Beth Ruffin on DEIB & Self-Inclusion

Beth Ruffin, DEIB and Self Inclusion coach, TEDx speaker, and podcast hosts brings an important conversation to the table on belonging and making space for yourself. Join hosts Steven McCoy and Angie Castro as they speak with Beth about one of the hottest topics of today, DEIB.

BETH RUFFIN BIO

Known as “The Everyday Inclusionist,” Beth Ruffin is a respected DEIB expert, author, podcast host, and TEDx speaker who helps women discover doable, “everyday” steps that add up to realizing potential and belonging at their organizations and within themselves. With 45,000+ views, her TED talk on Self Inclusion has taught a global audience how to flip the script by taking back your own belonging. She shares her insights as the host of the “You Belong Here with Beth Ruffin” podcast and in her two books, Get Up and You Belong Here. 

To this work, Beth brings a decade of experience, a 20-year career in Corporate America, an Executive Education Certificate in Diversity Leadership from Harvard University's JFK School of Government, and an MBA from Southern Wesleyan University. She’s proudly invested in her community as the Chair of the Women’s Rights & Empowerment Network (WREN) Board of Directors, Board member of Able SC, and member of the Richland County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated. 

When Beth’s not walking alongside women toward greater inclusion, you might find her deep into a book, hanging with her daughter and cat, or enjoying life in her current city of Elgin, South Carolina.  

www.bethruffin.com

Social Media Handle: TheBethRuffin

Podcasts: You Belong Here, The Permission Project

Company: The Everyday Inclusionist

HOSTS

STEVEN McCOY is an award-winning advocate, activist, and journalist, celebrated for his groundbreaking work in promoting inclusivity and empowerment. As the founder of Spoken Heroes, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization and with a strong social media reach, MrMcCoy's dedication has earned him numerous accolades, including the prestigious Spangenberg-Chappell Memorial Award, Disney Alumni Association Inductee, and honored as AT&T’s “Black Future Maker,” He was recently named to the Forbes 40 under 40 list. Steven also proudly serves on the Board of Directors for the Usher Syndrome Coalition and the Leadership Board for Foundation Fighting Blindness,  and as a Representative for the State of New Jersey Rehabilitation Council.

Steven's contributions have been further recognized by organizations such as the National Association of Black Journalists and state councils in New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma. He is also a film consultant, making sure that films are displaying inclusive and equality. Steven's commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion has been recognized in various states around the world, including the National Association of Black Journalists.

ANGIE CASTRO wis the host and producer of the podcast, “This Is What Blind Looks Like” which focuses on educating the general public about Blindness.

Angie has also worked as a communications coordinator, for Blind, Inc. as well as providing administrative support for a digital marketing company.

www.innovatinginclusion.org

Transcript

Introduction Music plays.

KATIE CORBETT

Hello and welcome to the Innovating Inclusion Podcast, where we're exploring inclusivity, disability awareness, universal design, and entrepreneurship. My name's Katie Corbett, and I'm pleased to introduce my co-host. She's the host of the podcast. This is what Blind looks like. Everybody. Welcome, Angie Castro!

ANGIE CASTRO

Hello. I'm thrilled to be here and I'm very excited to hear the conversations that we have had and are having.

KATIE

And we are very privileged to have the world's first black deaf blind journalist with us, Steven McCoy. Hey. Steven!

STEVEN McCOY

Hey, what's up y'all? We are so excited to be speaking with an  array of guests talking DEI, disability rights, building businesses from the ground up, and everything in between. 

KATIE

And Steven, I know you're a little too humble to mention this, but you were recently named to the Forbes “40 under. 40” list. Congratulations. 

STEVEN

Thank you. Thank you so much. I am so excited. We are elevating in the disability community and all spaces. We can do all things, and that's what it's about, innovating inclusion. So I'm excited 

KATIE

And for today's episode, Steven and Angie had a chance to speak with Beth Ruffin, who is on a mission to reach one million people with the message of inclusion. 

ANGIE

She'll be talking about DEI, self inclusion and her new podcast, “The Permission Project”.

STEVEN

She also shared her journey with an invisible disability, something I can totally relate to. It was truly just a privilege to be speaking with her about that and so many other things. So you guys have to tune in.

KATIE

Everyone. Please enjoy this conversation with Beth Ruffin!

