- 22 hours ago
Shaun Robinson hosts a panel with Kellee Edwards, Claressa Shields, Patrice Banks on being in field that Black women aren't traditionally in.
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00:00Hello, everyone. I'm Shawn Robinson and welcome to the new power suit panel discussion. We want
00:10to thank Ford Motor Company for bringing this powerful talk to the Essence Festival. And I
00:15personally want to express my appreciation to Ford for their generous donation of $25,000
00:21to support the Shawn Foundation for Girls to help underserved and underrepresented girls.
00:26And our partner Girl Up, a United Nations Foundation campaign that advocates for gender equality
00:31around the world. All right, let's get right into our discussion. The definition of a power suit is
00:36not one size fits all. It could be coveralls, aviator glasses, even boxing gloves to celebrate
00:43women making strides in traditionally male dominated fields. We have three amazing sisters here today
00:49who are definitely trailblazers. Patrice Banks, an engineer and mechanic and author of Girls
00:55Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide, and Kelly Edwards, the pilot and host of Travel and Leisure's Let's Go
01:01Together, and Clarissa Shields, professional boxer and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Hello, ladies.
01:08Hi.
01:09Hi.
01:11So, you know, you are leaders in what many would consider male dominated fields. What attracted
01:20you to your field? First, Patrice, I'm going to start with you. Being a mechanic, I know you said
01:26you could not find any female mechanics when you were looking for one.
01:30Exactly. I called myself an auto airhead, right? Like so many women, I felt taken advantage of when
01:36I take my cardinal mechanic. I'd panic anytime something would happen. I felt like I needed a guy
01:41to help me, right? And I always waited to the last minute to do anything. And so that made me an auto
01:46airhead. And even as an engineer, it wasn't a very empowering position. And so I was looking for
01:52resources to educate myself, to empower myself. How can I make sure I feel good about the choices I
01:57make with my car? And I couldn't find them. I Google female mechanic. And the first thing that popped
02:02up is your 10 top stock images of women mechanics. And of course, they have women, you know, in bikinis
02:08next to these muscles.
02:09I've seen those pictures before.
02:10And I thought, I can't believe there isn't more representation out here for women when it comes
02:16to their cars, helping them through the process of understanding the things that they need, why
02:21they need them. And that's kind of where it sparked. I started to go back to school at night and learn
02:27how to work on cars. And as soon as I was learning this information, I couldn't wait to share it with
02:31women.
02:31I love that. I love that. And Kelly, I remember the first time I was on an airplane and I saw a female
02:38pilot and I just lost it. I thought it was just amazing. What attracted you to the possibility
02:46of wanting to become a pilot?
02:49Well, by trade, I am an adventure travel journalist and explorer and travelers, like you said, they get
02:55on an aircraft to go to their destination. And so what I decided to do was take my adventures in my
03:02own hands and learn how to fly a plane so that I don't have to necessarily go to LAX to travel across
03:08the world. I can go to Van Nuys or Santa Monica airport, gas up the plane and take off myself. And that type of power
03:16is something that is incredibly empowering to me. And I hardly ever see female pilots to this day. And when I do, I fan over them, because it's just such a small anomaly in a number of us. So why I'm not going to be able to do that.
03:32The community is very small, as you said, yes. And Clarissa, what about you? Boxing, male dominated. What attracted you to the profession?
03:42I was attracted to boxing just because I love the art of fighting. I was getting into a few street fights and stuff like that. And when I walked in a gym and seen guys sparring inside the ring, I seen everybody
03:56working hard. Everybody's sweating. I felt like I was at home, even though it was all males at the time.
04:03Right. Let's talk about the impact of gender and racial bias and how that played a role in your journey and how you overcame these biases.
04:15Patrice, I'm assuming that, you know, in your field, you know, a male dominated field like the one that you are in, there was probably a lot of gender bias.
04:25Absolutely. Even before being a mechanic, I was an engineer. And in my group where I worked, I was the only woman.
04:31I was the only black woman that worked in my group. And it was very few and far between people that you see look like us.
04:40But I actually used that to my advantage. There's not a lot of people who look like me in the room.
