Hello.

I'm Simon Ross, CEO of the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce.

We partnered with PBS 12 to bring stories of women in the workforce to a new platform.

These stories are real.

They're raw.

They show both the victories and the challenges.

Women in the workforce are living.

The statistics are clear.

For every 100 men promote to manager, only 81 women are.

Also, women make only 29 of C-suite positions in the U.S. as compared to men.

These numbers are from the 2024 Women in Work report.

Along with the challenges, we're seeing signs of change as well.

In Colorado, we are closing the pay gap three times faster than others here in the U.S..

So how do we keep moving forward?

Well, by learning from one another and sharing our experience.

And that's how Humanize Women in the workforce was born over the past four months.

We interviewed 12 different women, all in different industries and different places in their careers.

They come from different communities, too.

It's my privilege to share these amazing women with you right now.

In tonight's episode we hear from Denise Soler Cox, Sara Kelly, and Alicia Cook.

First up, we have Denise Soler Cox, filmmaker, author and speaker.

I'm Denise Soler Cox.

I'm from New York.

I was gonna say New York City, but I'm from New York.

In 1996, at a bar with a bunch of friends in Miami.

We were just hanging out like any other night.

The conversation went to what it feels like to to live in the in between.

There's a saying in Spanish, the aqui.

And there.

And it means not from here and not from there.

And many people that are firs gen born here and have parents who are immigrants feel a tension in their identities like they're not enough.

Like in my case, not Puerto Rican enough o didn't feel Puerto Rican enough.

And I also didn't feel American enough.

And there was also a feeling I never discussed.

We started talking about it an mostly started joking about it.

But then a friend of mine leaned over and said, but have any of you ever felt like you just weren't like Latino enough?

And that sparked a conversation I'd never been in before in my life.

It felt so precious to me to be able to discuss this cultural, not enoughness, because I immediately went from feeling very alone to realizing I have this and I have this in common with my friends, and we're all first gen, so I must have this in common with every single other first gen. And all of a sudden, I feel like I'm a part of something and other people need to know this feeling, and so I'm going to make a movie about it.

However, it took me 17 years between that night at the bar and the and the New Year's Day, where I decided I'm good enough to make a movie about this.

What I believed during those 17 years was I couldn't possibly, like, b good enough to do great things, even though I felt like I wa here to do something great.

And, and then the day that I decided, that I would do it no matter what, even if it took the rest of my life, I made a conscious decision.

I'm here to make something great.

And this is the great thing I'm going to do.

The film is about that feeling that I had that night with my friends.

This particular story is not, political story.

It's not an immigrant story.

It's an identity story about what it's like to feel pulled on the inside, but visibly look completely normal.

And, you know, like, you don't struggle on the outside and something that's invisible that gets discussed very little, but that deeply, deeply challenges people in their personal relationships and at work.

Not speaking Spanish fluently is a huge hot button for the community.

We we use it as a barometer.

I don't, but it is used as a barometer, to gauge someone's, Latina.

That or like, just how Latino are you?

This is a stor that persists in our community, and it cannot be stressed enough.

How not oka it is to be related to that way by our own community and had no idea that the story about the specific first gen Latino growing up in the United States would resonat with people all over the world trying to capture that feeling of not belonging to your own culture.

We put the trailer on Facebook, and in 24 hours it had gone viral.

People from all over everywhere were reaching out saying, how can I see this movie?

Can you come to my company and speak?

And I've been now on over 400 stages.

So after and, you know, engagement after engagement after engagement, I started realizing this piece of medi is making people feel something.

And whe and what they reflect back to me is giving me incredible insight into the conversatio called like, where do I belong?

And so I become a belongin expert very much accidentally.

I have a 17 year old and a 15 year old.

My greatest hope is that I have demonstrated to them that whatever dream they have, and however far away it might seem that is so worthwhile, spendin whatever time you need to take to make sure that it happens in the world because there are no accidents.

I try to be as transparent as possible with them when it comes to the things I continue to be challenged with, that it's possible to have, you know, to be a great mom, but also to be a great whatever it is they decide to be and that it isn't an either or.

It's not binary.

My husband is an actor and he is a writer of screenplays and, he has absolutely put his dreams, aside for me.

It required a lot of him to make that possible.

