Interview with Stacie Selise – ep.170

Melyssa Barrett: Welcome to the Jali Podcast. I’m your host, Melyssa Barrett. This podcast is for those who are interested in the conversation around equity, diversity, and inclusion. Each week I’ll be interviewing a guest who has something special to share or is actively part of building solutions in the space. Let’s get started. Stacey Sice Shannon is a dynamic executive leadership strategist and the founder and CEO of the Stacy SLIs Group, a leadership and business consulting firm dedicated to advancing women in the workplace. With over 15 years of experience in sales, customer experience, and organizational transformation, she has led teams of more than 2,800 people and overseeing multi-billion dollar revenue portfolios across various regions, including the northeast, the Carolinas, Chicago, and Indiana. A proud Purdue University alumna with a Bachelor of Science in Business administration. Stacey began her career in Queens, New York, where she learned the value of resilience, excellence, and leading with heart.

She spent the majority of her corporate career at Verizon rising through the ranks and leading large scale operations. Central to Stacey’s approach is her signature four s framework. This framework guides leaders and organizations toward excellence with integrity and focus. And through her company, she offers a range of services designed to empower professionals and organizations. She is deeply committed to creating spaces where black women and all underrepresented leaders can rise, lead and thrive. She partners with organizations to provide strategic support that equips women to lead with impact and rise into senior and executive level roles. Her consulting firm focuses on bridging the gap between strategy and people delivering transformative solutions through leadership development workshops and organizational growth support for women in the workplace. Every week I say that I am so excited to meet people, and I know this week is no different. You may hear I’m a little nasally this time, but we’re going to keep it moving and I am just really excited to have Stacy ly Shannon with me this week, and she is a powerhouse. So I’m excited to get this conversation started and it’s my first time meeting you. So I’m excited to really hear about your journey and welcome to the jolly podcast. Lemme just

Stacie Selise: Say that first. Well, thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here and really just talk to you and all of the viewers about my background and where I come from, and yeah, it’ll be a great conversation.

Melyssa Barrett: Yeah. So tell me, I know you have some connection to Queens and I was born in the Bronx, so we have a New York connection. So tell me a little bit about how you have become the woman that you are today, and what was that journey like?

Stacie Selise: Absolutely. So I was born and raised in Queens, New York, so a fellow New Yorker, and I was raised by my grandmother. So my grandmother is one of resilience, very disciplined in her approach and everything that she does, and she was just an overall strong black woman, and I always aspire to be her and just do my thing when it comes to working and going to school and all of that. So I started on my journey with a Fortune 20 company back when I was probably about 19, 20 years old. And it was a way for me to really help put myself through college and pay for things that I did not have the funds for. So embarked on that journey. I started off as a retail store rep. I mean literally from the ground entry level as entry level as it gets fixing phones, handling, billing issues for this particular company.

And I just rose through the ranks and made my way to being a vice president for that Fortune 20 company before the age of 33. So I was one of the youngest vice presidents in the sales channel for that organization, which was a huge accomplishment. And throughout that journey it took a lot, right? Because as a black woman, I feel like you’ve always have to work twice as hard as the next person. There aren’t as many women, let alone black women in those executive leadership positions, and there aren’t a lot of people who start from the entry level role and work their way up. So that became a part of my story. It became a part of my journey, and I always say the journey is the destination, but that was a huge part of why I actually started to really focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion along my journey as well to ensure we were really just paying it forward and lifting as we climb to make sure we get more black women and just people of color in general into these executive leadership positions. That prompted me to start my own brand because I did walk away from corporate about six months ago to embark on this new journey of being a founder and CEO of the Stacy SLI brand and the Stacy Sli group where I really help ambitious professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders to really just thrive in the marketplace, really innovate and lead at a high level. So that’s a part of the journey. That’s what brought me to where I am now and I’m excited about it.

