Permission to Speak
Season 2, Ep. 42:
This week we're talking about Permission to Speak - Maybe there are times you’ve found yourself hesitating to speak up, to put your voice out there… this happens a lot, it’s not just a UX issue but is a common complaint in UX, and in tech in general. And it happens at every level, I’ve been in leadership roles for 20 years and I still experience this at times. My guest is LaDonna Willems, who is the associate editorial director at Dropbox.
LaDonna is a writer, and she’s an expert on voice. So when she realized that she wasn’t always speaking up, because on some level she was waiting for permission, that was incredibly eye-opening. She went through a process that really changed her perception, and it was so transformative, she wanted to share it with others. So She created a workshop to go through the process, to help others who want to find the power in their voice and to speak it, in whatever way comes naturally to them. That may be words or art or music or action. There are many ways to speak, but it starts with finding the source of your power, and the power of your voice.
LaDonna Witmer Willems
@wordsbyladonna
Writer, Speaker, Associate Editorial Director at the Dropbox Brand Studio
Along her personal journey to find her own voice, LaDonna has been a newspaper journalist, advertising copywriter, copy director, and poet. She’s currently one of the editorial gurus on the Dropbox Brand Studio team in San Francisco, creating and facilitating the most powerful expressions of the Dropbox voice. In minutes between meetings and her daughter’s ballet class, she’s also writing a book.
LaDonna Willems
https://www.ladonnawillems.com/out-loud
Links from the Show
Seattle Workshop Jan 28, 2020
Free tickets on Eventbrite
Pause Fest - Melbourne
https://www.pausefest.com.au/
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Dropbox.design events
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Danger of a Single Story
https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
Lisa Falzon - Instagram https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/lisafalzon/
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Chanel Miller
“Know My Name”