Advertise on podcast: Fiftyfaces Focus 2025 Pride Special

Matt Cameron is the CEO of LGBT Great and a member of theboard of directors at the Diversity Project. This podcast is beingreleased as a bonus add-on to the Pride Series 2025, as part ofour support of Pride 365, an important initiative supported byLGBT Great.Our conversation starts with Matt’s upbringing and hisextraordinary work ethic from a very young age – we hear aboutthe common thread of working with people that led to his careerstart in recruitment sales.His compelling interest in inclusion led to him spotting an openingin the market for LGBT great, which he founded in 2019. Indiscussing why inclusion is more important now than ever hementions the impact of current policies – such as the loss ofpsychological safety at work, stalled career progression andperceived corporate abandonment. He notes that transgendercolleagues are feeling this in particular today. In terms of settingthe tone as leaders he sets out a template for action – wherebyleaders should listen actively and create space for honestdialogue (e.g. through running 10-minute “Pulse Listening Circles”each month), reaffirm commitment with visible, values-led actionand embed inclusion into their talent and business strategy.We end with some compelling calls to action from Pride365 to theneed to start with values - fairness, dignity, and respect and “it’snot about ticking boxes. It’s about unlocking potential.”Like LGBT Great Fiftyfaces Productions is committed to Pride365. Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners for supportingour 2025 Pride Series.

In this podcast Nathan Richardson is speaking on his own behalf and not on behalf of Grindr, on whose board of directors he sits. Nathan Richardson has been a member of the board of directors of Grindr since November 2022. He is a partner at Joffre Capital, a private equity firm and the co-Founder of Trading Ticket, Inc., a financial technology company, and served as its Chief Executive Officer, prior to which he held a series of roles in financial services and industry. He is now based in London.  Our conversation takes a tour through Nathan’s career, and his international exposure which was rich including a stint in the Peace Corps in Africa, and a glittering international career which spanned many countries and cultures. We turn to his time as a founder in Fintech, and what brought him to the Grindr board. We compare the work that Grindr is doing to raise awareness so some of the work Nathan did in the peace corps to spread sexual health awarness.  We move then to discuss the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the professional workplace and the challenges faced by the community at this moment in time as initiatives are rolled back and rights are not advancing. Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for sponsoring our 2025 Pride Series. 

Claire William is CEO of Oasis Domestic Abuse Service, and has spent most of her career in the charity sector. We got to know eachother over LinkedIN when I responded to her popular LinkedIN post about Lesbian visibility week, in which she described her life with her partner and their six children and the changing climate and political backdrop.   Our conversation is a warm and engaging trip through Claire’s life and career, one in which the charity sector plays a key role. We start with Claire’s childhood where she grew up in a council estate in a seaside town. We hear about her overriding drive to work and find her independence and trace her steps through various parts of the charity sector including charities committed to alleviating homelessness and now domestic abuse. We discuss the root of our first meeting – the Linked In post that started it all, and discuss why lesbian visibility is still an important issue and deserves its own dedicated week. We discuss Claire’s own coming out story, her experience of being included at work in different environments and the full life she leads now. We end with a discussion of the rewards that come from seeing people succeed and the advice that Claire would have for her younger self.  Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this Pride Series of 2025. 

Meghan Stabler was until recently a fractional CMO at ThriveCart, and a member of the board of directors of Grindr since May 2022. She has had a series of marketing and strategy roles over the course of her career and is a keynote speaker on a range of topics.  Given Meghan’s expertise, we dive deep into marketing and branding as a discipline – speak about finding the voice of a brand and channeling the energy of a generation. Turning to her personal story Meghan describes her experience as a transgender woman – and the fact that when she decided to transition she experienced significant sacrifice, but that she didn’t see herself as having a choice.  We compare her experience transitioning in her mid-adulthood to what might be the case for younger people or people at different stages of their career – especially those who may be less well-established. We discuss the impact on children and on families, and on the importance of allyship.  Ending with her work on Grindr, we discuss her experience in technology, mobile app development, and marketing, and benefits the board and the focus that Grindr has. We discuss the importance of authenticity at every stage of one’s journey, and how it is so important to “be oneself”.  Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.

