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

Alright, SJ thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Any thoughts around creating more inclusive workplaces?

A huge part of what I do with my business, Empowered for Equity Consulting, is helping give others the tools to create more inclusive environments. I was inspired to make this part of my mission because I have had many experiences where I have been othered or excluded because of the different identities I hold. We spend so much of our lives at school, at work, and in social environments, why not make these spaces as inclusive as we can?!

As a transgender, non-binary, queer, person of color, I have had to hide who I am in many environments for fear of what others might think, or how they might treat me, and in some cases, for fear of getting fired. I am proud to now be in a place where I can openly be who I am, but I am never quick to forget what it feels like to not have that privilege. I spent a lot of my life just wanting to blend in, just wanting to be like everyone else, and it was because I was in environments that were merely tolerating me, not celebrating me for everything I am. We all deserve to be celebrated.

SJ, 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?

Hey there! My name is SJ Janjua (they/them) and I am the founder and consultant of Empowered for Equity Consulting. My journey to where I am now is a winding one, with lots of pit stops, bumps in the road, and missed exits. I often tell folks that every plan I had for my life career wise never came to fruition. That isn’t entirely true, but as someone who is very type A, it is hilarious and a reminder that life always has a plan of its own for us.

I started my career as a high school level English teacher, I’ve had a passion for literature and writing since I was very young. I was always lost in a book as a kid, and even made a hobby of reading the dictionary for fun. When I was in undergrad, I hopped around to a few different majors before I settled on becoming a teacher, but education in some way, shape, or form was always something I wanted to pursue. I understood the power of education and it intrigued me. Once I started teaching, I soon understood all of the gripes I heard about it. “Teachers don’t make any money!” “Those who can’t do, teach.” “You’re a saint, I can’t imagine working with teenagers.” It was challenging in all the ways I anticipated, and challenging in many ways I didn’t anticipate. I didn’t realize the mental toll it would take on me, and just how thankless of a job it could be. I came out as queer right before I started teaching, and quickly learned I’d need to go back into the closet, at least professionally, as soon as I started teaching. I saw so many of my students grappling with their own identities, and I was never able to comfort them or talk to them about something I had gone through as well. It was extremely difficult, but I knew I would be fired working in a conservative state and being out. I ended up leaving the classroom after a few years of teaching, but knowing that teacher would always be part of my identity.

After I left the classroom, I went on to pursue my master’s degree in International Education at George Washington University in Washington, DC. When I mention that I got my master’s in International Education people often say, “Wow, I didn’t know that was something you could get a degree in?” I’d always had a passion for studying other cultures, especially studying the education systems of other countries. I would always wonder what was happening elsewhere and how we could adapt that to how we do things here. I also had students who were resettled refugees when I was teaching who inspired me to learn how we could better support these communities in our school systems. I focused my coursework on educational access, informal education, and refugee education. I learned a lot and set my sights on developing education programs for refugee camps abroad post-grad. I eventually landed a job with an NGO in Tanzania, where I took on a role as a teacher trainer at a secondary school. Not quite what I was aiming for, but still an amazing experience and opportunity to work abroad. After living in Tanzania for several months and developing ESL programs for the school, I came back to the United States just before COVID-19 took the world by storm. Prior to moving to Tanzania, I was grappling with my gender identity. I thought maybe I was possibly transgender, but I was terrified about what that might mean for me, so I didn’t allow myself to even think about it. In Tanzania, I again, went back into the closet for my own safety and put my gender exploration on hold. Once I returned to the US, the weight of all of that came crashing back in. I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I moved back to DC and started working for a non-profit organization that runs afterschool programs for middle schoolers and then the pandemic started. All I had was time to think about my gender identity, and early in the pandemic I came out as non-binary. I changed my name and my pronouns socially, and felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders.

Shortly after this, George Floyd was murdered and the racial reckoning started. I had been doing my own self-work to unlearn white supremacy culture, ableism, the model minority myth, and other aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion work for years prior, but experiencing others grappling with these topics for the first time was eye opening. I started to learn how to work with others on doing this self-work, even though I’d been doing it years prior in my teaching career, just not realizing it was labeled “diversity, equity, and inclusion” work. I started to do this work more formally with my co-workers and was elected to my organizations Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. I led many projects and collaborated across the organization, eventually earning a formal position doing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work with the organization. The work allowed me to become a teacher again, and also learn alongside and in collaboration with my coworkers to create a better workplace for us all. I was also transitioning at work during this time, which was not the smoothest process. My experience led me to think about how the process could be changed in order to help those that come after me. It got me thinking about if we had policies in place before we needed them, how that could positively change the experience of so many others. I worked with my organization to create those policies, to educate the staff on affirming gender expansive folks, and to expand our healthcare coverage to include gender affirming care.

After leading this work for several years at my organization, I finally decided to start my own consulting business. It was a thought in my mind for a few years, but there were so many fears associated with being a business owner. What about taxes? What about health insurance? What if no one wants to hire me? What if I fail? One of my mentors heard my concerns and told me to set a date. Set a date for when I’ll start my business. That was the push I needed to just do it and stop worrying about what ifs. In 2023, I started Empowered for Equity Consulting, a consulting business that helps empower others to lead diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging work. I work primarily with K-12 schools and organizations, but I also work with LGBTQ+ Centers, Affinity Groups, Summer Camps, and Higher Education Institutions. I provide workshops, trainings, keynote speeches, and strategic planning support on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging topics such as strategies for affirming the identities and experiences of LGBTQ+ students, gender 101, divesting from white supremacy culture, degendering dress codes, creating spaces for belonging, creating and implementing gender support plans, and inclusive management. I also recently led a cohort for LGBTQ+ Teachers where we built community, created self-care plans, and discussed the impacts of anti-LGBTQ+ laws on education. This year I have so many amazing plans in the works, and I am so eager to work with new clients.

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

A big lesson I’ve had to learn as a business owner is the importance of pauses and rest. I am an incredibly ambitious person, as many business owners are. I have so many ideas and people I want to collaborate with, and I am always thinking about what’s next. Our society rewards “grind culture” and doing more, we’ve been led to believe we always have to be doing more. I thought as a business owner that would be true as well. It goes against my natural inclinations to pause and to rest. But I can’t pour from an empty cup!

I have to prioritize pausing on some projects and scheduling in time for rest because if I don’t, I simply won’t. Unlearning the “grind” has been difficult, but it has made me a better business owner and it has allowed me to be more creative.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

For me, I always want my work to speak for itself. A big part of that is how you interact with clients from that first email to the close of a contract, how you market yourself, and how you deliver. I always want to get to know my clients in genuine and authentic ways by sharing who I am, parts of my journey, why I do what I do, and what makes me different. Building genuine connections is so important as more and more people are doing this work professionally now. I also set boundaries with clients that support our working relationship, my mental health, and capacity.

I also make sure my work speaks for itself by overdelivering. This is sometimes more work upfront on my end, but I find that when you overdeliver people always associate you with quality work. This makes folks more apt to rehire me, hire me for longer term contracts, and to share their experience with me with others they know.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.empoweredforequity.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweredforequity/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/sj-janjua-0a9b3a152