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. Your journey is so similar to my old, I spent 30 years at Visa. Oh wow, okay. Started answering switchboard phones and ended up vice president there and recently left and am doing my own thing. So it’s amazing how parallel our stories are. Absolutely. And I know I spent a lot of time working on DEI within that corporate landscape, we’re there, do you find that there’s pivotal moments for you that help shape your leadership path?

Stacie Selise: Absolutely. So when I was, I would say a district manager for Southwest Connecticut now coming from New York, I had never stepped foot inside of Connecticut except for when Hurricane Sandy hit. And I said, you know what? Let me drive to Connecticut to get gas because it’s actually going to be less time than waiting in line here in New York. So that was the only time I had gone to Connecticut. When I got there as a district manager, I was the only black woman leader in all of Southern New England. And that was a moment, like a mirror moment for me to just say, wow, this is insane. We need more of us in these roles. And it just so happens that I met a lady, God rest her soul, her tense, and she reached out and said, Hey, I need your help in Southern New England. I am leading the black ERG that we had at the time. And she’s like, I’m going to need your help. We need more of us. And I said, I was just saying that to myself. So that moment really was just that mirror moment for me to say, you know what? I have to do more. We have to do more as a company, as a team. And that’s what really led to my DEI passion when it comes to working for corporate. So yeah,

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. So now that you’ve transitioned, because I know sometimes it takes a lot to get off of that hamster wheel and move into your own space, your own consulting firm, you now have your own firm and your own four s framework, and I would love to hear a little bit more about how that came to be, how did you develop it and how you even got there?

Stacie Selise: Yeah, so my four s framework was something I actually created and carried through my journey while I was working for corporate. So it’s four key areas, four key pillars, support, which is because I always talk about having the support of your internal and external clients and customers and making sure you operate with a people first mentality. The second S is strive. That is our relentless pursuit of excellence in everything that we do. So I used to always tell my team, we are striving for excellence. Why? Because when you strive for excellence, you’ll land in the ballpark of perfection. So that strive. The third is standards. You always want to have a set of standards that you abide by. And for us, I always focus on the ethics and the integrity and integrity is doing what’s right even when no one’s watching. And that’s a big thing.

You never want to have an asterisk next to your name when you’re chasing at the results and different things like that. So you have to have a set of standards and make sure you are really setting the bar. But I used to tell my team, make sure we are the bar, we are the standard. Everyone’s going to look to us for what they should do next. And then when you do all of those things, it leads to the success, which is the fourth pillar, and those are the measurable, tangible outcomes that you get when you do everything else. So we carry that in everything that we did, and it applies to any industry in any form of leadership. So that’s where the four S framework came from.

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. And you’re also doing coaching, correct? That’s

Stacie Selise: Correct.

Melyssa Barrett: Yep. And the leadership coaching I imagine leans on this four S framework in order to help people get to where they want to go? Absolutely. I think one of the things that I say is when you choose diversity and create inclusion, you achieve excellence. And so today we have a lot of, I’ll just call it a lot of naysayers when it comes to DEI. And can you talk about how do you support others that face obstacles when it comes to challenges related to DEI?

Stacie Selise: Yeah, so one thing is to really understand the landscape. So for example, if I have a client who’s working in a particular organization and they’re saying, Hey, I feel like I don’t have the support that I need, that’s starting off with one of the first pillars of the four S framework. And I always say, okay, what does that support look like internally, externally? What does it look like? Do we need to make sure you have a mentor in place that’s going to help you externally? But then also inside of your company, what does this all look like and how do we get them to come together there? And then really just applying those different principles and pillars from the forest framework to make sure we have a good strategy in place to make sure that that DEI factor matters, right? Because this is not just an initiative when we talk about DEI, this should just be the way that we do business because it makes sense and that is what we try to get everyone to understand. So sometimes I do come in as that secret advisor to let them know, Hey, here’s the strategy we need to put in place to ensure that your organization cares about DEI moving forward. And even if that includes getting human resources involved or whoever else, it may take whatever stakeholder, but we have to make sure the strategy is right. We handle it professionally and we go about it the right way.

