As we wind down our series on financial wellness
We want to take a moment to acknowledge that capitalism is harmful to our health. We also want to recognize that capitalism strives to create barriers between us. We believe community is an answer to capitalism and that queer community and queer leadership are valuable tools in healing the harms we experience navigating capitalism.
This is especially true in the United States of America, where systemic racism (redlining) and oppression of marginalized people is built into our financial sector. Two of the most significant determinants of health are your zip code and your race. Humans are not inherently different, and race is a social construct: the true health discrepancies here are because of capitalism, racism, and access.
We don’t buy into the bootstraps mentality:
it simply does not apply to marginalized communities. At QueerDoc, we do believe that the world can change for the better and that we can help this happen. Some of the ways we work towards change include exercising our right to vote, advocating, and doing acts of service for our communities. Often, this brings us joy and hope; and sometimes we feel hopeless, despondent, and devastated, like when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2022.
When we feel this way, we try to focus on things we can control: voting, advocacy, and service. In fact, after the #SCOTUS release that Friday, Dr. Beal spent the evening working. Work instead of socializing or protesting beckoned, because for Dr. Beal, getting an adolescent access to blockers and completing legal transition paperwork for another client was a concrete act they could do and control. This kind of work is life-saving for them, for their immediate community, and for our larger communities. All of us at QueerDoc do this work, along with protest, advocacy, and play, because it calls to us, and it is one of the ways we feed our inner selves.
Other ways of building community that are near and dear to us is good old-fashioned time and interaction. Spending time with community heals bruised hearts and threatened autonomy and helps u all grow stronger and more resilient. One of the community members who has helped Dr. Beal and QueerDoc grow personally and professionally is Liz Cruz of Liz Cruz Consulting.
Liz (she/they) helps us understand identify and optimize our natural strengths in our careers. She also helps us figure out what we can and cannot control so that we can be more effective leaders.
They help queer folks build radical leadership confidence so that they can create powerful change in the world.
Despite awards, acclaim, and success in both big boardroom and small non-profit spaces, Liz felt that they couldn’t fully embody their queer femme self in the corporate world, so they left. They invented a space where they could be fully present through their coaching and consulting practice. They bring their entire self to their work – a blue, asymmetric haircut, tattoos, and fabulous style – with their passion for empathy and inclusion (not priorities in corporate America.) They also live their value of accessibility through working hard to create a queer coaching program that is more financially accessible than most.
Executive Coaching can range in cost: a 2012 report from The Conference Board discovered executive coaching rates range from $200 to over $600 per hour. The Harvard Business Review (2009) placed the median Executive Coach cost at $500/hour with a range of $200-3500 per hour.
Liz knows this is inaccessible for most of us. So they created a queer group coaching program that lowers financial barriers and fosters community building. Queer Your Leadership group coaching is a 12-week cohort-based program designed to identify and build your unique, queer leadership skills, among engaged peers. The program includes:
- Self-paced content including
- Prompts to help you explore your queer experiences, how these inform your viewpoints, and how we can translate insights from this exploration into your own leadership styles.
- EQ-i 2.0 Emotional Intelligence assessment and personalized report.
- The EQ-i 2.0 is the Emotional Quotient Inventory, a research-supported and award-winning measurement of emotional intelligence
- A one-one private meeting to discuss your EQ-i report (90 minutes.)
- Weekly prompts to gain further insight in emotional intelligence.
- Weekly 60-minute group coaching sessions
- Each session the group will choose a leadership topic or challenge to explore.
- Weekly leadership resources & self-paced activities
- New topics released weekly with associated resources and activities
- Topic examples include Curiosity as a Leadership Skill, Giving & Receiving Feedback, and Inclusive Meeting Practices.
- New topics released weekly with associated resources and activities
- Access to an exclusive community of queer leaders for support, continued learning, and celebration.
Coaching programs like this run into the many-thousands. The current rate is $1095. Liz further commits to their value of fostering equity in our community by offering a limited number of name-your-price seats in each cohort. If this cost is prohibitive and you’d like to access a name-your-price seat, please let them know when you join the interest list.
We could all use an expert coach and supporter in our queer corner
As queer, gender-diverse folx, we want that person to be part of our community. We don’t want platitudes from some white, cis, het person about working harder or smarter. We want someone who shares our values and understands minority stress and chronic marginalization. We want someone who speaks our language and knows our journey. This is Liz Cruz.
The QueerDoc Financial Wellness Series
Unique Financial Challenges Faced by LGBTQ+ Folks
Financial Planning for the LGBTQ Community
Protecting LGBTQ+ Health and Wealth Autonomy: Advance Directives
