52. Jenna Howieson: From LGBT learner to educator

Sue Stockdale talks to Jenna Howieson who works as a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion professional in Scotland. She loves travelling, having visited close to 30 countries to date, and reflects that travel helped her explore her identity. Whilst attending a roundtable meeting with the CEO at work on gender and women in the workplace, Jenna was curious to find out what the company's approach to LGBT inclusion was, and asked a question about this. This ultimately led to Jenna switching her career to educate others about LGBTQ+ and creating a role for herself as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professional in the company. In addition to her 5 years of experience in the workplace, she also runs an LGBTQ+ travel blog, where she shines a light on the nuances of traveling and living as a queer person in today's world. Jenna has previously spoken at conferences such as the Stonewall UK Workplace Inclusion Conference in Scotland and runs educational workshops on LGBTQ+ inclusion for organisations of all sizes.Connect with Jenna Howieson:Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-howieson-44a03760/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thejennaway/Blog https://thejennaway.comPlease give us your feedback about the impact that this podcast had on you Take the 3-minute survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/TW2CXMN Key Quotes:‘During the last year I’ve realised there's always challenges and new opportunities and adventures. They just look very different.’‘Travel brings so much opportunity to discover your identity, whatever that looks like.’‘I’ve just always had that mentality that you don't need someone else to be able to do something.’‘I wasn't going to wait around at home for someone else to come with me before I got to see the world.’‘Thailand is always top of my list when I'm celebrating the countries that I've had really positive experience and we felt completely welcomed.’“Diversity, equity and inclusion across the board is a lot more than just LGBT inclusion.’‘I’ve moved from being the learner into educating others as well, that was a big step.’'I think it's not being afraid to fail and understanding that everyone is human. We are not all perfect. Sometimes we're going to slip up. Sometimes we're going to use the wrong language, but for me, it's always intent over anything else.’‘I definitely wasn't someone that was popular in high school. I didn't really fit in, but I think that by staying true to myself, staying independent and staying authentic led me to where I am today.’Read the transcription for this episode on www.accesstoinspiration.org and connect with us:Twitter www.twitter.com/accessinspirat1 Facebook www.facebook.com/accesstoinspiration Instagram www.instagram.com/accesstoinspiration LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/access-to-inspiration/ Give us your feedback - leave us an audio message https://www.speakpipe.com/AccessToInspiration Sign up for our newsletter http://eepurl.com/hguX2b Copyright © Access to Inspiration 2021Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/access-to-inspiration--4156820/support.