Melyssa Barrett: And I know you mentioned mentorship, and to me, I know it plays such a crucial role in professional development. Have you had mentors in your career and how would you suggest other mentors kind of react or focus in their field? Especially now we have a lot of companies are now kind of flattening organizations to some degree, and it becomes challenging when you’re talking about mentorship or advocacy in any way, how you manage through that. So do you have any thoughts about how people may engage in mentorship or maybe you can talk a little bit about some of the experiences you’ve had?

Stacie Selise: Yeah, absolutely. In terms of my own personal experience when it comes to mentorship, just being an inspirational leader throughout my career, I’ve had people just reach out and say, Hey, Stacy, I know you have a lot on your plate. I know you’re busy, but can you take some time to mentor me? And I love that because they’re being bold. They’re like, Hey, I’m not going to hold back. I know you got a lot going on, but I still want to throw this out there and I’m always open to it and obviously I have to make sure that I can fit it into the schedule, but you can always fit time in. No one’s too busy to do anything, right? You just got to make sure you carve out the time. The other thing though, the flip side of it is there are mentors that I have and have had in my career and throughout my journey that I absolutely adore.

And again, I was bold as well and reached out to them and may have just been me shooting them and email and saying, Hey, I really like this conversation you had today. You talked about A, B and C. But the other piece too, and I always tell people this, when it comes to a mentee mentor relationship, it should be a give and take almost, right? A lot of times some people walk into these relationships saying, Hey, what can you give me? Not realizing that you have your own power as well. You have something that you can provide to that mentor as well that’s going to be beneficial and helpful to them in everything that they’re doing in their line of work. So a lot of my mentors were senior vice presidents at the time market presidents in the C-suite of the company, and they said, you know what? But your input is so valuable because you are closer to the teams than I am, which is why I love hearing your thoughts and your opinions on different situations. So if I could tell everyone out there, if you are looking to gain a mentor, always think about the value you’re going to bring to that relationship as well because it’s worth it.

Melyssa Barrett: I love that. I love that. I think a lot of people do. They discount what they bring even though may have less experience in the space. But yes, I truly believe that’s absolutely true. Do you have maybe some thoughts on what advice you would give to emerging leaders in now that you’re in your own consulting firm, where do you focus? Do you focus on folks that are middle management and kind of moving up? Or how do you begin? Where’s your target?

Stacie Selise: Yeah, so I have my steal title, Stacy Sise brand, right? And this is where I really focus on just empowering those ambitious professionals. And they may be in an entry level role. They may not even be in a leadership role just yet. Entrepreneurs who are just getting into things and trying to understand the business world and the marketplace and how they can add value with their businesses and those who may be in leadership roles, but want to make it into a more senior level role. So that’s all under my subtitled Stacy Sise brand. So that’s the one arm. The other arm is I have the Stacy Sise group, and that is where I work with other consultants as well to really impact those larger organizations. And so we get contracts from bigger corporations to go in and help advance women in leadership within those organizations.

So again, two different arms. The first one that I spoke about, I help everyone, men, women, everyone. And then on the other arm, the Stacy SLI group really focuses on advancing women in leadership in those corporations. So if an ambitious professional reaches out to me and they’re in an entry level role or wherever they’re at on their journey and they say, Hey, I really need your help with trying to make it to the next level, I’m there to help through my power session. So I do have power sessions, so everybody go to stacey seise.com. That’s where you’ll find all of the different services and offers. I have to help you on your journey, but I think it is important for those who may be in an entry level role. Let’s just say you’re working in a restaurant flipping burgers for a Fortune 500 company, by the way, and you’re just working in the entry level role, you can make it into an executive leadership role for that company. A lot of times they don’t see that. They don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel there because they’re not seeing these leaders on a regular. But that’s also a part of the work that I do, getting them to realize that, hey, you can do so much more if you put your mind to it and if you have the right strategy in place.

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. Let’s pause for a moment. We’ll be right back. Now, one of the things that you have is called the Legacy Lab in msu.

Stacie Selise: Yes.

Melyssa Barrett: Can you talk a little bit about what that experience is about?

