Preparing Girls for Business and Women for the Boardroom

WEBVTT

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. Welcome back to

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the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
to tuning in again this week. I'm

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your host, Alise Cortes. Join
you live from Dallas, which is home

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base for me. If you've been
tuning in for a while, you know

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this program is all about helping people
create more meaningful and purposeful lives and equipping

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leaders insight organizations to cultivate meaning and
purpose that elicits passion inspired contribution, innovation,

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and persevering performance. I talk with
my guests to draw on their expertise

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and share my own experience consulting,
speaking and developing workforces across the globe.

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Before we get into the program,
let me give a shout out to our

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Right to Buy. Thank you much
for your sponsorship each week in these conversations,

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I hope you walk away with something
you can immediately use in your life

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and work. And if I can
do anything to help you along your journey,

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go to my website at a Leascortes
dot com and use the contact me

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feature to message me and let's open
a conversation about what you're exploring and see

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how I might be able to help. Whether you want to learn more about

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how to develop purpose inspired leadership and
meaning infuse culture in your organization, you

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want to see about joining a catch
fire online inspiration, accountability or mastermind community

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to nurture your own passion and purpose, or you'd like me to speak for

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your company or conference at any rate. I'm glad we're connected, and thanks

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for listening. Now onto this week's
program with us today as Selina Senti Bynis

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of GPS Consulting, a boutique consulting
firm dedicated to helping small construction business owners

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with the success and transition of their
largest asset, which is their business.

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She's also the founder and CEO of
The Boardroom Project, a nonprofit dedicated to

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educating and exposing young girls to the
business sector at a much younger age,

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while also providing professional women with the
support system they need to climb the corporate

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ladder through various sport positions on corporate
and nonprofit boards across the country. We'll

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be talking today about that Boordborn project
that she created and the work she and

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her team are doing there. She
joined us today from San Antonio, Texas.

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Selina. Welcome to Working on Purpose. Thank you for having me.

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It is so great to have you
on the air and share with you.

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And let's just give a shout out
to how it is that we connected,

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and that is through right through the
Leadership Women program. And both of us

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are big fans and are involved with
our great work. So I want to

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say thank you to them for bringing
us together. First, Yes, yes,

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Leadership Texas, Leadership Women. Yes, I've met some amazing people over

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that time. So as we get
into this. I've just it was a

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leadership program, and there's a couple
things about your particular background that I want

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to talk about before we get into
what you've done at the Bordone project,

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because I think it's really important to
highlight the journey that you've been on to

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get to where you are. So
if we can, Selena, let's start

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this conversation by understanding your early career
in the financial sector. And I do

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want to understand how you think that
skill set helped you become the person you

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are today. Of course, alls
well, you know, it really started

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from a very young age and as
a product of the East Side of San

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Antonio. If it wasn't for city
programs like the Youth Opportunity Program or buy

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the volunteer income tax assistance programs that
actually taught me how to prepare taxes.

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And then later I was able to
get a part time job at a bank

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as a vault teller, and from
vault telling, I became a telephone customer

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service specialists at Frost Bank. And
you know that fundamentally allowed me to not

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only grow through my customer service skills, because there's nothing like having to de

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escalate a phone call and to really
get them understanding and appreciating their their time

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and their service. So from the
customer service position, you know, that

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fundamentally allowed me to be able to
pick up the phone and speak to anybody

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across the country. So from that
I became a telephone banker. I then

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went into loan products and business products
as well. But it wasn't until I

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decided to pick up and move away, and you know, I wanted a

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change of scenery and that's exactly what
I got in Portland, organ And so

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when I lived in Orgon, I
worked for a couple of succession firms.

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They were it was a very niche
business. But ideally what I did in

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this in that realm, if you
will, is buy and sell financial firms

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across the country. So for any
independent financial advisors that own their own book

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of business, we were able to
put a value to that book and then

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through a multiple we were able to
buy and sell those firms. So as

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someone that is from San Antonio and
then being exposed to that world, it

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was very eye opening. But of
course it allowed me to be in spaces

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that I may otherwise not have access
to. I didn't realize you had done

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a stint through Portland, Oregon.
I spent many, many years in Portland,

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Selena. I'm from eastern Oregon originally, so you and I have some

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shared background there. I don't know
if we were there in the same years,

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but it's a great place. I
love Portland. I do too.

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So another thing about your background that's
already an interesting in and of itself,

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that you got the opportunity early in
life to have such a purview into business

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and buying and selling businesses. That's
amazing. Then I know too, you

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were have been an active community service
leader in San Antonio, and I know

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you served in the or of the
South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless and

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also run for city council district.
I mean, it's just amazing. This

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is great leadership. So I'd like
to understand how those experiences have been important

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to you and maybe how they've formed
into making you who you are. Of

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course, so you know, just
personally once again being a product of this

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community that is very marginalized. Still
to this date, we have such high

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poverty rates in certain zip codes and
for those that may not know, San

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Antonio is still one of the greatest
segregated cities in all of the country actually

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second behind Miami. Interestingly enough so
because of the way San Antonio is segregated

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and just how the populations are kind
of in the education, once again,

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I go back to those programs that
I benefited and was exposed to that allowed

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me to acquire the education and access. But it wasn't until I moved back

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from Portland, Oregon in twenty fifteen
that back into my very the very same

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neighborhood that I recognized not much had
changed after twenty years. And I will

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say that after all the years of
my professional experience, whether it was in

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the banking industry or a succession firm, or you know, just working in

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various organizations and companies, I recognized
that I had such I had so much

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information and access that how could I
come back and share that information and access

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to young girls so that they wouldn't
have to struggle or you know, go

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through the same hardships as I did
to get to the same place I am

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in my life. And so,
you know, it became very natural for

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me to be a leader of my
own community when in San Antonio, because

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I've always been one to speak up
for those that are voiceless or maybe just

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haven't found their voice quite as yet. And then of course me serving on

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the Sarah Board San Antonio Regional Line
for the Homeless is really close to home

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for me. I grew up homeless. I grew up nomadic as a child,

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living in eleven different states before I
was eleven. So that meant that

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I have an understanding and a clear
idea of what it meant and what it

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means to be homeless as a child
all the way into my teen years.