You know from everything from the rides, you know, driving the kids to and from school to parties to playdates, making sure that they're fed, going shopping, and also, you know doing the work that he does, but not being able to really full do the work that he wants to do.

And so it makes me emotional because I, I, I look forward t when he can fully embrace that and have the experience of living out what he really wants to do.

We all deserve to feel that way.

In Latina, the gender roles are like polarized or I was specific, you know, it's not really acceptable in my cultur for there to be this mismatch.

Audience members, over the last several years have asked, what is my husband think of this?

Right?

Or a lot of women have said, I could never do what I really want to do because I don't have a husband like yours.

First, whenever I tell people I'm a filmmaker, let's say they're out.

They have no idea who I am.

Oh that's nice, right?

And then they see the film and they're like, wow.

Like that was really good.

I wasn't expecting that.

Right.

And so I would say that's general general public feedback.

Right.

Of of me.

I'm a woman, I'm Latina.

And if they know that it's even they're even more impressed.

And so the question becomes why.

Right.

Secondly, I've we tried to sell the film to, a very well known outlet that produce very well known documentaries.

And the offer that was give was so abysmal that I declined.

And of course, I thought, wow, I'm Latina, I'm a woman.

I'm telling a story that has so much nuance that people can't really see the value.

If that isn't a the plight of women in business, I don't know what is.

Then we pitched a second film.

Same outlet.

Declined.

You know, I wondered, as I wa pitching the film in a ginormous conference room in New York City in the very well known address.

How many men sat there pitching something similar?

And who would have been taken a little bit more seriously than me?

But when it comes to the story of a woman in business, the narrative of I' not going to follow these rules.

I got to figure out my own way, and I get to believe that my wa will make it through the noise.

These restrictions or challenges are so baked into my day to day.

I surprise people with what I've created, right?

If anything, I would say I' more determined than resentful because I also get, if anything, how many women need to see successful women and how many women of color need to see successful women of color, and how many storytellers need to see their stories be told?

Thank you Denise.

Your journey is so inspiring.

Next we hear from Sarah Kelly, community relations and social investment specialist with Xcel Energy.

My name is Sarah Kell and I am a community relations and Social investments employee at, Xcel Energy.

So I work with the community in a different a variety of different ways.

I work with our nonprofit partners and, with our grant application and a lot of employee engagement to get us out in the community.

I think work life balance is something we are trying to master every day.

And I don't kno if anyone has done it yet, but it's it's really hard, I think.

You know, I was trying to to do better at work life balance before I had a kid.

And now that I'm a new mom, it, definitely adds a lot to the mix.

I'm never going to get it perfect, but I'm trying to set priorities.

I think, you know, for everyone, our priority is home first.

I want to be there for most bedtimes, if I can.

And, that's not always going to happen, but trying to set that expectation for myself because no one else is going to the work, never ends.

I want to be a working mom.

I had that example for me growing up, and, I know I can do it, but it's definitely something new in the mix of how do I navigate this new, this new world I'm living in.

I think it's been super helpful to have coworkers and supervisor who are supportive of me and are allowing me to navigate this with flexibility and trust.

Coming back, I was surprised wit how many moms reached out to me, and even before I left and kind of giving their experiences and, you know, advice and and, well, wanted advice I, ask for because it's, a new, a new thing to me.

I don't know what I'm doing yet of, balancing both of these new roles.

It Takes a Village is so true when it comes to, raising a family and being a mom.

Childcare is a huge thing that you don't really think about until you get pregnant.

And then you realize there's a, you know, a year long waiting list to get in for childcare.

And I know so many people hav struggled with that in Denver.

My mom was definitely my rol model growing up and still is.

We are we talk like, every day.

So I thin having that example of my mom, working and, juggling a lot of things, she was taking care of, two kids at home and had he a small business that she owned.

People my age, I think we, are waiting to have kids becaus we're focusing on our careers.

We want to get to a certain spot, where we feel comfortable, you know, where we're at in our career, but also, you know, financially, it's very expensive to have kids.

Now, something that I prid myself on is trying new things.

And I think it's sometimes easy to stick to what you know.

And if that's what you love, that's that's awesome.

But if there's something else you have to go try something new to go do it.

I do think we hold ourselves back whenever we're wanting to try new things.

