A Conversation with Tara Jaye Frank on Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity

Summary: Here is another special "Conversation With" edition of the Mid-Career Mastery newsletter, featuring my amazing Fireside Chat??? with Tara Jaye Frank. Tara is an equity strategist, C-Suite advisor, LinkedIn Learning Instructor, and the author of the highly acclaimed book The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence. During our chat, Tara and I unpack the irresistible gems from her book, and how it can be used as an inspirational and actionable blueprint for workplace equity—for all dimensions of difference and diversity.

Tara Jaye Frank is an equity strategist, C-Suite advisor, LinkedIn Learning instructor, and author of the book The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence.

Tara is also one of the phenomenal?leaders featured in the ?Spotlight Series here on LinkedIn , and also a 2x previous guest on my?Gen X Amplified ?podcast.

During our chat, Tara and I unpack her book The Waymakers, which is definitely one of the best literary gems and tools for leaders in today's world of work.

We also spent time discussing her inspirational professional story — which includes 20+ years as an executive at?Hallmark Cards .

And her mid-career magical moment to becoming an in-demand thought leader and passionate voice for workplace equity and inclusion.

Below are featured highlights from our conversation — which have been edited for brevity and clarity.

On Tara's Career Path from Greeting Card Writer to Executive Leader to Equity Strategist

Adrion: Tara, I want to take just a brief moment to talk about specifically, your journey, your path to greatness, and your path to being the thought leader for workplace equity and inclusion.

Can you just talk a little bit about your professional journey and those nuggets that led you to sit down, put fingertips to keyboard, and craft a book that's so needed across the workplace?

Tara: Well, thank you for asking. First, I spent 21 years at Hallmark Cards. I started as a greeting card writer. I spent the majority of my career leading in creative product development.?I became vice president of Creative Writing and Editorial at 29.?I then led Business Innovation for a few years.

I then designed and stood up a multicultural center of excellence, which was really an embedment arm meant to help all of the consumer facing divisions better understand how America was changing and to meet those emerging needs in meaningful and sustainable ways. Then I became corporate culture advisor to the CEO.?And then I resigned to pour myself headlong into my own leadership consultancy.?

You also asked me a really important question—what were those pivotal moments of recognition that led me to do the work I do?

The truth is, even though I was focused on marketplace—I've always been really passionate about talent. And unleashing talent. So the heart of that was there. And knew that I needed to do more work to bolster that workforce piece of it.?

Adrion: I love that. And how you so perfectly articulated that journey. All of us, no matter what vocation we're in—whether we are a leader in corporate, or an entrepreneur, or we're blue collar, white collar—talent is the common thread.

And understanding those nuances of how people show up and how people thrive and what are those underpinnings. Whether it's bias or equity or whatever the case may be—it's always there. So I'm glad that you saw the landscape and how you can add value in your way.?

Now just thinking about your stint at Hallmark and what you're doing now—what would you say is your superhero talent? What drives you? What makes you so passionate about this work?

Tara: Honestly, I've been asked this question a lot, and I think about it a lot,

First off, I've always been a very emotionally curious person. So I think a lot about emotion. I think a lot about relationships. I think a lot about how we relate to one another as human beings, right? And so that curiosity and that kind of emotional quotient has always been part of me.

The other piece of that—Hallmark is a social expression brand. It is a relationship brand. My job when I was leading creative product development was to really understand on a nuanced level, what individuals needed to hear, when they needed to hear it, and from whom they needed to hear it, in order to deepen that relationship. To help them feel encouraged and that anything was possible.

So getting a better sense for what human beings need in order to thrive has been a part of my career journey from the very beginning. I now just happen to do that in the workplace environment,?in the corporate culture. But it's, it's essentially very similar work. It's just that this work today requires also a very high level of strategic agility, a refined communication skill, the ability to tell a story and help people see things in a way they've not yet seen it. And most important, encourage them to do something they may be hesitant to do.

Or, unwilling to do even quite frankly.?

On Tara's Purpose for Writing The Waymakers and How She Decided on the Title

"It wasn't until I didn't sleep that night—the ideas kept coming to me that I realized this is exactly it. It just really felt like it was a God thing. And so I never looked back."

Adrion: Well, speaking of expression, let's get into the book, The Waymakers.

First, I would love to know, how did you choose the title??And how did you choose the subtitle? And then just take us on that moment when you said, "I am going to do this, I am going to write this book no matter what—and this is the time to do it."