04:45And so I felt like that gave me a responsibility to speak up. It gave me a responsibility to make my voice be heard, to let them know that I'm here.
04:54This is what I think. And so instead of being afraid to, you know, sit at the table or lean in, like they said, I used it as an opportunity to say, hey, you're going to hear me.
05:05And I kind of gained that confidence just in my life over the years growing up, because even growing up, I didn't have a father.
05:14It was a single family home. And I had to really step up for myself and speak out for myself if I wanted to get things done.
05:22The first one to graduate from high school and then I go to school for engineering.
05:25Nobody in my family knew what an engineer was. So I had to really learn how to be bold very early on.
05:31And it helped me in those spaces. I realized how it was actually my advantage, because when you don't look like anyone else, you stand out.
05:38But you got to be good. And everyone knows that when you're a minority, when you're black or brown, you have to be better.
05:44Right. You can't just stand out and then not show up. Right.
05:47And I stood out and I showed up and I made sure that my voice was heard.
05:51And it leads to people, you know, believing you. It leads to people thinking you're authentic.
05:57Right. And this is who you are. And they accept it. And then they actually admire it.
06:01And when I left DuPont to go work for myself into the girls auto clinic, so many people told me how they wish they had my courage to do this and to be the person that I was as an engineer.
06:12And I never thought that, you know, I was making such an impact on people just being who I was.
06:18And so when I get into the automotive field, of course, it's very male dominated, very white male dominated.
06:24And I took all of that energy and all that confidence with me.
06:28You know, I told them I'm creating a business here for women.
06:30I tell people I'm not an automotive company. I'm a female empowerment company.
06:34I'm here for women. And my goal is to create the services and resources and products that women need when it comes to their cars.
06:40And so now I don't even care what they think because I'm not here for them. Right.
06:45When you recognize the power of the groups that you create or the communities that you create, whether they're women or black communities, you know, you don't care what anyone else thinks of you.
06:55Yes. So it's being that bold, confident person, believing in yourself, speaking your voice, speaking your truth.
07:01And then, you know, finding your tribe that has those same truths that you have right to support you.
07:07And then you don't care what other people think or what they're going to say or how they view, you know, your intelligence.
07:13When I first came into automotive, I didn't tell them I was an engineer and they definitely talked down to me and didn't think that I knew what I was talking about.
07:21And you're just a pretty girl in your heels. Right. And you're tight pants.
07:25And you're just trying to be sexy. And I told them I'm not trying to be sexy. I just am sexy.
07:30It's who I am. I like to wear heels. I like to wear these black pants.
07:33And that should be fun. Yes, I'm a real woman. And my number one customer is women. Right.
07:39This is who I'm paying attention to. So that's how I that's how I used it to my advantage.
07:44Yeah. Yes. And Kelly, I'm assuming that you can really identify with a lot of Patrice's.
07:51Experiences along the way. Absolutely. As a pilot, I, too, am in a very white male dominated field.
08:00African-Americans total for pilots are less than three percent.
08:04Less than one percent of black women are pilots.
08:09Less than only 150 black women are pilots in total, no matter what license you have.
08:14And so between the gender and the racial bias, I mean, it is ginormous.
08:20I cannot tell you how many times I show up to an airport to get an airplane to leave and people are confused that I'm the pilot.
08:27I've been asked, are you lost? Are you looking for something?
08:32Oh, my gosh. At some of these general aviation airports, you need to know the code to get in the door for one to get on the field to access the aircraft.
08:42No, sir, I am not lost. I am the pilot, Kelly Edwards, who called you and booked that plane.
08:46And so to see the astonishment, especially as I've traveled around the world to have this brown face be the pilot.
08:53People are so thrown off. And for me, I use it as a moment to teach them and to share with them.
08:59A pilot is not necessarily your older white male. There are pilots who also fly these friendly skies.
09:06And I am one of them. And so I like I said, I use it as a teaching moment all the time.
09:11And I show people that I'm not just a pilot who can fly one plane. I can fly several.
09:15You know, I'm a sea plane rated pilot as well. And so there's different levels to it.
