Daphne Jones: A Journey of Learning, Teaching, Giving Back

• Daphne Jones grew up with immigrant parents in a poverty-stricken area. 
• She thrived in a male-dominated environment through her resilience and hard work.
• She is a maximizer who guides people to excellence by eradicating their Imposter syndromes.
• Prioritizing everything that matters to us is essential in maintaining balance in life.

1. Can you tell us about your childhood and the values or experiences that shaped your determination to overcome barriers in your life?

I was born into an immigrant family with Jamaican parents in a broken-down home in Harvey, Illinois. Our house was home to six people and had two bedrooms and one bathroom. We lacked things like air conditioning, a washer, and a dryer. The town we lived in was poor. We had teenagers getting pregnant at schools and gangs were found all over the town. It was a poverty-stricken area.

As immigrants, my parents knew how hard it was to live in another country, so they raised us with precautions. I remember my mother telling me that: “You will have what you allow to stay in your mind.” So, if education is in your mind, you’ll have that. If working is on your mind then you’re going to be a hard worker. And if you have ambition-less boys in your mind, then they are going to have you as well. I knew that I had to be responsible for how I lived my life. Which is why I decided to use my mother’s mindset to achieve things. 

I was good in high school and skipped first grade. I maintained a good school life, but my school counselor told me that instead of going to college, Black girls become secretaries. Despite a reminder of the quality of my grades, he insisted on his belief. The reason he said this was because of the lack of women of color in high positions. Since at that time, I didn’t exactly realize what he meant, I became a secretary at a women’s day magazine in downtown Chicago. Due to my lack of interest in being a secretary, I was terrible at the job. 

I soon quit my job and got my bachelor’s degree and MBA. From that point on, I realized that if I had the right mindset, I could gain any skill I wanted. So I think that’s what really started my journey to success.

2. Tell us more about your inspiring professional journey. From starting as a secretary to becoming a corporate officer and board member, what were the pivotal moments that transformed your career trajectory?

After realizing I no longer wanted to be a secretary and was finished with college, I started my career at IBM in 1979. I never had learned to code like others did, but IBM taught me what I needed to learn. At IBM, I had to figure out what to do. Back in school, we would have a counselor to turn to, but the same can’t be said for corporate. It especially feels lonely when others avoid you due to age or race differences. 

The loneliness and lack of guidance were about to make me quit. That was until I found a man named Rosco Adams who, at that time, was the branch manager of IBM. He was an African-American man who guided me in the industry. It was under him that I started climbing the engineering ladder as I shifted from the role of a system engineer to one of an instructor. 

It was just as I was taking off in IBM that I lost both of my parents within a year. It was an incomprehensible moment for me. Soon after this, I had my son, and the realization that he didn’t get to meet his grandparents was nerve-racking for me. I went through a divorce with my husband, and all these seem to happen in a very short amount of time.

I then started believing in the concept of the 5Fs that one should prioritize apart from just “furthering one’s career”. After such big events in my life, I realized that there were many other Fs that I wanted to prioritize such as faith, family, fitness, and finances. I believe that there are three stages to life. You learn all, you earn all, and you return all. At that point in my life, I was still learning and earning. I learned that I should have focused on my family and fitness. After my parent’s death, I quit working at IBM.

I believe that a lack of sufficient healthcare shouldn’t cause people’s death like it did my parents. I made accessible healthcare my purpose to prevent what happened to my parents from happening to anyone else. So, I decided to become a Senior Director at Johnsons and Johnsons. Becoming a healthcare person was, I think, my way of avenging my parents. After this success, I knew there was more I could achieve. So I became a Senior Vice President and a Chief Information Officer at a company called Hospira. This was also the time when I had gotten remarried, working toward my goals. I then worked for GE Healthcare as a Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

I retired at the age of 60, which was accompanied by me writing a book and currently, I am the CEO of a company called the Board Curators. 

3. Did you have a mentor who significantly influenced your career, and what were the most valuable lessons they taught you?

I’d say Marjorie was my mentor. She was a Senior Vice President at Johnson and Johnson. She mentored me when I was a Director and wanted to get promoted to the position of Senior Vice President. She gave me the advice that I should raise my hand for a job with three characteristics. The job should be the most visible in a corporate setting while being one that not many can do. Most importantly, it should be one I believe I can do. Which is exactly what I did at Johnson and Johnson. Leading me to get the position I desired.

I also believe that you can’t have too many mentors. You can have 10 mentors, each for a different aspect of yourself. Your mentor can be from all walks of life, but you should choose them carefully.

4. What inspired you to write “Win When They Say You Won’t”? How do you hope your book will impact professional women facing similar challenges?

