Contents

Letter from the President and CEO

Chamber Leadership

Tasha Wade-Boyd is front-row witness to Comcast’s commitment to community and inclusion

Vettrus Supply owners overcome all odds to open distribution and supply company

Commissioner Adrian Garcia is committed to DEI

Christyna Lewis specializes in advising, investing and financially educating all people

SalonTrose new owner outlines vision of being a strong voice for the LGBTQ+ community

The Business Team owner finds strength to be herself personally and professionally

Accendeo elevates your company’s most important resource: people

The Normal Anomaly Initiative helps Black queer people overcome barriers, end stigmas and actualize a new normal

How the Chamber gave Board Member Jason Rocha the courage to be himself

Out & About

Member Directory

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The Leading Voice for the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ and Allied Business Community

Mission

The Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce accelerates economic opportunity for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer +

business community through a strong network of business allies, innovative

programs, strategic partnerships

and advance policies that foster

economic inclusion and equality.

Letter from the

President & CEO

The theme of this issue is Coming Out as we celebrate National Coming Out Day. National Coming Out Day is an annual LGBTQ+ awareness day observed on Oct. 11, to support LGBTQ+ people in “coming out of the closet.”

For many people in the LGBTQ+ community, we have our “coming out” story or stories. For some, coming out meant losing their families, their jobs and a sense of security. For others, it was an easier path because of family and community support. What all these stories have in common is “coming out” and taking a step to live a more full and authentic life.

Did you know that some LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs may have more than one coming out story to share? They may be out personally but not professionally. Many LGBTQ+ business owners stay in the closet because they fear losing customers. This is a large part of why our work at the Chamber matters to create a space for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs to be exactly who they are and give them tools, resources and support to help their businesses grow and thrive.

In this issue, we celebrate coming out stories and some differing perspectives from amazing LGBTQ+ community members and allies as well, including Commissioner Adrian Garcia.

We also share the story of how the Chamber gave Board Member Jason Rocha the courage to come out.

Lastly, we dedicate this issue to those who have not come out because they do not have the support or safety to do so. Coming Out is a journey and it’s a path that is different for everyone. The Chamber is here to support you and connect you to community and resources.

Thank you for taking the time to read through the pages of Business Intersections. If you enjoy this issue and the moving stories, you can support both the Chamber and these business owners.

Take a moment to like or follow the Chamber or these businesses on social media. Better yet, patronize one of these businesses and join the Chamber (if you’re not a member yet) or make a donation to the Chamber Foundation. Professional memberships are available!

And, finally, we appreciate our many advertisers in this issue of Business Intersections. Thank you for your support of the magazine and the Chamber.  

With Pride,

Tammi Wallace

Co-Founder, President & CEO

p.s. Not a member of the Chamber? Now is a great time to join and maybe your business will be featured in an upcoming Business Intersections issue! Learn more here.

CORPORATE PARTNER Spotlight

Coming Out Was ‘Beautifully Anticlimatic’

Comcast’s Tasha Wade-Boyd is front-row witness to Comcast’s commitment to community and inclusion

Tasha Wade-Boyd hopes that one day people have “non-coming out” stories to tell, just like her own. “My most fervent prayer is that my experience becomes the norm, that others know how it feels to be emboldened, supported and valued,” Wade-Boyd said.

Now, years later, she’s determined to do her part turning privilege into prevalence.

These days, Wade-Boyd is a senior sales and marketing manager, leading a team of six Xfinity store managers in the North Houston area.

“I had the pleasure of being on the inaugural board of the Out@Comcast Houston chapter over seven years ago and have held a board position from then to now,” Wade-Boyd said. “Having a front-row seat to witness Comcast’s commitment to community and inclusion has been a gift.”

Wade-Boyd noted that Comcast has a longstanding history of advocating for the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights. That includes Comcast NBCUniversal joining the business coalition against anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation, voicing support for the Equality Act in 2021, and the amicus briefs it signed before the U.S. Supreme Court advancing nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ workers and promoting marriage equality in 2019 and 2015.

