Strands of Genius: Actionable Ways Organizations Can Support Asian Employees in Anti-Racism Work, A Challenge to Our Industry From an Invisible Minority, We Belong in the C-suite #BFTP

Guest curated by Bernice Chao, #BlastFromThePast

Dec 01, 2022

QUICK NOTE FROM TEAM GENIUS STEALS:

We were connected with Bernice through Sean Choi (thanks, Sean!). And Bernice is on fire right now! She was just inducted into the 2022 Class of the Advertising Hall of Achievement, and on the same day as her induction, she and Jessalin Lam (her cofounder of Asians in Advertising) launched their book The Visibility Mindset:

The Visibility Mindset is an essential guide for the Asian American community and allies on overcoming barriers and finding success in the workplace today, complete with insightful interviews and advice from inspiring leaders.
Find your voice, own your story, and elevate your professional life. Although bamboo ceilings, the model minority myth, and other stereotypes may have impeded Asians from leadership ranks for decades, this book will empower individuals to overcome these obstacles and guide them throughout their careers and beyond. In addition to simple exercises, strategies, and plenty of real-life examples, each chapter also includes stories from inspirational leaders across industries on how they are constantly breaking barriers. The Visibility Mindset provides actionable resources to apply to your life and is essential reading for communities, schools, companies, and allies.

We can’t wait to read it and want you to join us! So we’re extending our month of giveaways by a day which means you, our loyal readers, get a chance to win your very own copy!

All Strands subscribers have been entered to win a physical copy of The Visibility Mindset! Scroll down for details on how to snag extra entries below :)

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, BERNICE CHAO ::

LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA

PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Zambezi

Hello everyone, my name is Bernice Chao. I'm the Head of Integrated Creative at Zambezi and the co-founder of Asians in Advertising. I have a passion for creating opportunities and paths for others to succeed.

The idea of Asians in Advertising was brought on by our shared experience as AAPI in the workforce and fueled by the uprising of Asian hate during the pandemic. It was time to do something that addressed that head-on. We have a chance to bring change within this industry and how advertising manifests in the world. Built on an initial idea I had many years ago, I was looking for the right partner to bring it to life.

I met Jessalin Lam, VP of Learning & Development, at an Ascend webinar called "Insights to Inspire the Next Generation of AAPI" at the end of January 2021. During the webinar, Jessalin put her LinkedIn into the chat. We both were passionate about the Asian community, so we connected on a Zoom chat since we live on opposite coasts. I was so impressed with Jessalin's involvement with DEI and L&D, plus many AAPI communities that it was a no-brainer.

We are at our first anniversary, and it's been incredible to see the organic growth in our community and even more surprised how it resonates with people, not only in the United States but across the world. We strongly believe it's driven by the unmet need of connecting Asians together for support, resources, and opportunities.

We have a very active community with over 2,000 members and are hosting our first two-day summit Breaking Barriers on May 5 & 6, 2022, with keynote speakers Cindy Gallop and StopAAPIHate founders. We are also working on a book called "The Visibility Mindset: How Asian Leaders Create Opportunities and Push Past Barriers" in the fall.

:: THE LINKS ::

8 ACTIONABLE WAYS ORGANIZATIONS CAN SUPPORT ASIAN EMPLOYEES IN ANTI-RACISM WORK

This article, written by Jessalin Lam, VP of Learning & Development at IAB and co-founder of Asians in Advertising, shares actionable ways for organizations to create a safe work environment to support their Asian employees. (ATD NYC)

A CHALLENGE TO OUR INDUSTRY FROM AN INVISIBLE MINORITY

This is a piece written by Clara Luo, an Asians in Advertising board member. She calls on the industry to empower the Asian community, collect the correct data on Asian consumers, invest in and mentor Asian talent, and support the AAPI community. (Campaign Live)

WE BELONG IN THE C-SUITE

This is an article written by Digitas CMO Michelle Tang. She advocates for the community to speak up, be themselves in the workplace, fight for visibility and support the cause. And she asks allies for help. (Campaign Live)

Looking for more from Bernice Chao? Those enrolled in The School of Stolen Genius will receive a deep dive from her in their inbox shortly! You can access all our expert interviews for SOSG here.