Stacie Selise: Absolutely. So the Legacy Lab intensive is a four week program that’s going to be kicking off here shortly in a couple of weeks on June 2nd. So that is where I do have limited seats available to help those who are already in a leadership role or they’re already an entrepreneur, so they’re a bit established already, but they need to take it to the next level. And they love the group format, and we’re going to be walking them through a lot of different things. So I’ll be hosting weekly calls with them, providing them with different tools and resources to be successful based on my experience and my expertise. But that’s kicking off soon. So definitely go to stacey sice.com and enroll in that legacy lab if you are an established leader or entrepreneur looking to take it to the next level.

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. And I’m not sure how these work together. I know you have the Legacy Lab and then you have the Path to power experience,

Stacie Selise: Correct? Yes. The path to power experience, and I’m glad you asked that. So there’s two separate cohorts, and the reason I did that was intentional because again, the Legacy lab is for more established leaders and entrepreneurs who are just looking to take it to a little bit of the next level and scale a bit more the path to power experience. While it is a similar experience, it’s a little bit different because this is for emerging professionals. They may not be in a leadership position just yet, and I want to make sure they feel comfortable and not like they’re behind if they were to enter into the legacy lab and they’re not as established just yet. So that is why there are two separate cohorts. Legacy Lab kicks off June 2nd, half the power kicks off on June 3rd, limited seats available.

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. And you have such a commitment to women, and I know all of the, I mean, you have some retreats and other things going on that are very specific, and I know you focus a lot on the underrepresented as well as women in general. I know you also do some curated experiences. So I mean, do you have to be in a particular area in order to sign up or are some of these virtual, how does it work?

Stacie Selise: So some of them are virtual, and if you go ahead and go to stacy sice.com and subscribe, you’ll get all of those updates when I’m having a virtual retreat or when I’m having an in-person retreat as well. And you’ll have all of the details for that. But I do these curated experiences because I think it’s important to come together as a collective to not only fellowship, but to also learn together. And when you have someone who has a certain level of experience and expertise, you want to share that with others so that they can go ahead and progress as well. And we do it in a way where everyone feels a part of something bigger. And that’s why those curated experiences, whether virtual or in person, are very, very to what I do.

Melyssa Barrett: I love that. I love it. So now, if I remember correctly, a lot of your experience happened in a very large corporation. I think some of the things that I feel about corporations, I love them, but there are a lot of challenges with corporations in terms of how they manage through leadership and what I would call the frozen middle, where we have challenges with really engaging the frozen middle, even when you have so-called support from the top right, it’s challenging to actually emerge as a leader in an organization, especially when they’re so large. I happen to be one of 16 African Americans at Visa. When I became a vice president, I started there, there was 800 employees, and when I came a vp, I think we had about 10,000. Now they have almost 30,000. But it’s such a challenge to make your mark and feel like you’ve left a legacy. Are there things that you are particularly proud of that you left or that you wanted to see based on your work in that company?

Stacie Selise: Absolutely. So legacy is so important to me, hence the reason why one of my programs is called Legacy Lab, but legacy is so important because I always say this is what you are leaving behind. What is your thumbprint when you go into a new role, you go into a new region, whatever it may be, what is your thumbprint on the business or that area? And so one of the things that actually just popped up this week, I saw a message from my old team just saying, Hey, we really miss when Stacey was here because she really just knew how to move and groove and get everybody going. And so what are those things that people are going to say about you when you are no longer there, when you are no longer in the room or in that particular setting? And that’s legacy. So for me, it’s always about just always doing your best. And that’s why Strive is an important pillar of the forest framework because you always want to strive for excellence. People remember that people remember the bar that you set. And I remember one moment in time not too long ago where my team and I, we won the top 1% called President’s Cabinet Award for the company.