“We have also earned a top score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index and been named a ‘Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality,’” she said.

With the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Comcast has been part of in-person and virtual events for its employees and the community. Comcast also supports the LGBTQ Victory Institute, Montrose Counseling Center, Legacy Community Health, Pride Houston, Fundacion Latinoamericana De Accion Social Inc., Cindy Gracely and the Pride Houston Art Installation.

As for her coming out story, Wade-Boyd said it was never lost on her that her experience was beautifully anticlimactic.

“I never formally came out. I never felt the need to,” Wade-Boyd said. She had been in a straight marriage that lasted 11 years.

“I had the privilege, as I approached 30, of falling in love with another human being and stepping into a committed relationship without pause given that the person was also female. I’ve just simply lived and loved,” Wade-Boyd said.

To that point, Wade-Boyd said she felt emboldened by those who came before her who did the hard work toward acceptance.

“A part of me felt as if I didn’t have the right to not be just as brave as they had been facing a cruel world,” she said. She also credited “the wonderfully blurred village of biological and chosen individuals” that make up her family.

“With this varied bunch, I never felt the need to justify being exactly who I am,” Wade-Boyd said.

Wade-Boyd said the closest she came to an actual “coming out” was matter-of-factly correcting her mother when she referred to her girlfriend at the time as her “friend.”

“Even though that was her first time hearing it — and my first girlfriend — my mom didn’t skip a beat as we continued with whatever that conversation was about,” Wade-Boyd said.

Working for Comcast has been an influence on her journey, too.

“Before joining, I had never imagined stepping into a professional environment that seamlessly complemented the rest of my world,” Wade-Boyd said. “Diversity, equity and inclusion are more than a commitment at Comcast. They are the cultural norm.”

To learn more about Comcast and its efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion, visit https://corporate.comcast.com/impact/diversity-equity-inclusion.

“My most fervent prayer is that my experience becomes the norm, that others know how it feels to be emboldened, supported, and valued.”

— Tasha Wade-Boyd, senior sales and

marketing manager, Comcast

LGBTBE® Spotlight

No Longer Living in Secrecy

Vettrus Supply owners endure “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, overcome all odds to open distribution and supply company

Vettrus Supply owners Kathy and Barbara “Barbie” Vasquez are the embodiment of resilience. Life has tested their confidence, their leadership, and their strength throughout the years. They have risen through many challenges only to come out victorious.

In 2021, The Vasquez’s began operating Vettrus Supply, derived from the slogan “Veterans Are Us,” as a woman-owned, service-disabled, veteran-owned, minority-owned, LGBTBE®-certified distribution and supply company that procures heating, ventilation, air conditioning, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and construction materials for HVAC contractors, developers and city/government accounts.

To date, Vettrus Supply has contracted with hotels, seven restaurants, and over 2-million-square-feet of commercial properties, most notably Mainland City Centre, College of the Mainland and Mainland Crossing in Texas City.

“This is Kathy’s baby, she’s been in the heating and cooling industry for over two decades now,” Barbie said. “She’s seen first-hand what has and hasn’t worked. Through Kathy’s networking, an opportunity was presented to launch our own distribution and procurement company, and we promptly accepted the challenge.”

Both Kathy and Barbie have faced harder challenges than being a woman-owned business in a male-dominated industry. Both served in the military when it was prohibited to be an openly gay servicemember.

Kathy served for 10 years in the U.S. Navy from 1989-99, during which time the Clinton administration implemented

“don’t ask, don’t tell.” She described one of her most memorable experiences as being a “witch-hunt.” The Naval Criminal Investigative Service summoned her for allegedly kissing another woman while in uniform. The result being that the other woman’s entire family was called in to prove she was not gay.

The long-term trauma of experiences like this caused Kathy’s coming out story to follow years later.