I, I think that a lot of times that we don't want to look inferior.

You know, we're fighting that every day in the workplace of trying to prove ourselves.

And so if we look lik we don't know what we're doing, then mayb we're going to take a step back.

Maybe we won't be taken seriously in a meeting or in, in our roles, but, you know, it's okay if we don't know everything.

As long as we'r trying to seek out those answers and learn from others, that's actually very normal.

And everyone is in that position.

I think that, you know, sometimes in our society, it feels like there's only maybe one spot for a woman.

And so there can be that natural competition there without even realizing it.

But do think that in my experience, women are trying to elevat other women, that we are trying to help each other and find allies in each other because we've been there.

Especially if you see a woman that maybe is, you know, less experienced than you, and you want to really help out, be a mentor.

I've had a lot of women do that for me.

I think for leadership in in our company.

I see a lot of women stepping up and taking on roles whether that be in our employee resource groups, you know, thing that are maybe outside of their, you know, duties of employment, but they are the ones stepping up in leadership roles in, in different ways.

And we've also had female leadership and, peopl of color that are in leadership.

And so I think that has really set the tone of, you know, this is possible.

You know, maybe it' switching my hours a little bit, and accommodating in that way.

Those little tiny changes and adjustments really help.

And it may not seem lik a big deal to most people, but, you know, it allows moms to come back and feel more confident and able to be there for me.

Something that's alway been interesting is, you know, talking about pay and negotiations and, equality there.

That has been somethin that's been always on my mind, and I'm still trying t figure out how to navigate that and how to, really addresses issues.

We're afraid to ask for more money.

It's a very vulnerable thing to do.

You feel like I don't want to come off as ungrateful or, you know, demanding and, our counter male counterparts probably don't feel that way, and nor should they, because we need to know our worth.

When reverse ageism happens, i kind of feels like, oh, that's, you know, reinforcing my inner thoughts sometimes.

So, you know, I think oftentimes it's a little microaggressions that are, you know, hey, Sarah, can you, can you do the admin work on this?

And, you know, that feels like, well maybe I was asked that because, I am a young female in the room, not because of my skill set or my role.

One man that used to come into our office, early on in my career would always call me beautiful and sunshine and, you know, it was something that he meant nothing by it.

That was, you know, bad.

But at the same time, I'm like, you don't call, you know, my colleague right here who's a male.

Any sweet names like that?

I have witnessed other thing in the workplace as well where I needed to stand up.

One example was, yo know, having a conversation and, someone speaking bad about a neighborhood and saying it's unsafe because of the population of people that work there.

And this was early on in my career, and I heard my boss sa in front of the entire meeting, you know, that's really not appropriate, and nor is that accurate.

And, you know, I think we need to focus on the facts and not the perceptions.

And moved on.

And so that taught me a really good example of speaking up as a woman in front of other women and as a leader makes a really big difference, because that stuck with me of saying standing u for other people or for myself can really empower others to do the same.

We all have something to bring to the table.

So, you know, don't be afraid to step up to make that move.

And, and work together.

And we can create a better working place for women in our society.

Thank you.

Sarah.

As a new mom who' returned to work, we commend how well you're balancing both career and motherhood.

In our final interview, we have CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado, Alicia Cook.

Hi.

My name is Elisha Cook and I serve as the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Colorado and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado.

We ignite the potential of youth through mentoring.

The work that I do is important to m because I've made a commitment to being the person I needed most when I was a child.

I was born in Detroit, Michigan and an area called the Black Bottom and it's called the Black Bottom because it was most affected by the 1967 riots.

Literally, my mom had to b police escorted to the hospital.

My 16 year old mom, who turned out to be the single mom of three girls b the time she was 20 years old.

I am a first generation high school and college graduate.

My grandparents had maybe a fourth and eighth grade education.

I don't think my mom got beyond ninth or 10th grade, and with all those challenges in my life in every way, my life was meant to be a statistic.

I'm sure you've heard data that sometimes just the area code you're born in can predict the rest of your life.

But I always had mentors.

I was one of those people who could go this way or that way, depending upon what happened in my life.

So I credit everything to, well, my mom, who fought hard as a young teen mom, but also my three mentor Stephanie, Deborah and Vivian.

And here we are 30 years later, leading the largest mentoring organization in Colorado.

