Getting Unstuck: Discovering Grit and Grace

Project Reclass is a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, Georgia that teaches technical skills to incarcerated veterans. Co-founder Tay Nishimura joins us in this episode to discuss her experiences, which shape her outlook on diversity, failure, and leadership: working in technology and serving as an unarmed police officer in New York City. She shares a candid tale about mental health, passion, and second chances. To contact Tay: Project Reclass on LinkedIn Project Reclass Website E-mail: [email protected] To contact Thriving Room: To get additional resources related to this and other episodes, please subscribe to our newsletter. E-mail: [email protected] Show notes: 00:48 - Mission of Project Reclass. 01:15 - How Project Reclass is especially relevant with COVID-19. 01:48 - Get personal on why Tay co-founded Project Reclass with Kunal Jha. 02:07 - The role of dance in Tay's why. 03:13 - Experience of discouragement on the job. 04:16 - Exposure to new people and experiences. 04:44 - Learning from a play about the life of West Point cadets. 05:15 - Reframing challenges and understanding what grit is. 05:52 - Feeling stuck at work. 06:27 - Bloomberg Women in Tech. 06:47 - Becoming an unarmed police officer. 07:26 - Recognizing privilege and questioning what makes people succeed. 13:00 - Challenges of 2020, including unemployment and engaging in controversial dialogue. 17:24 - Tay finds power in what she can do, uniting her passions for computer networking and creating resources for others. 22:46 - "One of our goals as an organization is that, even if it is not computer networking, our incarcerated veterans who go through our program feel they are capable of finding that career path that is right for them, through learning what we teach them." 24:11 - What is surge capacity? 27:10 - The notion of leadership as a profession. 28:10 - An experience in humility. 29:33 - If you work on social media, we see you and how hard your job can be. 32:18 - "It's my job to protect my volunteers from burning out.  You can't just surge when other people's lives are involved in the project." 33:24 - Radical transparency and thanking a pivotal first manager. 34:58 - "People don't want to spend their free time that they are dedicating to a mission being criticized." 36:27 - What is the 'trust wobble' in empowered leadership? 39:01 - "People come to Reclass to be rejuvenated.  Morale gets us to the next level.  Once everyone is passionate, there are a lot of ways that we can work on our flaws." 39:40 - What assumptions do we make when we talk with people? 43:37 - Tay thanks the West Point cadets who influence her life. 45:25 - How to contact Tay.