We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eric Ford a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, thanks for joining us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

One of the top lessons I learned in my previous role was about owning my worth in environments that continue to break me down.

After my first year at my previous role, there was a major shift on my team of 3 — my direct manager and co-worker left months apart. I only started just a year ago, and was getting my footing when both decided to leave. I saw how their departures signaled a red flag of toxicity within the work environment, but could prepare me for what’s to come next when my manager’s backfills came in.

It was a slow burn, but the more as I tried to partner with my direct manager, the more their actions showcased they had no intention to be a true leader, but to appear as a boss over me. From discriminatory verbiage, intentionally disregarding collaborative ways of working, setting unrealistic goals, moving success post for promotions + raises, leaving me out of meetings and campaign strategies, to even having an open door for other co-workers to shame + report on me which was later used against me during reviews.

It became a consistent tug on my physical + mental stability in the office where I hated going to work, I felt useless + powerless, my performance suffered, and ultimately I was felt alone. This also affected how I saw myself outside of work in my personal life. My worth was fractured. I knew after 2 years of this treatment, there was something I needed to do to get a new start, and so I planned to take my power back leaving the company end of 2024.

From there, it has actually taken me the full year of 2025, and even now still in 2026 to gain my confidence back. My worth needed to be mended, but how I saw myself needed to evolve as well. This situation brought out other issues I kept deep that I have not dealt with, and it was a sign that I had more to work on that affected my worth. 2025 taught me a lot about who I was currently, what I lost, and where I need to go to gain it back. Doesn’t matter where you are in your career journey — this can happened to anyone on all levels. You will never reach a status to where your worth won’t be challenged, especially as a Black professional.

Eric, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Houston-native, living in NYC with a passion for developing integrated communication strategies and building branded communities. I have 10+ years of experience with expertise in brand communications, influencer marketing, public relations, brand advocacy + community engagement, brand marketing, content strategy, social media marketing, and social impact initiatives.

I worked in the industries of Beauty, Fashion, Luxury Goods, Media, and Social Impact.

My most proudest moments to date since this last year is being able to utilize my expert voice for various professional engagements like panels, podcast, marketing discussions, guest speaking in college classes, and mentoring + supporting early career professionals or those looking to expand their personal professional brands.

I plan to be a top executive in my industry, leading brand + communications for some of the most noted creative brands & companies.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I knew I always had a unique perspective in the industry, but once I learned how to use that to my advantage to get the ears and eyes on my voice.

I started being unconventional, tapping into my personality, and showing that professional doesn’t have to be stuffy or sterile.

I could be silly, feisty, and even shady but backed it up with expert knowledge + experience that couldn’t not be max. If you connect with anyone about how I can tap into culture without “following the rules” they will tell you that voice holds weight.

This also assisted in gaining my confidence back as well. Seeing other professionals truly be engaged to what I have to say in our industry was a powerful sight to see.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

This will be short, but managing a team is more than just showing up as a boss, it’s about becoming a leader that can guide your team that produces true impact externally + internally, while also championing their personal growth as well. Seeing where the strong, and praising them, to seeing where improvement is needed and encouraging them for a better outcome next time.

A great manager truly can make or break your team.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranger_up/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ford-64891490