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

Theresa, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

The DEI issue continues to be a high priority with most organizations, but many have grown frustrated with their efforts. Most people will agree that inclusion is not a given by-product of diversity. I encourage my clients to examine inclusive workplaces through the lens of innate creativity—the type of creativity we all have. When we turn inward and use our minds to think of better ways to approach inclusion we can rest assured that new ideas and processes will present themselves. My mantra is “think inclusion.”

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am married with three adult children . My husband and I share our home with a feral cat that eats and sleeps on the sunporch. I have always been an advocate for diversity and inclusion. As a former teacher, I am aware that the concept of inclusion was originally used in the educational field with the idea being to mainstream students in special education into the regular education classroom. In the workplace the idea behind inclusion is to ensure that everyone is respected and treated fairly regardless of their differences.

After I retired from teaching I joined Toastmasters International and discovered that I’m a very good speaker and I enjoy sharing my messages with an audience. I won several awards including that of Distinguished Toastmaster. I joined the National Speakers Association as a professional member and began my pursuit as an expert on the topic of inclusion. I am certified in the area of diversity and inclusion from Cornell University and I am also a student of Daniel Goleman’s “Emotional Intelligence.” I am currently writing a nonfiction book on the impact of creativity on sustaining an inclusive culture with deliberate thinking applied to better processes and programs.

My services include keynote speaker, workshop facilitator. and individual or group coaching. I offer my programs in person and virtually. My topics cover counteracting unconscious bias, increasing employee engagement, and utilizing the power of story in having difficult conversations. I also have a signature Think Inclusion workshop where I provide tools and strategies for utilizing deliberate thinking. The thing that sets me apart from most DEI speaker is that I concentrate on the area of inclusion by encouraging my clients to creatively think of better ways to sustain belonging.
I am very proud of the success I’ve seen with my thinking workshops and the ‘aha’ moments experienced by my clients when they realize that they are indeed creative. I want to be known for promoting creatively inclusive thinking. I exhort my clients to go forth with their thinking hats on and think inclusion. When we think better we do better.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was a stay-at-home mother for seventeen years. When my youngest daughter entered high school I was so sad and knew that I needed to do something different. I took the GRE and went to graduate school where I successfully earned a Masters degree in two years after being told by my counselor that I’d been out of undergraduate school too long to do so. I am a lifelong learner and I operate on the belief that I will learn something new each day.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn was how to give advice, opinions, or directions to my children. We are a very close family and we have an excellent relationship, but once they reached adulthood they no longer needed or wanted me to behave as though they were still little people. I had to learn a new kind of patience, new communication skills, and to change my behavior and attitude toward their decisions. I had to accept that they have the right to live their own experiences without my constant input. I learned to give opinions when I’m asked.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theresaworthy.com