AI taking your order at the order board. A riper of incorrect orders was so high they had to kill that. Self driving cars. I spent a year and a half out in the Bay Area. You saw the self driving cars being tested. The County Commission had a meeting the fire departments. The police department showed up and said, listen, these things short out and stop. Just like a computer, computer freezes up. Stuff driving driving cars freeze up, and often they're freezing up in front of the fire station, so the fire truck can't get out. None of us can move it. We can't program it. But there's a lot to be desired in the technology, it's not there yet, and if the companies will do the diligence of piloting, many of these replacements of humans won't work. It's what you see at a big chain. Oh we want you to scan your own stuff. We don't want you to scan your own stuff. It's that back and forth. So I think the business case has to be there. But if there's a dropping quality of outcome, some of that AI stuff is going to world right back to humans.

Now let me ask you this, Brenda, because you know now we're talking about AI because we have to, because you know that's you know, the recent election, that's all they talked about with AI. You know, you have Elon Musk. You know he's good drive. You know basically you know, you can just sit back and take a nap in the car, take you around. You can see different situations. And you're right, there's some traffic jams that have been created because the cars just got confused and it just locked up and just didn't move anymore. But that's taking away potential. You know, Uber drivers and things of that nature are left drivers with these cars. Once they get it right, you just hop in a car, put your credit card in and it'll take you home or take you to the airport. So there are situations that are coming along. But you're saying, Rashan, that is one job option, but there is another job option that's going to repair that that vehicle, that's going to a program, that vehicle if it goes wacky, if it's going to be able to You have to see that. There are other opportunity that don't require four year degrees that you can train people are trained them up. Once these corporations bring you on board, and that's your job as far as CTC correct correct.

Now let me ask you this, Brenda, because you know now we're talking about AI because we have to, because you know that's you know, the recent election, that's all they talked about with AI. You know, you have Elon Musk. You know he's good drive. You know basically you know, you can just sit back and take a nap in the car, take you around. You can see different situations. And you're right, there's some traffic jams that have been created because the cars just got confused and it just locked up and just didn't move anymore. But that's taking away potential. You know, Uber drivers and things of that nature are left drivers with these cars. Once they get it right, you just hop in a car, put your credit card in and it'll take you home or take you to the airport. So there are situations that are coming along. But you're saying, Rashan, that is one job option, but there is another job option that's going to repair that that vehicle, that's going to a program, that vehicle if it goes wacky, if it's going to be able to You have to see that. There are other opportunity that don't require four year degrees that you can train people are trained them up. Once these corporations bring you on board, and that's your job as far as CTC correct correct.

I think historically in America, the four year degree requirement was an artificial barrier for certain people not to be able to get certain jobs. Now that we have more Americans opting out of the four year degree, there will be a labor shortage. If eighty percent of the jobs in your applicant tracking system require degree, those jobs will sit and you'll see it, Well, y'all had this job poster for nine months, no one's getting the job. So they've got to think differently and say, instead of this piece of paper, let's revisit the job description. Right, this job description has been in our system ten years. Technology has changed, our processes have changed, but we really didn't take the time to sit down and rewrite the job description. So instead, I'll sit with someone and say, give me three adjectives for someone who is a star in this role. Give me three adjectives for someone you would never hire for this role. I'll learn more about what you need from that job than this two page job requisition that hasn't been changed. The hiring manager doesn't have time to do it. Talent acquisition doesn't write the job description. Often the companies do not have a person on staff responsible for even who makes the decision to take the for your degree away. What's that process like? So it can be a long journey to just say, let's think about some of the jobs that don't need the four your degree and instead let's focus on five to seven skills of someone who excels in the job sales job pharmaceutical sales. That's an interesting conversation, I asked, that's a well paying job. Do you really need a college degree for that? Tell me why you need a college degree for that?

