Zaka Presents: My Journey

During our conversation with Keynote Motivational Speaker, Rene Godefroy, he states, “we don’t struggle because of a lack of knowledge. We struggle because we lack the courage to act in spite of the unknown." This quote has been Rene's anchor and is resounding when you hear his path to success. Growing up poor in a small village in Haiti, he still had the audacity and confidence of becom...

Moody Abdul  loves the art of how we communicate through channels such as marketing , branding, advertising  and other methods like public speaking. He currently helps organizations utilize LinkedIn's Ad product to improve their marketing strategy and their talent acquisition efforts. Moody documents his personal and professional journey from living in poverty, struggling to speak  english an...

René Sanchez from Salesforce has been a leader since his early days in college. He founded an organization that promoted the benefits of diversity in a predominantly Caucasian school and faculty. That level of courage and leadership catapulted him into various experiences across several industries. Some of his accomplishments include managing brand building campaigns for Dove, leading the developm...

O'shane Howard dropped out of school to pursue his passion for photography and production. As a Creative Director, Photographer and Director, he prioritizes emotion, education and culture into his work to evoke strong sentiments from his audience. O'shane mostly features People of Color in his work to highlight the positive and true narratives of marginalized individuals. He credits his...

At an early age, Dr Kivette Parkes learned that there is an unspoken pressure and expectation for Black women needing to do more. She did not take this burden lightly, as a result she relied on her education to become a role model for her younger siblings and community. The Jamaican native, earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Mathematics from Sacred Heart Universit...

Amobi Okugo was a professional soccer player for 10 years. He was drafted after his freshman year at UCLA into Major League Soccer as part of the 2010 Generation Adidas Class. He has amassed over 200 appearances in all competitions professionally and has been honored to represent the United States national team program at various youth levels including the 2012 Olympic squad.  Currently,  he is th...

Afiya Addison joins us to discuss her role as the Independent Agency Lead at LinkedIn. As a woman of color, she speaks about the challenges that she faced and how she advocated for herself to receive promotions and transition to several positions within the company. Her upbringing in a Trinidadian household has instilled values in her that she attributes to her success. Afiya has spoken at Social...

Giving back to the less fortunate is embedded in Stéphane Laroche's core. He utilizes that passion as a diplomat working for the USAID as a Regional Financial Service Officer. Growing up in Haiti, he learned about hard work and sharing with the less fortunate. The tough circumstances that he faced in Haiti as a single child helped prepare him to navigate his career in the US. Stéphane is one...

Migrating to a new country and entering the job market can be challenging and disconnected for many immigrants. Greisy's journey was not different. After a successful law career in the Dominican Republic, it was a difficult journey establishing a career in the United States, a completely new environment. Recruiters recommended for her to go back to school because they could not connect to her...

In honor of Latino Heritage Month, we had a conversation with Peter Flores who is an Executive in Client Partnerships at Vice Media. Peter learned a very important lesson from his mother at a young age: "you can be rich in life if you can have a conversation or can connect with anybody". That very important lesson shaped Peter's life more than he expected. Instead of focusing on wha...

Sean Maingot was diagnosed with lymphoblastic lymphoma 14 years ago. He went through a grueling regime of chemotherapy that left him weak, uninspired and skinny. But the treatment worked, Sean, CO-Founder of Body by Chosen, regained his energy and was motivated to recover the same fitness he had as a former basketball and baseball player. The cancer survivor refused to feel sorry for himself after...

Grace left Vietnam 10 years ago by herself and managed to graduate at the top of her class. Her journey assimilating in the U.S  was tough because she did not have the blueprint or guidance in how to achieve her professional vision in a country that differed completely from hers. Holding on to her mission of making the world a better place, Grace decided that her way of contributing  could be by m...

PR Expert Commentator and NFT Host, Mary Beth Sales joins us to breakdown her journey growing up in Saint Louis in a Filipino household and moving to Los Angeles for Law School. Mary Beth excels at PR by leveraging her negotiation skills to put her clients at the forefront and elevate their brands. Whether you're an industry expert, talent, athlete, C-level executive, or if you have a consume...

