For many years, I wondered why I had an accent and other people
didn’t, why people laughed when I made mistakes speaking English, why men
discriminated against female CEOs and why corporate promotions were based on what
type of degree you had?
Society can be very cruel at times and that’s why we must be
very aware of not allowing certain remarks to create limitations in our lives. I find racial and gender specific discrimination
very disrespectful and I have zero tolerance for them. These hurtful comments can stay with you
forever and they can be very destructive in someone’s life. I do not find it funny and have no problem
speaking up if someone is discriminating against another person.
I will never get people to stop making fun of my accent, my English
mistakes and funny bloopers when I speak at times. It is something I have learned to accept and I
laugh about it every day. However, for
many years I found them offensive and felt limited because I didn’t sound like
an American. I knew I was capable of
doing more but, because people made fun of me I became insecure and feared
public speaking and writing. Eventually,
I learned to overcome these insecurities by trying regardless of what other
people said. My life changed when I
decided to live my life and ignore any negative comments or opinions.
I never experienced gender specific discrimination until I
built my own company. It was during a meeting
where we were finalizing terms and negotiations with another company to do
business together. Our male technology director had just finished
presenting to the other company’s CEO.
After the presentation the company’s CEO asked, “Who is responsible for
signing the contract?” Our technology director pointed his finger
towards me and said, “You need to speak with her.” Then the CEO said, “I want to speak with your
company’s CEO not his administrative assistant.” I stood up, walked over to him with
confidence and said, “I decide who I do business with since I am the CEO of this
company.” And he said, “You are a very
smart woman to have such a talented team.”
I never felt so disgusted by someone assuming a male had to be the one
running a company.
There were many times in my corporate career where I was
told I couldn’t get the promotion because I didn’t speak English well or
because I didn’t have a college degree. People can discriminate all they want but, I
know that when you work hard anything is possible. I might not speak perfect English or have a
college degree but my determination has proven itself time and time again and
has given me the opportunity to have a successful business. It’s not about having the perfect education
or degree; it’s about just doing it and believing in yourself!
This is GOALYGO!
Yanira ALY Nazario :))