Intro Music ends.

STEVEN

Welcome, Beth Ruffin. Thank you so much for coming on to “Innovating Inclusion”.

ANGIE

Yes, welcome. 

BETH RUFFIN

Thank you for having me.

STEVEN

You are so welcome. We want to introduce our audience to the amazing work that you do in the inclusion space. 

BETH

Absolutely. So I teach people how to include themselves and others. If you know about this work, you know a lot about inclusion is to bring in other people who are different from you to value differences.

And so a lot of that work I do is in the corporate and nonprofit space where I'm working with organizational leaders around how they can make their workplaces more inclusive. But I also do the flip side of inclusion, which I call self inclusion, and that is teaching people how do you include yourself?  How do you advocate and speak up and how do you make room at the table for yourself? Maybe when other people are not giving you that room. 

STEVEN

It's so interesting because it was from you that I heard of self inclusion. Often times when we think of bringing inclusivity into the workplace or into our family, our friendship, our circle, we often feel we need to ask others how to be more inclusive. So when you said self-inclusion, it was almost like putting a mirror in my face. And it's a great challenge because it flipped the switch to say, I would be the one to create this space and not wait for anyone else. 

ANGIE

Right. 

STEVEN

What was that moment for you where you just decided, you know what, I am gonna be the one to create this space?

BETH

Yeah, so I spent the first twenty years of my career in the insurance field. And the insurance field, if anyone knows about this field, it is very white male, heavy led. And so as a black woman, there were so many times where I was the first of someone to do something or the only one to do something, or I found that I was like begging for people to see me, to value me, to give me a seat at the table, and it wasn't until I actually took this class at the Harvard Kennedy School, and I realized that I had spent so much of my life waiting around to be included. And it was like a light bulb went off like, “No, actually, Beth, you have the power within you to be included. You have the power within you to get a seat at this table or to build a table for yourself.”

It was shortly after this realization that I actually got the confidence to leave corporate America and start my own consulting firm. 

ANGIE

Beth, I value what you say about self inclusion because sometimes it's up to you to speak up and say, these are my needs. This is what I need, and these are things that can help me feel included.

BETH

So I had a wonderful opportunity in 2019 to give a speech from the Disney stage. It was the company that I was working for. They do like an employee recognition event every year where they take hundreds of employees to Disney. They treat 'em like kings and queens. I was able to go as a participant in 2017, but then in 2019, I was asked to come speak.

I was on that stage, and I had been speaking for a while, and afterwards people were like, oh my God, I never knew that you could do this. This is awesome. I'm seeing you in a new light. And I really got that confidence and I was like, you know, I have been sitting here begging people to see my value and I think I can go and I can do this for myself.

That was the moment when I said, okay, I think I need to go ahead and start building some tables for myself. 

STEVEN 

Beth, a fun fact, I'm actually a Disney alumnus. I got my start working for the Walt Disney Company as an intern. Then I went to the Disney store, then got promoted as a host for Radio Disney, then Disney theatrical, and then they inducted me into the Disney Alumni Association. So I love the fact that it was the Disney stage that you stood on because I know personally… professionally that Disney has always been in support of inclusion. So it's beautiful to see your journey and you really are an inspiration to so many women of all different career paths. What has been advice that you can share to someone that needed the guidance?

BETH

Yeah, I think the first piece of advice that I usually like to give is: what is the story that you're telling yourself? Because we know that feelings create stories, which lead to action. And if you are used to being treated a certain way in your career at work, you're telling yourself a story. And too often the story becomes, I must not be good enough. I must not be ready. There's something that I'm lacking, and that's why I am not furthering my career the way I want to. That's why I'm not being seen the way I want to or getting opportunities I want to. And often times the story is not that you are not enough. Often times the story is you are just not positioned in the right place.

STEVEN

So put youth up in position. I love that. 

ANGIE

What lessons have you learned while being involved in the inclusivity space?

BETH

Not everyone is going to agree with this work. When I first started this work, I remember I was talking with a mentor of mine and she said, “Beth, my job is not to convince people that this work is the right thing to do. My job is to help them implement it.”

And I took that to heart because I am not here to convince you that focusing on inclusion is the right thing to do. If I have to do that, then we're not ready to work together yet. My job is to help you implement it, and if I can tell a short story. 

