What's possible if we understand each other's experiences? What's possible if we understand each other's experiences?

Brandon: I remember several years ago hearing a stat that 20% of people will experience a disability before they retire, whether it’s a minor injury or as severe as breaking your back like I did.*

Lily: There are also unseen disabilities, like in my case where you may not know by looking at me that I had a brain tumor that impacted my sight. One of the things that I find reassuring is when I attend conferences, there is a box to check for any accessibility needs. I normally request a seat toward the front, because otherwise I’ll have a hard time seeing the presentation. I will also share with my team members that I need them to make the font larger when they ask me to review something, so my nose isn’t pressed up to their laptop.

*According to US Census data 2010.

Embracing new challenges

Brandon: A lot has changed since we first met each other in New York back in 2015. I transferred to Colorado Springs, where I’m training for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center. I’m essentially training 40 hours/7 days a week to hopefully make the games next year.

Lily: Wow, that’s really exciting. Since we last spoke, I moved out of Consulting to the Strategy and Transactions team about two years ago, and I’m still located in the Hoboken office. My two sons also graduated from college.

Brandon: What drove the reason for you to transition from Advisory into Strategy and Transactions?

Lily: A friend reached out and said there was a need for managers in the Strategy and Transactions practice and asked if I would be willing to go onto a Strategy and Transactions project. I did a short project, and even though it was for three weeks, I still really liked the work. After another project, I asked for a transfer. I absolutely love the work, even if it wasn’t initially what I thought I would do.

Holiday traditions

Brandon: My family recently relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, so it will be a new location to celebrate the holidays this year. I’m really looking forward to the warm weather. I grew up in Pennsylvania, so I’m used to snow and that cold weather during Christmas, so being around palm trees and sunshine on Christmas will have a different feeling. How are you spending the holidays?

Lily: I grew up in Queens, New York, where my parents still live, about an hour away from where I live in New Jersey. My son’s birthday is in the middle of December, so we always have a big birthday and Christmas get-together with the family, which is a tradition I look forward to. I’m taking off a couple of weeks in December, so I’m looking forward to some downtime.

What’s in a name?

Daniel: My full name is Daniel Aryeh Schilowitz. I’m Ashkenazic Jewish, and traditionally Ashkenazi Jews are named after a deceased relative — my father’s great uncle was also Aryeh. In Hebrew, Aryeh means lion, so my full name, Daniel Aryeh, is a play on the biblical story of Daniel in the lion’s den.

Dana: I was born and grew up in Honduras, and my name is pronounced in Spanish, Dăna. My parents found my first name in the Bible as well. My middle name, Ixchel, is the name of the Mayan goddess of the moon. So, where did you grow up?

Daniel: I grew up in Highland Park, New Jersey. Now I live in Stamford, Connecticut, with my wife and three kids, but I still go home occasionally to visit. We’re going to my parents’ house for Rosh Hashanah. How often do you go back to Honduras?

Dana: I try to go back once a year because my parents and extended family are back in Honduras. It was just my mom’s birthday, so I was there to celebrate with her. Relationships are very important to me, which I think it comes from my background. In my experience, I have found Hispanics to be warm people, and I think that has definitely influenced my life.

Family first

Dana: How do you typically celebrate Rosh Hashanah?

Daniel: Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year. I would say it’s a time to recommit to your values and a time of reflection. I’m orthodox Jewish, so I don’t work on Rosh Hashanah and I don’t use electricity. We’ll typically go to synagogue in the morning and we’ll have a large meal afterwards with friends and family. Because we’re not using phones or laptops or watching TV, we spend a lot of time together — playing sports with my children, reading and just being together.

Dana: That’s significant. Coming from a Hispanic culture, family is also very important for me, including having respect in the family and making sure we stay connected, even though we’re far apart. How do you manage family and work? I’m always curious to hear how others make it all work.

Daniel: I believe it’s the same for everyone, no matter where they are in life. Communication and flexibility are a part of it. If there’s a day I need to work from home, it’s never an issue. Communicating my schedule with my team and just having that flexibility allows both me and my wife to have very enriched professional lives and do what we need to do outside work. To me, that is very important.

Celebrating Eid-al-Adha

Sikandar: A lot of people compare Eid to Christmas, but in my experience it’s more like Thanksgiving. It’s funny that it’s supposed to be the bigger Eid, but it’s the one I usually forget about until it happens.

Fatimata: That’s true. How we celebrate in the US has been different from Mauritania, but we still follow the Sunnah acts, the acts that the prophet Muhammad used to follow. In our family, the planning for outfit is a couple of weeks in advance to make sure you look your best on the day of Eid. For us, that’s wearing our traditional West African clothes. We start the day with the Eid sacrifice, distribute the meat among the less fortunate via the mosque and have a meal together as a family. Sometimes we go to visit other family members or have them come over, but it’s not a three-day long celebration like we would have in Mauritania.

Sikandar: Yes, the emphasis is around getting together with your loved ones and sharing a meal together.

Connection to cultural heritage

Fatimata: Do you go back to Pakistan often?

Sikandar: I just went back in March. It was incredible, but it made me realize that I don’t belong in that culture completely. I think it’s something a lot of second-generation immigrants feel, that they don’t fully belong in either culture; they’re pulled in both directions sometimes.

Fatimata: Yes, I feel a lot of people have that same kind of conflict. It’s an interesting dynamic, trying to hold onto your culture as well as learning to be more integrated in your current one.

Sikandar: Being a visible minority who only knows Canadian culture, I think it’s important to understand that some visible minorities can only identify themselves as Canadians or Americans, etc. Their relationship or investment with their ancestral culture or religion can be very fluid. How would you define yourself?

Fatimata: To say it differently, the three most important things to me are my faith and connection to Allah, having a good relationship and support from my family, and being able to do what I love.

Sikandar: Mine are similar. Being a Canadian, my more spiritual side of being Muslim, and being a husband and a son are all things that define me.

Fatimata: Also, from talking to me, most people immediately pick up on my love for sports and specifically soccer. I cannot go through a conversation without a reference to how soccer has impacted me in terms of the friendships that I’ve made or the confidence it’s instilled in my being. I advocate for youth — especially females — to get engaged in sports because of the confidence that it gives you, the ability to build camaraderie and the way it translates to the business world.

Sikandar: I admit I have not followed soccer until this World Cup, and I was surprised. I had some assumptions going in that were quickly shattered. I loved it.