Serra Gaylord & Kalkaska’s Post

Pushing for equality means standing up for your marginalized employees no matter their sexuality. Women only make up 3 percent of workers in the trades and that number has been stagnet for decades. Organizations like the Carpenters’ Regional Council and Northstar Access need to start holding their male members accountable when they humiliate and harass the women workers. Equality is about treating all workers the same and not putting others above eachother based on gender or sexuality. Stop the bullying and hold those who are guilty of harassment and bullying accountable. You want more women in the trades then start holding your male members and your male management accountable for the horrible ways the treat women workers.

In offering courage, insight and clarity on the work that we put forth into the world, these friendships not only add to the overall quality of our lives but underline the value of creative communities more broadly. https://lnkd.in/eYpquT-i

🎯🎯🎯 I once heard a powerful voice in a YouTube video that shared a prompt that I think is very applicable to the work we do and spaces we hold in Higher Education… “What happens if we thought more intentionally that our businesses and college campuses occupy lands that once belonged to Indigenous Peoples that are still here.” The video is shared below. I encourage all to make the space to sit with the voices and narratives being shared in it: https://lnkd.in/eNBrqqk3 Notice she said, “that are still here.” I can’t help but wonder what it is like for those Indigenous Peoples to see so many different people benefiting from lands that no longer belong to them and for some of them that have no access to because of various societal and political measures. I think about a doctoral classmate that helped me to understand the rotten-with-bias bureaucratic processes such as which Indigenous Peoples are federally recognized and those that are not. What happens to their culture and history? Who chose the governing bodies to determine which histories and truths would be elevated and others to be erased? I’ve been in various day to day and professional development spaces discussing how to properly acknowledge Indigenous Peoples and their narratives, history as land caretakers and other contributions. It’s equally important to make space to hold, face, and work to rehabilitate the harms done over time. Even though I am not personally responsible for those harms, I choose to be conscious and responsible to not ignore how my role and privileged positionality as a University professional have resulted in my access and benefit of collegiate operations conducted because of harm and on stolen lands. I encourage all to commit to the introspective work needed to consider challenging ourselves to shift advocacy and agency beyond the comfort to simply honor Indigenous peoples and narratives with voiced land and labor acknowledgments recited during various spaces of training, education, or narrative sharing. In some spaces, the acknowledgment has seemed as performative allyship and an empty, trending gesture not enacted to invoke change or raised conscious but as a self-serving pat on our own backs. Each day, it’s important for us to consider how to operationalize our respective platforms, voices, and positionality to be firm and organic advocates. How does our advocacy and agency shift to be more conscious and action oriented? How do we diligently seek out non-self-serving partnership and collaborative resolution finding and rehabilitation with Indigenous Peoples on campuses and in the nearby communities? What common day practices represent barriers we uphold and perpetuate that explicitly and implicitly threaten the existence, access, and legacy of Indigenous Peoples? These reflectively questions are a short list of a longer list… questions that DESERVE ongoing answers and invested resources and increased attention.

I've watched this video at least 5 times. And with each viewing, I become more disturbed. Every time I watched the video, I wondered: - What was wrong with the cabinet as it was? I assume it functioned as intended/expected since all the modifications were simply aesthetic. - If you didn't like the appearance that much, why not just choose something else? - How much time was spent transforming the cabinet? Were those changes really worth the time and effort? Did it make the cabinet hold things better? - After all those modifications, what if the cabinet doesn't work the same? Are we sure the changes were simply superficial or did we unintentionally impact functionality? - How do you know the cabinet is there if it can't be seen? Does anyone forget it's there and get another one? This video is allegorical to certain times in my career. Instead of remembering the reasons why I was hired and focusing on getting the best work out of me, more time was spent trying to mold me until I became indistinct. Talk about a painful lesson. Instead of becoming unrecognizable, I'd much rather be appreciated as a statement piece. Wouldn't you?

There's nothing quite like cracking open the digital archives, going on a treasure hunt and pulling out the gems of Unistrut's 100 years of history. Then again, knowing that some of the projects I'm working on today will be in the archives for future generations, is pretty cool too! #Unistrut100 #GlimpseOfHistory #ArchivesOfTheFuture

In the tapestry of humanity, the threads of compassion weave a masterpiece. Extend your hand, for in helping others, you unravel the beauty of shared existence. #CompassionUnites #quransekho #ExtendKindness #WeAreOne #HelpingHands #UnityInService #HumanityFirst

By helping others, you contribute to creating a sense of unity and solidarity within the community. This can strengthen social bonds and foster a sense of belonging among residents. Community involvement allows individuals to address social issues and challenges that affect the community as a whole. By working together, people can find solutions and make positive changes. Helping others can be personally fulfilling and rewarding. It can boost your self-esteem, sense of purpose, and overall well-being. Community involvement can lead to positive changes in society. Whether it's through volunteering, advocacy, or other forms of support, your actions can make a difference and inspire others to do the same. When community members come together to help one another, they can create a safer and more supportive environment for everyone. This can lead to reduced crime rates, improved public spaces, and overall better quality of life. By getting involved in community activities, individuals learn about social issues, develop empathy, and become more socially responsible citizens. This can lead to a more caring and compassionate society. Community involvement encourages communication and collaboration among diverse groups of people. This can lead to greater understanding, respect, and cooperation among community members. Helping the community is essential for creating a more connected, compassionate, and thriving society. Whether through volunteering, donating, advocating, or simply supporting others, your actions can have a meaningful impact on the well-being of your community.

Productive days are back! 🎉🏡 With the kids in school, it's time to dive into real estate. Celebrating focus and new opportunities! #BackToSchool #RealEstateHustle #realtorlife #RealEstate #realestateagent #realtor #RealEstateTips #realtorlife #exprealty #exprealtyproud #Greenvillenc #LivingInGreenvilleTV

Sharing YouTube link of "Place Man", Placemaking movement, 19 minute movie. If it's good for a Metropolis, it's good for a Micropolis. That is, all cities large and small, and settlements in between, can benefit from a vibrant urban core, a central community hub, for social gathering, people watching, happenstance encounters, socializing, consumer activity, etc... At the University of Maryland I was introduced to the work of Wm. Hollie Whyte and Jane Jacobs, whom this movie's protagonist, Guillermo Bernal who began the Project for Public Spaces in NYC, mentions as contemporaries. Public places, the public realm, is vital to our shared lives in society. Making a special place with unique Third Places (Oldenburg, 1989), appreciated by residents, and wherein Social Capital (Putnam, 1993) is built that strengthens the bounds of a community, giving it a positive quality in people's sense of belonging, of community, which counteracts feelings of loneliness and isolation, is important togetherness work. Our many specialized professions might desire to reunite with people in mind via the general practice of placemaking-to make our futures more fulfilling in the places in which we choose to settle to live, learn, work, play, pray, raise a family, be and become the best we can be as people, inhabiting this Pale Blue Dot (Sagan, 1994), earth, for the short cosmic blip of time we get to be alive. https://lnkd.in/esr-WUQc

Diving deep into the essence of success: Join Sean Caroll and I as we explore the importance of community involvement, relationship-building, and individual identity in business.