So in April of 2021, I lost my mom and she had been in the hospital sick for a couple of months. I had a new client that I was supposed to be working with, and the day that we were supposed to have our onboarding call, we were told that my mom was being moved to hospice. So, as you can imagine, my mind is not focused on work. I'm focused on my family, I'm focused on right, all of that, that it entails. And I get an email from someone, and they said, “Hey, we missed you on the call today.” =

And I wrote back. I said, “I apologize. You know, my mom had been sick and we just found out she's being moved to hospice today. Let me figure out what's going on, and I can follow up to reschedule.” 

And they wrote back and said, “We're really sorry about that. But in the future, can you just let us know if you're not gonna be able to make a call? Because we were all here gathered.” 

I actually ended up firing that client. I never ended up working with them because if I can't teach you about human decency, I can't teach you about inclusion, right? Like human decency is the foundation of this work.

STEVEN

That's right. 

BETH

There was a time where I would have pushed ahead because, oh, I need the money, or I need the, you know, I need this client. 

STEVEN

Right. 

BETH

But self inclusion tells me that while a client is trying to figure out if they wanna work with me. I also have the right and the power to figure out if I wanna work with them. And if it's not a good fit, it's not a good fit. But that was something that I would not have done, I think in the past, before I started really focusing on self inclusion. 

STEVEN

It sounds like maybe even after your mom died that you, I don't know if you had a little more advice. I'm sure your mom would be absolutely proud of the woman that you become today. And I feel like your story is absolutely inspirational. 

BETH

Steven is trying to make me cry. 

STEVEN

Uh, no. Look, I'm holding back myself. It truly is amazing to see the fight that one has to put up with, but also the accountability that a woman standing up to say, you know what? I'm gonna create this space that I want to walk into.

I think that's powerful, 'cause often times the truth is we may point the finger at other people that say, “You don't know better. You need to be taught this and that.” But how about I'll just be the one to be the light and educate, and I'm glad that you took that lead. 

What are some of the benefits would you say that comes with your position being someone that is a leader in inclusion?

BETH

I'm gonna say one that may be unexpected. I have a 16-year-old daughter, and I think a benefit has been that she sees her mother stand up. She sees her mother advocate for herself, negotiate, take time for herself, rest when she needs to. So she is learning how to do that. My hope is that when she enters the workforce that she will already be a master self inclusionist, and she'll already know how to do all of those things, and she won't maybe have to endure some of the trials that I had to when I started my career.

ANGIE

Can you tell us in your experience what you believe are the biggest barriers to inclusion for both individuals and organizations? 

BETH

Yeah. I would say the first is fear/lack of knowledge. I talk a lot about unconscious bias. Unconscious bias is simply put, the brain's way of keeping us safe. 'Cause as you know, as humans, our brains are built to keep us safe and protected.

We go towards that which is familiar to us, and those things that are not familiar to us can be seen as dangerous. A lot of this work is you are having to overcome that fear. You're having to expose yourself to someone that is different from you. I'll also say a lot of times people are like, I don't know where to start, so I'm just not gonna start at all. I'm just not gonna do anything at all. So I think that actually works from both an organizational and an individual perspective, is that people get frozen, they get stuck. It's like, I don't wanna say or do the wrong thing, so we're just gonna sit here. We're gonna analyze it, and we get stuck in analysis paralysis, right?

ANGIE

I'm gonna just sit and wait until somebody decides to hold my hand and help me. I get it, you know? Right. We all have different thoughts. You might have a different idea of inclusion and then I might have a different idea of how I wanna include myself into something. So I think all that is so important.

STEVEN

And for those who don't know exactly what your company is and the service that you do provide. Are you able to elaborate a little bit more on that? 

BETH

Yeah, absolutely. So my company is called The Everyday Inclusionist, and we just celebrated our five year anniversary on July 1st. 

ANGIE

Congratulations. 

STEVEN

Congratulations. 

BETH

I like to say, have y'all heard the term we do everything from soup to nuts? 

ANGIE

No. 

STEVEN

I am not sure if I did.

BETH

I feel like that's an old business term, but we basically do everything from coming into an organization and doing an assessment, to building a strategic plan, to helping with implement that strategic plan as it comes to the work of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. 

