Being Different Matters

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are one of the most critical aspects of our daily life today. Who we are, where we are from, what we look like, how we speak, who we love, and where we live economically can shape our entire lives and all the opportunities offered to us as human beings.

What makes us different is not just an opportunity for growth, but it is also a way to prosper in a world that is disrupted by new technologies.

As a digital marketing trainer, strategist, and advocate, I have learned that the very things that make us so different are the single most influential source of our success, personally and professionally. I grew up in a home with multi-generations. It was natural for me to hang out with my friends, listening to music by day, and then head home and walk around the block, arm-in-arm with my grandmother from "the old country." She made a significant impact on who I was and what I was to become. Not just because she was a funny, talented, and a loving "nonna," but she also taught me through her actions that education is the key to including everyone. 

'Nonna"

The seventh child born to poor Italian farmers, my grandmother, was crushed when her father could not afford the writing board and chalk for her to continue to 3rd grade. Her beauty offered her an opportunity to be a paid playmate of a barons daughter who came to their village to avoid the summer heat of Rome. As an income earner each summer, my grandmother was not only exposed to a lifestyle beyond her circumstances, but she understood that education was more important than anyone in her immediate family realized.  

Despite her hardships and success in learning to read and write in two languages (on her own), my grandmother was still ridiculed. Her hair was dark, her accent thick and soft, and this made her a target for impatient store owners, or delivery people speaking much too fast for her to grasp their needs. 

I was never ashamed of her or our cultural differences in the neighborhood. Despite being embarrassed at how teachers mispronounced my name, I always felt that who we were as a family and culture were part of my who I was. I would often tell my friends what a remarkable person this old lady was. During WWII, she was confined to her local community because our enemy, Mussolini, was the leader of her country. Despite working in the manufacturing plants building ships and guns, she and her family were taunted endlessly. But this didn't seem to change her love and devotion for the country she adopted and then grandchildren she helped to raise in it.

Being an immigrant was my first lesson in ignorance, and I always felt that if I could teach people something new about her, about us, about anything misunderstood, then everyone could be included.

The Digital Divide

Since I grew up surrounded by people who had served our country in the military I was always proud to do whatever it took to serve others.  It wasn't until I became a trainer and teacher that I realized that for many people, the fear of the unknown keeps them from learning and genuinely engaging with one another, and from including all people in their growth and success. The best part of my work is reaching out to the communities I serve and making them aware of programs and opportunities right in their own community. When the I-Phone and Facebook launched within months of one another, I knew then that things were going to change in society and my work. First, I understood that our connection and accessibility to the internet was going to divide our country by economic lines. And that I would be called to train and educate people, young and old, who would struggle to keep up with the rapid speed of technological change.  I felt that I had found my calling.

Education is the solution to inclusion — both in cultural diversity issues and in our new growing economic ones.

I saw first hand how telling my friends about my grandmother's long journey by boat to America, and her ability to learn to read and write (in two languages no less) was a powerful tool to changing what they believed about her. So it was natural for me to feel the same when working with digital marketing tools. If I could find a way to simplify and then teach how this all works, then being old wouldn't necessarily mean "outdated" in a world that is rapidly valuing youth over experience.

I often share the story of my grandmother when working with people who think that I am something that I am not. I worked to find non-profit programs operating in lower-income neighborhoods to try and set up training on digital marketing. My goal was to teach them how to use social media, not only to earn an income, despite their lack of formal education but also help those in their communities who felt left behind by the rapidly changing processes of having a business today. It seemed odd to some of the people that I would be made fun of for having a funny name. For "Maria" is not an unusual name in many cultures, but in a white suburban neighborhood, "Maria + Grattarola" was a mouthful of strange. And this prejudice and taunting against me were not only from strangers but from my neighbors and friends too.

Our own bias to discriminate is there, and the sooner we realize it, the faster we can progress and grow into a better and more inclusive society.  

What Is Your Brand?

In digital marketing, your brand is all about what makes you different, what allows you or your business to stand out.

It is not a difficult thing for me to stand out as different because I know that upon first glance, this passionate, short, and slightly older white lady is often assumed to be different in some way.  

• When people meet me and realize that I am not 28 years old, they assume I know nothing about social media because I am so old and must be outdated...until I start training them!
• When people realize that I, too, was overlooked for jobs and promotions because I was "a woman of child-bearing age" or really, just a woman, they see obstacles I faced and know that it didn't stop me.
• When people realize that I will listen to them attentively despite their accents or inability to speak English, they drop their guard just enough to want to learn more about what I am offering them. 

Who I am is not defined by my age, or gender, or ethnicity.

Separating one of these things does not make me a better person, but combining them makes me more like everyone else. I have knowledge and skills that I can share, and I come equipped with all the funny stories of an old Italian grandmother who shaped me into a person who wishes to empower others.

And I don't hold back. I like to share my weaknesses too. Because when required to take over a property located on 8-mile road in Detroit, a community of color that did not trust the color of my skin. It is essential to admit this to others because I want people to see that all of us let fear blind us once in a while. The good news was that the "temporary role" would become a two-year blessing. Not just for me personally or the company I worked for, but all the residents who came to trust me and the tools I offered them to better their lives.

How I Got Here

I want to think that my grandmother would be proud of the education she gave me. Her stories of enduring a month-long boat journey across the ocean without any windows made me less scared. Her fears, while standing alone as a 21-year old immigrant in Ellis Island, surrounded by people of different colors and speaking different languages, did not stop her from living a life of gratitude. And she never stopped trying to educate people about who she was and where she came from because she knew that bringing neighbors "extra pizza fritta" (she had made purposely) was her way of sharing her talents and culture with people who feared that family on the corner.

Diversity and inclusion are the tools for success in today's digital world.

Every point of view, every person's experiences, obstacles, and challenges are stepping stones to standing out in a world that travels at the speed of light -- leaving so many people behind.

Who we are is not part of some standard of excellence, but rather a whole series of differences that make us unique and included in this melting pot of humans.

Every business, every classroom should celebrate all of the stories that lie inside their employees and students. It is what binds us together and destroys the fear of what is unknown about each other.

#diversity #inclusion #digitalmedia #socialmedia #education #immigrants #meltingpot

If you would like to explore what makes your business different contact me. Maria Bereket, [email protected]