And I was only one of two senior leaders to win this award. And typically when you win, okay, you win on behalf of your team, great. But it’s unheard of for you to two leaders who may be right under you that report to you also go to that particular award ceremony. And I had two go with me. And that was just the showing of like, Hey, this is the impact on leadership. It’s not even about me. It’s not about the titles, but it’s about the impact that you have on your organization or your team where they believe in you, they trust you, you have the credibility and they want to go ahead and run through walls For you, it’s all about winning the hearts and minds of your people. And I always felt like we did a really, really good job of that. And it always showed up in the leadership engagement scores as well, and people still remember those things even till this day.

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. And those are kind of the impressions that leave a mark. It’s those footprints in the sand where people, that truly is a legacy. And I think sometimes when I left, I always, I question, what is my legacy? What did I do here? What did I accomplish after 30 years? And I think your whole focus on humanity first, people first, it’s really about how do we touch people and connect all along the way. So I love what you’re doing. So tell us more about the Stacey SLI Group and Stacey Sli the brand and what the future looks like. What are you trying to accomplish with all of that?

Stacie Selise: Yeah, absolutely. So for the Stacey SLI group specifically, I want to continue to bring on more consultants so this way we can continue to have a bigger impact with those corporations and larger organizations to continue to advance women in leadership because that’s what it’s all about in terms of my self title, Stacey Sise brand. I want to make sure I continue to target those ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs so I can help them continue to scale, lead, innovate, and thrive in this marketplace. It’s important. I always talk about, you’re going to hear me say it a lot, lifting as we climb, continuing to pay it forward, making sure we have more of us in those underrepresented voices, in these spaces where they belong, even if you don’t think you belong. And it’s very important that we continue that work. And so right now the focus is continuing to help more people to continue to inspire and impact more people.

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. I love it. So is there some advice you would give to people out there who maybe are questioning a lot of layoffs happening today? And I think what a lot of what I see people doing now like you is they transition whether they’re doing their own thing or they’re looking for whatever their purpose may be. Is there some advice you would give to folks in that transitional period so that they can, because it becomes challenging, I think just personally in your own confidence, when you’re either released from a position or the position ends for whatever reason, or you’re maybe getting RIFed out of the government or whatever, are there things that you might tell people that would kind of help them figure out where they want to go and what they want to do?

Stacie Selise: Yeah, I would say take a moment to, not everyone journals, but take a moment to write down those key things that you think you do a really good job at, right? Because you got to get clear on your purpose and everyone has something unique about them that they can offer this world. And so you got to get clear on your purpose. You got to have a strategy in place, and that’s where I come in and all of the other folks who may be doing similar work, but that’s where I would come in to help you really build that strategy, make sure that the accountability is there. We have to hold ourselves accountable.

Melyssa Barrett: It’s

Stacie Selise: Not a negative thing, but it’s just one of those things that we have to do to make sure we’re executing at a high level. But it’s important to really get clear on that purpose, have a strategy in place, and really move and operate with this executive presence in all that you do. But the other thing that I will say too is the journey is the destination. I said this earlier, so in life, throughout your career, throughout those transitions, there are going to be peaks and there are going to be valleys. The peaks feel incredible. You feel like you’re at the top of the world, the top of the mountain, but the valleys will mature you. So I know sometimes it’s uncomfortable, but that uncomfortableness is what’s going to help you grow. And so you got to get comfortable with that and just make sure you understand that again, that that journey is the destination and you will get to where you want to go, but you have to be clear on that purpose and what the vision should be for yourself.

Melyssa Barrett: I love that. I love that. Then in terms of getting clarity, and I know I’m talking a lot about the specific people that you’ve helped, but flipping that script a little bit to talk about the organizations that you helped with the Stacy SLI group. How do you help recommend organizations aiming to kind foster inclusive cultures and promote diverse leadership? What strategies do you have? Any thoughts on what they could do?

Stacie Selise: Yeah, so there are, what I would say is for certain organizations or any organization for that matter, what does your training look like at the ground level? What does that training look like? That really helps to advance women within leadership to help promote more women within leadership. What does that ground training look like? Because sometimes it misses the mark, and I’ve been there before where I’ve gone to a training and I’m like, this doesn’t feel like it’s for me. I have no idea what they’re talking about or how this applies to me and the specific things that I go through as a woman. So we got to get clear on what that framework looks like for the training, for the workshops, for the leadership development courses that they may have. And then we also have to get clear on how we continue to engage the different groups at different levels.

