Transgender Empowerment in the Workforce with Todd Bavol

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[00:00:27] I am Betsy Cerullo, your host, and welcome to my guest today, Todd Bavol, CEO of Integrity Staffing Solutions, and founder of Be The Transformational Change. Today we're talking about how to empower. All employees in a rapidly changing workforce. So pull up a chair, enjoy your favorite beverage, and let's get started.

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[00:00:53] Todd Bavol: It's so great to see you as well. Um, what is your favorite beverage this morning? What do you have your beverage of choice? Well,

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[00:01:03] Todd Bavol: Okay, water. That's, I've had my two cups of coffee. That's my allotment for the day.

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[00:01:16] Betsy Cerulo: And the weather, I'm sure for you is really hot. So staying hydrated is so important and um, absolutely, you know, and keeping our workforce hydrated, right?

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[00:01:29] It's that time of the year.

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[00:01:52] Todd Bavol: Gosh. Um, that, that's a great question. Um, what, what really inspired me, um. It [00:02:00] happened long after I started, uh, uh, integrity with my partner. Um, I think, gosh, gosh, uh, 25 years later. Mm-hmm. And, uh, you know, always through the work that we did as at Integrity, it was always about generating opportunities for people to exceed their own expectations.

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[00:02:47] No kidding with swastika, the whole nine yards, standing and blocking the entrance of the building, and I get this phone call. And you, you know when someone's afraid. Yeah. You've ever had anyone [00:03:00] call you and you could just hear the fear in their voice? And I could hear the fear in her voice, and, and I said, what's wrong?

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[00:03:08] Narrator: Mm-hmm.

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[00:03:28] I can, I need to do something. I'm, yeah, not gonna make a huge difference, but you know what? I need to speak up about what's happening. And, uh, we then from that, that became the inspiration for forming be the Transformational Change Fund, um, which is, who's, our mission is to remove employment barriers, um, uh, create solutions to homelessness and, and other social injustices for the L-G-B-T-Q-I.

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[00:04:03] Betsy Cerulo: Yeah.

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[00:04:09] Betsy Cerulo: Absolutely. And it is such, when you look at the rep, the website, it's so. Rich. It is, it's beautiful. It is welcoming, it is joyful.

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[00:04:57] Todd Bavol: Yeah.

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[00:05:08] Todd Bavol: Sure. Absolutely.

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[00:05:20] So why is diversity, equity and inclusion an important com component for rich workforce?

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[00:05:50] Is what makes for strong solutions is what creates strong environments. Um, it's what built. Uh, this [00:06:00] country. Yes. Uh, and so I think to me, uh, there, there's nothing more important, uh, than bringing diversity into the room, uh, when you're a business. Yeah.

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[00:06:24] Ideas and thoughts and opinions, and I think what people are missing is the word diversity. How diversity of thought is so important. You know, diversity of ideas and you've, you've mentioned some, it's not just about gender, uh, religion, sexual identity. Skin color. It's, its ideas. And when we make that word negative, we are really harming our workforce and we're, we're harming global business.

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[00:07:06] Todd Bavol: Yeah. I, I think there's, you know, the, the, the thought that. By bringing diversity into your workforce means that you're not hiring the best right, or you're not bringing in the best. Mm-hmm. It's, I, I'm not quite sure where that conversation started, but it's just not accurate.

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[00:07:48] Betsy Cerulo: Yeah. And small businesses. We don't have the time or the money to not hire the best. Right? And small businesses are the [00:08:00] backbone of American business. So when I think about everything that I've heard, whether it's DEI, affirmative action, I think to myself, we have always hired the best based on their qualifications and what the job requires.

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[00:08:31] Todd Bavol: Bingo. Can I give a quick example of something that's going on in our organization right now?

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[00:09:00] Now, my point is, is that in building this group, we're doing six month rotations of six to eight people. Mm-hmm. And we're purposely choosing folks who are in different work groups in the organization. Why? Because if we chose only leaders, we would get be getting one perspective. If we chose only those in sales, we'd be getting another perspective.

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[00:09:54] Absolutely. In, in our country and in the world.

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[00:10:19] So you know, right there just being introverted or extroverted. That's diversity.

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[00:10:28] Betsy Cerulo: so I I, I love what you're doing with that because it's so true. The best way to get a a true read of the pulse in any organization is when you bring people together from different aspects, because not everybody necessarily knows exactly what the other work group is doing.

