0:01

Hi, everyone.

0:01

Welcome to the next episode of

0:03

the Bay Street Capital Holdings

0:03

podcast titled, How'd You Do It

0:06

& Why Should I Care? This series

0:06

aims to highlight women doing

0:10

amazing work in various

0:10

industries. So today, we are so

0:13

lucky to be joined by Keni

0:13

Dominguez, who is founder,

0:16

workplace strategist and coach

0:16

Keni Dominguez LLC. Hi, Keni,

0:20

lovely to have you on the show.

0:22

Hey, Laila, how's it going?

0:24

Good. Good. Well,

0:24

I'm glad that you're here. So

0:27

let's start off with a quick

0:27

introduction about who you are,

0:29

and perhaps an answer to the

0:29

main question of the podcast,

0:32

which is, how do you do it? And why should I care?

0:35

Yes, so my name

0:35

is Keni Dominguez. I'm a

0:37

workplace strategist, and also a

0:37

career coach that specializes in

0:41

supporting Black women and other

0:41

women of color introverts. And

0:45

you know, it's interesting, I

0:45

often tell people that, or I try

0:49

to explain that my career has

0:49

been anything but linear. It's

0:51

really just been a journey with

0:51

a series of stops, if you will.

0:57

And, you know, I transitioned in

0:57

my career, I worked in tech for

1:02

several years. And then I

1:02

transitioned back into People

1:05

Operations and HR. And, you

1:05

know, I decided on the

1:11

organizational side that I

1:11

wanted to work with

1:14

organizations that were people

1:14

centric, and had a philosophy of

1:17

wanting to center their people,

1:17

first and foremost. And so I

1:22

typically work with a lot of

1:22

organizations that have either a

1:25

social impact, you know, area,

1:25

or, you know, they're really

1:30

focus, like you're on a

1:30

particular mission. And so that

1:32

was something that was really

1:32

special for me. The other thing

1:36

is that on the coaching side,

1:36

you know, I decided that I

1:39

wanted, I knew for sure that I

1:39

definitely wanted to work as a

1:42

career coach, I just didn't know

1:42

exactly who specifically I

1:45

wanted to support, I knew that I

1:45

wanted to focus on black women

1:48

and women of color that I want

1:48

it to be able to help them to

1:51

thrive in the workplace and to

1:51

feel empowered. But when I

1:53

really drill down even further,

1:53

I recognize that within myself,

1:57

you know, one of the identities

1:57

that I have known for a very

2:01

long time, and that also has

2:01

impacted my experience in the

2:05

workplace was being an

2:05

introvert. And so I decided, you

2:07

know, what I really want to work

2:07

with women of color and black

2:10

woman who, who are also

2:10

introverts, and I wanted to

2:13

explore the intersectionality of

2:13

race, gender, and cognitive

2:17

type. And so that's really how

2:17

all of this came to be. And the

2:22

reason why is because I think

2:22

it's really empowered for, I

2:26

think it's really important for

2:26

women, especially women of color

2:29

to feel empowered in the

2:29

workplace, you know, our

2:31

experiences can be more

2:31

challenging. And also, it's just

2:36

difficult to navigate just

2:36

because of some of those

2:38

challenges and obstacles that we

2:38

face. And so I wanted to be able

2:41

to not only be a voice for women

2:41

of color, who are also

2:44

introverted, but also to be able

2:44

to help them grow and develop in

2:48

their careers so that they can

2:48

thrive and not just survive in

2:51

the workplace.

