When I finally got back home from Connecticut, it was crunch time. Black history month was around the corner and that is a huge focus for me in my current role. I am also in two weddings this year so my maid of honor duties and my bridesmaid duties are in full effect. Being a bridesmaid is a lot of work!
Tatiana by Chef Kwame Onwuachi was voted the #1 restaurant in New York in 2023. It’s so hard to get a reservation here. In a previous job, we invited Chef Kwame to speak at our speaker series when he released his memoir. To see his success since then is really cool. While celebrating my friend’s 27th birthday, who also happens to know one of the chef’s, I was finally able to experience the notorious Tatiana. Everything I had was delicious. The curried goat patties, rice and peas, and braised oxtails live in my mind and taste buds rent free. I would love to go back, but…..I can’t get a reservation.
One Friday morning, I was on LinkedIn when I saw this beautiful black woman who had a bald head accented by her almond shaped eyes and beautiful gold jewelry. Next to her name was a heartbreak emoji. I went down a comments rabbit hole trying to get a better understanding of why there was a heartbreak emoji next to her name. When the comments proved to be too ambiguous for me to understand, I googled her name and was horrified with what I discovered.Dr. Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey died by suicide on January 8th. She suffered from severe anxiety and depression but this was exacerbated by her toxic workplace and bullying boss. Her cries for help were silenced. She was not given the support and resources to do her job and to advance in her career and it got so bad that she took her own life. As someone who has dealt with toxic work cultures and bosses throughout my career, I know how isolating this feeling is. I’ve always questioned the “real world.” Is it truly real if everyone is masquerading and performing? People get jobs, titles, and power and lose all common sense, allowing their ego to get in the way. It’s really sad to know that work cultures can kill. We all have a responsibility to be more empathetic and kind to each other.
Speaking of kindness in workplaces, I had a lunch with my friend Lauren who I met while looking for community engagement opportunities for work a few years ago. She told me that I inspired her to start her own business. I was shocked. It was a powerful revelation and a testament to showing up for one another in work spaces, building connections with people and never losing yourself in a job. Seeing Lauren take what she learned through her day job and become the CEO of her own business is a dream of mine and what she doesn’t know is that she inspired me to hopefully do the same one day. This was the perfect catch up date to end the month.
LifestyleByKy 