So I think you mentioned earlier about that middle, yeah, the frozen middle. So how do we actually capture that group? What does the touch points look like quarterly? Are we touching base with all of our employees to understand where they are mentally, right? Because another big thing too, what does that mental wellness look like for the organization? How are we creating psychological safety for our employees and our leaders so this way they feel vulnerable and open enough to come to you and say, Hey, here’s how I’m feeling, or here’s what I feel like I may be lacking. So we got to make sure all of that is in place, and I do that through my four s framework as well in terms of the way we apply the different pillars and what the training and the workshops and the development needs to look like.

Melyssa Barrett: I love it. Well, and I’m going to ask this question and I don’t know the answer to it, so I see a lot of pink and green going on over there.

Stacie Selise: Yes. You see the AKA here, right?

Melyssa Barrett: Well, I’m a Delta, so keep doing the work. There

Stacie Selise: You go. We’re doing the work personally, professionally, in the community. That’s what we do. Thank you for being one of my sister Greeks.

Melyssa Barrett: Alright. I love it. I love it. I hadn’t ask because I was like, every once in a while people surprise me and they’re like, no, I just like pink and green.

Stacie Selise: You have the crimson and cream for the jolly podcast. So I love that. I love it.

Melyssa Barrett: What can I say? I know I’ve had so many AKAs on here and I just love, I mean, whether it be Deltas or any of the Divine Nine, there’s just so much love and there’s so many of us doing the work, and so I just appreciate every time I see somebody, it’s like our values are so similar that it just makes life so much better. So that’s right. You for sure tell people how they can connect with you and how they can sign up for the Legacy Lab and all of that. How can they get hold of you?

Stacie Selise: Absolutely. I’ll make it very, very simple for everybody. Just go to stacy sice.com. Everything is on there in terms of the services and the offers that I provide. You can also find me at The Stacey Soli on all platforms, so definitely give me a follow. If you want to hear about or see any of my thought leadership posts. You’ll find that on LinkedIn. I’m normally tapped on for my thought leadership for a lot of different media publications as well. In fact, one just came out yesterday from Digital Commerce 360. So yeah, definitely follow me on all platforms and go to stacy sice.com. I want to help more of you, so make sure you book your power session or enroll in one of my programs.

Melyssa Barrett: And Stacy is spelled CIE.

Stacie Selise: That’s right.

Melyssa Barrett: We both have to have a little bit of uniqueness in our name, me with the Y and you with the IE. That’s right. So I love it. I love it. Awesome. Well, is there anything else you want to mention before we go or

Stacie Selise: I would just want to say for everyone that’s viewing this episode today, just know that everyone is unique in their own way. Each of us have something to offer the world, and it’s really just about you getting clear on your purpose. And again, if you want to get clear on your strategy and the road ahead, definitely go to stacey sise.com, Stacey with an IE as Melyssa said, and make sure you definitely book a power session or enroll in the program because I want to help us get to that next level and really operate with that power, presence and purpose.

Melyssa Barrett: Thank you so much, Stacy, for joining me for this wonderful conversation. I am so thrilled to have met you. I hope this is not the first time, the last time that we speak, but it is the first, but I hope it won’t be the last. So please keep in touch, let us know how things are going, if I can be assistance to you in any way, I’m putting that out there and happy to help in whatever way I can. So thank you for all you do. It’s such a celebration of people, and I’m looking forward to hearing more about all the impacts you’re making in the world.

Stacie Selise: Thank you so much, Melyssa, for having me. Thank you to all of the jolly Podcast viewers and listeners, and I’m just excited to be here today. Anything you need, please feel free to reach out. Thank you. Awesome.

Melyssa Barrett: Thanks for joining me on the Jali Podcast. Please subscribe so you won’t miss an episode. See you next week.