We were lucky to catch up with Elaine Richardson, CMP recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Elaine, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My mom. My parents were divorced when I was 18 months old, so for most of my early years, it was just myself and my mother. For a long time, she didn’t have a college education. So she was going to nursing school at night, while I stayed slept on the sofas of family friends. In many ways, it was an unsettled childhood, but she worked very hard to make a life for us. So even though we always had the essentials, when you have a single parent, you always live with worry–what will happen to you if something happens to your mom? So for a long time as a child I remember being… scared. When I was 8, my mom re-married and adapting to a new parent brought with it another set of challenges to overcome.
It’s incredibly stressful when life feels precarious all the time, so one of the things I learned to do really early was to sit, quietly, on my own and just let things fall away. I couldn’t control certain things that were happening to me, so I really stopped worrying about them and focused on what I COULD control.
These days it’s probably more like a meditation practice, but giving yourself permission to just not think about anything for awhile can enable you to deal with heavy things. Letting go is one of the most difficult things to do, but accepting that you can only control so much and focusing on those things has been one of the most valuable lessons of my life. As I have moved into my work life, I have used these lessons as a guiding philosophy and it has enabled me to work through personal and professional hardships. When you focus on what you can control and don’t allow the things you can’t control to steal your mental energy, it pushes you past where many people get stuck and keeps you moving forward.
Powering through these periods of my life is what really taught me to keep going in all circumstances and never to let situations get the best of you. Learning those skills growing up really helped me as an adult to adapt to just about anything.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I believe deeply that the holistic combination of events, media, marketing, sales and community can result in transformational encounters. In my daily life and as an event strategy consultant, I am focused on delivering experiences that enrich and empower individuals.
In my current role as Vice President of Conference and Operations at the National Black MBA Association, I am responsible for the event strategy and execution and membership operations of one of the largest non-profit organizaitons for Black professionals. One of the best things about our organization is that you don’t need an MBA. Though we were founded by MBA students from the Unviersity of Chicago in 1970, after 50 years empowering Blacks in business our mission has evolved to support Black professionals across the spectrum by connecting them to others for support, uplift and celebration.
My main event is the NBMBAA Annual Conference and Exposition, the nation’s largest diversity career event. Our Conference and Expo combines networking, professional development and career opportunities into a four-day celebration of Black and Brown professionals with 10,000 attendees. It’s a community that comes together to support each other across job functions and disciplines. We also support students by offering case competitions for graduate and undergraduate studnents, so they may earn scholarships to support their educations. The incredible power of all of these professionals in one place helps to enable and inspire the next generation of professionals by showing them what is possible. There’s something amazing about seeing thousands of professionals of color, in full business dress, engaging with each other. Enabling our members supporters and stakeholders to find new opportunities, to connect and to empower each other is what inspires me to keep building and improving our experiences.
This year’s event will come to Washington, D.C., September 17-21. Updates and details will be available via www.nbmbaaconference.org.
I also have the privilege of overseeing our high school student event, Leaders of Tomorrrow. In 35 chapters across the country, NBMBAA members mentor high school students from 14-18. We come together each year (this June, also in Washington, D.C.) for a conference where they can begin to build their own networks, gain leadership skills and compete in their own collegiate-level case competition for scholarships.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Keep Going. I’m a procrastinator by nature and it’s easy to find reasons to stop. I continually have to push myself to keep moving ahead, but this is a critical piece. Don’t focus on what you CAN’T do, look at what you CAN do. If you have to have a mantra you repeat to yourself, whether it’s “just keep swimming” or “I can do this,” do whatever it takes to keep forward motion. Sometimes continuing to move is what can push you past a plateau or a problem. When you’re tempted to stop, don’t and then see what happens when you keep moving.
Do the Hard Thing
Most of us don’t like to do things that are difficult. It’s human nature. But you don’t grow with easy. It’s the intricate beasts that enable us to learn new things and expand our capabilities. So when it’s easy to bypass a hard task, sometimes you don’t — take it on and bank the knowledge from your experience. The next time you have a hard choice and you’re tempted to take the easy way, stop and ask yourself not just can I do this, but should I do this?
Embrace Fear
I wish someone had told me this earlier in life, because fear can really hold you back from putting yourself out there fully. Getting comfortable with fear, which is usually something that makes us all uncomfortable — to the point wehre we want to get away from it, empowers you to achieve more in spite of your fears. Theoretically, you should always have full confidence in yourself. And a lot of women see others out there owning it and think…I wish I could do that. You can do that, But you don’t have to. It’s okay. to just be you. But whether you fake it till you make it, just push through or continually recite the fear passage from the book Dune “I must not fear… fear is the mind-killer!” — know that you are always MORE than you believe. Doing something even though you might be afraid is always brave. And that bravery is how you find the courage to conquer your fears and progress to the next challenge and the next one.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
I have always been one of those quietly competent people. I take a lot of pride in doing the work right, handling the big problems and being that person you can go to to know that things will be done. But I’ve never been one to be out front, telling the stories and touting successes. I’ve always left that for others with the thought that the work speaks for itself.
It’s taken me a long time to get here, but my biggest area for growth over the last 12 months has been in trying to put myself forward more. I’ve been emrbacing speaking opportunities, consulting work and continuing education — I’ll finish an Executive MBA this spring, with plans to add certifications next year. Even with this piece for Bold Journey, I likely wouldn’t have done it a year ago, because I’ve always been more comfortable being in the background. However, by pushing myself down, I’ve given others the ability to shine and to take accolades for my work. So while those who know me know what I do and seek me out, that’s not always enough to ensure that people think of me for new opportunities. If I want to be sure more doors will be open for me in the future, I have to make an effort to stand out and be my own champion. Luckily, I have a great network that is willing to help me with this. And while it’s not the most natural feeling, being out of my comfort zone in this way is a big challenge that I’ve embraced.
Contact Info:
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaine-richardson/
- Other: Learn more about the National Black MBA Association at www.nbmbaa.org
For information about our annaul conference and expo, please visit www.nbmbaaconference.org.
Image Credits
For my main photo in the NBMBAA office: John Washington