2:52

Awesome. So it

2:52

seems like you kind of had a

2:55

very clear mission when coming

2:55

into your career. I'm curious,

2:59

what inspired you to join this

2:59

industry? Was it a specific

3:02

point in your life, it was a

3:02

combination of experiences,

3:05

it was a common,

3:05

I would say it was a combination

3:07

of experiences, but there was a

3:07

very specific focal point, and

3:10

it was during the pandemic. So I

3:10

had been consulting for about

3:13

two years. But what led me into

3:13

career coaching and wanting to

3:17

focus on introverts is that, you

3:17

know, I was working for a

3:21

specialty coffee company in the

3:21

Bay Area, as a director of

3:25

People Operations. And at the

3:25

time, you know, during the

3:28

pandemic had to close down

3:28

several of our locations. And so

3:32

at that point, it gave me some

3:32

time and space to really think

3:35

about, okay, what is, what is my

3:35

next thing? What is it that I'm

3:39

really interested in working on

3:39

next, you know, how can I be a

3:44

service to others, and also

3:44

align with my own core values,

3:50

and what was really important to

3:50

me. And when I sat down and

3:53

actually have the time and space

3:53

to think about it, I was really

3:57

inspired by, you know, other

3:57

women of color that I saw who

4:01

were going out on their own and

4:01

creating their own businesses

4:04

and venturing into

4:04

entrepreneurship. And it really

4:06

gave me kind of the the extra

4:06

nudge or the push to want to go

4:12

in full time as an entrepreneur.

4:12

And then in terms of what really

4:17

inspired me specifically, on the

4:17

path of being a workplace

4:21

culture strategist. I've worked

4:21

in different industries, and

4:26

specifically, I worked in tech

4:26

for years. And I realized I was

4:30

like, you know, there are very

4:30

few organizations that I can

4:33

think of where I had a really

4:33

positive, like workplace,

4:37

culture or experiment. And I

4:37

wanted to help change that. And

4:40

so what I realized is that, you

4:40

know, at the, at the

4:44

intersection of the things that

4:44

I felt fascinating, that I found

4:48

very fascinating, which were

4:48

people and understanding their

4:50

motivations was also my purpose.

4:50

When I looked at what I was

4:55

frustrated by and when I was

4:55

fascinated. I found my purpose

4:59

and I stopped beating myself up

4:59

because I hadn't. I felt like I

5:02

hadn't found my passion yet I

5:02

found my purpose instead,

5:05

definitely. And I'm

5:05

glad you found your purpose in

5:08

the end. And you can sort of

5:08

take that with a sense of pride

5:10

into whatever work you're doing

5:10

now, because you know, you're

5:13

genuinely passionate about it.

5:14

No, absolutely.

5:14

And I think that's hard, because

5:17

I think, often write and I've

5:17

read a lot of different career

5:21

development articles, and it's

5:21

like, follow your passion, you

5:24

know, what lights you up. And

5:24

what I found was, you know, when

5:28

you understand your purpose that

5:28

helps move you forward, when you

5:31

run out of steam for passion,

5:31

something that goes beyond what

5:36

you're feeling, and it feels

5:36

like you're you have, like an

5:38

actual mission that you're

5:38

trying to fulfill. It really

5:42

helps propel you forward and

5:42

helps you align with what you're

5:44

really meant to do.

5:45

Definitely, I would

5:45

agree. And you mentioned, you've

5:48

been in consulting for quite a

5:48

while now. But I guess what was

5:51

the best resources that you sort

5:51

of helped you make this

5:53

transition into being a

5:53

workplace strategist? And Coach,

5:57

and so what kind of helped you

5:57

from that transition during the

6:00

pandemic? As you mentioned?

6:02

Yeah, no,

6:02

absolutely. So when I so during

6:05

I had like a, we closed our

6:05

location, some of our locations

6:08

for, I think it was like the

6:08

first six weeks during the

6:12

quarantine period. And so I was

6:12

working like half time at that

6:16

point. And so I had much more

6:16

time to think and ponder. And so

6:20

during that point, you know, I

6:20

was also in law school, I was

6:24

trying to wrap that up. And so I

6:24

started really focusing on

6:28

workplace issues related to race

6:28

and gender specifically. And at

6:35

that point in time, I get really

6:35

inspired by a professor of mine.

6:39

Her name is Professor to ball at

6:39

UC Hastings. And she focused a

6:43

lot on workplace interviews, and

6:43

more specifically, like gig work

6:48

as well. And so it was through

6:48

that, that I declared my

6:52

specialization in work law. And

6:52

so I started to really focus on

6:55

like, the legal relationships

6:55

between businesses and workers

6:58

and problems of like inequity

6:58

and insecurity and

7:01

discrimination in the workplace.