09:20And I take the opportunity to take that same education that you did all of those hours, put my life on the line to put a bird in the sky.
09:28And so if anything, you should respect my effort and my time and my energy.
09:33What I've learned is such a technical and mechanical thing.
09:38And my gender and my race should not affect that. Respect the work.
09:42Right. Clarissa, how did your gender affect your journey and what biases did you encounter?
09:50Well, one of the main things with boxing that was like a big discrimination or that was kind of biased towards women was that we didn't know how to fight.
09:59And one of the lines that they used to say is like, oh, you know, she fights like a girl.
10:04And I never knew what that was because I was always the best boxer in my gym.
10:08So I didn't ever go to gyms and people tell me, oh, I can't fight or things like that.
10:15Guys would always tell me, you know, she fights like a man, you know, she's a good fighter.
10:20I don't feel like I dealt with any discrepancies in boxing until I turned professional, you know, with the pay gap.
10:27And just the network promotion or how they treat females, how they only promote, how they only used to promote our fights four weeks compared to the men's 10 weeks.
10:38And, you know, women being the main event, things like that.
10:43But I've been on TV fighting main event on Showtime, maybe six, seven, eight fights now.
10:51And I only have 10 fights and I fought the main event on Fridays, fought the main event on Saturdays.
10:57I've been able to make history.
10:59I think right now there's some discrepancies like the fight time, you know, compared to like our women's championship bouts are 10 two-minute rounds compared to the men's 12 rounds for three minutes.
11:12So that's like, you know, us doing 20 minutes of work versus 36 minutes of work.
11:17And I think that's why they pay us less and try to say that women's boxing is more easier, but it's not.
11:25So I'm just trying to get everything to be equal.
11:27But I feel like that's the only discrepancies that I go through.
11:30And, Patrice, you talked about, you know, role models and the fact that both of you ladies are such role models because you're being in that position.
11:41Even if you never talk to girls, you know, eye to eye, they see you in that position.
11:48And that is enough for them to dream bigger.
11:51Now, support and family and friends and colleagues, mentors, it's a key part of the road to success.
11:59Patrice, who are some of your greatest supporters along the way?
12:04Yeah.
12:04So, you know, being an entrepreneur and a business owner is very difficult and you definitely need supporters.
12:10You need a team of people behind you.
12:12And I always were able to find those people through mentorship programs and networking.
12:18And some of my biggest advisors, my biggest fans are, you know, helping me make this business as big as we can get it.
12:26Right. And help as many women as we can as possible.
12:29When you're an entrepreneur, you get a lot of support from family and that support that is really useful is like emotional support.
12:36It's the support that you need when you're having a bad day.
12:39You feel like I failed again and you came home and they make you feel like you matter.
12:43They make you feel like you are a success.
12:45But when it comes to running a business or having a career, you also need those career mentors, those people who have been there, who have done that, that can give you the advice that you need that you may not take and you may learn the hard way.
12:57But they're still there to say, OK, you know, how can we help you get through this?
13:01And so every time, you know, also that I'm changing or leveling up my business, I'm also leveling up my mentors and my supporters, which is constantly through networking and sharing what I want to do.
13:14Here's my mission. Here's my vision. Here's what I want to do.
13:17And being really open about it. And you'll meet people along the way that want to support you and help you.
13:22So, you know, family is a great support that you always will have there in your life.
13:26But it's also very important to find those mentors in your career and the things that you want to do that are here just for you, right, for you to be the best that you can be.
13:36And as you're leveling up, right, leveling up those mentors that you have, those supporters is really important.
13:42Yes. And Kelly, you were saying that in your profession, there are not many black female pilots.
13:49So who are those mentors along the way for you?
13:53Who are the people that really encourage you to pursue your dream?
13:57Well, what's interesting is as a young black woman in this space, I wasn't in the military.
14:03I didn't know any pilots prior to. So the thought of me wanting to become a pilot scared a lot of my friends and family.
14:09Oh, concern about me learning how to fly a plane because of obvious fears.
14:16However, I use that to fuel me more so to prove to them that it could be done so that they, too, in turn, could face the fears that they had.