In 1992, Kathy gave birth to a son while serving in the U.S. Navy. She navigated her relationship with the hopes of creating a family and the loving environment she desired as a youth. “I’ve never had any family, I grew up in the foster system,” Kathy said. “My friends are who I had to come out to.”

Kathy’s journey of living her truth took some time.

“The most difficult coming-out conversation was telling my son’s father – not because I was ashamed, but because other openly gay individuals were losing parental rights and I was afraid of losing my family, again,” she said.

Barbie added, “When you talk about courage, Kathy is such a selfless person. She has been trailblazing and didn’t know she was doing it.”

Kathy and Barbie met in 2009. Barbie was still actively serving in the U.S. Navy in a visible, high-’profile role, so once again, they both kept quiet about their relationship and identity. It wasn’t until 2013 when “don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed that Barbie said she felt like she could finally be herself, outside of immediate friends and family.

“It was really hard to serve your country and be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice but not be who you are on a daily basis,” Barbie said.

Barbie escorted Kathy as her date to the Khaki Ball in 2013. This was the first time there was a same sex couple in attendance with chiefs and officers. As the guest speaker, Barbie decided to no longer live in secrecy. During her speech, she proposed to Kathy in front of her shipmates. The result was unwavering support from all in attendance.

Kathy and Barbie’s struggles of navigating coming out to those around them is a true testament of their strength and perseverance. They have successfully navigated the entrepreneurial path the same way – with integrity, dignity and commitment.

Learn more about Vettrus Supply at

www.VettrusSupply.com.

ALLIED MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Paving the Way for LGBTQ+-Inclusive Policies and Legislation

For as long as he can remember, Commissioner Adrian Garcia has held a zero-tolerance policy for bullying. As a child, when he saw bullying taking place inside his schools, he was quick to come to the defense of those being victimized — either verbally or physically.

“I just think it’s right to support all people, regardless,” he said. “It’s important for us to stand up and defend. Regardless of what makes anyone (a part of) the DEI community — you can always count on me to have your back.”

Now, as Commissioner of Harris County Precinct 2, Garcia’s used his firm anti-bullying foundation to enact legislation to positively impact the DEI community around him — most notably by championing equal-rights policies and protections for the LGBTQ+ community.

Born the youngest child of Mexican immigrants, Garcia grew up in Houston’s Northside working in his dad’s auto repair shop. He put in 23 years as a Houston police officer, became a Houston City Council member and mayor pro-tem, and served Harris County as its sheriff from 2008 to 2015. Now, his focus is on better jobs, affordable health care, keeping families safe and supporting DEI initiatives that make Harris County a friendly, welcoming and inclusive community.

“I’m part of the DEI community, and I recognize the challenges that I’ve had through my career and I think it’s incumbent on me and others like me to do all we can to ensure that it’s not as difficult or complicated as it once was,” he said. “I’m a policymaker, and so I take that role and that authority and opportunity very seriously, so wherever I can impact policy that makes it easier for us to engage and work with and contract with a diverse and equitable and more inclusive community, I’m all in.”

Garcia said there are over 200 languages and dialects in the Harris County area, so it should be a no-brainer for everyone to support the DEI initiatives that affect so many.

“I’ve always prided myself in being a champion, a voice, and a defender of the underserved, underrepresented and under-respected community, and so whether it’s people of color, people from different walks of faith, the LGBTQ+ community — I see us all as God’s creatures and I just think that everyone should have an ally no matter what,” he said.

Garcia’s personal connection to the LGBTQ+ community has also been a driving force in his life.

“My brother was a part of the community and unfortunately we lost him due to complications with AIDS,” he said. Due to difficulties receiving proper care in Texas, Garcia’s brother was forced to remain in California and did not get to spend his last moments with family in the state he grew up in. Garcia said things were difficult for his brother both personally and healthcare-wise.

“He had to remain in California because Texas was not as supportive as it is today,” Garcia said. “He would have lost his health care benefits had he left California, although he wanted to spend his last days with us (here). That has always rubbed me wrong.”