Tara:?So the title and subtitle came later. I first realized that I needed to write a book like this because I was in these spaces with CEOs and their executive teams talking about racism at work. Talking about systemic disenfranchisement. Talking about corporate culture and unleashing talent, and I noticed most of them had three things in common.

First, they wanted to do the right thing. The second is they didn't always know exactly what the right things were. And the third is they were a little hesitant about jumping into the work. This is a very hard thing to get wrong. No one wanted to insult or offend. They didn't wanna bring reputational risk upon themselves.?

And so I knew I had another book in me. But I decided that I needed to write something that was going to help those people who wanted to do the right thing. Better understand how to discover what the right thing is for them. And that would give them the encouragement to do it. To get off the fence and into the arena.

So it had a different title at first.

And then I was working initially with an agent. She was giving me feedback and she underlined in my book, in my manuscript, the words "the waymakers" because I talked about it as a concept. And she wrote off to the side "possible title."?

And I tell you what. I went to bed that night and I could not sleep. Popcorn kept popping. I kept coming up with more and more ideas about how I could leverage that "the waymakers." The kind of difference I could make. How inspiring it felt. It felt like something anyone would want to be.

Like who doesn't want to be a waymaker? It's a very optimistic, hopeful way to think about making a difference in this space.

So that's how the title came to be.?

And then the subtitle,?I'm not gonna lie, I was doing my research. I was like, yeah—what are the best ways to come up with a subtitle? Because subtitles are really, really hard.?

Adrion: Yeah, they are.?

Tara: And I read one article that said you can do your subtitle based on the benefits your book provides. So that's when I said—the benefits this book provides? They are competence and confidence. That's how I came up with the subtitle.?

Adrion: So interesting. When she initially put to the side and underlined "the waymakers," were you sold immediately? Or did you think I'm not sure.

Tara: No, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I read it and I was like, Ooh. You know, as a word person.?And I know you can relate to this because you're also creative, and I know you also really cherish the written word. I react that way to words all the time.

So when she underlined it and she wrote that it hit me right away. Like in the gut. And I was like, "Ooh, that feels good." But it wasn't until I didn't sleep that night—the ideas kept coming to me that I realized this is exactly it. And it felt like a divine moment, honestly.

It just really felt like it was a God thing, And so I never looked back.

On Tara's Strategic Approach to Ensure the Book Was Useful and Shoutouts to Her "Waymakers"

Adrion: So, I want to get into some of the nuggets of this book. The way you framed the chapters and the content— what was your approach to the frameworks??

Tara: I love your questions. Like you're appealing to the creative framework person in me. Which is that part of how I think about the world.?

So here's what I decided. I knew that I wanted to write a useful book. So the first thing I did was determine what the inputs would be. That it wasn't just gonna be my opinion. And I said the first input will be my lived experience. My observational knowledge and expertise. My training, etc.

The second input, I wanted to do proprietary research to get at the voice of the employee. Proprietary research that I did in partnership with a company called Brandtrust. The voice of the employee was critical for me.?

The third thing is, I wanted to hear from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) experts about the strategies and tactics that actually work inside their organizations. Not just theory. I wanted to hear from them what actually worked. And so we interviewed 30 DEI professionals whose experience spanned over 100 companies—mostly Fortune 500.

We also asked hundreds of employees to tell us stories through a narrative inquiry study. Tell us stories of times they felt seen, respected, valued, and protected. And tell us stories of times they felt invisible, disrespected, under-appreciated, and scrutinized.?

Adrion: Wow. Kudos to you because a lot of times people may not have the resources or the time to do the primary proprietary research, or invest.?

How long did the process take for gathering and analyzing all the data and gleaning the nuggets for the book??

Tara: I first wanna say that I had "waymakers" along that path.?

So, I used to work with Dave Mihanovic . He was the VP over Consumer Understanding and Insight at Hallmark Cards. We had a great partnership. We stayed in touch. I reached out to him to say, "Do you know a firm or person you would trust to do this proprietary research with me?" So he was my first waymaker because he pointed me in the right direction. He pointed me toward Brandtrust.?

My second was Daryl Travis , who is the founder and CEO of Brandtrust. Because I tell you—I was looking for a vendor. What I found was a partner.

He was so passionate about what I was trying to accomplish that we ended up figuring out a way to partner on this research. And so, it ended up being so much more amazing than I even had expected or could hope for.?

So the process, I think I reached out to Brandtrust in April. We fielded the research in May. We got the research back maybe the end of May, maybe early June. But June and July I would say is when I wrote the bulk of this book.?