7:01

And so from there, like being in

7:05

school, and moving into that,

7:05

that specialization, and having

7:09

access to those professors and

7:09

resources, that was an

7:12

invaluable resource for me,

7:12

which led to other connections,

7:16

as well as you know, different

7:16

professors or advisors,

7:20

introducing me to people who

7:20

could support the work that I

7:23

was doing, as well as helping me

7:23

with, you know, writing, or

7:27

trying to get published or

7:27

connecting me with with other

7:29

folks who could support me in

7:29

that. Also, you know, I would

7:34

say on the introversion side, I

7:34

was really inspired by Susan

7:36

Cain, and very inspired by like

7:36

her TED Talk and the quiet

7:42

revolution, the website that

7:42

she's created. And it was great,

7:47

because there's tons of

7:47

resources there for introverts,

7:50

but also, it helped me to

7:50

understand an underlining

7:53

problem that I wanted to solve,

7:53

which was, while I could

7:56

definitely relate to the issues

7:56

that she was highlighting with

8:01

introverts, and I was very happy

8:01

to see that someone was really

8:05

just trying to shine a light on

8:05

some of the challenges that

8:08

occur for introverts in the

8:08

workplace. What I didn't see was

8:12

like my own experience as a

8:12

black woman, or as like a woman

8:15

of color reflected into that

8:15

experience. And I started doing

8:20

research, and I realized that

8:20

there weren't really a lot of

8:23

other people who were doing the

8:23

same. But I knew that there were

8:26

black introverts and other women

8:26

of color introverts. And so I

8:28

wanted to try to be a voice for

8:28

that. And so the, that website

8:34

was super, super beneficial for

8:34

me to understand, like, what was

8:37

the problem I was trying to

8:37

solve. And then also to, you

8:41

know, just linking up with

8:41

creating a circle of support in

8:45

terms of finding other

8:45

entrepreneurs, who were also

8:49

maybe doing different things,

8:49

but who were, you know, fairly

8:52

early on in their journey, and

8:52

some who were much more mature

8:55

in terms of their own business,

8:55

and seeking out advice and just

8:59

being around people and that

8:59

space, you're trying to do

9:02

similar things, was really

9:02

helpful in terms of helping me

9:05

find different resources,

9:07

I would definitely

9:07

agree the power of the network

9:09

is just so powerful. And as you

9:09

mentioned, you also made you

9:12

also make sure to reach out to

9:12

those who are further along in

9:14

their career, and then also

9:14

those who are just starting out,

9:17

because I think at every stage

9:17

of the game, somebody has some

9:20

useful piece of advice that they could give.

9:23

No, absolutely. And that's kind of you kind of build this power network around

9:25

you. And it's also good for not

9:28

just like those tangible

9:28

resources where someone maybe

9:30

connects you with someone or,

9:30

you know, they tell you about

9:33

other resources they've used,

9:33

but also like the power of

9:36

storytelling, and understanding

9:36

other people's stories, whether

9:40

they're similar to yours or different, but just understanding, you know, what

9:42

are some of the failures that

9:44

they may have experienced where

9:44

the challenges they've had so

9:47

that you can learn from them and

9:47

also, so that you can understand

9:50

that some of the feelings that

9:50

you may be experiencing are

9:53

completely normal?

9:54

Definitely, I would

9:54

agree. And then following on

9:57

from that, were there any

9:57

lessons that you wish you would

9:59

have learned before Starting in

9:59

this industry and becoming an

10:01

entrepreneur,

10:03

yes. So a big

10:03

one for me, like a key takeaway

10:07

was, you know, initially when I

10:07

was trying to establish this

10:11

business, I was like, Am I

10:11

really the person to do this

10:13

work, you know, being really

10:13

doubtful of, you know, one, is

10:18

there an audience is there is

10:18

there like an appetite for this

10:21

type of support. And then also,

10:21

under estimating how powerful

10:27

like your voice can be. You

10:27

know, a lot of times being an

10:31

introvert, you know, people can

10:31

overlook you or not think that,

10:34

you know, you're capable of

10:34

being a leader, or a lot of

10:36

times that necessarily being an

10:36

entrepreneur being put in the

10:40

center. And I think I made the

10:40

mistake repeatedly of thinking

10:45

that, you know, my voice wasn't

10:45

enough when it was really more

10:48

than enough. And so I think if I

10:48

had understood that earlier on,

10:53

it would have been a little a

10:53

little less rocky of a journey.