As Commissioner, Garcia has proposed the first-ever resolutions that speak to the LGBTQ+ community and to Transgender victims of violence. Under his guidance, a resolution was also introduced in 2020 for Harris County to officially recognize June as Pride Month.

Garcia said he’s proud to be the first to propose those resolutions, but it’s painful to see the ignorance that still exists.

“The first resolutions in the history of the county have been proposed by me,’ he said. “At least two commissioners have walked away from being involved and chose to vote against or walk out of the room when those resolutions were being proposed.”

Garcia also helped to put forth the Minority Women Business Enterprise program in Harris County.

“We’re working hard to make sure that the LGBT classification for contractors is included in that particular program,” he said. “I’ve always been proud to be the first one to open the doors for other members of our community and I’m glad that I’m able to do that for the LGTBTQ+ community.”

Garcia’s work is gaining attention. In the summer of 2022, he was notified that he received the prestigious Eleanor Tinsley Award.

“I was very moved by the news of that award,” he said. “Because of the personal connection to my family, and all the memories of that and the pain that so many others have endured, it’s very, very moving that this community would recognize me as an ally and especially in the name of Eleanor Tinsley.”

Garcia said he has a tremendous amount of respect for Tinsley, who he considers a pioneer and trailblazer who broke glass ceilings and paved the way for others.

“I really have tried to be intentional to make my career as impactful as hers,” he said.

And many have been impacted by Garcia’s career. During his time as sheriff of Harris County, he had a conversation with a member of his executive command staff that left him speechless.

He was on his way to the Pride Parade in Houston that summer and had extended the invite to other members of the sheriff’s office to participate. A major — someone in the highest appointed rank in the sheriff’s office — came to Garcia in tears. She explained that when she’d been to the parade before, she had to stand at a distance with her baseball cap pulled down to cover her face because she’d been told that if the previous sheriff discovered she was a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she would be fired.

“To imagine that she is participating openly in the parade and doing it as an appointed member of the command staff was something she never thought would ever happen to her,” he said. “It was mind boggling to me that it was a reality she dealt with and it’s a reality that so many had to deal with as they contemplated coming out.”

Garcia is proud to be one of the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber’s inaugural members.

“It just makes sense that anyone in the realm of business should be looking for opportunities to promote themselves as a true community-friendly, inclusive, diverse, equitable business, and I can’t think of a better place to do it than the LGBT Chamber.”

For more information about Commissioner Garcia and his work, visit www.adriangarcia.com or www.hcp2.com.

MEMBER Spotlight

Helping People Find Power and Peace of Mind For Their Futures

Christyna Lewis specializes in advising, investing

and financially educating all people

By Angela Harrington

As an all-around ally, Christyna Lewis brings both the offense and the defense in her role as financial advisor with Edward Jones — the offense to get what customers want, and the defense to make sure their needs are met in the event that something goes wrong.

Lewis specializes in advising, investing and financially educating. Covering every base, she is certified and licensed to trade in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds as well as life insurance and long-term health insurance.

“I chose to really be of service in the community, helping people find real power and peace of mind when they look to their future, and at their finances,” she said. “I get to talk with people about what they want for their life, their long-term hopes and dreams, and then help put the financial structure and systems in place so that they are more likely to accomplish those. It really is a relationship business.”

Lewis gives back to the community in many ways and takes great joy in her volunteer work. She is currently on the leadership team for the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus and is co-chair of the Education and Advocacy Committee.

“I am very involved with the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce as well. Those are my two primary outlets, because if we can have our political rights in the community honored, and we can be thriving in our businesses and work life, then I think there is really not much we can’t do,” Lewis said.

She was involved in queer-focused or queer-inclusive communities long before she came out herself. Despite having been married to a man at one point, her journey was not a straight line — pun intended.

Lewis said the day that marriage equality became a reality in the United States was a profound turning point in her life. Two of her friends were part of the first handful of same-sex couples to be married that day at city hall, and another long-time friend who was living in Washington, D.C. posted a selfie in front of the White House, which had been illuminated with rainbow colors. These events inspired Lewis to acknowledge her authentic self by changing her relationship status on social media.