I think historically in America, the four year degree requirement was an artificial barrier for certain people not to be able to get certain jobs. Now that we have more Americans opting out of the four year degree, there will be a labor shortage. If eighty percent of the jobs in your applicant tracking system require degree, those jobs will sit and you'll see it, Well, y'all had this job poster for nine months, no one's getting the job. So they've got to think differently and say, instead of this piece of paper, let's revisit the job description. Right, this job description has been in our system ten years. Technology has changed, our processes have changed, but we really didn't take the time to sit down and rewrite the job description. So instead, I'll sit with someone and say, give me three adjectives for someone who is a star in this role. Give me three adjectives for someone you would never hire for this role. I'll learn more about what you need from that job than this two page job requisition that hasn't been changed. The hiring manager doesn't have time to do it. Talent acquisition doesn't write the job description. Often the companies do not have a person on staff responsible for even who makes the decision to take the for your degree away. What's that process like? So it can be a long journey to just say, let's think about some of the jobs that don't need the four your degree and instead let's focus on five to seven skills of someone who excels in the job sales job pharmaceutical sales. That's an interesting conversation, I asked, that's a well paying job. Do you really need a college degree for that? Tell me why you need a college degree for that?

Now, Wow, we're going to go to break before I want to ask the question. The simmer on your side of the conversation. Want to come back. Can you share an example when we come back for a break of how you have successfully helped the company diversifies talent pipeline while improving business performance. That's of question I'm gonna ask, don't go nowhere. We want to break be back with more money Making Conversations with my friend Brenda Johnson.

Now, Wow, we're going to go to break before I want to ask the question. The simmer on your side of the conversation. Want to come back. Can you share an example when we come back for a break of how you have successfully helped the company diversifies talent pipeline while improving business performance. That's of question I'm gonna ask, don't go nowhere. We want to break be back with more money Making Conversations with my friend Brenda Johnson.

Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the money Making Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the money Making Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Welcome back to money Making Conversations Masterclass. I'm speaking with Brenda Johnson. She's the CEO of Collaborative Training Company. Now, Brenda, can you share an example of how you successfully help a company diversify it it's talented pipeline where I improve in business performance.

Welcome back to money Making Conversations Masterclass. I'm speaking with Brenda Johnson. She's the CEO of Collaborative Training Company. Now, Brenda, can you share an example of how you successfully help a company diversify it it's talented pipeline where I improve in business performance.

Absolutely, I'm so through that you asked me that. And to preface my answer, when we get approached with the companies like we want to diversit fire our talent pipeline. One, let's unpack diversity if it's nursing as a second, Does diversify mean more men? Right? What are we talking about? Because I think when we hear diversity, everyone goes to race and gender. They do, so I think we have to be clear what we're talking about. But the example that I love, I won't name the company. They had like a really well high paying, well I think high paying job. This is out of I won't even name where. About a seventy seventy five thousand dollars job that you could get without a degree, And it looked like administrative work. You're going to support some executives, You're going to do some travel planning, some calendar management, and they were willing to remove the for your degree requirement when we get that request. This is when we do do talent coaching. So when I have a clear job description, I understand the company's culture. We go out in the community, our talent partners, our talent developers and say who has the hard skills in your talent pool that look like this. We screen them, we get to know them individually a lot of people have tried to scale matching a person to a job. If you've ever looked for a job. It's not really scalable in that way because it's very high touch. So we'll take a group of candidates, get them in a cohort, and we're getting to know them. Do they have soft skills? Will this person even have what we call wrap around supports? Do you have a car? But they say you're going to You're going to go to this site and done Woodie and this side in the cab and this site downtown. You got to make sure they're stable transportation. Are their childcare issues? We can have our companies having to solve a lot of that. At this point, I think they could invest in that, but at this point we're not. So that's when we do do what we call talent coaching. Prep for the interview, Let's look at your resume. Let's talk about the job that you had at McDonald's and at Target and what you did there, so we can translate those skills into exactly what they want. So, if I'm gonna send a group of candidates to be screened for a high volume, recurring role, those talent I have to touch. I have to see my team spends time with them. A really interesting dynamic we see lately, it's this neuro diversity, meaning we're now where autism is going to be in our talent pool. How does that show up? Because everyone wants to have an access to work, So this is when you get to know, Oh, Okay, this person has autism. That's why he's not looking me in the eye. Is this something we can talk through with the company. We've had a lot of success doing that. They feel really rewarded to be able to open up a well paying job for people that don't have a degree. But the companies need to be able to see the results of that and then have they retained how are they performing? Oh, let's do it again. Let's do it again in the spring. We're going to have this many openings, but it is a lot of work and it requires a lot of partnerships.