10:55

But I'm glad that I had to go through that experience. Because, one, it makes me more

10:57

relatable to other introverts,

11:02

but also it helps me to be able

11:02

to work through other issues

11:05

they may be experiencing,

11:05

because I've experienced it, and

11:07

I understand what it feels like.

11:09

Yeah, and it's great that you saw it as a learning opportunity. And you

11:10

kind of didn't get fazed by

11:13

that. Oh, let it set you back.

11:15

No, and it was

11:15

hard, because at times, I was

11:17

just like, like, you know, when

11:17

you're developing something, and

11:21

you're not really sure, if it's,

11:21

if it's the right thing, you

11:25

know, you start to question

11:25

yourself a lot. And it's okay,

11:29

you should be questioning yourself if you're a new entrepreneur, so that you can

11:30

get better and so that you can

11:33

refine, you know, your mission

11:33

or the work that you're doing.

11:37

So you can better so you can

11:37

grow and develop. And I think

11:39

that all those things are okay.

11:39

But you have to make sure that

11:42

you don't stay in it too long.

11:42

And that doubtful, you know,

11:45

sight of, you know, that type of

11:45

doubtful mindset that can sit

11:49

in. And really, I think I was

11:49

really lucky to to experience

11:55

those issues repeatedly, so that

11:55

I could really kind of make sure

12:01

that had really, truly learned those lessons so that I could pass it on.

12:04

Definitely. And

12:04

speaking about learning lessons

12:06

over the span of your career, what would you say was your biggest failure? And what did

12:08

you learn from it?

12:11

I think my

12:11

biggest failure at the start of

12:14

the careers is thinking that I,

12:14

you know, I honestly think it's

12:19

thinking that someone else could

12:19

do it better. A lot of times,

12:22

when you I think when you're

12:22

trying to do something new and

12:25

different, or something that's

12:25

Uncharted, you're looking to

12:28

other people for a path. But if

12:28

you're doing something that's

12:32

brand new, that path may not

12:32

have been laid, or that

12:35

foundation hasn't been laid

12:35

quite yet. So it's up to you to

12:37

determine what that is. And that

12:37

is really, as an introvert,

12:42

like, that's really, that is a

12:42

space that we're not always

12:46

naturally comfortable in. And I

12:46

think for me that the biggest

12:51

failure was, was thinking I

12:51

needed to wait for somebody else

12:54

to come along.

12:55

When you could have done it, you know, you could have done it yourself. Yes,

12:57

absolutely. Definitely. Um, you

13:01

know what, I'm so glad that you

13:01

kind of had that learning

13:03

opportunity in the beginning of your career, because then it probably allowed you to really

13:05

flourish and blossom and have

13:07

that confidence in yourself later on.

13:10

No, it really

13:10

did. And I and it also, I think

13:13

when you're developing something

13:13

that's new, and when you start

13:16

to really feel like different

13:16

things are in alignment with

13:19

what you're trying to do, it

13:19

helps boost up your confidence.

13:23

And it really helps you, it

13:23

starts to become like your North

13:26

Star, you start to feel like

13:26

okay, I know, I know what I'm

13:29

doing. Because I've learned so

13:29

much. And I've been able to gain

13:33

all of this, you know,

13:33

information or data experiences,

13:37

which really have kind of helped

13:37

me to be able to discern, like

13:42

what my next step should be. And

13:42

it's, again, I feel like

13:46

everything that I learned, I'm

13:46

always able to impart it to like

13:48

my clients, because you're going

13:48

through so many of the same

13:51

things that I've either already

13:51

gone through or may currently be

13:55

like in the process of trying to

13:55

navigate.

13:57

Definitely. And

13:57

following on from that you've

14:00

been giving some really great

14:00

pieces of advice throughout this

14:02

whole conversation. But I'm

14:02

curious, what is one piece of

14:05

advice that you would you would

14:05

give somebody who who was

14:07

wanting to pursue a career

14:07

similar to yours?