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And then of course, you know, as a woman leader, a female

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leader I recognized in our community district
too, to be exact, that we've

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had six council persons in the past
six years, so we really haven't had

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any consistent leadership, and really leadership
that comes from the heart, meaning that

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someone that wants to serve the public, be a true public servant and represent

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that community. And so that's really
why, as natural as it became or

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unfolded, I decided to put myself
out there for city council. And it

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was as hard as it was,
it was the best experience I had.

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Oh my gosh, Selena, there's
so much to you. I'm so glad

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to have you on aeron Terry with
our listeners. Really quick I the experience

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of being homeless and being in eleven
different states by the time you're eleven years

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old, just quickly if you can. What did that experience teach you?

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Well? How much time do we
have? Yeah, we don't have that.

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That's the only bad thing is I'd
love to hear more about that.

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Of course. You know, at
the end of the day, what I've

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recognized about myself, whether a woman
or a man or just someone as an

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individual, I'm extremely resilient, I'm
extremely resourceful, I'm extremely gregarious. So

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maybe I am I'm an extrovert naturally, but I have to say that those

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experiences growing up in the streets,
growing up having to talk my way out

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of things, having to speak to
whom ever, it really allowed me the

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confidence to really just be able to
have a conversation with whomever, regardless of

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their status or race or language,
and really has made me who I am

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today. You know, I see
people for who they are, and ultimately

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it's that level of resilience and humility
that continues to just push me forward and

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the way I treat and interact with
other people. Okay, that's beautiful Selene

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and quickly. So this is such
a great teaching moment for our listeners who

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know that I also am a logo
therapist, which is really Victor Frankel School

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of existential psychology that really is all
about how we discover and create meaning for

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ourselves. And one of the ways
that we can do that is the attitudinal

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stance that we take to the events
that occur occur to us in life and

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our response to them. So instead
of sounding like you know, you're a

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victim and oh my gosh, and
these horrible things happen to you, you've

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taken that just say this is why
I folded this into myself, and this

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is what's helped me become who I
am today. And that is a stunning

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example of the magnificence of the human
spirit and just what we can actually do.

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And I just so applaud that.
Thank you. And then on top

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of all that, of course,
here you are an entrepreneur and you're a

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business owner, so I want to
talk just a little bit about this boutique

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consulting services business that you run serving
construction businesses. I mean, you are

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clearly a businesswoman and a leader.
So I'm curious, you know, are

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you just at your core an entrepreneur
that did this just happen to you?

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It happened to me at least,
I don't you know, my parents weren't

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an entrepreneurial. I mean my father
and my father's blue collar worker, and

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my mom, you know, is
a juvenile probation officer. So I didn't

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really see anything entrepreneurial growing up per
se or the decisions I made. Rather,

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it was me working for so many
very as bosses and companies and individuals

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and recognizing that for the same money
I was making them, I could be

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making for myself and even a beyond
that. I'm a bit of a road

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breaker, So when you've never had
roles growing up, it's kind of hard

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to follow them. So as I
got older and just through my professional experiences,

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you know, I just naturally knew
that I would be better suited my

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productivity everything that I produced and the
service I do have a self background,

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so I know that people don't buy
products and services, they buy the individuals.

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And that's ultimately why, you know, everything we do is cut a

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relationship based and so all of this
works to my favor, and really it's

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just at the end of the day, me wanting to work for myself because

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I knew that the product and service
that I was going to deliver was something

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that I would be happy with.
That is brilliant, and I can really

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appreciate that, and I can certainly
relate to that in many ways. And

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of course, in my particular case, the work that I'm doing is around

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meaning, purpose, passionate inspiration,
and purpose is in service of my purpose,

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and so it's really profoundly important for
me that I do that in a

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way that is uniquely pertinent to me
and the way that I want to express

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that. So I really appreciate and
connect with what you're saying. Of course.

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All right, So before we get
into the boardroom project, which is

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what we're going to talk about after
we take this first break, I just

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wonder if we can, if you
can say just a couple of things about

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what are some of the more salient
or more important aspects of your life and

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career to date that you are most
proud of, and why you know I

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have to go back to at twenty
five, I knew that I wanted a

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change of seniory. I had been
fortunate enough to travel maybe not under this

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best of circumstances, but I would
have to say it was when I packed

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up my car. I was working
for the Salvation Army as a disaster case

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managers. Katrina had just happened,
and I knew I wanted a change of

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scenery, and so I just literally
selected Portland. I did not have a

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job when I moved out there,
but I have to say, at least

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like had I not taken that risk, And I know so many of us

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just talk about it and mention it, but it is literally me packing up

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everything I own and just moving out
to a foreign land. That was probably

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the best thing I could have done
for myself professionally as well as personally.

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The second thing was, of course
running for city council. I mean,

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it's one thing to be vocal,
it's one thing to be engaging. You

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know. I've done a lot of
things locally in my community that I feel

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have made an impact today as well
as it will tomorrow. But ideally,

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the fact that I put myself out
there as a as a woman that comes

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from this community and I did not
have any political backing or any desire to

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really be in the political world,
but that I ran a clean race and

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that you know, I made new
friends, new neighbors, and that ideally

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I created a movement, if you
will, in bringing more people to the

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table collectively and just bringing more structure
so that as a whole, our community

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is heard. Oh, Selena,
you are such an oppressive human being.

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I'm so glad to know you.
And with that, yeah, you're welcome.

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It's amazing. I'm so inspired.
Actually, so thank you for that.

