QueeHR Leader Spotlight: Rosa Scheepers
“...the pieces of my identity as a woman, as a queer person, as a mixed-race person, as an immigrant, as an African are celebrated and have come together to define my voice as a leader.”
This month, I had the great pleasure of connecting with Rosa Scheepers, VP People and Operations at Legalpad, to talk about her career journey, coming out story, challenges and opportunities as a leader with intersecting identities, advice for other leaders and more.
—
“I'm going to start right at the beginning because my upbringing informed much of who I am now. I grew up in a very political household; my parents were refugees from Apartheid South Africa living in exile in the UK. For those of you who aren't familiar with Apartheid, it's the political system that divided people on the basis of race in South Africa before 1994. They were refugees because they were a mixed race couple at a time where such a thing was illegal. I lived in the UK till I was about 10 and my parents stayed politically active there till we had our first democratic election in '94. I was brought up with lots of strong opinions around me, coming from a diverse range of characters that visited our home in Hackney in the 80s and early 90s. It was the foundation of how I engage with people and my work today.”
The family moved back in 1997 and soon after she was asked “What are you?” for the first time.
It occurred to her that she hadn’t explored the question much, growing up in a diverse neighborhood in London where she blended right in. Feeling a bit like the odd one out, Rosa started asking herself the same question.
After completing university in South Africa and attending grad school back in the UK, Rosa began her career traveling around the world with a nonprofit facilitating leadership courses for university students.
“I loved it. Absolutely loved it. It was the first taste for me of how through facilitation and coaching you can open somebody's eyes to their potential. You see how you can sow the seeds that allow people to realize their potential. It was really inspirational work for me.”
A few years and a move to the USA later Rosa began working for a FinTech startup, it was here that she connected the love of leadership development with the long lasting impact of People Operations.
“I started in a junior operational role and shortly just became the people person. There was such a connection to the facilitation work that I had been doing, it clicked for me. I figured out that I'm really passionate about allowing people to do their best work in a place where they really like to work.”
After moving to Seattle with her partner, and a brief stint with another startup, she was referred to the CEO of Legalpad, a mission-driven company where Rosa was able to bring all of her experience, both personally and professionally, and achieve a level of personal alignment in her career most of us dream about.
As Rosa explains, “I've been an immigrant my entire life. Born an immigrant and lived as an immigrant, and suddenly I’m working in this organization that is immigration focused. I'm in a people role where I'm getting to bring all my execution experience and my people development experience into a very tactile role. It was as though the stars aligned for me to be where I am today.”
We then pick up where we left off on the topic of “What - or who - am I?” as we explore more of Rosa’s experience coming out and reflecting on that question.
Can you share a bit about your coming out journey and your experience understanding more about who you are?
“I came out in college when I had my first girlfriend, at 21, it wasn’t a traumatic experience and at the time I remember being filled with righteous energy; thinking “they better not disapprove after everything they went through!”. My mother is white and she married a black man at the height of Apartheid and was, for a period, cut off from her family. The idea that she would disapprove, or not allow me to love who I love was never even an option.
In fact, I came out to my sister, and she said something along the lines of, “oh yeah, we thought that would happen.” This response was great because of how painful some people's stories are, but it felt very anticlimactic, like it was supposed to be a big thing!
I dated men and women after that. And it was only when married a women in 2014 (now divorced) that I owned my identity as a queer lesbian.”
What does it look like to bring your whole self and to bring all of the uniqueness of your identity into the workplace?
It looks like making policies - family leave, for example - that are not gendered. Policies that are inclusive in a way that maternity and paternity leave aren’t in 2022. It’s also about talking really openly about having a female partner and having plans to make a family.
I don’t believe I have never held back that I'm gay, with the exception of several occasions when I was working in Qatar and it just was not a setting where you bring up your personal life. Those are the only times where I felt like I would hold my tongue on “partner.”
I feel I have a duty to be open about my sexuality. Because I know other people struggle to be open, I know people don’t have the same support structure that I do. I think by introducing it in the most casual and obvious way, I'm making it a space where anybody can do so should they wish.
On the topic of identity, how has your identity strengthened who you are and how you show up as a leader?
“I'm unafraid to say things that other people are quiet about. I believe it comes down to my upbringing: I grew up in a family where your voice is encouraged and your opinions are taken seriously. So the pieces of my identity as a woman, as a queer person, as a mixed-race person, as an immigrant, as an African are celebrated and have come together to define my voice as a leader. This means when I’m the “only” in the room my reaction is to be more fully myself, and say the unsaid thing. To lean in as it were”
I’m a big proponent of normalizing the fact that we all, even accomplished leaders, experience fear. What are some of the fears present for you in your leadership?
“I have a fear of having to correct someone if they say something inappropriate in a group setting. So I will say things that make it very clear where I stand, I put my position out there first, then everybody will know that I'm not going to tolerate racist things, I'm not going to tolerate sexist things. I'm on this side of the boundary.”
What is something you value in your leadership that you’d want to share with others?
“I’m all about good intention goggles, and assuming good intent. When you get an angry message instead of responding in kind you say: “this person is having a bad day” or “maybe this has got nothing to do with me.” Putting yourself in this frame of mind instead of just shooting off a terse email gets a better solution nine times out of ten!”
How do you not let people use good intentions as an excuse for bad behavior?
“You've got to trust your own leadership, so you've got to trust you know the difference between somebody who's having a bad day and needs empathy, and somebody who is a bad actor and would not be able to return the positive intent if coached to do so.
What is something you would like to be acknowledged for?
I need to be acknowledged for thinking of all the things that nobody else thinks of.
—
For more information about the QueeHR community we’re building, you can visit my community page and request to join our LinkedIn group. And if you know of an HR/People leader in the queer community whose story you’d like to see spotlighted, please let me know!