14:11

Let's see. I

14:11

think for me, if I were gonna

14:13

give some advice, I would think,

14:13

you know, one big thing for me

14:20

was, I think like, make it your

14:20

own, like it's, it's good to

14:29

look to others for inspiration,

14:29

but look within to chart your

14:32

roadmap. And, you know, just

14:32

understanding that your journey

14:36

is going no matter how similar

14:36

is going to be different than

14:39

your friend or your colleague

14:39

that's next to you. And being

14:42

accepting of that and

14:42

understanding and knowing if

14:45

that's okay. And then also to I

14:45

think, like not worrying about

14:49

time, like, it's okay to like be

14:49

aware of the time right because

14:53

we it's not a an infinite

14:53

resource, right. But don't worry

14:57

about the timeline. So much like

14:57

because sometimes I think we

15:02

compare, we started to compare

15:02

when we're hitting certain

15:05

milestones. And those milestones

15:05

may just appear differently or

15:09

in a different order for you.

15:09

And that's okay, too. Because I

15:16

feel like a lot of times early

15:16

on in my career, I would compare

15:19

myself to other people. And that

15:19

would get upset if I didn't feel

15:22

like I was hitting milestones by

15:22

a certain timeline. And it's

15:25

just about the life that you're

15:25

leading the life that other

15:27

people are leaving and being

15:27

comfortable and good with that.

15:31

Definitely.

15:32

And following on

15:32

from that. You've obviously been

15:34

an entrepreneur for a while now.

15:34

But what is one common myth

15:36

about being an entrepreneur that

15:36

you would like to debunk right

15:39

here right now?

15:40

Yes. So this

15:40

more specifically, I would say,

15:44

in terms of, like, I hear a lot

15:44

of myths about being an

15:49

introverted entrepreneur, or

15:49

even like in a leadership space,

15:53

right, because there's, No,

15:53

you're the leader, um, but, you

15:58

know, being told that, you know,

15:58

you're not cut out to be an

16:01

effective leader, or successful

16:01

because of your introversion,

16:05

because of the fact that you may

16:05

process differently, or, you

16:11

know, it may market yourself

16:11

differently, or, you know, just

16:14

the way that you engage or

16:14

interact with people. And so

16:18

that's one of the biggest myths

16:18

that I always try to I start out

16:20

with all my clients just

16:20

explaining to them, you know,

16:24

you can, if you want to be a

16:24

manager, if you want to go into

16:27

leadership, like you can, and

16:27

like, we can work together so

16:30

that you can develop their

16:30

strengths, because I think, so

16:34

often what I've experienced is

16:34

that, especially like in

16:37

leadership trainings, or like,

16:37

you know, entrepreneurial

16:40

trainings, it's just like, you

16:40

have to have this certain

16:44

bravado, you know, you have to,

16:44

you know, be a visionary, and

16:48

you can't be a visionary, but

16:48

maybe you're just also really

16:51

focused on how you're going to

16:51

implement those actions. And so

16:55

I think there's a lot of

16:55

strengths that get downplayed

16:57

when you're an introverted

16:57

entrepreneur, which are really,

17:01

really great things for you, in

17:01

terms of building out your, your

17:05

business. Definitely.

17:07

And I'm sure you're

17:07

very busy at the moment by being

17:09

an entrepreneur, and she was

17:09

very demanding job, but what

17:12

have you read or listened to

17:12

recently that's really inspired

17:14

you.

17:16

Lately, the last

17:16

book that I read was the color

17:19

of law, which is a brilliant

17:19

book. It's really fast Facebook,

17:23

it's like the forgotten history

17:23

of residential segregation, and

17:27

how the federal government just

17:27

kind of deliberately imposed

17:30

racial segregation on

17:30

metropolitan areas. I've been

17:33

currently like looking for a

17:33

home and thinking about property

17:36

and land ownership. And, and

17:36

that book was so so well

17:40

written, it's just provided such

17:40

insight into the history of

17:44

residential segregation, and it

17:44

has kind of changed, like the

17:47

way that I think about land

17:47

ownership and property

17:49

ownership. And so that, in

17:49

particular, that particular book

17:53

have been really inspiring to

17:53

me, and just something that I

17:56

think should be like required

17:56

reading. For everyone. It's

17:59

fantastic. Fabulous.