In the workplace, Lewis also had a quiet coming out. She told her manager and was greeted with support. Then when she shifted her career to work for Edward Jones, she happily checked the little box to be included as one of their diverse LGBTQ+ employees.

“The Greater Houston LGBT Chamber has been such a great resource for me. The business resources and education available has been amazing,” she noted. Lewis also made mention of how supportive the network and the community have been.

“I can’t serve all the people, but I want all people to have real peace of mind and power when they look at their future and their finances,” she said. “I am going to start by serving my LGBTQ+ community.”

Edward Jones is consistently rated 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Best Places to Work list and two of the last three years, they were the highest-rated full-service brokerage firm for investor satisfaction.

To learn more about Edward Jones and Christyna Lewis, visit www.edwardjones.com/us-en/financial-advisor/christyna-lewis.

NEW MEMBER Spotlight

Creating a No-Judgment Salon Space

SalonTrose new owner outlines vision of being a

strong voice for the LGBTQ+ community

By Lynne Hayes

For the last few years, Meagan Kuharski had been focused on two things: making her SalonTrose clients feel Insta-worthy and beautiful and saving for a new home. So, when Kuharski’s boss, Traci Burke, approached her with an offer to buy SalonTrose, she was, to say the least, shocked.

“Traci and her husband were moving to Germany, and she asked me if I was interested in buying the salon,” recalled Kuharski. “Ownership wasn’t on my radar at all, and I felt like I didn’t have the capacity. Traci said she asked me because of my loyalty and how protective I was of the salon. She knew how much I loved it here.”

With Burke’s encouragement and support, Kuharski decided to take the leap. She took ownership in April 2022 with a clear vision of how she wanted SalonTrose to evolve.

“Of course, the integrity and openness Traci had established with our team and our clients will remain, and she had already curated a staff that works great together,” she explained. “What I wanted was more people to know that SalonTrose is a place that welcomes everyone – it’s a no-judgment zone.”

Kuharski, who identifies as pansexual or bisexual (she said she’s still defining herself), grew up in a conservative town on the Texas Gulf Coast. She described it as “mostly blue collar and definitely not gay-friendly.”

“My coming out experience was easy compared to so many others and I feel blessed,” she shared. “I had never said it out loud to my family. I had relationships with men along the way, and then brought home a girlfriend when I was 29. My family was accepting from the start.”

Kuharski sees salon ownership as an opportunity to become an advocate for others in the LGBTQ+ community who haven’t had it as easy coming out and living their truth.

“Now as an owner, I feel I can be a strong voice for them, and I can create a safe space for all,” she said.

Kuharski added she’s especially proud of the love and support that came after she began displaying the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber sticker on the salon’s front door.

“It’s been a dream of mine to be part of the Chamber because it opens up avenues to meet people who want exactly what I want,” Kuharski said. “I see how they connect, advocate, and support our community. Being a part of it and meeting like-minded people makes me a stronger entity. We’re fighting for the same thing – to be treated like every other human being.”

Along with displaying the Chamber sticker, Kuharski also amended the salon’s social media bio, not to erase the past, but to add a new dimension to what SalonTrose has always stood for in the neighborhood.

“Every day we live what our new bio promises – that we’re cultivating a safe, judgment-free, compassionate, and encouraging atmosphere,” she said. “We have already seen and heard that more LGBTQ+ clientele are feeling comfortable coming to our salon.”

Kuharski’s new-found owner mentality means she’s now thinking and planning for the future, and that includes having a three-year goal.

“I love the community here and the intimacy of it, and we will always be here, but one of these days I want to have a second location in Houston,” she confided. “I want people to know us and say, ‘Yeah, SalonTrose – that’s where all the cool people work, and everybody loves everybody.’ I want more people to know there’s a place where anybody can come in and feel they’re welcome and they’re at home. I want my name to be associated with judgment-free success.”

