Page 8 - BEQ Magazine Vol 4 Iss1

COMMUNICA TORS

to slip into over-serious mode, making
the process and the talk itself very ac-
ademic,” says Jennifer Iannolo, founder
& CEO, IMPERIA. “In the Fearless
world, however, we leave the academic Fearless Communicators Circle 11, L-R: Eduardo Placer, Fearless
behind and get into what really tells the Communicators; Valerie J. Lyons, Valerie J. Lyons Enterprises; Kristin
poetry of the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’ It Scanlon, EXIT Realty Private Client; Melissa Manning, Founder & Serial-
is storytelling training at its finest.” Entrepreneur ; Hiroko Ideguchi, Love & Relationship Coach; Robin Dillard,
Now Placer, Debra Driscoll and BEQ Pride; Stephanie Houle, Digital & Product Design, Macy’s; Debra
their team are bringing that transfor- Driscoll, Fearless Communicators / Credit: Andreea Burciu-Ballen
mative process to the corporate world,
Jennifer Iannolo, founder Upon meeting Eduardo via an email introduction from a mutual friend, it
“bringing light and giving voice to di-
& CEO, IMPERIA was clear to me that we needed to connect. I had literally just pressed
verse talent.” It’s not enough to hire a send on my publisher’s note for the Winter 2018 BEQ Pride issue,
diverse workforce, Placer says. If orga-
nizations are truly committed to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, then entitled “Fearless”. The fact that Eduardo’s business was called Fearless
they must prepare that diverse talent to speak, lead and participate. Communicators wasn’t lost on me. The next thing I noticed was his
“If organizations are truly committed to the D&I conversation, business was focused on women and women business owners — he’s
then we need to prepare a new generation of leaders to use their an ally, like me.
voices,” he says. “Do we see them and do we hear them? Are you
creating pathways to speak to their leadership? You must give them For me it was a chance to focus on telling the story behind my reason
visibility and give them a platform.” for being an ally to the LGBTQ business community — “my why” and
This requires more than a one-size-fits-all prepackaged train- sharing some of the wonderful leaders, business owners, inventors and
ing program, which is where Fearless Communicators steps in, with friends I’ve met along the way. Allyship is a currency for me.
training specifically for diverse communities.
“Someone who is African American, Latinx, LGBTQ, Asian Understanding my privilege, seeing the need in another person or
Pacific, Differently Abled – they need a different, more nuanced group and using my privilege to do what I can to eliminate oppression
approach,” he says. “I can acknowledge from my experience as a —that’s my currency and that’s what I’m about. I’ve made it my business
gay man that I have trauma around public speaking. Many minori- to help change attitudes by exposing people within and outside the
ties and underrepresented community members do. We help them LGBTQ community to many shining examples of people being out and
work through that trauma and come out the other side confident in authentic in business, in the workplace and in the community through
their voice and their message.” BEQ Pride and its platform. Connecting people to opportunities and
Even as the Fearless universe expands, Placer is committed to eliminating economic oppression within diverse communities is my
working with women around the country and around the globe. El- primary objective.
evating and amplifying female voices benefits us all, he says. It goes
beyond the individual to the larger world around us. The six-day workshop (two days of intensive in-person work followed by
“An investment in women is an investment in the communities three one-on-one coaching sessions) culminating in a live event was an
they serve.”  amazing experience. Circle 11 included five other women with their own
stories to tell. Together we talked and shared and laughed and cried and
 Learn more about A Fearless Force at fearlesscommunicators.com.
honed our messages until we got to the core of what we wanted to say.
Eduardo led us there. He’s done the research, he’s developed the training
– he’s the real deal. I found out a lot about myself and my allyship in those
six days. I can’t wait to share that message with the world.

Robin Dillard, Publisher BEQ Pride magazine
Fearless Communicators Circle 11 Participant, February 2019
8 | March 2019 businessequalitymagazine.com