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I appreciate that gift. It's time
for our first break. I'm your

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host, Alice Coortes Women on the
Year with Selena Santi Bagnez, the founder

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and CEO of GPS Consulting and also
The Boardroom Project, which is a nonprofit

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dedicated to educating and exposing young girls
to the business sector at a much younger

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age, while also providing professional women
with the support system they will need to

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climb the corporate ladder through various board
positions on corporate and nonprofit boards across the

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country. We've been talking about her
earlier experiences of what formed her into the

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person in leader she is today.
After the break, we're going to get

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into the Boardroom Project. Stay with
us, we'll be right back. Alis

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Cortez is a speaker and engagement and
development catalyst. She designs and delivers professional

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development, leadership and engagement workshops and
can bring her expertise to your organization.

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She will help ignite meaningful development within
your workforce that will increase employee engagement,

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performance and retention. To learn more
or to invite Elise to speak to your

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organization, please visit her at www
dot Elisecortes dot com. She would welcome

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the opportunity to help get your employees
working on purpose. This is working on

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Purpose with Elise Cortes. To reach
our program today, send an email to

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a lease Alise at Aliscortes dot com. Now back to working on Purpose.

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Thanks christaining with us, and welcome
back to working on purpose if you're just

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joining us. My guest is Selena
Santa Baniells, the founder and CEO of

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GPS Consulting and also The Boardroom Project. I'm your host Elise Cortes, So

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Selena for this next piece here,
I do want to get into what you've

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been doing at the Boardroom Project and
why. And before we do that,

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the first thing I want to call
out, which is smack on the I

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think the homepage of your website.
You cite that women are fifty one percent

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of the population and almost half the
nation's workforce, yet we are still significantly

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unrepresented in boardroom across the country,
and the Government Accountability Office estimates it could

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take more than four decades of women's
representation on boards in order to approach parity

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with their male counterparts. So I
want you to address that if you will.

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But first, why do you believe
women in leadership is so important?

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At the end of the day,
it's all about representation. You know.

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I can dive a little bit more
into that, but you know, we

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look at parity, we look at
population. Also, by you know,

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IRS standards, twenty fifty one,
women will be the head of household,

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meaning that they will be the main
bread winners. And for many families across

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the country, it already is like
that many women, you know, raise

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their families on just a one pay
check. But you know, by twenty

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fifty one, we will not only
be half more than half the population the

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main breadwinners yet and I know we're
definitely you know, the main consumers for

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our families and ourselves as women,
Yet we won't be the ones actually making

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the decisions at the table that will
impact our lives on a daily basis.

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Oh my gosh, that was so
crisp and so compelling, And I know

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for me what I wanted to chime
in with. Why I think that women

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in leadership is important is because we
bring such a different perspective to that business,

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and it's often cited as more inclusive, and we're able to see people

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for their skills and their abilities and
include them and engage them and embrace them

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in a way that is personally meaningful
to people. So there's a lot to

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be said about the way women approach
things, and of course they tend to

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de escalate conflict a little bit better, it seems, and so I too,

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of course support women leadership. So
I love what you're up to.

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It's so important. Thank you.
You're welcome. Now speaking of that,

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one of the other things that you
talked about, I think it's on your

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website and it's also something you and
I talked about when we first met.

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But you distinguish in your early career
as having worked in the dominated financial sector.

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I too, worked in male dominated
areas. How did that experience contribute

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to your decision to found the Boardroom
Project? It was the main decision it

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was the main after me working for
a couple of succession firms across the country,

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me often being the only female in
the room negotiating deals. You know,

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I have some really specific examples where
you know, here, I am

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at the Woodlands in Texas and we're
at the golf course and all of us

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are meeting, and it's across the
room that I see another group of women

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look at me and they're smiling,
and I'm not understanding why until I realized

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as I'm walking out, I'm in
a meeting of nine men and it's only

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me, and I could tell that
these women were just elated to see me

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in this space. And so it's
it's experiences like that and all this statistics

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that we now know and the factual
information that you know that we still are

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not represented in spaces where if other
women are sitting around and they recognize that

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you know what you're doing, that
it ultimately just becomes it ultimately becomes a

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place in which we have to replicate
those situations. But that it that there's

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more of us, and that that
that women are just looking at at individuals

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and saying, Matt, only her, you know, that should that should

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be the norm where there's at least
two to three women in every meeting.

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Mm hmm. Agreed completely. I
I've worked in some male dominate industries like

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for example, and when I when
I was in Seattle, I worked in

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the in the food industry and in
particular the baking baking flower industry for a

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while. But the good thing about
that was it was really easy to get

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an appointment, right, that's a
good thing about it, and it was

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fun. I enjoyed myself. That's
when I learned to golf, So I

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learned. Of course I sucked at
that, but that's okay. The men

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put up with it and as well, and at least from your experience,

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you know that the golf course is
where all the men have their meetings.

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That's exactly right. That's where things
get done and decided and handshakes take place

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and deals get done. Absolutely,
So we just need to recreate, We

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need to create our own space as
women and because ultimately it's all about networkings

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and social capital. Mm hmm.
I agree. Well, So the Boardroom

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project is now a year old,
which is fantastic. Congratulations, Selena,

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that is amazing. We're going to
talk a bit about some of the programs

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that you're that you're there, that
that you're up to there and you provide.