I read a book by Marcus Buckingham that made me realize that I am a maximizer. It is natural for me to take a person or a situation and help it reach its excellence. That is something I even did at IBM as an instructor. 

When people tell you that you can’t do what you want to do, you tend to develop imposter syndrome. So, my goal is to get rid of it. I want to deconstruct the notions other people build in a woman about what she can or cannot do. So my book was written to instruct and inform people that they don’t have to listen to anybody else but themselves or people who don’t know anything about them and are driven by patriarchal notions. I am a black girl from Jamaica, who skipped three years of school and climbed to the top of corporate America. My experiences have taught me that finding people similar to you is necessary. As a maximizer, I wanted to be that person to people, which is why I wrote my book.

5. What were some of the toughest challenges you faced as a woman in leadership, particularly in male-dominated industries like technology and healthcare, and how did you overcome them?

I have had men take credit for the things I did. I have watched people who are either white or male get offered opportunities that should have been mine. 

There were many times I was downsized not because I didn’t know how to do my job but because I did not have enough support. The opposite also happened with a previous boss who wasn’t accustomed to a woman of color having an influence on people. He separated me from the rest of my team and constantly targeted me. There are many more times where I was targeted because I was bold. In a similar situation, one has to learn how to not get affected. I did so by learning how to be unaffected by feedback and how to wait. I had to learn how to tune out people who were ridiculing me for no reason and wait for an opportunity to speak to contribute to a conversation. Both these things helped me work better in male-dominated workplaces. My years of experience taught me the mindset I needed to have and the people I wanted to acquire.

6. How would you describe your leadership style, and in what ways has it evolved through your journey?

My leadership style is inspired by a picture of Harriet Tubman in my house. She was the person who created an underground railroad to free the slaves in the United States. In the picture, she is going North with a shotgun under her arm and a lantern in her hand. While she pushes forward, she is also pulling enslaved people towards freedom. I consider what she is doing, push and pull, to be exactly my leadership style. I push forward into news areas, environments, surroundings, jobs, industries and more. I pull people who want to win, but are afraid to win. People who, just like me, were told that they are not good enough or lack skills.

Another thing that I prioritise as a leader is principles. I ask myself: “Is what I’m doing helpful to my customers, employees or the environment?” If the answer is yes, I’ll continue doing it. I also believe that as a leader, I should also take accountability in case I mess up. As a person, I think the reputation of a person is important and I maintain it by being accountable.

7. If you could go back and change one decision in your career, what would it be and why?

I think I would have better discerned who I wanted to allow in my circle of people. Not everyone wants the best for you. Which is why it is important to take time deciding who you want to spend time with. A personal example of this understanding is the fact that I had a list of things I was looking for in my second husband. I had chosen my first husband based purely on looks which did not suit me in the long run. 

I have learnt that a person’s environment plays a major role in how they achieve goals and who they become. Which is why I would have maintained connections with people whom I wanted to keep close. I would have spent more time with my colleagues.

8. As a busy keynote speaker, author, and board advisor, how do you balance your personal and professional commitments, and what’s your favorite way to relax?

I strive towards maintaining a work-life balance. I create schedules for my tasks’ initiation and completion so that I don’t lose sleep at the last minute. I pre-plan when I’m going to start a task and how long it will take. This way, I prevent myself from undercommitting or overcommitting.

To prioritise my fitness, I work out 5 to 6 days a week and ensure 8 to 9 hours of sleep everyday. I travel on 4 to 5 cruises a year. I also fantasize about seeing my grandson again and spoiling him all the time. And then finally, I helped my pastor husband at a church here in New York. This way I focus on my previously mentioned five Fs.

9. Is there a particular quote, mantra, or book that resonates with you?

Act of War by Sun Tzu is a book that resonates most with me. It mentions that a winning warrior wins first and then goes to battle. While a losing warrior goes to battle first and then hopes that he wins. A winning warrior wins first with the will set and tools they have. Their mindset is opposite to a losing warrior who waits, hoping that things will turn out alright.

A mantra that I have created is: “One should never be satisfied with the status quo.” If there is a record, you’ve got to beat it. If there is an illness, you’ve got to cure it. If there is a gap, you’ve got to fill it. If there’s a good word, I hope that you will say it. If there’s a bad thought, never repeat it. If there’s a life, you have to live it. And if there’s prosperity, I want you to have it. Always find a way to win. That’s my mantra.

Daphne Jones exemplifies resilience, determination, and the power of prioritizing what truly matters. From her humble beginnings to becoming a corporate leader, author, and mentor, she has embraced every stage of life with purpose and grace. Daphne’s journey reminds us that with the right mindset, unwavering principles, and a commitment to giving back, anyone can transform challenges into stepping stones. Her story is a testament to living boldly, learning continuously, and leading with impact.