Welcome back to the Jasmine Starshow. I could not be more honored and more anticipatory.

I just used a big word to stop this podcast to have a conversation with a amazing, brilliant,

kind, thought-provoking woman by the name of Sonia Thompson. But let me back up the story a little bit.

Let me set the stage. So I have an opportunity to speak at an event in Las Vegas. Very excited.

The event coordinators send a post out on social media and I repurpose the post. And I'm like,

hey, I'm going to be speaking of this event and good and kind and wonderful Sonia Thompson,

who has sent me direct messages in the past. And we have corresponded. So she's not quite a stranger.

She says Jasmine, girl, where is the color? Where is the diversity on that stage?

And I thought to myself, that is a really good question. And it was a question I was

unequipped to answer. And it was a question I was unequipped to ask the event host. But if you know

me, I just do things messy and I do things scrappy. So I immediately reached out to the event coordinator

and I said, hey, you know, a couple of people have noticed that there's not a lot of diversity

represented for the speakers of this event. And he had clarified it's a rolling out of keynote

speakers, running out of speakers. It was just this is the first batch of people who are announced

in things of that nature. But to me, there was an underlying thing that was about nobody else but me.

And I thought to myself, I need to be equipped on not how to be reactive but proactive about

including people on my journey and making sure that there is representation. So my guest today

is Sonia Thompson. She is an inclusive marketing strategist, consultant, and she's a coach.

Now she also helps businesses attract and retain diverse customers. Okay. And talent.

She writes for ink and Forbes and she focuses on how brands can use inclusive marketing and belonging

to create remarkable customer experiences. And she is no, no, no stranger to a podcast. She hosts

the inclusion and marketing podcast. I could not think of a better person to help guide me. And I

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