14:27Because what a lot of people tend to do is project their fears on you.
14:31And that's something I didn't allow to happen.
14:33So I actually used the naysayers to propel me forward.
14:37When it came to the support that I could think of, you know, immediately it was my mom and my dad because they wanted me to do everything that they never sought out to do, never thought they could do or never did.
14:49And so between my parents and my grandmother, who was ironically my first passenger ever in a plane.
14:55Oh, my gosh, that's great. I love that.
14:58My grandmother said, listen, I want to go and fly with you.
15:02And her children freaked out so bad.
15:06We were up in that plane and my grandmother was taking pictures.
15:09She was asking me. She was so calm.
15:11It made me know that everything that I worked hard for was so worth it because I would have the matriarch in my family be so proud of me.
15:22And just to share that, that that experience was I can't even describe it.
15:27But when it comes to, you know, mentors in the aviation field, it took me some time to find them, to be honest with you, because I kept going into places where people were always doubting or wondering why I was there.
15:40It was more like just looking at me and not necessarily always wanting to be of help, but more, why am I here?
15:48And so I had an uphill battle of, you know, being accepted in the aviation community in a lot of instances.
15:54There were a few times where I would go to a place and they would just be genuinely curious and happy to see me and say, hey, I've never seen a young black female pilot.
16:01I've never seen a black pilot. What are you doing here and how can I help?
16:04And the way for pilots to help each other, in my experience, is that they let you use their plane.
16:09They say, hey, here's my plane. You can gas it up. You can take it. Please bring it back.
16:14Or if you've never flown my type of plane before, I'd be happy to take you up.
16:18I through going to different places, you know, around the world, I was able to find two commercial pilots that are black males who have been flying for over 30 years.
16:28And so between the two of them, you know, they keep me abreast on everything I need to know, what's going on in the the aviation space.
16:36And and I truly appreciate them because they had a journey of their own to be black male pilots on the level that they are.
16:44Clarissa, tell me about your support group, friends, family.
16:48Did they try to discourage you along the way or were they encouraging you to pursue your dreams?
16:54My greatest supporters are not just my fans, but my family, my siblings in general, sisters, brothers, my mom.
17:06I believe that my dad is my biggest fan and I have my mentor and my best friends.
17:11And it's important to me because, you know, being on TV and things you have to put up, people feel like you have to put on a certain persona.
17:21And my friends and my family always, you know, be able to remind me to just be who I am because there's so many people trying to make me be different all the time.
17:31Just because I had a stature in the success and trying to, you know, tell me how I should and shouldn't talk, how I should wear my hair, how I shouldn't, how I should dress, what I, you know, compared to what I shouldn't wear.
17:44And my family and my friends and my support is kind of just like rally behind my decisions, whatever I want to do.
17:52They're behind me and let me build my career the way that I want to without the judgment.
17:56You know, they're not afraid to tell me if I'm doing something out of line, but I feel like I'm my biggest critic and I'm trying to fight a whole different fight than just boxing as far as a woman's boxing.
18:08So I have a great support system and it's just important to just, so people can remain humble and never forget where they come from.
18:16I love that you had that mentorship.
18:18Okay, let's talk about self-care, taking care of oneself.
18:23It is an important part of success.
18:25Yes, what do you do to reset, recharge, you know, rejuvenate and, you know, make sure that you are the healthiest, both physically and mentally that you can be.
18:36Patrice, I'll start with you.
18:37Yes, so self-care is very important and I've learned that along the way as I'm going, being an entrepreneur, taking care of yourself, other people relying on you.
18:47So I have to show up healthy mentally, physically and emotionally.
18:51And so I do little daily things for self-care, like meditate.
18:55I meditate every morning.
18:56I journal.
18:57Ever since I started journaling, has it helped me deal with a lot of those emotional feelings that you have will come up and they will show up in business.
19:04All of your flaws will come up and you have to deal with them.
19:07And that's one of the best ways that I've learned to deal with my emotional things is by journaling.
19:12And so that's a very important way to self-care, to do self-care with yourself, to be kinder to yourself.