So most people know about diversity, equity, and inclusion.Now a lot of people are adding the “B” on for belonging. I believe that when you have an organization that values diverse people, that is inclusive of everyone, and that is equitable, that you then build belonging. And this is really important from an organizational perspective because research shows us that when employees feel like they belong, they stay with the company longer. You have less turnover, you have less sick days, right? So people are actually working more. They're more productive. They're happier. They're gonna rate your company more. One of the things that people talk about is this is the right thing to do. It absolutely is the right thing to do. It also makes good business sense. US businesses lose billions of dollars a year on attrition and losing employees. And so just think about if you can just make your employees feel like they belong, how you can be saving money, you can be getting more work done, saving time, keeping your employees happier.

STEVEN

That's true. 

ANGIE

Yeah, that's really important. 

BETH

And then on the individual side, I do a lot of coaching, consulting, public speaking. One of the things I did when I started my business is I wanted to create some, what are the values of my company? And if they fit within the values, we do it, right? My goal is that one million people will hear the message of inclusion from my lips.

So that's everything inclusion, right? That's what we focus on. 

STEVEN

Were there a moment in your life, because you have to have had experience, the feeling of isolation in order to know what inclusion is and how to include other people. Where was that for you? 

BETH

Unfortunately, I've had a lot of those moments. I can think of one. I was working for a company, This is years ago. It was a small company, and the CEO came into town. He lived out of state. I remember he walked down the aisle. On this one particular team, I was the only person of color. I will also say, because we don't talk about this a lot, I am a plus size woman, and there is bias for that.

In corporate America, I was the only person of color on this team. I was the only plus-sized person. And he came down the row, and he spoke to everyone but me. And I remember I lifted this up to someone, and they said, “Oh, I'm sure it wasn't, you know, it was probably just a misstep. Right? I'm sure it wasn't on purpose.”

And that's one thing I try to tell people is that we have to acknowledge the lived experiences of others. We have to believe what people tell us. And I know that in their heart they were trying to counter that because they didn't want me to feel bad, right? But at the same time, they invalidated the experience I had.

STEVEN

Right. 

BETH

And that has happened more times than I could… It would take us all day for me to go through all of those experiences. But yet, there are many times through my career where I remember being in a room, having a conversation with people, and they circle up, and I'm kind of outside of the circle trying to get my word in, right? And so there are many experiences like that, unfortunately, that I could recount in my career. 

ANGIE

So I see that you also have a podcast. I'm also a podcast host myself as does Steven. Can you tell us a little more about your podcast and what it entails?

BETH

Yes. So here's the thing you should know about me. I. I pivot quite often, so I am actually starting a new podcast.

ANGIE

Tell us. 

BETH

The new podcast is called “The Permission Project”, and it is going to really be for black women, and it's going to be around giving black women permission, So things like permission to be audacious; permission to say no; permission to ask for what you want. And it's really gonna be just, again, based on that self-inclusion of let's stop waiting around for someone to put the hand out and include us and let's actually start doing it ourselves.

ANGIE

Right. Let’s step up and tell people, hey, this is what we want. If I'm not a black woman, I am Latina, I would also be considered a woman of color, if you will. So to me, that's amazing. I love that. My podcast centers around blindness. But when I was developing it, a lot of the podcasts centered around blindness I found were run by men. And I didn't want that for my podcast. I wanted it to be run by a woman, led by a woman. That is what I wanted. And I think it's amazing that you're doing this for black women, because it's so important to have that support. 

BETH

Yeah, I appreciate that. When I originally thought about the coaching aspect of my business, I originally said women of color, you know, including all women who come from marginalized backgrounds. But in having some conversations, I did have some black women say to me, you know what? There's never anything that's just for us to have to share things. And we do have unique challenges in this country. So I made that decision to really, to really hyperfocus in. So yeah, please take it for every community. Let's all give ourselves permission.

ANGIE 

Yes, absolutely. You ready for rapid fire? 

BETH

I am. 

STEVEN

We know that you are a business woman, and you work all the time. But when you are not working, what are some of the fun hobbies that you enjoy? 

BETH

I am a word nerd, so I love to read. I love to write. I've written three books thus far, working on my fourth book. 

ANGIE

Nice. 

BETH

And I try to read one book a month. 

ANGIE

Okay. Love that. 

STEVEN

I love that. Next question, what do you want to see? 

BETH

Just that? What do I wanna see? 

STEVEN

Yeah, what do you want to see? 