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[00:11:06] Todd Bavol: Well, I think, uh, by.

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[00:11:37] Life experiences. Mm-hmm. You can't imagine how often you'll hear someone say, I never realized that. Um, you know, there's a lot of folks who, who have no idea that in some of the states across our country, you can still lose your job. Just because you come out or you're found to [00:12:00] be gay. Mm-hmm. You know, that can still happen.

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[00:12:28] Hmm. Um, I, I think that, uh, anyone who would hear that and who really believes in fairness would say, Hmm. That just doesn't feel right.

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[00:12:40] Todd Bavol: education is one, is one important way that we do that.

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[00:13:01] And basically just ask, what do you need from us? How can we support you? We are here to listen. Not that we can solve it, but we are here to listen. And that in itself made a really big difference. Just the fact that we reached out to say, okay, does this change in the law impact you? How does it impact you?

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[00:13:51] Todd Bavol: Absolutely. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. It's, um, it, it moving between organizations, uh, you know, the, our Integrity organization, [00:14:00] the staffing, and then the nonprofit, which are two separate organizations. They operate separately, of course. BTTC did a survey. Um, we've done it two years in a row now, called the Shine the Light Survey.

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[00:14:33] Interesting feedback. And when you, um, if, if, if, uh, your listeners have a chance to download that survey, it, it gives a really interesting perspective. Um, uh, you know, just as simple as understanding what the major, what. Workers that are in the LGBTQ I a plus community feel like when they, um, are in a, in a room and folks are talking about their weekend with their [00:15:00] significant other, you know, how, how comfortable do they feel about talking about their life, right?

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[00:15:27] How can we make this better for everyone? Mm-hmm.

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[00:15:51] Todd Bavol: Hmm. It's a, so, uh, from the [00:16:00] participant or the, the, the people we serve, right.

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[00:16:24] Betsy Cerulo: Yeah.

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[00:16:45] They're real, they're, we're hearing that, right? Mm-hmm. We're hearing those fears. Um, hopefully that's, uh, none of that will ever come to fruition, but, but it's, but it's real for folks. Uh, and, um, we're seeing folks pull back [00:17:00] on, um, uh, sponsoring or, or donating to certain things, um, rather than others. So we're, we're just seeing a change.

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[00:17:30] Is it really law right now? Yes. Does it really change something for me right now? Do I have to live in fear of this? Um, and, and so really getting information out to people is something that we're working hard on.

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[00:17:59] Todd Bavol: Yeah. [00:18:00] Yes, absolutely. Um, there's, there's a couple, uh, you know, um, uh, really, really, uh, great. I mean, you, you have the, the, uh, Williams Institute, you have the Trevor Project. You have the, the, the, um, uh, uh, uh, glad is a, is is another. Great, uh, resource, um, you know, but, but not all of them capture everything.

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[00:18:48] Right? Right. And so if, if someone's out there Googling something, they're getting yesterday's news. Right. And, um, that, that's a challenge. Uh, um, you know, right now, uh, [00:19:00] in particular, you know, the word came out that, oh, guess what? You can, you now can get your gender marker on your passport. That's changed.

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[00:19:35] Mm-hmm. So that, that's why this is such, such a critical thing, I believe. No, it

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[00:20:06] Misinformation of propaganda has been here for probably is forever. Of course. And it's right. And it's really imp. We all have opinions. We, we all like to read things that, that fill what we like.

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[00:20:22] Betsy Cerulo: But the truth is we have to go find the facts and we have to understand, especially with changes in laws.

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[00:20:57] Todd Bavol: Yeah. And, and I'm also, I'm [00:21:00] also want to look over there.

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[00:21:27] Betsy Cerulo: Yes.

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[00:21:37] Narrator: mm-hmm.

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[00:21:51] Given I'm part of the community, that's absolutely not true. So you can believe that. But here I am and let me tell you what the [00:22:00] fact is and what's the truth. And you know, sometimes I'll get people like, oh, I never thought about it that way. That's what you wanna hear. And then once in a while, I'll get some, no, no, that's not true.

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[00:22:36] Let's come from it with energy that we want to see more people have. And believe me, do I get upset? Sure. I, I, I'm sure you do. To any, any, anybody that feels people are being attacked unfairly, gets upset about what's, what we see going on. So we have to advocate. Uh, [00:23:00] because I am kind of seeing that certain ways to fight just don't work.

