Inspiring morale courage in the workplace and beyond.
This is a project that I started doing because I realized that there were a lot of people out there whose voices weren’t being heard and stories weren’t being told. I’m not just talking about sexual harassment, I’m talking about the semi-jaw dropping and the extremely jaw-dropping things that can happen in a workplace. A lot of folks think that it’s not possible because maybe they haven’t ever seen it, or somebody that’s close to them has never told them a story about their personal situation.
Up in Flames is strong women, and men for that matter in male-dominated professions, and they stand up for what’s right. Maybe harassment or a broken policy, unethical behavior, a bullied peer, the list goes on. Sadly, there are people in high positions who call themselves leaders.
They make it a mission to knock these women and in some cases, men, down as basically whoever has a target on their back. It can ruin their day, or it can wreck an entire life, career, marriage, family. People don’t realize how damaging harassment or bullying can be in adult lives.
Far too often, the most reputable, trail-blazing people, back away and stay silent just to save themselves from never-ending harassment or reprisal, so they don’t end up in a miserable ripple of reprisal, just so they can avoid being deemed one of “those” women or one of “those” people.
Yes, there are zero tolerance policies, but you know everyone keeps saying, “You’re not allowed to do that, there is no tolerance for treating someone so poorly or harassing them or retaliating on them.” But guess what? Sneaky retaliation is alive and well, and it can smash down the bright light burning in amazing women. The Up in Flames idea that I have, it’s a place where stories can be anonymously shared or not in a way that’ll shed light where needed. Maybe it will simply bring awareness and bring change that comes through awareness by those who cause pain.
Privacy of anybody that needs it, wants it, that shares information or stories with me is promised. I know how paramount that can be and I don’t want anybody to be hurt any further. I just want things to come to solution through awareness. Maybe somebody in the future will hear a story and realize that what’s happening to them is wrong. Or maybe they are a bully or a harasser and they didn’t even realize it or how it was hurting people.
Stay tuned with this journey, just come along with me and know that stories will be confirmed and only truth will be tolerated. This isn’t for rumors, this isn’t for hearsay. Trust me when I tell you that the things that we will share of you’re hearing very poignant situations. They were confirmed. Did they go through a court system? Maybe not, but these things are happening. Things that are not just rape and mayhem, but all these little twisted things that can just make people berserk.
And so often times, women, who are tolerating these subtle behaviors at work, seem like their careers are going to go down in flames, and I want to highlight the ones that go Up in Flames. Someone tries to take you down, a group tries to push you down, you push yourself down. And instead of going down in flames, I want to recognize and find some stories and feed some inspiration to help people go Up in Flames, and rise above it all, stronger than they ever were before.
I envision a phoenix, that’s what I do. I see something flying up in the air, it’s on fire but it is going. It’s flying, and it’s not going to let its whole body burn to ashes. It’s not going to let its life be for nothing. So the stories that are buried out there of just out of self-preservation, they’re sometimes beyond belief. And the little girls and boys who dream to be just like the adults they idolize, depend on us sharing our stories and experiences.
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