For more information, visit www.salontrosehtx.com.

MEMBER Spotlight

Living Out Loud, Authentically

The Business Team owner finds strength to be herself personally and professionally

By Dave Hoffman

At first glance, it may seem obvious why The Business Team is rapidly expanding from its home base in Houston to provide service across the country. The company provides services that every business needs: IT helpdesk, administrative services, procurement support, quality/safety and training. But a deeper dive will reveal that the driving force behind this company’s growth is CEO Kym Adams’s ability to connect with her client-base of small companies and large firm project managers on a level that encourages a candid and open discussion of the clients’ needs.

“I understand what judgment feels like and refuse to incorporate it into my company in any way, shape or form,” Adams said. “It’s a most effective approach because it allows us to more honestly and intently drill down to the root cause of what the real business distresses are and creates more attainable solutions. If you are truthful about what the real issue is, if you’re open about a genuine solution, you collaborate better on workable solutions. If clients feel judged, they’re less likely to talk to us about things they’re embarrassed about sharing. They can’t accurately discuss the problem, and you can’t produce the most effective solutions.”

The origin story of her business is fraught with the kinds of challenges that give a person perspective — it was formed in New Orleans in the years immediately preceding the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, requiring a relocation to Houston, and a retreat into corporate life. Being out made for a complicated work/life experience, given the acutely different cultural attitudes of each location.

“I came out with the encouragement of a strong support system when my kids were very young. I was 26 at the time and working in a very supportive workspace. I didn’t have any queerness conflicts in my professional life,” said Adams, who went on to work in the advocacy arena in the mid-90s. “Fast forward to 2005, Katrina happened, I transplanted to Houston, and in my professional life had to immediately go back into the closet. From 2006 until 2012, nobody in my professional life knew I was a lesbian until I got engaged.”

She felt cultural pressure at her industry, and in 2016, she retired to relaunch her business in Houston.

“At my last company, which was home-officed in San Francisco, I was told that I could not be on the Diversity Advocacy Committee because the company owners would not accept an LGBT representative. ‘Really? Because they’re housed in San Francisco,’” Adams said. “So, the variances of working in this industry here was very different than the world view. However, the local biases were what I had to contend with.”

The momentum for living out loud continued to strengthen in 2015 when gay marriage became the law of the land. After that, Adams figured she now had to be accepted in the corporate realm. “Marriage equality was huge in moving the needle for the LGBT community,” she said. That made the journey less intimidating to travel, though still with trepidations.

The OG&C industry and career pivot of her journey gave Adams experience with managing and training vendors in different industries, and the expertise to support a wider range of activities. While The Business Team started out with a narrow focus on secretarial outsourcing, Adams used her time in the OG&C industry to garner the experiences of different training and information-management roles. Those roles and others essential to executing a project or business have since been filled by more thoroughly experienced experts and The Business Team now provides a full-service business support infrastructure for clients across the state.

“This company’s philosophy is the result of my entire career of supporting companies and businesses in various industries; medical, hospitality, nonprofit, private companies, and oil and gas, and in being a parent,” she said. “We’ve done work for companies as expansive as the NFL and as small as solopreneur businesses.”

Adams looks forward to expanding the business throughout Texas over the next two years and offering its capabilities nationally in the following five.

“When we set up in a city, we set up with local people, businesses, and resources in that city. They know what works in that environment most effectively and efficiently,” she said. “We are proud to always use small, diverse businesses in our arsenals.”

Locally, Adams has benefited from being a NGLCC Certified member of the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce because it strengthens her ties across the whole community.

“Where cultural-specific organizations do a fantastic job of strengthening business for that cultural community,” she noted, “this particular organization is most helpful because gay people are everywhere and of every culture. You have a different way of interacting when you feel you have an army of support behind you. I’m no longer an army of one, which is how I felt in corporate America. I own my story and will continue to live out loud in hopes it empowers someone else to live authentically in their professional life.”