Absolutely, I'm so through that you asked me that. And to preface my answer, when we get approached with the companies like we want to diversit fire our talent pipeline. One, let's unpack diversity if it's nursing as a second, Does diversify mean more men? Right? What are we talking about? Because I think when we hear diversity, everyone goes to race and gender. They do, so I think we have to be clear what we're talking about. But the example that I love, I won't name the company. They had like a really well high paying, well I think high paying job. This is out of I won't even name where. About a seventy seventy five thousand dollars job that you could get without a degree, And it looked like administrative work. You're going to support some executives, You're going to do some travel planning, some calendar management, and they were willing to remove the for your degree requirement when we get that request. This is when we do do talent coaching. So when I have a clear job description, I understand the company's culture. We go out in the community, our talent partners, our talent developers and say who has the hard skills in your talent pool that look like this. We screen them, we get to know them individually a lot of people have tried to scale matching a person to a job. If you've ever looked for a job. It's not really scalable in that way because it's very high touch. So we'll take a group of candidates, get them in a cohort, and we're getting to know them. Do they have soft skills? Will this person even have what we call wrap around supports? Do you have a car? But they say you're going to You're going to go to this site and done Woodie and this side in the cab and this site downtown. You got to make sure they're stable transportation. Are their childcare issues? We can have our companies having to solve a lot of that. At this point, I think they could invest in that, but at this point we're not. So that's when we do do what we call talent coaching. Prep for the interview, Let's look at your resume. Let's talk about the job that you had at McDonald's and at Target and what you did there, so we can translate those skills into exactly what they want. So, if I'm gonna send a group of candidates to be screened for a high volume, recurring role, those talent I have to touch. I have to see my team spends time with them. A really interesting dynamic we see lately, it's this neuro diversity, meaning we're now where autism is going to be in our talent pool. How does that show up? Because everyone wants to have an access to work, So this is when you get to know, Oh, Okay, this person has autism. That's why he's not looking me in the eye. Is this something we can talk through with the company. We've had a lot of success doing that. They feel really rewarded to be able to open up a well paying job for people that don't have a degree. But the companies need to be able to see the results of that and then have they retained how are they performing? Oh, let's do it again. Let's do it again in the spring. We're going to have this many openings, but it is a lot of work and it requires a lot of partnerships.

Wow, that sounds great, but you said something in a buzzword that really has had me all annoyed. With diversity, equity, inclusion, and whatever we use, the word diversity is always tied to race. Talk to us about you know, how you've seen the shift in diversity echoin inclusion over the last four years, I guess, And what do you see the future moving forward for diversity in the workforce.

Wow, that sounds great, but you said something in a buzzword that really has had me all annoyed. With diversity, equity, inclusion, and whatever we use, the word diversity is always tied to race. Talk to us about you know, how you've seen the shift in diversity echoin inclusion over the last four years, I guess, And what do you see the future moving forward for diversity in the workforce.

Correct. So I think that's all. I think there was a milestone moment. But George Floyd, we had many companies, many organizations moved to embrace the EI and actually put money behind it, and that looked a lot of different ways. Then we have the Scholist ruling come out and say you really shouldn't be doing that. We might sue you if you do that. So at the end of the day, it has to be a business case that this company needs talent. And historically, if that talent were white men with a four year degree followed by white women with the four year degree down the line, that company's not going to be in business because the demographics of the country has shifted and fewer people are opting to get a for your degree anyway. So we talk about diversity, I challenge people that think beyond race and gender because now we have four or five generations in the workplace. That's a whole different conversation about the way in which we show up. We have the neuro diversity issue, the autism, the aspergers, we have the LGBT status. We have accessibility people that need enabling conditions to be able to work here. So I think where we are now is you see a departure of a group of companies who have said, thank you, we don't want to do that anymore. And you have another group of companies that are still very dedicated to building the pipeline that they need from the broader labor force and are asking people to help with that. Where can I find the talent because these companies are not necessarily connected into these communities. One of the reasons that they're not with what's your recruiting strategy. I've had companies say, oh, we only recruit from three schools in Illinois. Tell me about that. Okay, so if you're in Atlanta, tell me about your recruiting strategy. Tell me if you have a different quote unquote HBCU recruiting strategy. Why is it different. How much money is in this one? How much money is in that one. So you can't come and say I want to diversify, but you have this separated recruiting strategy. And so if you start to peel back the layers, this is the status quo of America. But if you're saying I want to move forward and be different, I really want to tap into a labor pool that's going to meet my business needs. Why do we have an HBCU program? Make that make sense to me? Why is it there? Because it's been there, it's a legacy, right or we just created it. Oh, but it's not like it's not like our Jorgy tech and UGA program. Why is it not like that?

