Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Advancement
I thought to myself, I can stay at the company - or - if I had my own company, at least I would get judged on my ability. You tell them your fee, they like you or they don't. It was the most authentic way to get paid what I deserved, and I was really right.
Mine is a complicated story. I had been a math teacher for 5 years, got into high tech next, at a financial software company which was #2 in the market, great company. The industry was booming, every year I would get a promotion and get more money, I was climbing and initially I was a programmer but pretty soon I realized that I was "too extroverted" to sit at a computer.
My last straw came when they took this guy who was sort of my counterpart who was pretty incompetent and they made him my boss. So that, in combination with the fact that I could get a severance package, was convincing.
My previous job was with a consulting firm. I was there for about six years. I left because the company I was consulting for was going through reductions and consultants were going to be the first cut.
I've been very fortunate at my workplace. When I started, I had a very operational job. I was getting my MBA so I didn't care much. When I was almost done with my MBA, I got an offer from a strategic think tank and I was really happy about it.
When I first got the job offer, I was going to be in the business division. After I started working, however, they placed me in the affordable housing division. There had been another African-American man in affordable housing, but then he left.
I wanted to get more experience than my previous firm was giving me so I picked the biggest, baddest New York firm I could find. It's an environment where the work is so expensive and the clients expect so much and the demands are so high that there isn't time for anyone to be concerned with whether you are black, white or pin-striped or a woman.
Always in the back of my mind I knew that I was going to venture off and do my own thing. But it normally it takes something; there is always a catalyst that pushes you to go out there and try to do something on your own.
It was a big deal that I was a vice president at this company. I was the youngest vice president in the company's history. I was a woman. I had bucked the trends. My boss thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