For more information about The Business Team, visit thebusinessteams.co.

INAUGURAL MEMBER Spotlight

Reaching Your Highest Potential

Accendeo elevates your company’s most important resource: people

By Cathy Cuthbertson

Coming out to family, friends and business partners is a triumphant pinnacle that can take weeks, months or years. But for Joakim “Kim” Gustavsson, his life path was decided at the end of a short therapy session and a four-hour ride to Stockholm.

“It was quite fast and with little uncertainty,” recalled Gustavsson. “I came out to my parents when I was 16. At the time, I was with them in one of their therapy sessions for their own relationship difficulties, and when the session was wrapping up, the therapist asked if there was anything else to discuss. ‘Yes, there is,’ I said. ‘I’m gay.’”

His parents were astounded and he was taken aback by their surprise. “I thought it was obvious,” Gustavsson said with a chuckle. “Like it was stamped on my head or something.”

After his announcement, he spent four hours on a train ride to Stockholm to see his boyfriend, pondering his life decision. “But when my boyfriend answered the door and said, ‘I love you,’ that was it. I never looked back.”

Now, with more than 30 years’ experience as a transformational business and management consultant, Gustavsson is the owner and senior consultant of Accendeo, the company he founded in 2013 to help leaders and companies reach their highest potential in life and business. He works with Fortune 500, Fortune 5s, and nonprofits, teaching them to elevate their most important resource: people.

Accendeo’s suite of licensed programs and services is broad, but at center stage, every training and program helps companies build their visions, centered around the multiple themes of productivity and effectiveness, visionary leadership, strategic development and delivery, and individual leadership development. Accendeo serves clients around the globe.

“I work on development and personal growth,” Gustavsson said. “Very specifically, in a branch of philosophy in the domain of ontology, the study of the being of human beings, what people are doing and the things that impact their being. How we behave is a function of how the world and situations occur to us, but most people are unaware of how things occur. I help them develop specific communications so that everything they do is more effective.”

And as for business owners considering coming out to the clients they serve, Gustavsson offers a tidbit of sage advice: “I would never recommend to anyone being inauthentic. The question each person must answer is, ‘What purpose does me coming out in this situation serve? What is important at that time?’ Being a member of the gay community is the face of who I am, yet it is also not all of who I am. I am also Swedish, and I don’t announce that all the time. I am at a place in life I would never hide it if asked.”

To learn more about Accendeo, visit www.accendeo.com. Accendeo is a Certified LGBTBE® company.

NONPROFIT MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Using Storytelling to Understand Similarities and Find Ways We Intersect

The Normal Anomaly Initiative helps Black queer people

overcome barriers, end stigmas and actualize a new normal

By Angela Harrington

After being a front-line community health care worker for over a decade, Ian L. Haddock began to use his passion for creative writing to create a digital storytelling blog in 2016 called The Normal Anomaly Initiative. As founder and executive director, his mission was to shine a light on marginalization and to push forward the normalization of anomalies.

The Normal Anomaly Initiative is an organization centered on helping Black queer people in overcoming barriers, ending stigma and problematic narratives, and to actualize a new normal. They accomplish this through four distinct methods: direct services, advocacy, capacity building and research.

Through this platform, Haddock soon reached a vast audience of like-minded individuals who were also in need of this type of connection. The blog led to other opportunities to share an inclusive message. Haddock began developing other types of creative content with the assistance of a small group of collaborators. Throughout the span of three years, the organization began working with the Huffington Post and the United States Conference on HIV/ AIDS (USCHA).

The finished work was accepted into a couple of film festivals and is now available on the world-wide streaming platform, Amazon Prime. The organization achieved the status of nonprofit at the end of 2021.

According to Haddock, storytelling is a primal and generationally proven effective method of understanding our similarities and finding the ways in which we intersect and connect.

Haddock himself was searching for that kind of understanding and connection as a high school student when rather than coming out, he was found out.