19:19I learned how much to be kinder with myself when I'm journaling.
19:22And getting enough sleep, right?
19:24Giving yourself permission to get enough sleep is so hard when you feel like you've got so much to do and you have so many people counting on you.
19:32I have to really schedule that stuff in.
19:37And you don't think about sleep as being something that's self-care often, right?
19:42And it's one of the most important things is getting enough sleep.
19:47And then most recently, I've really started to eat healthier, changing my diet, eating more fruits and vegetables.
19:53That's very important.
19:55My body is really important.
19:56I was very tired and lethargic in the middle of the day often, and I realized it was based on how I ate and I wasn't able to work as hard or show up with my energy if I wasn't eating properly.
20:08So just those things that, you know, I know it's not getting a manicure.
20:11I could literally run downstairs to my salon because I have a garage with a salon next to me so you can get your nails done while you wait for your car.
20:17And I can go down and get my nails done, you know, which is nice.
20:22But also just how do we take care of that mental, physical, emotional self?
20:26I'm even spiritual, you know, which is my meditation.
20:29And so it's daily practice.
20:31And then when it's too much, I take a vacation.
20:33I'm out.
20:34I got to go.
20:35And that leads me into Kelly.
20:37Kelly, a lot of times people go on vacation to relax.
20:40You do that for a living.
20:42So what is your way to just kind of unwind and be centered and just really, you know, tune out the rest of the world?
20:52Well, I am an outdoors woman.
20:54And for me, I think the best way to be centered with yourself is in the great outdoors.
21:00I do a ton of hiking.
21:03And my hiking is like a walking meditation for me.
21:06To hear, you know, the twigs and the rocks and the gravel underneath my feet as I'm walking, to hear the birds chirping, to feel the wind against my body and my face.
21:17It's something about that that's very therapeutic for me mentally.
21:20I also love to go flying.
21:24When you are in an aircraft, and I often fly by myself just because I don't necessarily want to just wait on someone to meet me there.
21:32I just want to go.
21:33So when you're in the air and flying, you can't think about what's going on on the ground that's bothering you because there's nothing going on in the cockpit.
21:43And that is a way that it allows me to leave any stress or drama down below me.
21:52And when I look outside of my aircraft window, I'm allowed to see the world in a more beautiful space.
22:00And so for me, just to fly up the coast from Santa Monica to Malibu to Santa Barbara, it's just lovely.
22:10I can't even share how many times, even when I take people, they say, oh, my gosh, I need to learn how to fly.
22:17This is so relaxing.
22:18I want to learn when I get my nails done there.
22:24Right.
22:25I was going to say, Kelly, Patrice and I will hop on with you.
22:28Yes.
22:29Whatever you're going to do.
22:30I'm a liar.
22:30I want to do it.
22:32Well, those are my forms of self-care.
22:34Being outside and flying, those are two things that I do for myself that have proven to be invaluable.
22:40Wow.
22:41Clarissa, how do you relax and unwind?
22:44What is your self-care routine?
22:46I'd like to go home, no matter where training camp was at, where I was at, doing business.
22:51As long as I go home, that's a place for me to kind of reset and recharge and get some sleep.
22:56Then after I get some sleep, I love to reconnect with my friends and my family and then eat some good soul food.
23:02And then that kind of gets me, you know, lower it down instead of being up here, being a tight, high celebrity.
23:09I get to be kind of normal and regular for a minute.
23:11And then once I get time for another fight, I just go and find videos of guys and women who I admire.
23:19And I watch their videos and then I get motivated to fight back and train.
23:22Well, ladies, I appreciate you sharing your time because one of the things that you have taught us today is to help us move out of our comfort zone.
23:32And that's what I just love, because sometimes, you know, we have to face our fears, move out of our comfort zones, tune out the naysayers and just and just, you know, just really go for it.
23:46Live our dreams.
23:48And so I want to thank you for joining us today and and sharing your stories and to help us reach higher heights.
23:56Thank you, ladies.
23:59And we want to thank Ford for bringing this conversation to the Essence Festival and for once again, your donation of $25,000 to support the Shawn Foundation for Girls.
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