Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Becca Lory Hector. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Becca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?

As an openly autistic/disabled professional who consults almost exclusively on DEIB from a disabled perspective, the number one question I get asked is: “What does the ‘B’ stand for?”

These days, most corporation are familiar enough with the letters D, E, and I hanging out together. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are now a must-have for companies and organizations, and a company culture that nurtures those ideals is what employees are now requiring from their workplaces. But beyond D, E and I, we also need to feel like we belong in the workplace.

The ‘B’ stands for Belonging. Belonging is why I do this work. Belonging is what is missing in our workplaces. Belonging is DEI programming in action.

Becca, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an openly Autistic Professional on a mission to close the disability gap in leadership by working with companies to attract and retain disabled talent. My focus is Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (DEIB) in the workplace because, as a female, disabled person, I have been in search of Belonging as an employee my entire working life. Since I was never able to find it, I decided to partner with companies and organizations to help them create their workplaces.

I was diagnosed on the autism spectrum as an adult and have since become a dedicated autism and neurodiversity advocate, researcher, consultant, speaker, and author. My work includes neurodiversity and disability consulting, autistic quality of life research, as well as teaching my course, Self Defined Living: A Path to a Quality Autistic Life, I have published multiple articles and books about life on the autism spectrum with the goal of spreading acceptance, building understanding, and encouraging self-advocacy. I am an animal lover with a special affinity for cats, and spend most of my “free” time with my many animals, my husband Antonio, and my Emotional Support Animal (ESA), Sir Walter Underfoot.

Though we are still in the early stages of integrating DEIB into our company cultures, thus far, most DEI initiatives have forgotten one of the largest marginalized groups on our planet: disabled folks. Attention has been paid to race, religion, gender and sexuality, but repeatedly, disability has been left out of the conversation.

I created Truly Inclusive Leadership, to help companies and organizations build well-rounded DEIB initiatives that include ALL disabilities, visible and invisible, and focus on creating a sense of belonging in the workplace. Your company’s DEIB initiatives should be apparent in every department and at every level of your organization, beginning with leadership.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

As an openly autistic professional, I am well aware of my challenges when it comes to communicating in the workplace. Part of that awareness is understanding that my version of communication can often come off gruff as my directness is often seen as rude.

But another big part of that awareness is finally realizing that miscommunications are not all my fault. I may be the autistic one, but that doesn’t mean that the entire burden of successful communication should land on my shoulders. And in the workplace, this becomes even more true.

It was essential that I unlearn the idea that my communication style is bad or wrong. Instead, I needed to understand that I may communicate differently than the majority, but that doesn’t mean that every miscommunication or failed conversation is my burden to carry.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Recently, I made a huge pivot and left full-time entrepreneurship to return to work at a nonprofit. This meant making some huge changes to my consulting business. I had to decide what I wanted to keep from consulting and what I ready to let go. It ended up being extremely cathartic. I streamlined my consulting down to strictly DEIB, eliminated the coaching portion of business, and switched up my social media strategy to go with my new goals. It has refreshed my passion for consulting to only do what energizes me while still affecting change.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.trulyinclusiveleadership.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccaloryhector/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeccaLoryCAS
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beccalorycas/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BeccaLoryHector