He lived in a small Texas town on the edge of a bigger community, rooted in religion and stigma concerning sexuality. He began to become more curious about his own sexuality and how that related to who he was. With no computer at home, he was messaging in a queer chat room on a shared computer and inadvertently stayed logged on when someone from his church saw what was said.

His mother and brothers did not accept this information well, and he was faced with the choice to either not participate in who he was, or to not have a place to live.

“The 16- or 17-year-old me decided that it was more important for me to be queer than to live in a house, so, I left,” Haddock said.

Years later, before she passed away, he reconnected with his mother, and they were able to talk it through. He said that the harsh way in which his family handled his coming out gave him the strength to be who he is today — a resilient, smart risk-taker who is considerate of those around him.

“I didn’t have anybody but me and my community to give me strength,” he said.

Haddock has chosen to specifically work in places where he feels comfortable being his most authentic self. He recalled one instance where he did not choose this path, and while working for that company, he created what he described as a “weird disconnect” — that is to say, he created another version of himself that was completely disconnected from his sexuality. He was just there to do his work and keep his private life separate.

“It felt like I had become the person that my family had given me the choice to be, for once. It felt absolutely terrible,” he recalled.

The Normal Anomaly Initiative focuses on entrepreneur, business, and brand development, and teaching how to build the infrastructure of business through their nine-month leadership program called Project Liberate. The program focuses on two key individual areas: entrepreneurship and nonprofit leadership.

In an effort to build an ecosystem of power and equality, the organization has found a symbiotic relationship with the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

“I think the Chamber is such an advantageous connection and collaboration for nonprofits,” Haddock said. “The opportunities are endless.”

For more information about The Normal Anomaly Initiative and Project Liberate, please visit normalanomaly.org.

BOARD SPOTLIGHT

Being Embraced As You Are

Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce gave

Board Member Jason Rocha the courage to be himself

The Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce brings business to life through its distinct mission to build economic prosperity. Its members are the pulse of that vibrant organization..

In 2015, Chamber member Jason Rocha attended his first Chamber event — a social gathering after hours. It was like discovering an oasis.

“It was such a relief, being in a professional business environment where I didn’t have to worry whether I would be outed or judged,” recalled Rocha (he/him), founder and president, The Woodlands Pride. It made a spectacular impression, and it was a moment of clarity into the future.

“I could finally visualize myself role playing and how it might be, doing business as a gay man,” he said.

Then, a few months later, Rocha met the man he would soon marry. It was a time of now or never and letting the truth be known.

“We were moving toward that point where I was either going to sabotage the relationship and make sure it never got off the ground,” Rocha recalled with a wry chuckle, “or I was going to move forward and give it a chance.”

It was also around a time of turmoil, when a shooting left 49 people dead at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

“That was a wakeup call for me,” Rocha said. “From the moment I woke up that day, after the shooting, I vowed to give my new relationship a chance. Life is precious. You can’t let it slip by. It was a tragedy but also a catalyst; I saw so many in the gay community, especially in Orlando, still working to build good things out of a terrible situation. It moved me deeply.”

When Rocha founded The Woodlands Pride in 2018 — a nonprofit devoted to embracing the LGBTQ+ community in The Woodlands — the Orlando tragedy still echoed and provided big impetus. The momentum continues to grow in October when the fourth Woodlands Pride Festival takes place in Town Green Park.

“It’s a festival that reflects our family-oriented community, and embraces you as you are,” Rocha explained. “New to the festival this year, we’ll have a kid’s zone.”

To date, the festival has attracted 15,000 visitors.

As a member of the Chamber board and its former chair, Rocha encourages local businesses to step up and support the Chamber’s multi-faceted initiatives.

“Everyone in the community benefits when we have a strong LGBTQ+ chamber,” Rocha said. “And it’s not just in business. The Chamber helps you grow and shine in every other way. It’s important to get immersed. Spend time, nurture the relationships; the benefits will grow naturally.”

To learn more about the Chamber, visit www.houstonlgbtchamber.com.