Bozoma Saint John

"Your greatest counsel is your voice within. Some people say it’s your spirit talking, or your gut, or your intuition. Whatever you call that murmuring, it can quiet everyone around you and allow you to tap into your truth.”"

"“There’s nothing more bad*** than being who you are … I am a force of nature in fierce stilettos.”"

"Nobody knew what we were doing. Everybody’s making it up. It’s not called ‘innovation’: that’s the fancy word for ‘making s—up.’"

"Part of innovation is ‘fake it until you make it’. Keep trying things, but it’s not just random thing. I got receipts. I really do know what I am doing … it was partly taking things that I know, and then applying it to things that I didn’t know, and creating something new, some new magic. And having faith that this new recipe was gonna work. And not being afraid that there were some dips. That you can continue iterating on the idea."

"The message is always try to get to the widest audience … As we know, there are ‘niche’ audiences who also need attention—I mean, it’s music, right? It’s like a universal truth."

"You don’t need to be black in order to feel that moment in the ad. You’re with your friends—with Phil Collins! Air Drums! We’ve all been there. You don’t need to be a black woman in order to understand that moment. And that’s the gamble, is that’s the universal truth: We’re human first."

"We have abilities to do more than one thing. We’re complex human beings. I can wear a leather dress and still have an 8-year old and wipe up the eggs that are on her face. Because we can do it all, absolutely."

"The weight of making sure you don’t do anything wrong so that others can follow you. Holding the door open, and it is heavy. It is heavy. It’s heavy because it’s a burden. It’s heavy because of the expectation. It’s heavy because you can’t slip. You can never let the door flip. And if you do, it will shut tight, and then you’ll be on the outside and everyone else will be inside."

"I feel it really difficult to maneuver, because sometimes the things that are given freely, the assumptions that are made when you’re not a black woman—the assumption that, ‘Oh, yeah, you got it. You’ve done this before. Then you have to prove it again and again and again that you actually do know it, that’ you’ve done it, and it’s hard not to be mad about it."

"At the end of the day, you have to bring all of the work—the work that you’ve done that’s more in-depth, tighter, more brilliant than anybody else can bring. Because that’s the only way to ensure that you actually get the next shot, the next chance."

"I curse at home first. And then I go in calmly, [wearing] some kind of bright color to distract. ‘If you want a show, I’ll give you a show. And then you bring all the receipts and you bring the work. At the end of the day, you have to bring all of the work—the work that you’ve done that’s more in-depth, tighter, more brilliant than anybody else can bring. Because that’s the only way to ensure that you actually get the next shot, the next chance."

"First of all, let’s count the black women in C-suite positions in Silicon Valley. Do you know any? So an opportunity comes, I must take it. I must take it. Because first of all, I do have something to prove. I have to hold the door."