The Equity Gap

Welcome. I'm so glad you're here and I'm so glad to be back talking about the most important things on my heart.  In our last episode we started by exploring how to stay awake in a world that desperately wants us to tune out. A world controlled by a global elite that thrive on our exhaustion and overwhelm when we're too tired and too worn down to collectively push back. And yet...

We’re watching fascism unfold in real time. The worst part? We're told to stay neutral. To debate both sides. I’m done compartmentalizing my humanity. This new episode asks: how do we stay awake in a world that wants us to go numb? How do we resist the grind, the gaslighting, the urge to look away — and still choose joy, rest, and each other? A new podcast series begins now. For those holding...

Vinny Welsby (they/them) is a world-leading expert on dismantling anti-fat bias and diet-culture, TEDx speaker, and best-selling author. They went from being homeless and abused with self-esteem that was achingly low into the courageous fat activist and change maker they are today. Vinny helps people fall in love with their bodies and is dedicated to shifting the way society views fat bodies. Foll...

I first came across Chris Hooten on LinkedIn about a month ago when I had so many thoughts swirling in my head around the silence of so many equity and inclusion professionals in my circles of influence with the ongoing genocide in Gaza. A deliberate choice to uphold a sense of comfort in a job that requires you to be truth tellers and deeply uncomfortable to uphold a sense of integrity. Chris’s p...

Today you're in for a real treat, a conversation with someone who has a beautiful capacity to help us all rethink the way we work and the way we resign ourselves to urgency culture, to upholding the systems of white supremacy and capitalism - that keep us exhausted. I first came across the work of Lydia Philip (she/her) through a series of blog posts she authored for Evenings and Weekends Con...

I’ve been away from this platform for so long navigating through several big changes in life and on the brink of burnout but with everything going on in Gaza, I am so called to build on what I’ve already publicly said because without a shadow of a doubt, Gaza and Palestine have changed me to my core -  there is no going back to the ways things used to be and there is no option to stay silent. I al...

Sit back with a notebook, pen and a cup of tea and listen to the thoughtprovoking, dynamic and awe-inspiring Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi (she/her) talk about workplace saviorism and how we can inspire a paradigm shift in traditional workplace cultures to move beyond trying to fix Black, Indigenous and racialized people to amplifying our talents and standing in solidarity with us. Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi i...

Come on an honest exploration with me about the ugly and real truth about working in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. A space often overrun by performative, comfort upholding initiatives, where real solutions based on equity are often overlooked in favour of risk aversion and maintaining the status quo. As with anything you can come to expect with the Equity Gap podcast, we go there and we talk th...

To those that proclaim to not see colour, to claim reverse racism, who use the word woke as a weapon and who believe in the idea of a meritocracy, this episode is dedicated to you. Let's unpack all the problematic things people say about race. References from the episode: BC Human Rights Commissioner: https://bchumanrights.ca/be-anti-racist-colour/ The Myth of Reverse Racism: https://www.thea...

Do you know the reference man? He's been the biggest and most invisible force in your life and workplaces and you likely have no idea who he is. Let me tell you more about him in this episode and walk through how our workplaces are designed to cater to the Reference Man and ultimately uphold white supremacy and sexism through commonly unquestioned ideals like professionalism and culture fit....

Take a peek inside my ADHD brain, my late in life diagnosis and how the intersections of race, gender and being first generation Canadian make the process of coming to terms with such a diagnosis more complicated and nuanced. If you ever want to connect, provide feedback, share your story or give me any perspective on topics you want me to cover, reach out anytime at shahzianoorally@gmail.com or l...

Introducing the Equity Gap Podcast - a space to talk about race, gender and other forms of marginalization in the workplace and beyond. If you ever want to connect, provide feedback, share your story or give me any perspective on topics you want me to cover, reach out anytime at shahzianoorally@gmail.com or learn more at shahzianoorally.com  Transcripts of all episodes can be found here Licensed i...