Correct. So I think that's all. I think there was a milestone moment. But George Floyd, we had many companies, many organizations moved to embrace the EI and actually put money behind it, and that looked a lot of different ways. Then we have the Scholist ruling come out and say you really shouldn't be doing that. We might sue you if you do that. So at the end of the day, it has to be a business case that this company needs talent. And historically, if that talent were white men with a four year degree followed by white women with the four year degree down the line, that company's not going to be in business because the demographics of the country has shifted and fewer people are opting to get a for your degree anyway. So we talk about diversity, I challenge people that think beyond race and gender because now we have four or five generations in the workplace. That's a whole different conversation about the way in which we show up. We have the neuro diversity issue, the autism, the aspergers, we have the LGBT status. We have accessibility people that need enabling conditions to be able to work here. So I think where we are now is you see a departure of a group of companies who have said, thank you, we don't want to do that anymore. And you have another group of companies that are still very dedicated to building the pipeline that they need from the broader labor force and are asking people to help with that. Where can I find the talent because these companies are not necessarily connected into these communities. One of the reasons that they're not with what's your recruiting strategy. I've had companies say, oh, we only recruit from three schools in Illinois. Tell me about that. Okay, so if you're in Atlanta, tell me about your recruiting strategy. Tell me if you have a different quote unquote HBCU recruiting strategy. Why is it different. How much money is in this one? How much money is in that one. So you can't come and say I want to diversify, but you have this separated recruiting strategy. And so if you start to peel back the layers, this is the status quo of America. But if you're saying I want to move forward and be different, I really want to tap into a labor pool that's going to meet my business needs. Why do we have an HBCU program? Make that make sense to me? Why is it there? Because it's been there, it's a legacy, right or we just created it. Oh, but it's not like it's not like our Jorgy tech and UGA program. Why is it not like that?

Right?

Right?

So you have to ask questions because most of these people inherited this from the job. They inherited this is the way our company does thing, and often they don't have the power influence a budget to make those changes.

So you have to ask questions because most of these people inherited this from the job. They inherited this is the way our company does thing, and often they don't have the power influence a budget to make those changes.

Wow, you know you've hidden so many mad buttons with me with that presentation, because it's true because I get to do these you know, they have these minority supplier portals. They want you to fill out the information. Nobody ever calls you, Nobody ever contacted. I've never been I'll just say nobody's ever contacted with Sean McDonald. And I get frustrated because they're saying they're offering opportunities of diversity, but how and the examples are so funneled down, so low. But you know, the key is this country has changed and it's not going to go backwards. It's going to only go farther. It's only going to become more more, I think, a better country. We just have to accept it. But we also have to accept the fact that I don't want nobody Brenda hired me because I'm black. I want nobody out of my mouth.

Wow, you know you've hidden so many mad buttons with me with that presentation, because it's true because I get to do these you know, they have these minority supplier portals. They want you to fill out the information. Nobody ever calls you, Nobody ever contacted. I've never been I'll just say nobody's ever contacted with Sean McDonald. And I get frustrated because they're saying they're offering opportunities of diversity, but how and the examples are so funneled down, so low. But you know, the key is this country has changed and it's not going to go backwards. It's going to only go farther. It's only going to become more more, I think, a better country. We just have to accept it. But we also have to accept the fact that I don't want nobody Brenda hired me because I'm black. I want nobody out of my mouth.