Rob Smith is Founder and CEO of the Phluid Project, a brand that recognizes the shifting attitude of Gen Z and young Millennials, merging fashion with community and education. He has served on boards for over a decade, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Steve Madden, following a career in marketing in which he held a series of executive roles. He chairs the development committee for the LGBTA+ Board Directors, is a TEDX speaker and is currently working on his first book.   Our conversation charts Rob’s career in fashion and how he found acceptance within this community as well as a keen sense for the ability for fashion to bridge the generational gap and tap into shifting psyches in markets. We talk about his work on boards and in the Phluid project, and what it stands for as well as why the current marketing campaign talks about Pride being a March and not a Parade. We move then to discuss the importance of role models at every stage of career progression.    Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.  

Taryn Talley is a marketer with over 20 years of experience, who is currently Head of Marketing at an agency Position 2. She has had numerous marketing roles across the digital and traditional spectrum.    Our sweeping conversation takes us through Taryn’s upbringing and her career in marketing, as well as her experience in transitioning in her 20s and coming out on social media and mid-career and how this was received by her co-workers. We hear about inclusive and less inclusive environments, and about the power of allyship can make a tremendous difference in one’s career experience.    Staying on marketing we speak about inclusion and the power of marketing to embrace marginalized communities through intentional inclusion. We stress the importance of action over words.    We turn then to Taryn’s roots and her spirituality and in the particular the guidance she had from a spiritual guru, which taught her that her validity should come from within, and not from any external validation.    Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.

Luigi Lewin is Senior Vice President and Head of Partnerships at GLAAD. He formerly spent 25 years on Wall Street where he worked in a series of roles in sales, relationship management, operations and business development, until he left to move to the non-profit sector. GLAAD is the largest and most visible non-profit advancing LGBTQ+ acceptance. Our conversation starts with Luigi's upbringing in New York City and how he developed an early interest in giving back through volunteering and local community involvement. We hear then about his journey to Wall Street, starting at Morgan Stanley in fixed income operations, and his international experience working in Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, and London. Luigi recounts his experience of not being out on Wall Street and the challenges of hiding his identity, including the term "covering." We move then to his decision to leave Wall Street and join the non-profit sector and we talk about GLAAD and its work in promoting visibility and representation, particularly in media, and the impact of seeing characters and personal experiences reflected in film and television.As for advice as to creating an inclusive work environment Luigi emphasizes the importance of leaning in with empathy and building relationships based on trust and mutual respect.Thank you to Tom Soto and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series. 

This is our fifth Pride Series of the Fiftyfaces Podcast. We have been proud of the deeply personal stories that we have shared from a diverse group of the LGBTQ+ community – we have discussed the importance of allyship, how workplaces have changed, the gestures that matter, and have thrown in a tremendous among of career advice along the way. This year presented some challenges – as policies change and some companies pull back from openly supporting this and other less represented groups, we asked previous guests whether this was the year to pull back and lie low or to proceed as usual. The answer was a resounding yes, so we got to work.   We featured Tom Soto in our main series and he has supported our Pride series twice - first in 2021 and again this year. When I spoke to Tom about 2025, he was affirming in his reasons for doing the series, that I wanted our listeners to hear it from him.  In this podcast Tom updates us on the incredible work he has done to help rebuild after the devastating fires in Pacific Palisades, how his fund solutions have evolved, and his views on the current state of the rights he was fought for all of his life.  Aoifinn reflects on the role of the Pride Series, and why we are continuing to tell these stories, which are important now than ever.  With thanks to Tom and Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.  

This is our fifth Pride Series of the Fiftyfaces Podcast. We have been proud of the deeply personal stories that we have shared from a diverse group of the LGBTQ+ community – we have discussed the importance of allyship, how workplaces have changed, the gestures that matter, and have thrown in a tremendous among of career advice along the way. This year presented some challenges – as policies change and some companies pull back from openly supporting this and other less represented groups, we asked previous guests whether this was the year to pull back and lie low or to proceed as usual. The answer was a resounding yes, so we got to work.   This year’s series contains a collection of heartwarming stories of validity, empowerment and triumph. We start with an introduction by me and Tom Soto, one of the original guests in the series, who was so affirming in his reasons for doing the series, that I wanted our listeners to hear it from him.  Then, moving on to this year’s guests, we hear from Luigi Lewin, who is Senior Vice President and Head of Partnerships at GLAAD, the largest and most visible non-profit advancing LGBTQ+ acceptance.   We then meet Taryn Talley, who is a marketer with over 20 years of experience, and she relates her transgender journey and the spiritual awakening that taught her that validation comes from within.   This series is packed with marketing tips as well as insights from people in Board roles. We hear first from Rob Smith, who is Founder and CEO of the Phluid Project, a brand that recognizes the shifting attitude of Gen Z and young Millennials, merging fashion with community and education. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Steve Madden. Next up is Meghan Stabler, has been a member of the board of directors of Grindr since May 2022. She has had a series of marketing and strategy roles over the course of her career and is a keynote speaker on a range of topics.    We then meet a new friend of mine, Claire Williams, who is CEO of Oasis Domestic Abuse Service. We got to know eachother over LinkedIN when I responded to her popular LinkedIN post about Lesbian visibility week, in which she described her life with her partner and their six children and the changing climate and political backdrop.   Finally we go back to the Board of Grindr to hear from Nathan Richardson, who has been a member of the board of directors there since November 2022, prior to which he held a series of roles in financial services and industry.   So tune in from next week as we release our Pride Series over the entire month of June. Because our work goes on, even when it is no longer news.   WIth sincere thanks to Latimer Partners LLC for supporting production costs of this series.     

