As we enter a new season, we at Tough Convos are taking this time to reflect on the fruits of our labor - and we want to thank you. Since 2020, we’ve been committed to creating inclusive cultures, amplifying underrepresented voices, and empowering leaders. 4 years later, we’re proud to celebrate the milestones we’ve achieved and, more importantly, the community we’ve built together. We value your opinion so make sure you check out the questions below. And... we're super excited to tell you about what's next!
Table of Contents:
5 Years of Growth and Impact
Since we launched, we’ve hosted over 30 Tough Convos for Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, and startups. Our articles—nearly 200 of them—have provided thought leadership and insights on everything from Caribbean culture to educational reform, and leadership skills to building cultural intelligence. Additionally, we've developed free resources for leaders to foster inclusive environments, helping us touch over 9,000 leaders, students, and entrepreneurs.
As we evolve, we’ve honed in on the services you need most to better meet your needs. Our most sought-after solutions include leadership development programs, cultural intelligence coaching, and custom workshops for teams seeking deeper cultural understanding. We specialize in creating engaging, approachable content and resources that help organizations build cultures where everyone feels valued and respected. These tools are designed to support your existing DEI or people & culture initiatives, while explicitly helping leaders and teams navigate the complexities of our multicultural world.
From Conversations to Digital Products
After witnessing our community's outcry for a safe place to discuss and make sense of what was happening in this world, our monthly Tough Convos was born. We started as a courageous space to bring people together for critical discussions on culture, race, and leadership. As we've grown, so has the needs of our community in applying these lessons to the workplace, leadership and life. Today, we’re continuing these impactful discussions through our quarterly interview series, Let’s Talk to Black Business, which shines a spotlight on trailblazing Black entrepreneurs and executives.
Let's Talk Black Business: The Wine Edition
But our work has also expanded into digital products, offering solutions that go beyond live events. Our digital offerings provide tools for leaders to continue their learning journey at their own pace. These include workbooks, posters, codes of conduct, and resources designed to address topics like:
The Allyship Journey: Cultivating ally skills to reshape company culture.
Inclusive Leadership: Equipping leaders with power skills to create diverse, inclusive teams.
Managing Global Teams: Building cultural competence for leaders overseeing multicultural teams.
Cultural Competence on the Frontline: Enhancing communication skills for sales and marketing teams.
Addressing Bias and Microaggressions: Creating strategies for handling conflict and inciting cultural change.
Empowering Black Employees: Helping organizations embody brand values that resonate with employees facing barriers.
We’ve designed these resources based on our speaking topics to ensure they address the real, pressing challenges companies face today. For more context on these critical conversations, explore our speaking topics.
We Need to Hear from You
As we continue to grow and serve you better, we want to make sure we’re meeting your needs in the best way possible. Your input helps guide our work and allows us to develop resources that are genuinely helpful for your team’s unique challenges. Please take a moment to share your thoughts through our quick poll. There are only 5 questions that may be the difference between your company's increased productivity or loss of a client. Your answers will help us create new solutions for you that support your ongoing efforts toward building thriving teams and increasing retention.
1. What’s your biggest challenge in building an inclusive culture?
Lack of buy-in from leadership to invest long-term
Difficulty in addressing unconscious bias
Limited resources and budget for DEI training & initiatives
Lack of engagement or participation from all employees
2. Which of our digital tools (workbooks, training modules, posters) have been most helpful for you?
Cultural intelligence tools, principles, assessments
Allyship resources and toolkits
DEI learning modules and interactive training sessions
Curated conversation guides for facilitating discussions
3. Are there additional resources or services that you’d like to see from us?
In-depth resource on developing cultural intelligence
Inclusive leadership retreats focused on skill development
Custom digital content and printed materials
Online course that provides structured, self-paced approach
4. How can we better support your team’s development in the last quarter of the year?
Hands-on workshop or interactive session on the key issue
Talent Brand analysis to determine what people think
Inclusive Culture analysis to plan the next steps
New visual aids and graphics for a company event
5. Are our conversations on cultural intelligence and allyship resonating with your current DEI efforts?
Discussions are insightful, but no action
Content is lacking specific nuances of our industry
Lack of accountability and follow through after discussions
Difficult to apply these concepts to our daily operations
Setting High Expectations: Personal and Professional Development
We just sent our kids back to school with high hopes for their learning and development, it’s a reminder that we, too, should be revisiting our personal and professional goals. Are you aligning with your development plan for the year? What progress are you making toward building a more inclusive team?
Just as we encourage children to strive for excellence, we must also hold ourselves accountable for our growth. Now is the perfect time to assess your progress and set yourself up for a successful close to 2024. Let us partner with you to make this last quarter count.
Let’s Continue to Build Together
At Tough Convos, we’re here to support your leadership and team culture development every step of the way. Whether through our digital products or custom solutions, we are committed to helping you and your organization thrive. We invite you to explore our services and speaking topics, and let’s continue building a future where cultural competence and inclusive leadership are the cornerstones of success.
We’d love to hear more about your current challenges and opportunities and how we can assist you in building the company culture you've always dreamed about. Let’s connect to discuss how we can help you achieve your goals for the rest of this year and beyond.
And don't forget to share the love! If you know someone who could benefit from our support, share this email with them. As a thank you for helping us grow our community, we’ll send you a free copy of our latest release, The Allyship Journal—a resource to guide you toward greater awareness and inclusivity.
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