The visit of doctor Martin Luther King was, could you please see us for our talent, our character, who we are inside we inherit a system that doesn't do that. So now we're just saying we don't want to be able to compete equally, like remove the roadblocks, remove the bias from your system so we can compete equally. I've just I've been frustrating in my own career with the resistance for people to want to compete evenly. So we don't want the job because we're black. And the companies who do not abandon these initiatives are going to end up more profitable because they're gonna have the best labor force with the right skills doing the work. The one who want to continue to practice status quo, well this is who we hire. We hire only from these schools and they have to look like this and speak that way, probably going to be out of business because that's not the the future of America. I think the chips will followd their lot where they lie, and I think as a country, we're great enough to start to surface. Let's hire the people who can get the job done. Yes, relationship matters, network matters. And I'm laughing at you with Sean because you're like a supplier, diverse supplier of the year, so some kind of way you made that work for you. But I also know that you are well connected and relationships matter, So we want to be able to get this talent with mentors and coaches that can pull them into these spaces so that they can compete equally.

The visit of doctor Martin Luther King was, could you please see us for our talent, our character, who we are inside we inherit a system that doesn't do that. So now we're just saying we don't want to be able to compete equally, like remove the roadblocks, remove the bias from your system so we can compete equally. I've just I've been frustrating in my own career with the resistance for people to want to compete evenly. So we don't want the job because we're black. And the companies who do not abandon these initiatives are going to end up more profitable because they're gonna have the best labor force with the right skills doing the work. The one who want to continue to practice status quo, well this is who we hire. We hire only from these schools and they have to look like this and speak that way, probably going to be out of business because that's not the the future of America. I think the chips will followd their lot where they lie, and I think as a country, we're great enough to start to surface. Let's hire the people who can get the job done. Yes, relationship matters, network matters. And I'm laughing at you with Sean because you're like a supplier, diverse supplier of the year, so some kind of way you made that work for you. But I also know that you are well connected and relationships matter, So we want to be able to get this talent with mentors and coaches that can pull them into these spaces so that they can compete equally.

Wow, you're fantastic, Brenda. Brenda, how can we get in touch with you? You know what?

Wow, you're fantastic, Brenda. Brenda, how can we get in touch with you? You know what?

You can visit our website at EPC guy guide dot com and I would think the best way to reach us on social media is to visit our LinkedIn page, which is merely the collaborative Training Company.

You can visit our website at EPC guy guide dot com and I would think the best way to reach us on social media is to visit our LinkedIn page, which is merely the collaborative Training Company.

And you are amazing. Now, want to thank thank you, Brenda. You know I got to bring you back because our conversation became a different conversation the second half, and I think that that's a really good thing because people need to hear how the industry is and there's a shot, but you can win being you and don't let nobody under not the media, undermine your opportunities by making you feel like you only got a job because you are black, you only got a job because you're a woman, You only got a job because you are this type of person. We have to recognize that our skill set matters. Our skill set allows us to compete. If you graduate from HBCU, it's no different than graduating from Penn State. Equally talented people qualified to do the job because we have the right skill set. Thank you for coming on Money Making Conversation. I appreciate you.

And you are amazing. Now, want to thank thank you, Brenda. You know I got to bring you back because our conversation became a different conversation the second half, and I think that that's a really good thing because people need to hear how the industry is and there's a shot, but you can win being you and don't let nobody under not the media, undermine your opportunities by making you feel like you only got a job because you are black, you only got a job because you're a woman, You only got a job because you are this type of person. We have to recognize that our skill set matters. Our skill set allows us to compete. If you graduate from HBCU, it's no different than graduating from Penn State. Equally talented people qualified to do the job because we have the right skill set. Thank you for coming on Money Making Conversation. I appreciate you.

Thanks for Sean.

Thanks for Sean.

This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Master Class hosted by Mayor Rashan McDonald. Thank you our guests in the show today and thank you our listening audience.

This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Master Class hosted by Mayor Rashan McDonald. Thank you our guests in the show today and thank you our listening audience.

Now.

Now.

If you want to listen to any episodes or want to be a guest on the show, visit money Making Conversation. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to always leave with your gifts. Keep winning. This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass hosted by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests on the show today and thank you our listening to audience now. If you want to listen to any episode I want to be a guest on the show, visit Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to always leave with your gifts. Keep winning.

If you want to listen to any episodes or want to be a guest on the show, visit money Making Conversation. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to always leave with your gifts. Keep winning. This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass hosted by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests on the show today and thank you our listening to audience now. If you want to listen to any episode I want to be a guest on the show, visit Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to always leave with your gifts. Keep winning.