We recently connected with Y. Elaine Rasmussen and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Y. Elaine, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
Over my career, I almost have always been the only person who looks like me in the room.
As a poor Black kid, I was one of three kids attending a Catholic school of 800. One of the other Black kids was my brother.
My mother had the good sense to have me take ballet lessons, where I was again the only one who looked like me. It was like I was living two lives. During the day everything was very completely different than what I would experience at home. It was like I was being given two completely different manuals on how to navigate the world. This continued when I went to college.
I attended the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). While California itself was diverse, the UCSB campus was not. The campus and the city of Santa Barbara were-and continue to be very affluent, it wasn’t uncommon to see celebrities walking down Main street. If I remember correctly, there were only 2,00 students of color on a campus of 18,000.
My career has mostly been sales, marketing, PR, and communications in a variety of white-male-dominated industries such as manufacturing, entertainment, fashion, and finance. One of my first professional jobs was as a stock analyst for Sherson/Lehman Brothers in Santa Barbara. I was the only female who wasn’t a secretary and the only person of color.
It was through these experiences and many others–I was forced to learn how to get really comfortable with constantly being uncomfortable. Having people patronize or condescend to you, make assumptions about you, or implicitly and sometimes explicitly make judgments about who I was, my abilities, etc.
All of these experiences have helped me develop a talent for moving through difficult conversations with grace, empathy, and resilience by asking really good questions that focus on the end goal. I’ve become a master negotiator, strategist, and facilitator who is able to achieve successful outcomes without compromising relationships.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
As the Founder and CEO of Social Impact Now and ConnectUP! Institute, I have the privilege of helping people and companies create innovative social finance solutions the give meaningful equitable change in our world. Social Impact Now provides social finance, social impact, and impact investing advisory services. These are fancy words that mean, we help people and organizations align their money and strategies to their values. We do this through a variety of service offerings such as consulting, facilitation, and individual and group workshops. Our clients have included Fortune 500 companies, High Net Worth individuals and nonprofit organizations who see to be the change they want to see. As a certified B-corp, we are dedicated to fostering a more just and inclusive world by mobilizing individuals and organizations towards collective action. We are in the final stages of launching a digital platform focused on developing the next generation of change-makers through leadership and social impact education. We will be offering a variety of programs including virtual boot camps, workshops, and retreats that equip individuals with the skills and knowledge to create a sustainable impact for their company, community and themselves. Our core mission is to provide tactical, but practical action-based content that powers transformation change. We expect to release our new platform in October 2023, so keep an eye out!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three most impactful qualities for me on my journey have been an openness to learning, an entrepreneurial mindset, and a commitment to collaboration. As I’ve grown in my career, I continue to strive to be open-minded when it comes to projects, technology, or ideas. Being willing to learn and take risks has helped me stay one step ahead of the competition. For those who are beginning their journey, I would advise to be open to learning new ideas and trying different approaches as well as embracing failure and using it to propel you forward. When it comes to having an entrepreneurial mindset, I’ve found that taking initiative and being willing to take risks has helped me find success in ways and places where no one else was looking. It’s been essential to staying ahead of the game and thinking outside of the box. For those who are just starting out, I would encourage them to find mentors that can help guide them on their journey, as well as develop a plan that will help you stay focused and motivated.
Finally, collaboration has been instrumental in my success. Find your people! Working with a team of passionate, like-minded individuals to solve problems has been invaluable. No one can do anything alone-at least not very well. Seek out opportunities to work on projects that involve collaboration and building relationships with other professionals in the industry. This can also help open up new doors and lead to amazing opportunities.
What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur that is eager to make a positive social impact?
My final piece of advice for people who are looking to make an impact is simple: be fearless and never stop believing in yourself. Even when you’re not sure, fake it until you make it. If you do it long enough, it becomes your new normal. Too often, we let our doubts and fears hold us back from making the change we want to see in the world.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
I come from a home broiled in poverty, housing insecurity, addiction, and toxic communication. And somehow. someway, amidst all of that, my mom made three critical decisions that continue to positively impact my life to this day. -Eating well – since the ’70s my mom was a vegetarian. So I grew up shopping at the health food store. I’ll just say this, healthy food has come a long way since then in flavor and options and for the better.
Activity – my mom signed me up for dance and I danced semi-professionally from the time I was 4 until I was 24. Dance taught me tenacity, perseverance despite obstacles, and the power of understanding and leveraging everyone’s talent-even when you’re not the superstar.
Education – my mom worked two and three jobs to put my brother and me through nine years of catholic school. The privileged access I was afforded as a result of that education has proven immeasurable. It was there I learned the value of quality education, how to leverage that education, and how to navigate walking through doors that are necessarily meant for you.
I would be remiss if I did not mention my grandmother who was truly my best friend. At five foot, 105 pounds, she walked, talked, and navigated the world like an Amazon woman. There are too many lessons from her to share here, but suffice it to say, I learned from her that NO ONE is better than me and not to let ANYONE tell me or make me feel otherwise.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.socialimpactnow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socialimpactnow/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SocialImpactNow
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/y-elaine-rasmussen-21b4ba3/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzuBYa8RrZ8vZ7Yrr1uUHEg
Image Credits
https://www.dash-collective.com/aboutdesiree Desire Wells