Soltan Bryce is a managing consultant at Guidehouse, which is a consulting firm focused on Public Health Strategy, Application Development and Management, and was recently acquired by Bain Capital Private Equity.  He is a part time General Partner at Colorful Capital, which  focuses on “finance flowing with Pride” and aims to bring capital support and scaffolding to enterprises founded and led by members of the broad LGBTQIA+ community, by filling financing gaps and overcoming detrimental heuristics.  Our conversation starts with Soltan’s upbringing in a North Carolina suburb, where he was a member of a small Muslim community that had come there as Palestinian refugees.  He described himself as “gender nonchalant” during his youth – always more comfortable channeling male behavior but not, at that stage, aware of the “possibility models” that existed to affirm his gender.  These possibilities opened up to him in his early career in healthcare, and his decision to transition attained such broad support and allyship that he saw that as the model of the leader he would like to be.  Finding a calling to lead in areas such as transgender healthcare and investment in same, Soltan found himself drawn to business school, where he was intentional about coming out as transgender at Harvard Business School, which was still remarkably rare at that time. We end by talking about Colorful Capital and discuss of the detrimental heuristics that are in place when members of the LGBTQ+ come to fundraise and how they can provide scaffolding and mentorship to bridge the gap There is more information about Colorful Capital on the website https://www.colorful-capital.com/ and a link to their recently released impact report and management framework here: see press release and a direct link to Outsized Impact: How Investment Can Address the Systemic Risk of LGBTQIA+ Inequity.  Our fourth Pride series is supported by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase has long been a supporter of equality in all forms, including for the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with the very first PRIDE business resource group in 1996, they recently strengthened their commitment by creating the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and a full-time, dedicated team to deliver on a global LGBTQ+ agenda.  The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs partners closely with stakeholders across the firm to promote intersectionality and leverage its combined resources to deliver equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, clients, partners and communities, worldwide.

Susan Berland is a coach for parents of LGBTQ children.  She has been VP of PFLAG in the East Bay area, PFLAG is a national organization providing support and advocacy for parents, families and allies of the LGBTQ community. Susan has been a coach for most of her life, and is the proud mother of a gay son. She has channeled her lived experience and her time at PFLAG to offer a comprehensive set of coaching tools for parents of LGBTQ+ youth.   In our conversation she sensitively addresses the range of emotions that parents can feel – from concern for the happiness and mental health or even safety of their child, to processing the surprise at the adjustment, and some sense of loss which may come from a child transitioning.  While there is a sense of gain too, there is a journey in which support is paramount, and being the provider of that support can be draining and itself stressful. Susan’s coaching provides a method to fill one’s own cup in order to better provide the supports needed but also to allow the parent to remain thee best version of themselves that they can be.  Our fourth Pride series is supported by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase has long been a supporter of equality in all forms, including for the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with the very first PRIDE business resource group in 1996, they recently strengthened their commitment by creating the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and a full-time, dedicated team to deliver on a global LGBTQ+ agenda.  The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs partners closely with stakeholders across the firm to promote intersectionality and leverage its combined resources to deliver equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, clients, partners and communities, worldwide.