Damon DeGraff is single-handedly responsible for creating what is known today as the “celebrity dj." The DGI Management founder's first client was Mark Ronson and his top clients have included D’Angelo, Beverly Bond, DJ Cassidy, DJ Kiss, Chelsea Leyland, DJ Ruckus, The Misshapes, Paul Sevigny, Rev Run, Mia Moretti, Jermaine Dupri, DJ Pauly D and Kat DeLuna. In this episode, Damon speaks...

Allison is passionate about creating genuine connections with consumers and telling compelling stories to establish brand affinity and long-term relationships. She's  fascinated by trends and the power of authenticity. Allison joins us to talk about her personal journey from her parents immigrating from thr Philippines and her career growth from working at Red Bull to now being The Associate...

Christopher Sherman IV was never shy about using his voice to be a leader. He founded an organization in college, The Distinguished Gentlemen, that promoted diversity on campus and sought-after changing the misconceptions about young minorities. Today, the organization is helping inner-city children continue their education. Chris has continued carrying the torch of leadership in the corporate wor...

Jerry Fortuna is making a name for himself as a leader in the Big3, a professional basketball league founded by Ice Cube. Jerry breaks down his journey growing up in a Latin household in LA to climbing up the ladder in the entertainment industry. Jerry shares how his humility and authenticity have helped him develop relationships with influential people like the Dallas Mavericks governor, Mark Cub...

Elvin Colón from American Express joins us to talk about his current role as the Director of Mergers and Acquisitions / Corporate Development. Before this leadership role, Elvin worked at several other financial institutions, learning the ins and outs of the industry.  Elvin shares about how he found the confidence as a Latino to advocate for himself and use his voice in competitive, professional...

Krystle DeSantos joins us to share her journey from Guyana to moving to NYC when she was 18. Krystle is a Design Guru,  Digital Content Creator and  Digital Advertising Professional with  over 10 years working  the Tech space.   After a successful career working in Corporate America, Krystle followed her dream and passion by launching her agency Krystle DeSantos LLC. Her agency manages interior/ev...

Born and raised in the South Bronx, Paul Herman,   fell in love with the belief that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. With the birth of Hip Hop, Paul quickly took an interest in dance . While pursuing dance his parents instilled in him at a young age the value of an education, which led him to graduate with a Business Management and Marketing degree from the Jack Welch School of Bu...

Energy, Talent, and Discipline! These are the words that describe Leah Arscott! An award-winning millennial Voice Actress who’s performed for hundreds of international clients, including Fortune 500 companies and various international production houses. Born to joyful Caribbean parents, a background in Health and Fitness (competitor and competition winner), previously working in a variety of indus...

We are joined by Dr Genelle Garcia who is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Certified Wound Specialist® (CWS®) and Certified Lymphedema Specialist ® (CLT®) with an avid passion in wound management. She has been practicing since 2009 and currently has experience in the acute care setting, inpatient rehabilitation setting, outpatient setting and skilled nursing facility. To date, she has worked at North...

SVP of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for Hill Holliday, Aisha Losche is responsible for the overall  DEI strategy for the agency across the entire employee experience. She works closely with the CEO to  nurture DEI partnerships.  With these partnerships, she makes significant impact in unifying and guiding Hill Holliday employees through programs that push for action and accountability, champion...

Rafael Morales is a Grammy winning musician from Puerto Rico. He is the lead trumpet player for SOJA, and  he was introduced to music at an early age singing in church with his parents. In this episode, Rafa shares a lot of his journey and goes into the historical origins of some of the most popular music of Puerto Rican culture. He shares his inspiration and philosophy to work hard and make it as...

Gio joins us to speak about his education growing up in Haiti and how that influenced him when he moved to the US at the age of 11.  As one of the few Black Engineers, in the US, he speaks about his appreciation attending an HBCU, Tuskegee University. He learned so much interning for the Department of Energy in DC and Exxon Mobile in New Orleans. Because of his hard work and dedication, he receive...