It was 3 A.M. on June 11, 2020, and Jackie Ferguson was wide awake. In just a few hours, she would be leading a virtual interactive presentation for more than 300 people attending the North Carolina Chamber’s Diversity and Inclusion Conference. It was her first speaking engagement, and she was terrified.
“I questioned, why do people want to hear from me? I did that for a really long time,” Ferguson said. “Now, after more than a hundred speaking engagements, not only am I confident that I have something valuable to contribute, I am focused on how what I do impacts people, businesses, and communities every day.”
Ferguson has been advocating for equality and inclusion for more than 20 years. The Apex resident is one of four co-founders of The Diversity Movement and oversees content and programming at the award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultancy. Ferguson also hosts a world-class business podcast and is the co-author of The Inclusive Language Handbook: A Guide to Better Communication and Transformational Leadership.
That first big speaking engagement was only one of many instances where Ferguson has leaned into her fears, accepting a challenge and working doubly hard to create excellence. Take, for example, her first meeting with Donald Thompson, who would become, over the course of a dozen years, her boss, mentor, friend, and eventually, her husband.
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In 2010, Ferguson was looking for a new job, and she interviewed for an executive support position with Thompson, then CEO of the technology firm I-Cubed.
“When he offered some ‘constructive feedback’ on a successful marketing plan I shared, I was pretty irked, though I didn’t show it. That campaign made the company quite a bit of money,” Ferguson said. “I almost ended the interview. But the more I thought about it, I said, ‘This guy has a standard I’ve never seen before. If I can work for him, I can do anything.’”
Thompson, impressed by Ferguson’s professionalism and her “firm and gracious demeanor,” made her an offer. She accepted.
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“The thing that’s most impressive is that Jackie does what she needs to do to go after her goals, in spite of discomfort and anxiety,” said Thompson. “She uses the stress and struggle as her strength training to get better.”
Nearly a decade after that first meeting, Thompson and Ferguson were at Walk West, a marketing agency in Raleigh. In 2019, responding to several tone-deaf and offensive mainstream ad campaigns, Thompson decided to add a DEI course to their suite of professional development products. Ferguson immediately volunteered to write the online learning course.
The project drew on her foundational expertise in writing, research, and marketing, as well as her longstanding interest in diversity and equity. Her deep dive into the subject matter included getting her certification as a Certified Diversity Executive, so she could create learning journeys and advise business leaders with confidence.
“Jackie committed to thousands of hours of research to make an evaluation of other courses that were out there and make sure ours was better,” said Thompson, cofounder and CEO of The Diversity Movement. “She talked with 50-plus companies to get feedback and parsed through all of that to consolidate that knowledge and learning into something that gave us a world-class product.”
The course, “Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox,” resonated with business leaders and companies, and Ferguson was thrust into the spotlight. That focus became brighter as demand for DEI education soared in summer 2020. Companies started asking, “What’s next?”
Ferguson, Thompson, and two others, Kaela Sosa and Kurt Merriweather, soon launched The Diversity Movement as a separate company. Among its many innovative products is a microlearning platform, which Ferguson spearheaded. MicroVideos by The Diversity Movement, named one of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas, contains more than 600 short videos to help organizations and individuals learn about DEI in the flow of work.
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In addition to her duties at the growing company, Ferguson hosts the Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox podcast, interviewing global leaders, authors, and pop culture trendsetters who share their inspiring stories and insights on business, inclusion, and personal development. Now in its sixth season, the podcast is ranked in the top 5% of most downloaded podcasts worldwide.
“She’s so gentle, and also inquisitive and direct at the same time,” said Sosa, TDM’s curriculum and programming manager, who helps screen podcast guests. “There’s this sort of aura about her. When you’re having a conversation about difficult topics, even if you don’t agree, you want to open up and you want to share.”
Ferguson admits hosting the podcast was scary in the beginning, but like every other milestone in her career, leaning into the fear and the challenge has been worth it.
“Unless you’re challenging yourself and doing something a little bit scary, you’re not growing,” she said. “I would encourage people to do the scary thing that helps you discover your purpose, because it really makes all the difference in the world.”
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