Inevitably you will find yourself in a room where no one else is like you. They might not look like you, speak like you, pray or love like you or think like you. Managing to be effective in all contexts is an essential part of your journey towards reaching your full potential and so we asked some brilliant members of the community to share their stories and advice.

Noa Sinclair

Being the only person in a room, presenting myself as I am isn’t necessarily a new thing for me. In some instances there have been other’s who happily tell me how I’m being perceived. This is both verbal and unspoken cues, told in body language, side eyeing and inactions. Creative’s understand that we’re the only one’s who can speak on our craft while standing in our visions. Yes, there will be the select few who see you show, visit ur gallery or watch you in some form of visual media and not be able to relate, for one reason or another. Read More>>

Dante Lee

I believe it’s deeply rooted in my upbringing. My parents instilled in my brothers and me a strong sense of goal-oriented drive and unwavering motivation. As a black man, I take immense pride in being a beacon of diversity in most spaces and earning acceptance through my authenticity. I’m unapologetically genuine, wearing my heart on my sleeve, and fearless in expressing my emotions. I was raised to treat everyone with equal respect, from the janitor to the CEO, and never forget that we’re all on the same journey. Read More>>

AIDEE MEZA

Being the only one in the room; I have learned to be successful even when I am the only one in the room that looks like me is to simply look at myself, not at others. My focus is myself; not others.

I have actually have already been in settings where it is that I am the only one that looks like me. I am a first-generation Mexican-American
in the field of Interior Design, which obtains about 7% of Hispanics in the field. Read More>>

Brandon Long

Being the only one in the room that looks like me is an ever-changing challenge. It would be an easier answer to this question if the challenge was always the same. Alas, it is not. One skill that I have focused on in order to be effective/successful in such situations is to be authentic.

I have worked on staying true to myself, no matter what. “Never lose Brandon” is what I repeat internally. Authenticity is something that is hard to deny. While not everyone in that room, who does not look like me, will connect; those who are meant to will. They will see the genuine human that I am and appreciate that. Whatever task I am there to do is done successfully when I show up intrinsically. Read More>>

Shawniece Carter

Being the only one in the room has never discouraged me, it’s fueled me. As a model who’s a mother, with stretch marks, curves, and skin that tells a story, I’ve defied the industry’s narrow standard. I’m not the tallest, the youngest, or the ‘ideal sample size,’ but I’ve still walked international and domestic runways, appeared on billboards, and been published in magazines like Vogue. I’ve done it with charisma, relentless drive, and the kind of personality that leaves lasting impressions. I don’t wait for doors to open, I create opportunities through passion, connection, and showing up as my full self every time. Read More>>

Michael Kessel

I grew up in a very small town where I never quite fit in. For most of my early life, I felt like an outcast, like everything I thought or believed went against the grain. When I finally moved out, I made an intentional choice to push beyond my comfort zone. College and touring as a musician were two major avenues that helped with that. Read More>>

Karen Caldwell

Being the only one in the room is all I know. Growing up in 1980s London, I was often the only Black child in the class, or at most, one of just a few. That experience stayed with me as I entered the workforce, where I again found myself in rooms where I was the only one who looked like me. Even when I lived in the Caribbean, where race wasn’t as much of an issue, I was still seen as different. While I was fully accepted, my British background made me stand out in ways that others could recognize. I wasn’t “othered” in the sense of exclusion, but I was marked as different, not fully aligned with the local way of being. Read More>>

Jamelle Sanders

As an entrepreneur and a trailblazer in my industry, I came to the realization quickly that I was going to have to blaze my own trail and set my own standards. When I started in business, it did not take long to realize that I was going to face obstacles and hurdles along the way. This is not anything new for me. I have been overcoming adversity and confronting challenges my entire life. In fact, because of my bullet-proof mindset, I truly believe that in life we can either accept our fate or become the architect of the future that we have always desired. In other words, you can sit back and wait for opportunities to come to you.  Read More>>

Freddie Lee

My journey began in a war zone that we called home. An alcoholic father who caused dysfunctionality in the home, told me that “you never amount to anything.” Chaos was normal, but the battlefield taught me my first survival skill: Hypervigilance. Learning to read shifts in tone, flickers of anger, the calm before violence—wasn’t just about safety. It became my secret weapon. Read More>>