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But in terms of you know,
you've got people that are on the

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board helping you. And so I'm
just more curious about more of the why

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behind the organization. And it takes
a lot. I have a nonprofit organization

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too. It takes a lot to
run an organization like this. So what

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what else is behind your desire to
get this thing up and running and serving

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women and girls? Of course,
well, you know, it fundamentally goes

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to our theme this year of twenty
nineteen, which is being bold, being

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resilient, and being passionate. And
so when you're passionate about something, it's

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not really work. When you're bold, you don't need to ask for permission

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or wait your turn. Rather,
you just know that you're fulfilling something that

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needs to be done for the greater
good. And resilient. I mean that

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I've been resilient all of my life, and I know that the one thing

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that young girls and young women are
exactly that resilient. And so you know,

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I've done the work for the past
two to three years. Actually,

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even though we're turning one, I've
done the work on my own diamond time

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because I really felt strategically and being
a business woman and my approach is different

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to the nonprofit compared to most nonprofits. So I knew that I wanted to

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have the data, I wanted to
have the curriculum, I want to everything

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already established, the relationships, partnerships, and so when this year when I

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actually formed the board, yes,
of course, and it's a huge relief

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so that it's a team of ten
amazing women of me making an eleven,

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but at least that I would fundamentally
have everything already sound and prepared, so

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as everybody's looking from the outside in, they see all this work and all

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this you know, tangible end goals. And we'll actually start our scholar program

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this Thursday. That it really just
becomes having those partnerships and having to figure

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out how we can work together.
And so half of that was all of

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the battle, and right now we're
just moving forward. I'll also tell you

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a lease that before we get into
the programs, we'll actually open up our

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Dallas chapter and oak Cliff at the
end of the month in the twenty six

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and twenty seventh, So not only
do we have the San Antonio market,

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we'll have the Dallas market with the
hopes of having the Austin market by the

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end of the year. Oh my
gosh, fantastic. Talk about impact and

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making a difference in the world.
You know, I often open my conversations

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when I'm out speaking to audiences with
you know, what will you do with

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your one precious life? Well,
you are certainly doing something with your one

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precious life, Selena, kudos to
you. And along those lines, the

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one of the things that I thought
was really interesting is that you don't just

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serve women professional women. You're actually
working with young girls. So I think

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that is a great idea instill it
because you got to get them when they're

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younger, before they really settle into
their mindsets and how they're convicted about what

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they can and can't do in the
world. So exactly right. So say

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a little bit more about, you
know, why you decided to work with

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young women or young girls, and
what ages are we talking about here?

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Of course, so it's middle school, high school, but you know,

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some of the girls that come to
us, we even have sixth grade and

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elementary and so I think that,
of course this is all personal experience me

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growing up in this streets. What
were all the things I wish I would

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have known at my age When you
have to be resourceful, when you have

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when you're forced to learn things on
your own and you don't have parents to

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guide you, you know, you
tend to figure things out the hard way,

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but you still figure them out.
And so in this community, in

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these marginalized communities that I choose to
serve understanding all of that, and so

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by providing these young girls of middle
school and high school, providing them with

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the tools and the resources, which
includes an asset map, identifying social capital,

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identifying what within your own community can
support you to get to whatever goals

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you may have. And so also
understanding that our minority communities do have a

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lot of entrepreneurial small businesses that they
start up within their own families, even

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of course the immigrant population that maintain
the small businesses and hire most people within

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our communities. So by teaching these
you girls of middle school and high school

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age, like you mentioned, Elise, not only getting to them before they're

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set in their ways, but also
letting exposing them to professions, to businesses,

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to individuals that will help support them
in their process. And so even

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if it's five to ten years that
they come back, they will still fundamentally

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understand and remember what it means to
have this support system and these goals.

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I think that's phenomenal and fantastic.
And again, I wish I would have

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been plugged into something like that when
I was that age. Who knows what

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it could have happened to me.
I did have the experience of working for

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my parents in the restaurant business in
my high school years, and that was

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profoundly important and transformative for me.
But for what you're doing for young girls

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is terrific. And then for women, what I think is interesting that you're

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specifically giving them access to and support
in boardrooms, I think is really quite

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a niche. Why did you choose
boardrooms specifically? The whole boardroom project was

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exactly through my experience of being in
boardrooms without having that free male presence.

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And so, you know, the
same things that we're teaching our scholars are

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fundamentally the same things we're teaching our
professional women of twenty to forty years of

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age. So in our scholar program, you know, we talk about how

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to access you know, the entrepreneur
or how to access capital, how to

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you know leadership development one o one, board one oh one. But with

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our pros, you know, we
may assume that they have a basis of

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understanding, but a lot of these
young professional young women have not been exposed

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to the idea of what it means
to serve on the board, but the

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benefits of serving on a board,
not only personally and professionally, but the

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impact it will have in your local
community with the end goal of being in

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a position that we can then get
you structured and set up or corporate board

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positions. So ideally, it's just
looking at the young professional women that say,

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you know, you just don't know
what you don't know. Let us

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provide you wage negotiation, Let's provide
you with Robert Wills of Order training,

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Let's provide you with public speaking,
Let's provide you with financial reporting training.

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Because you know, regardless of what
they become in life or what they do,

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if they just have those basis of
understanding, that business basis, and

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like you mentioned, at least your
parents were entrepreneurs, you got exposure to

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that in that element that they too
will take all of this information that we're

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providing them at no cost if you
will to our scholars that they will then

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go back and teach their own parents
what they're learning here. And the difference

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between the Boardroom Project and most nonprofit
organizations is that it's actually each board member

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that facilitates a class. So we
have a twelve weak curriculum and based off

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of their area of expertise, they
actually will teach that module that will connect

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them for the whole twelve week curriculum. So I you know, once again,

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this is from all of my personal
experience growing up, taking the good,

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the bad, and the ugly and
figuring out what really does work for

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young girls and just positioning in them
in a better situation as they move forward

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in life. Brilliant, just brilliant. Okay. So then, having said

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that, I'm really interested to hear
what is your vision for the Boardroom projected?

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So, in other words, you
know, when it executes to its

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mission and vision, what does the
world look like? Of course, so

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I mentioned already us really expanding in
Texas if you will from you know,

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some of the largest markets of Dallas
and Austin and Houston, ol Paso and

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Laredo. I really do have that
in a two to five year goal setting.