This first episode of the Equity Gap podcast is a sort of calling in to the white people in my circles of influence and any white person listening to this on how to engage, do the work and walk the walk.  With anything you’ll come to expect from this platform, it’s not designed for comfort. The work of dismantling the system of white supremacy is about challenging power structures that have kept e...

Resilience should no longer be a point of celebration - too many of us carry the weight of expectations to work harder, do better and play a constant game of proving ourselves in workplace environments that aren't designed for us as Black, Indigenous and women of colour. In this dynamic and powerful conversation with Chivon John - Workplace Wellness Lead for Shopify, Board Member, Speaker and...

Meet Moji Taiwo: Creator & Host - The Immigrant Experience Show, Author, Speaker, Coach, Facilitator and Retired Civil Servant   Moji Taiwo is the author of - I GIVE because I’M BLESSED – I’M BLESSED because I GIVE – ‘ A Chronicle of An Immigrant’s Journey’. Moji is also the Creator and Host of The Immigrant Experience Show (Tieshow) on Diversity TV's YouTube Channel. Tieshow is intended...

Hustle culture feels outdated, archaic and unnecessary in a world that has shifted so deeply. So many of us have had awakenings around our relationship to work and labour in the last 2 years, yet reconciling that within ourselves is complicated. How do you work through the push and pull of unlearning what you once believed, of opting out of that which no longer serves you? Listen in to find out. ...

" If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive " - Audre Lorde So much of the journey to finding career joy and a path that fulfils you is rooted in knowing ourselves and as Audre Lorde says "defining myself for myself" - leaning into the possibilities of what comes next for our pathways rooted in an un...

I don't know, there is something I hate about the pressure to create and fulfill new year resolutions that are often rooted in fixing things we find flawed or imperfect about ourselves. The desire to fix what isn't even broken in the first place is such indoctrination from a society that deems us not being enough without hustle culture, discipline and perseverance. No more new year, new...

If you stick around, what you'll find in this episode is a compilation of all my musings, learnings and ah ha moments that may help you see your path a little more clearly and ideally set you up for whatever is to come for your career in 2022. Whether starting your career or changing paths at any age and stage of your life, these sentiments ring such truth that I wish I had heard them and emb...

When I started my career in HR, I somehow ended up in recruitment - truly by accidental happenstance. And boy did I learn a lot - about what it was like to be on both ends of the job searching process. I discovered so many things about how undermined the recruitment function can be, how few resources are dedicated for companies to humanize the experience for job seekers and the years I spent in th...

Planning, visioning and setting goals should be my Capricorn selfs dream, yet they really aren’t. And naturally, the last 18 months have me rethinking, a lot, about what it means to be so focused on goals, career plans and making decisions based on other peoples roadmaps or expectations - how we’ve all been programmed to think in milestones, goals and achievements and how much I think we desperate...

I think it’s time we all get out of the scarcity mindset. You know the one - where you stick through, hang out where you’re not all that excited to be, stay in the job to collect that pay cheque or rack up that experience because we’re told we should, because we’ve been taught to be polite, thoughtful, not rock the boat and because we feel like we don’t have options.  Truth bomb - you do have opti...

I've felt for a long time that the happiest and most successful people amongst us have a gentleness in which they speak to themselves, in which they look at failure and move through adversity. Yet I wonder why so many of us struggle with self-compassion, with being kind to ourselves and showing up for ourselves in the same ways we show up for our nearest and dearest and what kind of detriment...

As women of colour, our sense of community, belonging and the ability to truly thrive in the workplace is limited immensely by the representation we see, by how many of us are in leadership, how differences are managed and how welcome we are made to feel. I suspect if you or I asked the women of colour in our circles of influence, most if not all would be able to quickly point to numerous defining...

In May 2020, I made the difficult decision to move on from a company I had an incredibly successful run with for nearly 6 years. I left because I was itching to do something new, to challenge and rebrand myself. I decided to not only leave the company, but take a big step back in order to eventually propel my career forward. Talk about a massive risk! Just this September, I accepted a promotion ba...