DE Talk Unplugged | Lived Experiences of an LGBTQ Employee in the Workplace

by | Mar 24, 2022 | Networking and Education

Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts have become a priority for employers in today’s evolving workforce but the terms are often associated with a much narrower focus than they should be. While race is often at the forefront of these programs, other groups can be left behind – and this includes individuals who are diverse in their sexual orientation and gender identity. In this episode of the DE Talk podcast, host Candee Chambers sits down with internationally awarded public speaker, author, first responder, and LGBTQIA+ activist Samantha Smith to discuss her experience and how being an ally isn’t a choice, it’s a must, for achieving workplace diversity and inclusion.

Candee Chambers:

Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your transition into corporate America? Actually, one of the things that we really focus on here is culture and trying to help our Member companies when they’re trying to hire individuals. How do you showcase your culture? So, when you were searching for jobs, were you focused on finding an employer that was LGBTQ friendly or did you focus on the job and it didn’t matter what company it was? How did you decide?

Samantha Smith:

Yeah. So let me unpack a little bit of that. So, certainly transitioning from law enforcement to what we would call a “civilian job” was scary. That was a really dark point in my life because an injury forced me out of what I thought I would do for the rest of my life. And so, it really was a trying time of me understanding my purpose and how do I continue to serve. And yeah, there was a lot that I had to kind of unpack within that transition but in that, specifically, to what you asked, it’s funny that you asked that because I remember having a conversation with my wife and saying, “I really want to find somewhere that I’m comfortable,” especially being in Texas. I’m not originally from Texas, I’m originally from Brooklyn, New York and so very different worlds.

And, while I respect that location has a lot to do with it, I’m also cognizant that I have some control over it. And so, when I started the transition into the corporate world, I said, this is important, I want to make sure that I find somewhere that I can be accepted. I don’t want to be walking in and them calling me sir on my first day. And, I’ve dealt with that so many times. And so, it was just the normal job searching websites, and I’ll never forget, I was looking at some jobs and the job I ended up taking, I scrolled to the bottom and you know where it’ll always say, we do not discriminate against–

Candee Chambers:
The EEO tagline.

Samantha Smith:
There you go. There you go. I’m sure you’re familiar with it.

Candee Chambers:
Oh, yeah. 

Samantha Smith:
This one literally said sexual orientation or gender identity. And then, it had a little LGBT tag there. And I was like, “What?” And, I can literally see the moment that I was sitting at my desk and I turned to my wife and I was like, “Hey look, this is crazy.” I didn’t even know they do this. Looking back on it, it’s kind of sad that I got excited about it because it should be the norm, but it’s not. And so, as lighthearted as it is, it also is kind of like, man, it is 2022 and we’re still dealing with this. We shouldn’t be, but we are.

And so, yeah, 100% when I saw that, that’s where I want to work, because at least I know that they have that in mind. If they’re willing to stand up and say, hey, I’m a company that’s going to put an LGBT symbol on it, or a gender identity wording or whatever specific that it was that made me feel comfortable. That to me, at least felt, that doesn’t mean every person who works there is going to be accepting, but at least I know the business has my back. That absolutely drove me to apply there and ultimately accept the position. So, 100%, that played a big part.

Listen to the full episode to hear Samantha’s award-winning and heart-wrenching Last Call speech in its entirety, as well as her experience with ERGs in her corporate role. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!

Kacie Koons
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