BETH

I feel like this shouldn't be hard, but it is. I would like to see more people like me in influential leadership roles in corporate America.

ANGIE

I love that.

STEVEN 

I love that. 

ANGIE

Awesome. Next question is, what do you believe to be true? 

BETH

That I belong here? 

ANGIE

Yes! I love that. 

STEVEN

Oh, I love that. I love that too. That’s good. The next question would be, what is one thing people would be surprised to learn about you? 

BETH

People would be surprised to know that I'm disabled because I have invisible disabilities. So I have fibromyalgia, which is chronic fatigue and chronic pain. And, yes, and for those of you who aren't familiar, that means that I am 24 hours out of the day, I am tired; and 24 hours out of the day, I'm in pain. I also have depression and anxiety. I have ADHD, and I have a little bit of hearing loss in my left ear. So neurologically, my brain is overworked. My body is overworked. I have a handicap placard on my car because there are some days when walking twenty feet is exhausting. A lot of times I am educating because from the outside people may say, “Oh, I could never tell you look, quote unquote normal or quote unquote, typical, right?” And so that's really an educational that we never know what someone is experiencing.

ANGIE

I always make it a point to never assume anything because you never know. I'm blind. I also have ADHD as well. So I'm in the neuro-spicy club. So thank you so much for bringing that up. I really value education about disability because that's very important. 

STEVEN

Right. 

BETH

The disabled population, we are the largest marginalized group in this country. So everyone who is listening to this, there's probably a large possibility that someone in your life close to you is disabled. You may or may not know it, and so how can we really start to just build compassion and grace for people before we know what they're going through, but just understanding that there's a great possibility that they may be dealing with something.

ANGIE

So if you were on a deserted island, what is one tool related to disability that you would take with you? 

BETH

This is gonna be really funny. I would take my Zzzquil pills because I have chronic fatigue, but I also have chronic insomnia, and it's really hard for me to sleep at night. I think that I would wanna be able to go to bed at night.

ANGIE

That's very important. Sleep is very important. Yeah. I sometimes feel like, I mean, I'm blind, right? I sometimes feel like I need more sleep than my average sighted peer because I feel like I use a lot of energy during the day, so I'm there with you on sleep, girl. 

BETH

I hadn't thought of it like that before. That's interesting. Thank you for providing that insight. 

STEVEN

All right, so we have one more rapid fire question, and that is, if you could have one superpower to help with your advocacy work, what would it be? 

BETH

If I could have one superpower that would be the power to transport, like in the Jetsons, where you zip from one place to the other. Traveling can… I love to travel, but it can be very exhausting. 

ANGIE

Yes. 

BETH

It can be exhausting, right? So if I could just blink my eyes and be across the country, that would be amazing. 

STEVEN

Well, Angie, while you're on it, what would be your, uh, your superpower, for your advocacy? Because for me, I always say healing. I would like to have the power to heal with my advocacy. 

ANGIE

I'd say maybe to stop discrimination. 

STEVEN

Okay. I think that's great, and I think that's the perfect opportunity for all of us to use our superpowers to conclude with this amazing show.

ANGIE

If people wanted to connect with you or know more about your business and the services you offer, where can they find you?

BETH

It's really simple. You can go to my website, which is beth ruffin.com. Or you can find me on all social media platforms at TheBethRuffin. 

ANGIE

Okay, sweet. Thank you.

STEVEN 

And we just have to thank you so much, Beth, for coming onto our show and thank you so much for all the work that you are doing and inspiring underserved voices. And we can stand up and say, you know what? We will create our space for others. We don't have to wait for anyone else to give us a microphone. So thank you so much for that. 

ANGIE

Thank you so much, Beth. It was great having you on.

BETH

Thank you. I enjoyed being here. 

NARRATOR

Innovating Inclusion is produced in association with Invisions, a program of the Fox Family Foundation, whose mission is to break the link between poverty and disability.

The goal of Invisions is to teach high school and college students to innovate with universal design in mind, where young entrepreneurs of all abilities. Create side by side. So as they become the next generation of leaders and hiring managers, any stigma is gone and the world is accessible to everyone.

Our theme song was written by Alex Kapp, with incidental music by Kylie Cooper and Bruce McGinnis. Our producer is Akira Nakano. Please visit our website, innovatinginclusion.org