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Now, however, maybe some of
my board members aren't as like excited

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as how quickly I am going,
But you know, it's just because and

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they really do help me, reel
me back into what's reality and what can

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be done. But at the end
of the day, it's there's so many

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communities that can benefit from this information. And so you know, as we're

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working through all of these markets and
we're looking and we're working with young girls

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and women, that means that that
forty four decade parody that you reference at

409
00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:33.319
the beginning won't take four decades.
It'll hopefully only take two decades. And

410
00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:41.440
so meaning that even if we're minimizing
that span of time and providing our next

411
00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:47.039
generation of young girls to make more
than seventy seventy five cents per dollar for

412
00:31:47.079 --> 00:31:51.680
their male counterpart, making that ninety, or making women who are bilingual,

413
00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:56.960
making them you know, paying them
for that, and how marketable they are.

414
00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:00.720
You know. So it's not only
here in time, but I do

415
00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:06.440
plan on expanding another parts. Hopefully
one will be in organ and another part

416
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:12.480
will be me going international and working
in Monterey, in Mexico City and really

417
00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:15.839
letting women know, as you know, Elise as a business owner, that

418
00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:22.240
we should not be limited geographically,
but rather business and personal and professional experiences

419
00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:25.720
are global. Now, m M. I love it, Selena, and

420
00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:30.039
I'm just sure that we've got listeners
that are just chopping at the bit,

421
00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:35.359
leaning into this, going count me
and pick me. Let's take our last

422
00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:37.759
break. I'm Elise Cortez, your
host. We were on the air with

423
00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:42.200
Selena Sante Baniez, the founder and
CEO of GPS Consulting and also the Boardroom

424
00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:45.559
Project. She joined us today from
San Antonio, Texas. Stay with us,

425
00:32:45.599 --> 00:33:08.880
We'll be right back. Alise Cortes
is a speaker and engagement and development

426
00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:15.640
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional
development, leadership and engagement workshops and can

427
00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:20.519
bring her expertise to your organization.
She will help ignite meaningful development within your

428
00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:24.680
workforce that will increase employee engagement,
performance and retention. To learn more or

429
00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:30.440
to invite Elise to speak to your
organization, please visit her at www dot

430
00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:35.480
Elise Coortes dot com. She would
welcome the opportunity to help get your employees

431
00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:46.039
working on purpose. This is working
on purpose with Elise Cortes. To reach

432
00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:53.000
our program today, send an email
to a lease Alise at Alisecortes dot com.

433
00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:58.799
Now back to working on purpose.
Thanks for seeing with us, and

434
00:33:58.839 --> 00:34:00.720
welcome back to working on her because
if you're just tuning in, I guess

435
00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:05.759
to setting as Santi Bagnez, the
founder and CEO of GPS Consulting and also

436
00:34:05.799 --> 00:34:09.239
the Boardroom Project, which is a
nonprofit dedicated educating and exposing young girls to

437
00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:14.159
the business sector at a much younger
age, while also providing professional women with

438
00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:16.880
the support system they will need to
climb the corporate ladder through various board positions

439
00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:21.920
on corporate and nonprofit boards across the
country. I'm your host elis Cortes,

440
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:25.239
so Selina. For this last segment, I really wanted to talk more about

441
00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:30.000
your your partners and programs specifically,
so I know it's sort of somewhat it's

442
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.239
got to take a village, if
you will, to make this all work.

443
00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:39.360
So I'm really interested to understand how
it is that you decided to bring

444
00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:43.840
your partners together, and so if
you could talk about maybe how it was,

445
00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:46.280
maybe what your what was your strategy
to bring them together, and how

446
00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:50.559
it is that they do work to
go to support you. Of course,

447
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:55.119
so what I've seen and of course
this applies to this community is that there's

448
00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:00.880
there's a lot of a lot of
the same old say, and so whether

449
00:35:00.920 --> 00:35:07.760
it's services or it's individuals that serve
those populations, there's not very much collabor

450
00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:13.960
not not true collaboration. And so
you know, part of b RP is

451
00:35:14.039 --> 00:35:17.760
b RP leak and I'll get into
that, but really it's I'm a product

452
00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:22.880
of this community, and so working
whether it's with Bibelow Tech, which is

453
00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:28.800
the largest digital library in the county, or working with child, say for

454
00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:35.159
the Spurs and Sports organization, they
see and know that I live in the

455
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:38.920
community, that I impact the community, and that my true intention is to

456
00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:45.400
you know, really provide that foundation
for all individuals to have an opportunity at

457
00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:51.079
life and success. So my my
strategy to that is just very simple.

458
00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:54.599
It's collaboration at its core. It's
it's not about what you can do for

459
00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:58.440
me or what I can do for
you, but it's how can we do

460
00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:04.559
it together, and that in all
opinion and all honesty, it's I'm of

461
00:36:04.599 --> 00:36:08.679
the opinion that even if five different
organizations serve one individual, serve one young

462
00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:13.639
girl, that is five times likely
that that one young girl will succeed in

463
00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:16.360
life. Because we can't do it
all, and nor should we be trying

464
00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:22.599
to reinvent the will. Rather and
really from the business stand of it is

465
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:25.559
just being more efficient and proficient,
if you will, in the way we

466
00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:32.599
serve individuals and the responsibility of the
dollars that are given to us. So

467
00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:36.400
at the end of the day,
I think collaboration is key. Any grant

468
00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:38.960
writer will tell you that, but
it's more important than just putting it down

469
00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:44.280
on paper. It's actually saying.
For instance, for the boardroom project,

470
00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:49.039
we have very low overhead because we
actually partner with Biblo Tech East where we

471
00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:55.079
hold our classes at our monthly board
meetings are held at various companies and organizations

