Aisha Chavis Smith

I think my parents and how they raised me, especially my dad, attributes to my success. I have memories as a kid, like, walking through the grocery store, and he would see a kid around my age, and he would make me go introduce myself. And, like, if I didn't do it properly, then, you know, we'd have to have a talking about it. He made me kind of fearless. I moved around a lot as well, and that I'm sure contributes to it. But, I think because of how I was raised and constantly pushed to do better and do more, this is kind of how I live my life. I'm kind of fearless, I've been told, and I do see a little bit of that. I'm the only girl, I have four brothers, and I was not the oldest, I'm in the middle, but I was always in charge, right? Always the one that had to keep everyone in line and, you know, get things done. So, definitely my upbringing.

One of the best pieces of advice I received was a story that one of my sponsors told me. She was working super hard and did all the things, and when this promotion came about, it did not go to her. She asked them why she wasn't considered, and they told her they didn't know she was interested. That kind of was earth-shattering to me, because, you know, we're taught a lot to put your head down, do good work, and you'll be acknowledged for that, but that's not always the case. If people aren't aware of your aspirations, or not aware of how they can support you, and, you know, aware of how you feel valued, and things like that, sometimes you just kind of continue business as usual, and nowhere wiser, right? So that, to me, is what allows me and pushes me to speak up more for myself, you know, asking for raises, asking for new roles, asking for a sponsor's support. I'm very vocal about what I want to do and how I want to get there, and I've been very lucky that that's allowed me to get lots of mentors and sponsors and, kind of grow my career in the way that I have.

I learned that I bring value in who I am and my different experiences. In a lot of the spaces, there was a lot of similar people. You know, they went to similar schools, similar degrees, you know, similar places. So there tends to be some conformity that happens sometimes, and I, by just being who I am and, you know, being different, I bring different perspectives, I challenge things. I think that has helped me to be successful, and I think that I always push women to do more of that. The way that we view things is different than a lot of the way that male groups would. So use your voice, you know, be yourself, speak up, lean in, because what you bring to the table is super valuable. If you're being told no, figure out a way to turn that around. A lot of my challenges just stem from being a woman, of course, but then also, earlier in my career, not having those boxes that I could check. A lot of times, I would have the experience, I didn't have the degree. So I leaned in and started to find ways to check those boxes, whether or not it was official, like getting a degree, I have my MBA now, or if it's just experiences. I would find ways so that no one could ever say that to me again.

I think putting your people first is the most important value. It's such a cliche thing to say, but if they are not okay, then they can't do good work, right? So, we're all people with experiences, we have families and emergencies, and deaths and life. Like, there's always these valleys and peaks. And, I think there's levels to it, of course, like, however people are comfortable, but just making sure that your people are okay at work and outside of work allows them to show up in a way that I've been really lucky with. I've grown very close connections to people when I'm on their leadership team, and I can always rely on them, and they can rely on me, and it just creates a really good relationship, working relationship.