"Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Julia Carreon's Fight Against Corporate Gaslighting"In this episode, Frazer Rice sits down with Julia Carreon to explore her recent high-profile litigation against a major financial institution and her powerful insights on women in leadership, corporate culture, and overcoming systemic barriers.YOUTUBEhttps://youtu.be/e05k7SVQ2xIWe discuss:Julia’s experience with workplace gaslighting and her litigation journey with Wells FargoThe importance of transparency, accountability, and protecting yourself in corporate environmentsHow societal and corporate cultures disadvantage women, especially around motherhood and leadershipThe themes and motivations behind Julia’s book, Walking on Broken GlassPractical strategies women can use to build political capital and safeguard their careersThe significance of external networks and understanding your personal strengthsThe evolving landscape of equity, ownership, and governance in corporationsHow to proactively prepare for and respond to systemic workplace challengesSPOTIFYhttps://open.spotify.com/episode/5c546gs6Qctx4bGOvalgXj?si=1dDyJxnwSyu4tnhXxpzVxgTimestamps:TranscriptFrazer Rice (Julia (Frazer Rice (Julia (I want to talk about some of the things later on that made it a fairy tale. So yeah, I wouldn't have chosen this. I did not see the culture at my former employer coming for me. I was blindsided by it and it got ugly quickly. One of the things that I think I am doing here. Or at least trying to do is not be shy about it. Not hide from it. Try to show women a different way for how to deal with these situations. Because I have very strong feelings about the fact. With the rollback of DEI and the current administration's point of view on women, that we're going backwards. If women don't start fighting for ourselves in a more public way and without fear, then I don't know where we're going to be in the next five to 10 years.I am soldiering on and it's not easy to your point. But it is what it is and it's a fight that I believe is worthy.Frazer Rice (Julia (So it tells us these bad things are going to happen if you take on a big firm like this. It is grueling. The days are long sometimes. But once I internalize the reality that it is all fake in terms of all of the bad things that you think could happen really can't happen. Worst case scenario, there's nothingLike I'm not going to die. They're not going to, you know, take away my family. Like all of these things, right? We tell ourselves that it could get really nasty. And in my case, I have to stay really grounded in the fact that what I'm doing is worthy. We tried my lawyer and I tried for 14 months to come to a different answer. And so in a way, not just telling myself fear is fake. But in another way, I kind of feel like it's my destiny.Because, I just want to say this real quick, I had 20 years at a place that was not toxic. And so I know what good looks like, and this is not good. So in that way, I really feel like it's my destiny. And so that's what you do, and you have to have a good support network. I have a great husband, so that really helps.Frazer Rice (You've written a book about this experience as well. We can take some time to think, to talk about what the book tries to do. First of all, writing one in tandem with the process here, I think is a bit unusual. Some people do it after the fact. To go through a catharsis after going through a difficult process. Talk about first the why of the book.thhen we'll talk a little bit about what you talk about in it.Julia (With Shannon and I meeting on LinkedIn. Then discovering that we had a lot of the same shared experiences as we are Gen X. in hindsight. Our generation has had the opportunity to have the most benefit of the Gloria Steinem Women's Movement. Think about the fact that we got the advantage of the birth control and all of the DEI efforts that have been in the last 15, 20 years. And we really felt like there was still a long way to go. Then all of that is starting to go backwards. So last year when we met or the year before, we're like, my God, the idea that we got the best of the best is shocking to us. And so what are we going to do about it? We really wanted the book to speak to women of all ages in their career. But it was written from a lens of two then 53 year old women who had seen a lot. We wanted to give the book as a love letter or a gift to our 35 year old self. To say, this is what we should have or wish we had known 20 years ago. Because we would have done things differently if we had really faced kind of what the challenges were that women are facing at work. In a real way right not in a way that sugarcoats it or pretends to throw it under the rug. And or always makes it the woman's fault like the woman always has to be changing and evolving in order to adapt to the systems and i you know it's exhausting right so the book was written for that reason and it does tap into a lot of the things that we both experienced.Julia (Frazer Rice (Julia (Like this is not in any way a book that seeks to make someone who's failing feel good about the fact that they're failing, right? Shannon and I both reached really high levels of corporate success at major global firm. There is a lot of work to do. So we really try to dimension how, what are some effective ways for you to approach that work? What are some of the pitfalls and how are some of the ways that you can handle that?In a way that's kind of clear-eyed, but never about putting the blame or the onus on the company. And if you don't mind, I want to say something about that because it relates to my lawsuit. One of the things that I've heard criticisms about i