472
00:36:55.119 --> 00:37:00.880
that support and believe in diversity themselves. So when you're looking at really strategizing,

473
00:37:01.239 --> 00:37:07.440
don't waste your time on companies or
organizations that do not not only believe

474
00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:12.719
in your mission, but not understanding
the end goal. And so when we

475
00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:15.639
work with companies, or I approach
a company or a small business or even

476
00:37:15.719 --> 00:37:20.679
a large organization, it is very
much I'm not here to step on your

477
00:37:20.719 --> 00:37:25.199
toes, but I'm really here to
enhance whatever product and service you're providing by

478
00:37:25.239 --> 00:37:30.119
me being able to educate the young
girls and your workforce to get more of

479
00:37:30.159 --> 00:37:36.920
a diverse pipeline for your company.
So I'm what I want to really echo

480
00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:40.400
and celebrate here, Selena, is
this idea of collaboration. I think it's

481
00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:45.880
such a forward thinking concept. I
had on my show a few weeks ago

482
00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:51.000
Paul Skinner, the author of Collaborative
Advantage, and he really talks about how

483
00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:54.559
there are so many people we can
partner with, including the unliathly suspects like

484
00:37:54.599 --> 00:37:59.440
our clients and even competitors, to
be able to serve our populations. And

485
00:37:59.480 --> 00:38:02.559
so I really applaud that you're embracing
that concept as you are. It's fantastic,

486
00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:08.039
of course. So the next thing
I want to understand is, you

487
00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:12.480
know you serve both women and girls, and I'm curious to know, one,

488
00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:15.400
how do you find these people,
how do they show up in your

489
00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:17.599
world to be able to serve them, and if you can say if you've

490
00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:21.960
got like a typical kind of client
that you serve. Of course, So

491
00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:28.159
as mentioned roll Starter, our scholar
program this Thursday at Biblo Tech, everything

492
00:38:28.280 --> 00:38:31.199
is paperless. So once again we're
trying to teach these young girls the day

493
00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:37.239
and age of technology and the digital
divide is still so great in our community,

494
00:38:37.519 --> 00:38:40.679
even though we do have one digital
library. You know, these young

495
00:38:40.719 --> 00:38:46.079
girls in these communities do not have
consistent internet access or you know, you

496
00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:51.760
try doing an application or a resume
or uploading something on your cell phone and

497
00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:55.119
tell me how that goes, So, you know, very limited in what

498
00:38:55.159 --> 00:39:00.639
they're being exposed to. So actually, these young ladies come to us site

499
00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:06.000
we do. We do community outreach, and I go to them right So,

500
00:39:06.039 --> 00:39:09.840
whether it's the YMCA, whether it's
the library, whether it's the laundrymat,

501
00:39:10.840 --> 00:39:16.320
whether it's the parks, I have
a very connected community. So they

502
00:39:16.440 --> 00:39:23.360
let me know and invite us.
This Saturday will be at KLRN community event,

503
00:39:23.800 --> 00:39:29.519
So we're really out in the community
firsthand and connecting with community members and

504
00:39:29.559 --> 00:39:32.320
families. But really, because I've
been doing this work for the past two

505
00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:36.159
to three years, they already know
me. They see me in the neighborhood.

506
00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:39.239
We shop at the same AHB,
we go to the same library.

507
00:39:39.320 --> 00:39:44.519
I walk my dog in the neighborhood. So the mothers trust me and they

508
00:39:44.559 --> 00:39:46.559
know me, and they know I'm
a product of the community. So it's

509
00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:51.719
a very it's a very different dynamic
than you say, than you will if

510
00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:55.239
someone else from the outside came in. But ideally, these girls come to

511
00:39:55.360 --> 00:40:00.079
us and they know it's interesting.
And these young girls then talk to other

512
00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:04.599
young girls and they say, no, we go places, we do things,

513
00:40:04.639 --> 00:40:07.920
we're learning things, and they're so
excited to be able to get out

514
00:40:07.960 --> 00:40:15.239
of their norm or even just what
they're geographically just forced into. So I

515
00:40:15.280 --> 00:40:19.960
think it's the exposure and the education
that really gets goals to our door.

516
00:40:20.440 --> 00:40:24.159
M So, I would describe that
as a kind of an organic approach and

517
00:40:24.199 --> 00:40:29.119
where you're just you're there and people
have known you word of mouth, and

518
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:31.280
they're connected to you, they feel
connected to do they know of you three

519
00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:36.639
degrees or whatever six dereas of separation. I think that is a very refreshing

520
00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:40.599
approach, Selena. And granted it
will be a little different from our other

521
00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:45.440
cities or other markets, right because
I am a product of the community.

522
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:49.239
So you know, when we look
at Dallas, when we look at Austin,

523
00:40:49.639 --> 00:40:53.239
we'll have to establish but those relationships
and connections. But like you mentioned,

524
00:40:53.239 --> 00:40:55.960
at least at the end of the
day is the collaboration. If we

525
00:40:57.480 --> 00:41:01.360
already go into cities knowing that you
know this, this isn't necessarily my space,

526
00:41:01.440 --> 00:41:06.599
but our space, and where can
we work together. It will just

527
00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:10.599
allow these young girls to come to
come into the program at a much faster

528
00:41:10.719 --> 00:41:14.719
rate. And of course, we
tailor our programs, so for instance,

529
00:41:14.760 --> 00:41:19.159
we'll be at an elementary school,
we'll do we'll provide a speaking series.

530
00:41:19.960 --> 00:41:23.400
We actually go into our high school
and elementary school. So it's a very

531
00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:30.119
tailored program in addition to our twelve
week curriculum that we provide. Well,

532
00:41:30.239 --> 00:41:32.480
that's that I definitely want to talk
to talk more about that, because I'm

533
00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:37.320
really impressed that you've got these three
solid programs, at least three that I

534
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:39.280
can tell from your website. And
I know how much it takes to create

535
00:41:39.320 --> 00:41:43.480
a full on program because I've done
that myself, and hats off for doing

536
00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:46.360
three of them. You've already said
something about the scholar program that's for the

537
00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:50.079
girls, right the middle school and
the high school girls. Is that right?