And I did what I did with my first book. I told my husband and my six children, "I love you. I am here. You are going to see me in front of my computer for many more hours than is probably appropriate. But I am very determined to get this book out into the world. And I just need you to give me grace for these next couple of months so that I can finish this."?

Adrion: Well it's good that you had that support and you were upfront. And they made a way for you. I know it was tough, especially during this climate.?

Tara: I'll also say, since we're giving shout outs to Waymakers— Delia Maria Berrigan , who used to work at Hallmark at one point, we never worked together, but she was there working on the books team.

She was actually the very first person I reached out to because I needed to put together a really good proposal. And I had never done that before,?

So people ask me all the time— how do you be a waymaker and who is your waymaker??

And I'm like, please put an S on the end of that. Because I have had them my entire life at every major turning point. And I think the reason I wrote the book is because many people need more waymakers.?

On the Four Talent Needs: Being Seen, Respected, Valued, and Protected

"So being seen isn't just about representation. It's also about being noticed and being credited for the work you do."

Adrion: Of the many gems of the book, I want to focus on this particularly because as we talk constantly and importantly about bias and the isms of the world—whether it's sexism or racism or ageism, which I'm very passionate about. Many of those individuals who are affected, they do want to be seen. They feel they're undervalued and overlooked.

And in chapter 6, you outline "Four Talent Needs." To be seen, to be respected, valued, and protected.?

Can you just briefly unpack the four of those, and why you honed in on those four??Based on the data, or based on personal experience or what have you.?

Tara: Yeah. It's a merge, honestly. And thank you for asking, because in my opinion, this is the one of the most important chapters in the book.

Because it's employee-centric. Sometimes we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we get in our own heads about it.?

So here's what it means to be seen.

People want to be seen in all levels of leadership. They want to be seen in your marketing and communications. They want to be seen in the rooms where decisions are being made. They want to be seen in the hallways. They want to be seen. They want to be represented.?

They also want to be noticed. So being seen isn't just about representation. It's also about being noticed and being credited for the work you do. So one of the biggest things that leaders do that make people feel invisible is when they take credit for their work.?

So that's seen.?

And that leads to talent attraction as well for companies. Because if I feel invisible in my organization, I'm not gonna ask my friends and family to come work here. I'm not gonna sign them up for that foolishness.?

So the second thing is they want to be respected. Now sometimes we talk about inclusion and we boil it down to belonging, and then we end up oversimplifying it. And we're like, we just need to be nice to everybody. And I tell executives all the time, people don't go to work for you to be nice. They go to work to fulfill their aspirations.?Right??They go to work to make their professional dreams come true.?

People want to be respected. That's what makes them feel like part of the team. That's what makes them feel they belong for their ideas, their expertise, their experience, their personhood. So respect is really critical.?

The third is they want to be valued. In pay, promotion and appreciation. The research drew that out for us.?

We talk about equity as pay and promotion. Access. They talked about it quite a bit as "appreciation." When I go above and beyond—do I feel appreciated for having gone above and beyond?

And then the last is protected. You and I know what this is about. I mean, it's psychological safety all day long. Which is why honestly, I was so honored and overwhelmed that Dr. Amy Edmondson, who I think of as the mother of psychological safety, was willing to write a testimonial for the book. And a piece of her quote is on the very front, which says "Simply the best diversity and inclusion book I have read."

That meant the world to me.

Because psychological safety we found in the research is foundational to all the other things. And it's also an outcome of all the other things. So it's on the front and it's on the back.?

And if you're psychologically safe, as you know, but some people who are watching may not—you feel free to bring up the big ideas. You feel free to raise red flags. To identify concerns. To shine a light on potential risk. To push back on the status quo. I mean, everything we want and need from people in order to unleash their creativity and drive business. Innovation is rooted in psychological safety.

Gratitude and Reminders

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About The Author:

Adrion Porter is a speaker, LinkedIn Top Voice, workforce strategist, age inclusion advocate, and the founder of Mid-Career Mastery?, a consultancy for organizations and their mid-career and seasoned talent.

A former 20+ year marketing executive, Adrion is now on a mission to help others master and maximize their transformative middle years and beyond.

Adrion is frequently invited by organizations around the world to present his signature model, The Mastery Map?, which codifies three proven pillars of transformation for navigating and thriving in your career at any age or stage.

For keynote speaking, workshop, or thought partnership inquiries, please reach out to Adrion here on LinkedIn, and/or visit: adrionporter.com .