Clearcover's Black History Month Panel: Courage in the Face of Adversity
Written by Clearcover People Team | March 11th, 2022
In observance of Black History Month, Clearcover employees had the great fortune to attend a virtual panel of speakers during our monthly, company-wide All Hands and Wins meeting. The panel, assembled by Clearcover's Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Council, included the CEO of a Chicago start-up, a PhD specializing in social work, and two of Clearcover's Inspired Underdog sponsored college athletes. Each panelist's unique story illustrated how they have shown courage in the face of adversity by overcoming challenges and achieving success in their respective fields and sports. During the discussion, moderated by Asheda Williams, Assistant Customer Advocacy Manager, panelists discussed their greatest accomplishments so far and how their positions as young, Black women and men have contributed to their perspectives. They spoke about their missions to bring more Black men and women into the spaces they're in and offered words of advice and encouragement that left us all feeling inspired!
The first panelist was Jan Seale, the CEO and co-founder of social networking travel app OOO (Out of Office). After spending years on various executive teams, Jan decided to start her own business and is now among a group of less than 100 African American women who have raised at least $1 million in venture capital funding.
Throughout her career, Jan found herself to be the only Black woman on various executive teams and she wants to ensure that she can bring more people like her up in the corporate world. "If I can bring one or two more people along, that's really important," she told us. "I want to be someone who helps define the change in the space that I'm in."
Jan has found that every challenge she faced has been worth the resulting accomplishment. As she observed, "I've learned more from mistakes I've made than from success I've had." Jan has found that her purpose in life has changed and will continue to evolve. She encouraged us to continue to search for our purposes and, as we follow our paths, to not be afraid of making mistakes along the way.
The next panelist, Dr. Kendall G. Morris, PhD completed her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Social Work from the University of Michigan before earning her PhD at Boston University. She has recently accepted the position of Dean's Research Associate at Michigan State University. In addition to her scholarly accomplishments, Dr. Morris has won various pageant titles throughout her career including Miss Pageant Planet, Miss Massachusetts Captivating 2019 and National Miss Captivating 2020. She started her life coaching business, Kendall The Model Scholar, to help women balance their careers and passions to reach their full potentials.
Throughout her studies, Dr. Morris has found herself to be one of the very few young, Black women in academia. As she moves forward in her career, she told us that she is committed to "do the work and pave the way for other black women to come behind me." She explained, "I want to create a space where other black women feel comfortable in academia." She encouraged all of us to, "[Utilize] networking to your advantage… It's not about what you know, but who you know." Key to Dr. Morris's success is her ability to protect her mental health and she advised all of us to know when to step back and take a break. She warned that, "Comparison can be the thief of joy." Rather than holding ourselves up to influencers on social media, Dr. Morris urged us to focus on what we want and what we need to do on whatever time table we need to do it.
The first of two Inspired Underdog college athletes on the panel, Eva Rubin is the Women's Basketball Center at University of Illinois. Eva is a Redshirt senior and a 2021 recipient of The Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. She grew up in a basketball family and was set to play in middle school when she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Despite the seemingly insurmountable challenge her diagnosis presented, Eva was able to manage her diabetes and play basketball at the Division 1 level.
Eva engages with the diabetes community to motivate her peers and prove they can accomplish extraordinary things despite their diagnosis. She currently serves as the President of EMPOWER, a student group that supports the personal development of student-athletes of color.
While navigating her college sports career and community work, Eva has learned that, "Just because someone who looks like me isn't [in a certain space], doesn't mean that I can't go in and try to be in that space." Eva has found that being the only person who looks a certain way at the table is a good thing, and that it's okay to be nervous about bringing a different point of view to any discussion. Her advice to us was, "Take risks, and you may surprise yourself."
The final panelist was Tailon Leitzsey, the Defensive Back for University of Illinois, a position that he earned through hard work and perseverance. Tailon grew up playing football and dreamed of playing on a Division 1 team. He fought to earn a scholarship at U of I and even lived in his car across the street from the practice facility before earning a walk-on spot on the football team in 2018. Tailon graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology in 2020 and is currently pursuing a second bachelor's. In 2021, Tailon became the first college athlete to earn a $10,000 Inspired Underdog sponsorship from Clearcover.
Despite his successes in college sports, Tailon told us that his greatest accomplishment is, "Finding myself [and] finding my purpose." In order to discern his purpose in life, Tailon "takes it to God," and prays each morning. His words of guidance for us were, "When you feel like you're called to do something, start taking the steps to do it." No matter the immediate outcome, Tailon encourages us and others to follow their dreams despite setbacks. As he told us, "If you're going to fail at some point, at least fail at doing something you love [while] following your dream."
We are so thankful to all of the panelists for taking the time to share their stories and perspectives with us. The panelists' triumphs inspired Clearcover-ers and we left the meeting invigorated by their words of encouragement. At Clearcover, our Leadership Principles guide us to "Think Better-er" and "Act Like an Underdog" as, like the panelists, we persevere to find ways to succeed, even under the most difficult circumstances. If you were inspired by the panelists' stories and are ready to take your place on a team that values tenacity and a vast array of perspectives, we invite you to apply for an open position at Clearcover today.