538
00:41:51.159 --> 00:41:52.719
Okay? Is there more about that
program that you'd like to us,

539
00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:57.320
like us to know than we've already
said. Of course, And I think

540
00:41:57.320 --> 00:42:02.519
the one thing will goal for this
program, the scholar program is not only

541
00:42:02.599 --> 00:42:07.360
the exposure of what we're teaching them. But when they get to the age

542
00:42:07.599 --> 00:42:10.519
or you know, the grade of
eleventh and twelve, our young girls are,

543
00:42:10.519 --> 00:42:15.639
we're having to compete with them going
to go to a fast food And

544
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:19.559
there's nothing wrong with that job,
because these young ladies have to bring money

545
00:42:19.800 --> 00:42:23.320
food to the table themselves and their
families most of them. But if we

546
00:42:23.400 --> 00:42:30.719
can expose them through actually matching,
connecting them for not just an internship,

547
00:42:30.760 --> 00:42:34.880
but a paid internship, so we
don't raise money for scholarships, We actually

548
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:38.440
raise money to pay these young ladies
to match a company, or to even

549
00:42:38.519 --> 00:42:45.400
pay them fully ourselves, so that
we change their trajectory and exposure into various

550
00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:50.400
professions. And that's ultimately how we're
going to get more women into the workforce

551
00:42:50.840 --> 00:42:54.039
and prepare them so that we have
more diversity at the table as well.

552
00:42:54.840 --> 00:42:59.360
So smart, Selene, It's just
so smart. Now, what about the

553
00:42:59.440 --> 00:43:01.679
pro program? What is who's that
for? And what do you do there?

554
00:43:02.239 --> 00:43:06.800
Of course, so it would be
ideally it would be for a twenty

555
00:43:06.840 --> 00:43:12.320
to forty year old individual woman.
That is that whether they're working through college

556
00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:15.840
or just interested in boards as they
start to learn about the concept or you

557
00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:22.079
have a female professional that you know
is really eager to get that promotion,

558
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:27.079
but you know they've been out of
school. There's various programs, but this

559
00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:31.519
is very hands on intent. So
we're very intentional about what we're teaching.

560
00:43:31.559 --> 00:43:35.639
And it's because we know what it
takes. And so I go back to

561
00:43:36.039 --> 00:43:39.360
the Robert rules of order, knowing
how to structure meeting, knowing that the

562
00:43:39.599 --> 00:43:45.679
importance of what's on the agenda,
Knowing not only how to negotiate your wages,

563
00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:50.039
but you know, really enhance your
public speaking. And of course,

564
00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:53.119
at the end of the day,
if you cannot read financial reports and you

565
00:43:53.320 --> 00:43:57.960
just glaze over, you know it
during that time of the meeting, You're

566
00:43:58.079 --> 00:44:01.800
really not going to be as engame, aged or fruitful to the board or

567
00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:08.480
the organization if you don't, if
you're not continuously offering that learning for yourself.

568
00:44:08.840 --> 00:44:14.760
So that's really what we do.
But I will say more specifically that

569
00:44:14.960 --> 00:44:17.760
any of our b RP pro will
come to us, they'll get interviewed,

570
00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:23.079
we will build out a board profile
for them, and so we are also

571
00:44:23.119 --> 00:44:29.400
able to match them with organizations or
companies based off of their passion and say,

572
00:44:29.880 --> 00:44:34.400
look, I have an individual who
is prepared and has gone through BRP

573
00:44:34.639 --> 00:44:37.719
training and they're ready to now serve
on a board. And so we really,

574
00:44:37.880 --> 00:44:43.159
we really are matchmakers in that sense. But it's very hands on.

575
00:44:43.360 --> 00:44:45.039
It's not like, hey, let's
throw someone your way. You know,

576
00:44:45.119 --> 00:44:50.119
I don't want to waste that young
person's time, and I certainly don't want

577
00:44:50.119 --> 00:44:54.639
to waste that the company or organization's
time of having to have consistent board members.

578
00:44:55.159 --> 00:44:58.920
Of course, not totally, it
would dilute your whole cause I got

579
00:44:58.920 --> 00:45:01.960
that. And then finally you have
a link program, who's that for?

580
00:45:02.039 --> 00:45:07.960
And what do you do? Of
course? So our Beer Pink Link is

581
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:13.599
truly at the core is the collaboration. And so whether we're linking organizations,

582
00:45:13.639 --> 00:45:20.360
whether we're linking individuals or linking opportunities, you know, it's it's what we

583
00:45:20.480 --> 00:45:23.960
know is that we have to continue
to add to our social network, We

584
00:45:24.039 --> 00:45:30.400
have to continue to add to our
social capital, and the only way we're

585
00:45:30.440 --> 00:45:34.840
going to do that is by connecting
with one another. So whatever that person

586
00:45:34.920 --> 00:45:39.159
or individual or even organizations needs may
be, how can we link them with

587
00:45:39.360 --> 00:45:44.480
other people that can serve, if
not fulfill that need of the company.

588
00:45:44.760 --> 00:45:51.239
And so it fundamentally link is synonymous
with collaboration. Mm hmmmmmm. I do

589
00:45:51.320 --> 00:45:53.559
something like that in my Purpose on
Fire nonprofit that I run as well,

590
00:45:53.639 --> 00:45:59.079
so I certainly recognize that. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I can

591
00:45:59.199 --> 00:46:01.199
fully imagine that there were people listening
to this that are leaning in and going,

592
00:46:01.199 --> 00:46:04.639
oh my gosh, pick me.
I really need to be involved.

