This is the first company where I've been, I won't say out, but very explicitly involved with Pride@BCG. I’m active in Pride-related recruiting for our office, actively looking to create inclusive spaces for people to feel comfortable and a sense of affiliation and community. You actually get the opportunity to help create what BCG is. Getting that involvement has been really fun.
Some people aren’t as confident or aren’t as comfortable as I am. And seeing somebody who is confident and comfortable creates that sense of community. And that means different things, such as hosting a Pride happy hour or region-wide events. That creates a comfort for folks.
I think bringing your whole self to work is something you measure at first, for example when you first meet somebody. So at first you might think, let me get a lay of the land, who are you? And then you start to reveal more and more of yourself. But everybody has their own journey with life and how they bring themselves to work, so don't rush something until you're comfortable.
We're all learning, we're a lot of curious people. And I think, if you have people with similar backgrounds or experiences, or just personalities to you, it's a pretty dull experience and frankly boring. So having somebody who, at times, makes you uncomfortable because they just approach life differently, or have a different family structure, different people in their lives, keeps everybody learning. It keeps them thinking, there's different ways to view the world and I should be better at understanding those and empathizing.