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Super Puzzle Fighter || Turbo, not only is it super fun, but I'm also surprisingly good at it.

:: City :: It's hard to pick one, because I like to visit new ones. I have a soft spot for Wanaka, New Zealand because that's where I got married.

:: Book :: Ready Player One, It combines my love of fantasy adventure and the 80s pop culture.

:: Podcast :: The Daily by the New York Times, it's my go to podcast when I drive to the office.

:: Album :: Outkast, Stankonia

Learn more about our non-profit organization at: Asiansinadvertising.com

Bernice Chao

hellobernice@gmail.com

Asians in Advertising

:: HOW TO WIN A COPY OF THE VISIBILITY MINDSET ::

Just by being a subscriber, you’ll already be entered to win. However, we’ve also got a few ways for you to earn some extra entries, capped at 100 entries per person.

All you have to do is share a link to the newsletter in some capacity, and send an email to ashley@geniussteals.co by end of day TODAY.

Here’s the scoop:

Sharing on social media = 5 extra entries, per platform. You’ll send a link to your post(s) to Ashley.
Sending an email to your team/department = 25 extra entries. We hope your team will thank you! Forward your email to Ashley for your extra entries.
Sending an email to your whole company = 50 entries. Damn, look at you willing to use that all-agency list serv. Thanks, we appreciate that! Forward your email to Ashley for extra entries.

We would like to grow our subscribers so obviously this is helpful for us and we are incentivizing that a little bit but we also believe that sharing is caring, that people we meet always tell us they find this newsletter unique and useful amongst the advertising industry, both broad and personal, and if you like it, wouldn’t people you like enjoy it too?

We’ll select winners on December 1st, and announce the winners on December 5th.

:: WHAT TO SHARE ::

We’re leaving that up to you. We’d love for you to share what you love about the newsletter, or why you read it, or what you appreciate about it — but just sharing a link will still get you extra entries.

We’ve flagged some of the more popular editions of Strands of Genius here, in case you want to share a past edition:

There was that edition where we explored grief, which included links about overcoming productivity dysmorphia, when a major life change upends your sense of self, and 3 questions to ask about trends.
Or the edition where we highlighted social media bans around the world, which included links about why community matters so much, retouching and influencer marketing, and shrinking The Gap (how the clothing brand lost its way.)
We covered the tough topic of abortions in May, and included links on big ideas in advertising, why Marvel is the most important cinematic innovation of the 21st Century, and why analogies are superpowers.
The newsletter we received the most responses to was when Rosie wrote about what it’s like working with a spouse, and included her favorite writings from Faris, including a post about America, Freedom & The High Cost of Healthcare, toxic nostalgia, how to get lucky, and Stone Junction.
And then there was a follow-up from Ashley, our Director of Operations, who wrote about what it was like working with a married couple, and included links on the nature of fame and attention, Italy’s B Corps, and the gay history of camels.
Or the time when Faris wrote about constraints, and included links on playing with brands, how tenderness and attention are related, and why we love the word ‘smooth.’
Rosie was a little nervous to send the newsletter where she talked about waning ambition, but it turned out many of you shared the same perspective. That edition also included links on why the return to the office isn’t working, the six forces that fuel friendship, and the first edition of the Warc Attention Economy podcast.
And there was the edition where we shared our favorite questions to ask, which also included links on being wrong, the insane cost of cars, and nine ways to channel stoicism to help your anxiety.

You can find and search the entire archive of Strands of Genius here, if there was an edition we didn’t spotlight that you loved and wanted to share :)

Strands of Genius is currently read by 13,000 subscribers. Support us by sponsoring an issue, becoming a member of The School of Stolen Genius or encouraging friends or colleagues to subscribe.

It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)

Strands of Genius