Every single thing I do is personal.

Every grant we write, every presentation I do, every talk I have, every time I'm with my little because I'm a big sister, it's it's real for me.

And I see the difference it makes.

At my organization, we coined and trademarked a phrase called mentor life.

And that means to always have someone investing in you and to pay it forward by always investing in someone else.

And that's how I live my life.

You lift as you climb, right?

Whatever I am climbing towards, I'm always thinking who's coming with me, who' coming with me and my workplace and my community and in my sister circle.

A lot of people are afraid to be a mentor, but you don't have to be perfect.

You just have to be present.

In 2020 I received a National Lifetime Achievement Award and mentoring was the last great thing I did in 2020 Words in January before the world shut down.

But to win that awar to be hired as the first black female, CEO and president of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Colorado is 106 year history.

That was huge.

And when I came in, I think being a woman, having those lived experiences, being a black woman, host George Floyd also I came for more of a programing like a really grassroots community type of, past and history of experience to an organizer session that, had a lot more corporate feel, I think, and sometimes just the way I interact or the way I get things done or things that I do that work really well with the youth or in the communitie that we serve, didn't go over.

So well.

When you're having a conversation with those who have never had that lived experience, those who don't look like you those who don't get your style, your humor.

I am a very outgoing person.

I have a big personality and I was always told to tone that down.

But I don't know how.

It's who I am.

So I've been gettin a lot of coaching on making sure my intent matches my impact, but my mentors don't tone it down, because that same thing that people are telling yo to tone it down is what got you.

Large agency of the year is what got you that.

So just finding that balanc and being understood by people who don't look like you, what if it doesn't work out?

What if just all the fears, you know.

So I think that's really hard.

Learning to walk in your own shoes, to walk authentically, to trust yourself, to trust your gut.

To not people.

Please.

I think that's always something women face.

You know, you hear things like, oh, women are so emotional.

I think men are far more emotional in that way.

But that's my personal.

I see it all the time, or all this like peeling back the stereotypes, trusting, listening, understand we operate differently, understanding even i households, it's getting better.

But that is still shows women carry about 70% of the household duties as well.

So if you're doing 70% of the household duties and you're doing you're working full time, so how do we reconcile?

But I do, I travel quite a bit and I always have with my work and whenever I was on a plane or somewhere, or even if I go home, people send me where are your kids?

And I'd stay with their dad.

And.

But men never get asked that.

Where are your kids?

Oh my gosh, is i okay that you travel that much?

I used to get asked all the time if I met, I don't know people who your husband mind you, doing all that traveling and do men get us that?

No, no.

And understanding that a woman's leadership style is just going to be different is going to be different.

Not better, not worse, bu different things are changing.

And I'm so grateful that it is that more men are stepping up and households our partnership.

Now, you know, we always have heard, strong black woman power to the people, strong woman and we I used to kind of wear that as a badge of an honor.

Like people would always say to me, you're so strong, you're so strong.

But I felt like a failure if I didn't live up to that or if I didn't get the help that I needed.

I believe that's a lie.

We tell women and we've got to stop.

Yes, you need to take care of yourself so that you could be strong and need at moments.

Yes, you do have to have the kind of fortitude so that you don't fall apart at everything.

But you got to give us that space, even in the workplace, because we carry a lot on our shoulders all the time.

I have always found when you take good care of a woman and her needs, and you help her to be better for her family, for herself, for her community, she's going to help you.

She's going to help your company be better.

Your clients are going to do better.

Your employees will do better.

There's something very special to a woman who's mentally, physically healthy and happy in the workplace and in home, in her home and in the community can't be duplicated.

So if we need to do more, the more is just continue to add that additional support and make our workplaces very understanding and compassionate and understand the beauty that strong.

No not strong.

Remember I'm getting rid of that.

But healthy, healthy mentally healthy, physically and happy women bring to the workplace and to life.

Thank you Alicia for bringing us into your world and life lessons.

12 women, 12 voices, all incredible stories.

We hope you've come away with some new insights and inspiration.

To learn more about the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce, you can visit our website at kwqc.org.

To watch all of these storie and learn more about humanize.

You can visit PBS 12.org o visit PBS Twelve's YouTube page.

I'm Simone Ross.

Until next time.