We had the good fortune of connecting with Nikki Lanier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikki, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
In 2020 I was a senior vice president with the Federal Reserve running the Louisville branch office on behalf of the St. Louis Fed. That was a year that quieted the world, on one dimension, and compelled us to scream out loud on others. As a black community leader in Louisville Kentucky where Breonna Taylor was killed, 2020 was an untenable year. While trying reconcile what was happening in my city by way of racial reckoning, what was being responded to around the globe, in terms of the persistence of black life not mattering, and dealing with my own feelings about it all, I spent a lot of time during in prayer and seeking clarity on my purpose. You see I have always been someone who anguished over the plight of black people, the evergreen narrative that black and brown equals deficit in our country. Having been raised by two parents involved in the civil rights movement, my father more violently than my mother, and then also being raised on the campus of Hampton University one of the nation’s premier historically black colleges, my rooting around black potency and brilliance and aptitude and resilience was well nourished…my entire life.. Having started my career practicing labor and employment law in South Florida and then moving into human resources working for the public sector, in the private sector, on the East Coast of the US and the West Coast and having served as a chief human resources officer for three different organizations, I have spent most of my career unpacking how work works especially for those of us who are navigating the life of “difference” inside of the United States and certainly inside of its corporate institutions. Couple that with my experience working for the federal reserve and beginning to more acutely understand the cost of inequity and how expensive racism is from a GDP perspective, and thinking about the advancing demographics; that by 2045 Black and Hispanic people will be among the majority in the United States, 2020 was the year that I realized I had to leave the Federal Reserve and branch out on my own. Given my unique background and blending of skills and professional experiences, my heart toward righting the wrong of racism, my ability to reach audiences far and wide with grace filled and impactful messages on race and racism, God gave me the vision for Harper Slade Racial Equity Advisors. My desire is to spend whatever time I have left to live focusing on the accelerated amplification of Black and Hispanic people as a macro economic imperative. This assignment, in many ways, was passed to me in utero and divinely given and I am honored to work in the space on behalf of all human beings not just black people. Racism has stolen possibility and progress from all of us.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are the world’s only racial equity advisory firm focused on advancing equity for some and equality for all, as a macro economic imperative. That, by itself, sets us apart. But that’s not all. Our unique blending of employment experience, human resources, education, training and macro economics, is unprecedented and all of those skills have helped to inform our practitioning. In addition, we help our clients focus on their belief systems before behaviors. Because we understand how disruptive DEI is, especially the “E” work– racial equity, it represents norming and presumptions around the value of black and brown people that have never been the default perception in our country’s history. Therefore it is counterintuitive, it is antithetical to how we think, what we do and what we have been taught to believe about valuing human beings and all of it is unspoken. So our approach focuses on understanding what you already believe, individually and communally, about people who are different from you and certainly people of color. Without that understanding you’re just throwing DEI seeds on top of infertile, hardened soil. Another attribute that sets us apart is our understanding of how to give context to this work in ways that resonate very deeply with the most senior leaders of organizations… CEOs, the C-suite and board directors. We discuss diversity and inclusion as an employee engagement strategy and racial equity as a workforce and talent development strategy. We don’t talk about “right thing to do” or “social justice” inside of systems that are motivated by capitalist constructs. We understand the nomenclature, the cadence, and the rituals associated with most corporate organizations because our team has worked for just about every industry on both coasts of the United States and has deep and wide multidimensional experiences. We understand that DEI is extraordinarily disruptive inside of organizations and so we are careful not to invite even more disruption by use of careless language and immature unsophisticated strategy to further it. On top of that, we nurture our wisdom and are careful to always be outcome driven not emotionally driven. I will tell you, that last part is very hard.

Our work and brand, very simply, center around a couple of precepts: 1. We will create a world racism can’t live. 2) We will advance the economic mobility of Black and Hispanic people into the middle class and beyond by dismantling the race-based impediments often experienced in America’s’s workplace that stifle black and brown amplification and 3) We will prepare black people to become economically vibrant citizens as we move toward the demographic shift in 2045 where Black and Hispanic become the majority

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I absolutely love Atlanta and enjoy every time I have a chance to work there. If I had a friend with me we would make sure we frequent a couple of thing. In terms of activities, I’d love to catch a Braves game, do some sightseeing at Centennial Park, hop on over to the amazing Aquarium and of course, the world of Coke. It should be no surprise that sweet Auburn tours are a must do on my list as is visiting the King Center and Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott’s home. Lately I’ve been quite obsessed with a restaurant called Capers. I have always loved frequenting Ray’s on the River and for a quick bite or the ever amazing Slutty Vegan.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have three shout outs that I am compelled to share. The first is God, the second is my parents and the third is my husband. God gave me the vision for Harper Slade. He continues to imbue me with the confidence, the clarity and the conviction to move this work forward in unprecedented ways that are bold and provocative but also textured and relatable. He has helped me grow this business so quickly and sent the most amazing team into my path for me to experience and work with.

Next, my parents poured all they had into me and in many ways still do. As an only child I was very tethered to both of my parents who are college professors, both extraordinarily potent and forthright in their understanding of, and desire for, a full and complete American experience without the vicissitudes of racial inequity always blocking the path. My parents helped me to know, very early in my life, that my life had meaning and that I was beautiful and incredible. They prepared me well for a life of independence and assured that I would be ready to flourish, not just live, in the fullness of my existence and anywhere I desired to plant myself.

Finally, I want to shout out my husband who after sharing with him God’s vision for my business and that I was leaving my extraordinarily wonderful and well-paying job with the federal reserve to pursue it, his support was so unequivocal, so swift and so encouraging. He believed that I could, so I did.

Website: www.harperslade.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drnikkilanier/

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dr-nikki-r-6a106a8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarperSladeRacialEquity/

Other: www.slayedwoman.com www.raarewomancollective.com www.nikkilanier.com

Image Credits
Miguel Hampton

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