Say It Skillfully® OUR VOICES–Shalimar Adorno poverty+possibility - a podcast by Molly Tschang

Say It Skillfully® is a show that helps you to benefit from Molly Tschang’s expert guidance on the best possible ways to speak your mind at work in a positive and productive manner. Episode 96 is the 16th monthly feature of “Our Voices,” intended to accelerate social change, level the playing field and help everyone live to their full potential. This may present a very different experience of... growing up, going to school, struggling, working and living; Molly hopes you’ll better appreciate and embrace our differences, so that we’re stronger for them! Her friend and special guest, Shalimar Adorno grew up knowing that she had to be great in life. It is remarkable that she saw “endless possibility”... Would you have seen if this had been you…? Born to a 17-year old mother in the South Bronx, Shalimar recounts not knowing where their next meal would come from, and not being able to safely play outside. She speaks fondly of 18 months living in Puerto Rico, where she could ride her unicycle outside, and food could always be found. Despite growing up in poverty, she highlights the richness of family ties and necessity of fearlessness and hope, and how her parents moved them always in search of a different beginning for a better life. Education was paramount—her mother sold her food stamps to enable Shalimar to go to a private school, knowing this was to be her lifeline. She talks about pivotal people without whom pivotal doors wouldn’t have opened, a dark decade after her brother was brutally killed and how she came to peace with it. Shalimar shares how she went from Spanish major and cohesive Hispanic community at Penn State to investment banking, and found her way to a life-changing role at the World Bank. She implores, “vulnerability is courage” and “bring your own folding chair when there isn’t a seat at the table.” Don’t miss this story of heart, grit and resilience—from a life not knowing abundance to the deepest appreciation of it. Tune in and be inspired to know no boundaries and for ways to take action so that all can be safe, seen and heard, and our true and best selves. Molly’s thought for the week: Strength isn't about how much you can handle before you break. It's about how much you can endure after you've been broken (unknown, adapted from Robert Tew)

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