18:02

And you mentioned

18:02

this a little earlier about the

18:04

power of network, but I'm

18:04

curious, who are three people in

18:06

your life who have been the most

18:06

influential to you?

18:11

Let's see, for

18:11

me, my father, he worked in HR

18:15

for over three decades. And I

18:15

would have never thought that I

18:18

would have wanted to kind of get

18:18

into this space. There's

18:22

actually a photo, I think it was

18:22

like 10 years old. And it's

18:26

like, Take Your Daughter to Work

18:26

Day. And behind him are a bunch

18:29

of HR compliance books. And I'm

18:29

just really focused, I think it

18:33

looks like I'm focused on the

18:33

pizza that's being delivered,

18:36

and so not really interested in

18:36

what he was doing at the time.

18:40

But I think there was a little

18:40

bit of foreshadowing there. And

18:43

so he's always just been so

18:43

wonderful. For one, assuming his

18:47

inspiration, he really loved his

18:47

career and really felt strongly

18:51

about putting people first and,

18:51

and really kind of pass it down

18:54

to me. Think for second, the

18:54

second person that's been really

18:59

inspiring. My mentor gebouw.

18:59

Dayton, who is like, the first

19:07

Chief People Officer at Airbnb

19:07

has been amazing. I've been

19:14

privileged enough to know her

19:14

for a few years. And she's been

19:17

helpful and one helping me to

19:17

take more risks in my career

19:22

like this one. And also, you

19:22

know, just to be a great

19:26

sounding board, I think

19:26

everybody needs someone who they

19:30

can call up and who they can

19:30

kind of talk through things

19:33

with, not necessarily someone

19:33

who's going to tell you what to

19:35

do, but someone who can help you

19:35

think through like what your

19:39

options are, and that kind of

19:39

better solution. She's been

19:42

terrific. And the third person

19:42

is a woman who helped me earlier

19:48

on in my career. When I was

19:48

working at Dell. She actually

19:52

advocated for like a $20,000

19:52

increase for me in salary and it

19:57

was it was the first time

19:57

Someone had really advocated me

20:02

and in a very public way, in the

20:02

workplace, and you know, she was

20:07

such an amazing leader. I

20:07

thought it was really wonderful

20:12

that I had that experience

20:12

earlier on. And it also kind of

20:16

stayed with me to where it made

20:16

me want to make sure that I was

20:18

also advocating for women,

20:18

especially women of color,

20:22

whenever I had an opportunity to

20:22

and so I really just appreciated

20:27

the support that she provided

20:27

earlier on in my career, and

20:29

she's just a fantastic leader, too.

20:31

Perfect. And then

20:31

finally, to round off our

20:33

conversation, what is one piece

20:33

of advice that you wish you gave

20:36

yourself at any point in your life?

20:40

I wish I had

20:40

told myself that it was okay to

20:43

walk out on a limb and make a

20:43

mistake, and then fall back up

20:46

again. I wish that I had told

20:46

myself that. It's okay to not

20:53

get it right the first time, you

20:53

don't have to beat yourself up

20:55

over it. I think often, you

20:55

know, as a black woman in the

21:00

workspace, a lot of times I felt

21:00

like there was no room for

21:03

error. There wasn't really room

21:03

for mistakes. And so I think,

21:07

you know, reflectively looking

21:07

back, it kind of kept me from

21:11

pursuing certain things because

21:11

I was more afraid of making a

21:15

mistake then trying the new

21:15

thing or or trying to, you know,

21:22

pursue another opportunity. And

21:22

I definitely know and understand

21:25

that now, but I wish I had

21:25

understood that earlier on in my

21:28

career.

21:29

Well, well, what a

21:29

lovely note to end on. I'm glad

21:32

you made that realization now.

21:32

Anyway, so thank you so much for

21:35

taking the time to speak with me

21:35

Keni. It was absolutely

21:37

wonderful to have this conversation with you.

21:39

No, absolutely. Thank you again for having me on as a guest.

21:42

Thank you. Bye bye bye