593
00:46:04.639 --> 00:46:07.480
I want to help. What is
the best way for them to contact you

594
00:46:07.559 --> 00:46:12.760
and get into communication? Of course, so you can reach me via email

595
00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:20.559
Selena Sa. Just remember San Antonio
Sa l e NA at Boardroomproject dot org

596
00:46:20.679 --> 00:46:23.639
is my direct email. You of
course can find us on social media,

597
00:46:23.679 --> 00:46:29.719
whether it's Twitter, linked In,
Instagram, or Facebook, and all of

598
00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:37.360
it is at Boardroom Project wonderful.
So finally, this show Selena is listened

599
00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:39.880
to across the globe. It syndicated
on about twenty eight different platforms, and

600
00:46:39.960 --> 00:46:45.480
it's really designed to help listeners across
the globe to meaningfully and productively connect with

601
00:46:45.519 --> 00:46:49.079
their work. What would you like
to leave our listeners with? Given that,

602
00:46:50.519 --> 00:46:54.320
so, at the end of the
day, regardless of the impact that

603
00:46:54.360 --> 00:47:00.280
we may have or the people or
communities that we are serving, we have

604
00:47:00.360 --> 00:47:05.000
to take care of ourselves. And
you know, I come from a lot

605
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.199
of trauma, a lot of family
and community trauma. But I recognize that

606
00:47:09.320 --> 00:47:14.639
the one person I need to take
care of the most is myself, not

607
00:47:14.679 --> 00:47:17.519
only as a wife and a business
owner and a community leader, but I

608
00:47:17.679 --> 00:47:22.079
really do no one any good unless
I take care of myself. So you

609
00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:27.719
know, that self awareness, that
self care. It is only because I

610
00:47:27.800 --> 00:47:31.639
make that a priority that I'm able
to do all of this. So,

611
00:47:31.800 --> 00:47:37.400
you know, multiple chapters and a
nonprofit, a business. We also have

612
00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:42.719
a drywall business, so you know, really making sure that you have a

613
00:47:42.760 --> 00:47:45.920
balance in life and really just taking
care of yourself. So I just want

614
00:47:45.960 --> 00:47:52.159
to highly emphasize that to any professional
that's out there in the world that you

615
00:47:52.239 --> 00:47:57.079
have to take care of yourself first. Selena, that is a beautiful way

616
00:47:57.079 --> 00:47:59.639
to finish. And if I can't
just one quick follow on question to that,

617
00:47:59.679 --> 00:48:02.000
We've got just maybe maybe thirty seconds
if you can answer this. So

618
00:48:02.079 --> 00:48:05.280
many people when I'm out speaking say, all, lease, you know,

619
00:48:05.320 --> 00:48:07.119
this whole passion purpose thing sounds really
good, but I don't have time at

620
00:48:07.119 --> 00:48:10.280
the end of the day. I'm
just there's no time. How would you

621
00:48:10.280 --> 00:48:15.960
address that given all the things that
you're doing, So you know, all

622
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:21.159
of our responsibilities vary from household to
household, individual to individual. At the

623
00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:22.920
end of the time, at the
end of the day, if you're passionate,

624
00:48:23.920 --> 00:48:27.800
if you know that, that's what's
going to make the world a better

625
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:31.880
place. It's not about time,
It's about it's a matter of you know

626
00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:37.960
how much energy and and fight you're
going to be you're going to put forward.

627
00:48:37.039 --> 00:48:42.480
So really coming back to BRP being
bold, being resilient, and being

628
00:48:42.559 --> 00:48:47.119
passionate, I think time is something
that we really live by and at the

629
00:48:47.199 --> 00:48:51.599
end of the day, the impact
that we'll have on our family and our

630
00:48:51.639 --> 00:48:55.159
communities and our world, it won't
be it won't be looked or seeing through

631
00:48:55.400 --> 00:49:00.679
the hour glass, but it will
be seeing through the results that we put

632
00:49:00.719 --> 00:49:04.760
forth. Wow, beautiful way to
finish and great answer. Selena, Thank

633
00:49:04.760 --> 00:49:07.000
you very much and thank you for
being on the show with us, taking

634
00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:09.440
the time from your busy schedule to
come and share your heart and soul with

635
00:49:09.519 --> 00:49:14.159
us. It's been a beautiful contribution. Thank you Alis for having me.

636
00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:16.960
You're welcome and listeners you want to
learn more about Selena and the work she

637
00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:20.519
and the team are doing there at
the boardroom project, go to the website.

638
00:49:20.559 --> 00:49:24.119
As she said before, it's Boardroom
project dot org. Last week,

639
00:49:24.119 --> 00:49:27.440
if you missed the show live,
you can always catch up be a recorded

640
00:49:27.480 --> 00:49:30.039
podcast. We were on the air
with Justin Barnes talking about Ika Guy,

641
00:49:30.119 --> 00:49:35.119
the Japanese concept that is about finding
your reason for being and living your best

642
00:49:35.159 --> 00:49:37.679
life. Next week, we'll be
on the air with Susan Sokelblasser. She's

643
00:49:37.719 --> 00:49:42.440
an Oregon wine pioneering leader and an
author of various books, and we'll be

644
00:49:42.480 --> 00:49:45.559
talking about her experience and perspective on
living a large and full life well past

645
00:49:45.639 --> 00:49:49.360
retirement. See you there. Remember
that works at least a third of our

646
00:49:49.360 --> 00:49:58.599
life, So let's work on purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this week's program.

647
00:49:59.000 --> 00:50:02.039
Be sure to tune in to Working
on Purpose, featuring your host Alis

648
00:50:02.119 --> 00:50:07.559
Cortes, each week on the Voice
America Empowerment Channel. This week, find

649
00:50:07.599 --> 00:50:30.000
your life's purpose at work.