Fabrice Houdart is Executive Director of the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors as well as an Advisor to Fortune 50 companies and a former staffer at the World Bank and UN.  He is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and Georgetown University, where he lectures on LGBT inclusion within international development. He is a consultant to the Asian Development Bank and a Board Member of the Canadian Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors, as well as numerous other board roles.   We start with Fabrice’s upbringing in France and the somewhat accidental route he had into international development.  The nature of this work, including a role with the World Bank and the time at which he was engaged in it led him to not be “out” at work initially.  His travel with the World Bank took him to a series of countries where that would not have been welcome – or even legal.  Later in his career he became an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and has led affinity groups and also this aspect of human rights action around the world.  We discuss what the “cost” of homophobia is – what economic growth a country forgoes by failing to include this segment of the population and failing to attract tourists from the LGBTQ+ community. We speak then about role models and their importance, and how, once Fabrice was comfortably out at work, he realized the strain that his “fear” of revealing his authentic self had placed him under.  He recommends that we replace fear with faith, in the humanity of our work colleagues and in the right for every LGBTQ+ person to be included where they work.    Our fourth Pride series is supported by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase has long been a supporter of equality in all forms, including for the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with the very first PRIDE business resource group in 1996, they recently strengthened their commitment by creating the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and a full-time, dedicated team to deliver on a global LGBTQ+ agenda.  The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs partners closely with stakeholders across the firm to promote intersectionality and leverage its combined resources to deliver equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, clients, partners and communities, worldwide.

Lindsey Young, is the founder of Quiet Wealth LLC, which she started to provide a comprehensive set of financial advisory services that successful LGBTQ+ professionals and their families need.  She previously spent 15 years in Silicon Valley finance, primarily as a investment banker working on M&A, IPOs, leveraged finance and other transactions for technology companies. She also advises a series of non-profits, and is Board President of FreeState Justice, the leading statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization in Maryland.  Lindsey transitioned somewhat later in life and we talk about how she chose her timing.  It coincided with her starting her own financial planning business and she decided that it would be more sensible to time her transition for before striking out on her own.  We move then to discuss the experience of inclusion she saw – pre-transition – in the high performing world of tech and finance, and the pace she is now aiming for in her own financial advisory firm. Our fourth Pride series is supported by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase has long been a supporter of equality in all forms, including for the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with the very first PRIDE business resource group in 1996, they recently strengthened their commitment by creating the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and a full-time, dedicated team to deliver on a global LGBTQ+ agenda.  The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs partners closely with stakeholders across the firm to promote intersectionality and leverage its combined resources to deliver equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, clients, partners and communities, worldwide.

Mark Segal is a social activist and author, who participated in the Stonewall riots and as one of the original founders of the Gay Liberation Front where he created the Gay Youth Program.  He was the founder and former president of the National Gay Newspaper Guild, and has won various journalistic awards.  He is a lifelong activist who organized the first Gay Pride parade in 1970 and remains an active advocate today.    This rollicking story of a life in activism is one you won’t want to miss, from his introduction to activism by his Suffragette Grandmother at the age of 13, to his awakening in NYC of the 1970s. Mark’s journey as an activist was bold and brave – he garnered national attention for the gay rights movement by some unorthodox methods – such as interrupting a live TV news broadcast. It is thanks to him that many of the rights taken for granted today received attention and he is reflective when we discuss how far we have come – but equally what still remains to be done.    Our fourth Pride series is supported by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase has long been a supporter of equality in all forms, including for the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with the very first PRIDE business resource group in 1996, they recently strengthened their commitment by creating the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and a full-time, dedicated team to deliver on a global LGBTQ+ agenda.  The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs partners closely with stakeholders across the firm to promote intersectionality and leverage its combined resources to deliver equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, clients, partners and communities, worldwide.  

Marci Bair, CFP® has spent over 30 years working with women in leadership, LGBTQ+ couples and progressive business owners to align their investment portfolios with their values and provide fee based financial and retirement planning. Based in San Diego, she was previously Chairperson of the South Bay Alliance and a Board Member of the Greater San Diego Business Association.   Our conversation traces Marci’s early career, her attitude that enables her to “bloom where she is planted” and her early authenticity.  We discuss her interests in sports and the coaching that brought two sons to collegiate level athletes. We move then to discuss her financial planning practice and the inclusive culture that she creates.  We also discuss what it means to invest in accordance with values and discuss how values and implementing them are evolving as concepts in the financial planning industry. You can read more about Bair Financial Planning on their website www.BairFinancialPlanning.com    Our fourth Pride series is supported by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase has long been a supporter of equality in all forms, including for the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with the very first PRIDE business resource group in 1996, they recently strengthened their commitment by creating the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and a full-time, dedicated team to deliver on a global LGBTQ+ agenda.  The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs partners closely with stakeholders across the firm to promote intersectionality and leverage its combined resources to deliver equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, clients, partners and communities, worldwide. .