In this last week of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I'd like to talk about some sobering stuff...
As you may or may not know, Anti-Asian hate crimes jumped 169 percent over the past year. In New York City alone, they've risen to 223%! In San Francisco, hate crimes increased by 140%, while in Los Angeles, it's gone up by 80%.
In the last few months, businesses are looking at what they can do to stand up to anti-Asian hate and violence. Some big named business leaders, like Jerry Yang of Yahoo, are pledging millions of dollars to a new initiative, which hopes to reshape the American public's understanding of the Asian-American experience. On Friday, PepsiCo and The PepsiCo Foundation announced a million dollar commitment to support several Asian American foundations, as well as the National Restaurant Association, since 26% of businesses in the food industry are Asian-owned.
While many may think Asians are doing well, we are still just a small minority. For example, Asian-Americans comprise 12 percent of the U.S. work force, but just 1.5 percent are Fortune 500 corporate officers.
Now, I don't think that just increasing the percentage of Fortune 500 corporate officers is the way to see equality in this country. Instead, I want to help people to make more money, so if the way to do that is to help them get the job, career, gig, or clients of their dreams, that's what I'm here to do. It's also what my friend Vicky Kamahele does.
On a personal note, Vicky is one of my best friends and one of my bridesmaids at my wedding.
On a professional note, Vicky has worked at some of the biggest companies in the world, including Google. She's also occasionally an actor, so she gets us creative types.
Vicky owns a talent acquisitions and career coaching firm that helps you with career exploration, job search, resumes, interviews and negotiations, and in this interview, she breaks down how to get that job, rock that interview and also how best to negotiate, even during a pandemic or other "slow" economic times.
Just so you know...Vicky and I did have a conversation about violence against Asian Americans, but honestly, this interview was so filled with so much good stuff, I'm releasing that part on social media. After all, this is a personal finance blog, and although our lives are inter-connected with our finances, we're focusing today on helping you make more money, so you can worry less about it, and then, you can start to create the life that you really want to live.
If you want to reach out to Vicky Kamahele on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickykamahele/
With Love & Gratitude,
