Full of... All of Me

Hey Friends!

I just got back from speaking at @altsummit and I must share my praise report with yall! First of all, I was really nervous about speaking at this event. I mean I talk about antiracism and these women were going to leave my talk to go make flower crowns. I sincerely doubted that I would add much to this conference because so many people dread the DEI Talk.

Can you believe my speaking view???

But then I realized that the women at Alt are me and I am them. So I spoke about being a writer, a creative, a business owner. I talked about hoping for one more opportunity in my inbox and the crushing blow of hearing “no”. I talked about creating teams and letting them go.

And I didn’t have to sacrifice talking about race in America, or navigating the world as a Black woman or the unique challenges of having a chronic illness. I got to bring all of me to that stage- maybe for the first time in more than a decade of doing this work.

To be clear, I love talking specifically about antiracism. But I just learned that I also really love bringing my experience, my ambition, my learning, my career journey too.

This picture makes me sooooooo happy!

Always a good idea to bring a travel bestie - @Jennybpotter and I had the best time together. Duh.

So thank you @designmom for the invite, and thank you to EVERY SINGLE person who got up early for my session. Thank you for going on that ride with me. Thank you for seeing me and allowing me to see you. You may have just changed everything for me.

Full of sunshine,

Austin

Photos by: @kristenloken