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[00:23:10] Todd Bavol: Mm-hmm.

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[00:23:13] Todd Bavol: That, that word advocate, I think is so important. Um, you know, it's, it's one of. Core values in our organization is advocate for our associate success. And yes, advocating looks many, looks so many different ways, but it's so important to us to empower our workforce, to advocate for our employees who are working across the multitude of different environments that mm-hmm.

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[00:24:00] Betsy Cerulo: Love thy neighbor as thyself.

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[00:24:03] Betsy Cerulo: That's it. That's it. So in your opinion, how can workforces in general support the empowerment and thriving of the trans community?

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[00:24:33] It's not my lived experience, so I'm talking about experiences that I've heard. Right. Um, from, from others. So, uh, so I might not articulate it perfectly, but the, there's a couple buckets of challenges. One is I'm working right. Um, I, uh, we had a, a, um, person that we were helping out that worked, uh, in the state, uh, for the government actually.

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[00:25:26] They're not educated. Yes. Right? Yes. And so having some type of process in your organization to facilitate that, uh, support that person through that trans, through their transition and help that process is one thing that that folks can do too. Make sure that, um, the, in your training for your hiring processes, folks understand how, what fair hiring looks like, right?

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[00:26:14] It is, right. Uh, it's a horrible experience. And so ensuring that your hiring staff understands, um. That, uh, that's, that's not

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[00:26:35] Todd Bavol: The gender marker shouldn't matter.

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[00:27:03] Supports, uh, folks of all walks of life let people know that somehow we we're, what we're working at, at VTTC is coming up with a way to let employers know, Hey, let people know that you are welcoming, that you're accepting, promote that yes, so that people feel safe applying. Because I think right now, if, if, if I were, um.

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[00:27:36] Betsy Cerulo: job. I know, I know.

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[00:27:52] Yes. Uh, is is a big start because you know. There's a lot of talent out there that is, uh, really desperate for [00:28:00] Yeah. For work and, um, and struggling to find it.

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[00:28:20] So this person just asked me. Because they knew I was LGBT and, and just ask me. I just wanna understand. Uh, and I so appreciated the conversation because that person was not part of the community, and he just, he just wanted to know. He asked me, I said, so ask me a couple questions, and he goes, all right. I never thought about it that way.

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[00:29:04] Todd Bavol: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's a great point.

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[00:29:21] Todd Bavol: Uh, I think, uh, the, for the Integrity organization, um, you know, we are 27, 28 years, I think 27, 28 years we're, we're getting there.

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[00:29:55] Um, that's been. You know, her goal, and, and it was time for her to, uh, step [00:30:00] into that role. Uh, and as chairman, I'm focused on the Vision X Pro program, but, um, I, I think I'm most proud of seeing people develop and create lives that they. Possibly didn't imagine. Um, and that's just a beautiful thing as a leader.

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[00:30:46] Boy, do we make it difficult in this country Absolutely. To do good.

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[00:30:50] Todd Bavol: We make it really, really difficult. I think I'm most proud of, um, launching, uh, the, uh, from BTTC. We had our first, [00:31:00] uh, uh, miss International Queen, uh, competition, which is, uh, a pageant with a purpose. We had 25 contestants in Las Vegas.

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[00:31:37] Yes. Uh, and we put them in the limelight for just one moment that perhaps. If we can change one mind, if we can shift one narrative, that's great. Um, and I feel that we did that this year. Uh, and, uh, you know, we, this year we'll be in Atlantic City, New Jersey at Harris's. Uh, so Awesome. We're putting that program together and we're really excited about it.

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[00:32:21] Uh, that's what I'm most proud of.

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[00:32:59] So how can [00:33:00] people find you?

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[00:33:20] Two, just go to uh, www.integritystaffing.com for be the transformational change. Um, we are on Facebook, on Instagram, and we have a website. Facebook and Instagram are at be the Transformational Change, and our website is be the transformational change.org. And that's how folks can find us.

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[00:33:49] And to all the listeners out there, please look at both of Todd's websites, get more informed, educated, and reach out to us if you have any [00:34:00] questions and know that you all. Are loved and cared for. So thank you so much.

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[00:34:08] Narrator: Absolutely. Thanks for listening to Room at the Table.

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