"I  Love Creating Processes that Could be Duplicated So that We All Shine", with Blaire G. Hervey, on Career, Connection, Community, Care, and Parenting.

zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Intersection Podcast Program and, uh, today is, uh, indigenous Peoples Day. So I wanted to mention that, uh, it's a good day to honor our ancestors to remember the land we are on and just to show our appreciation to those who came before us. And I'm thrilled today to have my friend and peer and ally and colleague and at times mentor, situational mentor,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: um, Blair Hery to the program.
And, um, I, I can talk about Blair for a very long time, but this is not my time. So I am going to invite Blair to introduce herself.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. Oh, thank you so much, Joe. I feel so honored to be on this platform with you today. Uh, hello everyone. My name is Blair Blair, g [00:01:00] Hery, uh, formally the corporate strategist. Now just known as, I don't know, I call myself the little strategist who has a big heart for travel and a lot of style. I dunno. Um, I'm good for branding myself, but, uh, you know, I have over 20 years of experience in sales and in tech, and it has brought me into a space where I now work for LinkedIn as a senior sales performance consultant. I love partnering with leaders, executives, and founders to help them develop others. So that's been the core of who I am for, ooh, 20 plus years. So, I'm, I'm glad that I can share a little bit of my journey with, uh, Joe as well as you all today.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Thank you. Um, I think you are being very modest. You are not a little strategist. You are a big strategist and with a big heart for travel. And I mean, our program is audio only, but you are always, you always showed [00:02:00] up in style and in fashion. And today you are wearing, um, how do you call the color Yellow gold
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Uh, me, like a marigold
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: America.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: jacket from Target
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Nice.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: before all the shenanigans.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. That's important. No, it's a very nice outfit.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Thank you.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: and. It's interesting because I recall when we met all these years ago, it might have been 2018 or something like that,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Sounds right.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: we met in, I think because of a woman in tech. That's, that's my memory. But it could be wrong. It's being a while. And the first time I saw you, I thought she has nice shoes.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I love that. That's, that sounds like the story of my life. I, I met someone who thought I had nice shoes. We became friends and we ended up traveling to Dubai together, I think within six [00:03:00] months. Yeah.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: The shoes. Okay. I'll have to keep that in mind.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. Yes. Something about shoes. Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um, so you mentioned you have had over 20 years in tech and sales, and now you transitioned to a leadership role at LinkedIn. Um, talk about. The transition perhaps both from, you know, city to city. You moved from Portland to Oakland, and then of course your career is, uh, developing and evolving as well.
Maybe talk about that.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, you know, I'll start from the beginning. Uh, I was born in Dallas, Texas.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um, I lived there with my mother and, uh, my stepfather. My mother was definitely a lover, so she was married twice. Uh, she also had, um, another child, my brother Thomas. And um, unfortunately she passed away unexpectedly when I was 12 years old.
And so from [00:04:00] that day, I did find her that morning, um, in March, I think it was March 20th, 1996.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: my brother was lying right next to her. He was only two years old. That was a life-changing moment for us both, uh, because within six months I had to relocate to Louisville, Kentucky, which is where my biological father lived.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So my brother stayed behind in Dallas, Texas, um, with his father. And so everyone that I had. Known for the first 12 years of my life, um, were no longer really a part of my life.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: What?
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And I, I have this, um, this charm on my necklace. It is a comb and scissors. And, uh, my mother was a hairstylist and she gave this charm to all of her stylist in the salon. And I spoke at an event back in May of 22 or something like that, 21, and one of those stylists gave me his charm. So I wear this
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh my God.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes,[00:05:00]
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I know, I know,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: my God.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I know, I know. So when I think about the community and the culture and the family, uh, that was created that my mother curated, you know, I think that's within me. But I did have to leave that behind.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 96. I met my brother, uh, my other brother for the first time, Blaine. So Blaine and Blair were six years apart. The first thing he said to me was, howdy, because I from Texas.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And at the time I thought that was just so corny. I was like, oh, my little brother, like, who is this guy?
Right. We had some bumps and bruises, literally and figuratively that we had to navigate. And now we are, um, two peas in a pod. That is, that's little bro for sure. So with that, um, that's when I started developing my career. I started working when I was 14 years old, mainly because, uh, you know, my father was navigating his own [00:06:00] challenges and I think he worked for the police academy. but he had some heart issues, so he wasn't really able to provide in a way that I'm sure he would've
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And so, um, me, Ms. Stylish, uh, thanks to Rosetta Harvey, uh, my mom. And, you know, I'm like, how do I keep up my lifestyle? How do I take care of myself? So I worked at Kentucky Kingdom, which was an amusement park at 14
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: until they found out that I was underaged,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: No.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: had to move on. then I thought, I think I started working, um, this area in Louisville, Kentucky, and Shively, uh, at, uh, a shoe store for a little bit. Then Subway sandwich shop. So I was a sandwich artist. Yeah. So again, at a very young age, independent stylist trying to keep up my lifestyle. I wasn't worried about taking care of anything or anyone else. I felt like God owed me. I remember having that mentality for a long time. You took everything away from me. [00:07:00] You owe me. So I was, um, a little, I mean, I was a teenager. I was a little selfish thing
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: for
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: it's understandable.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. Well, thank you for that. Thank you for that. Uh, and then my godmother, she became my godmother, uh, Juanita Green Nene. Um, she took me in around 16, maybe, maybe a little younger than
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Around that time. Um, and so I had a few years in a stable household. She would take us on family trips and all that stuff, but she really curated that, that family for me. Then, um, and then, you know, Joe, I was a little bit rebellious and I got my tongue pierced and she said, if you do that again, you're outta here. And guess what a teenager did. I did it again, didn't believe her, and she kicked me out. So that actually put me on the road to adulthood very early. I would say a year later, um, I had a baby,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: so I'll stop there. I know that was a, [00:08:00] a little journey, um, but that actually kicked off my career at 18.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm. Wow. I mean, I feel as a person, your, your life journey just started very eventfully.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: You know what that is, you are right about it. You are right about it. That, that is a great way to sum that up. Quite eventful from the beginning, right?
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. I mean, yes. I mean, at times of course you feel like. What are you thinking? God? Um, but I feel like, you know, when we are older, you look back, you're like, oh, perhaps this is like blessing in disguise,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: That part. That
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: like that.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. I always say that, um, you know, everything happens for a reason. I, I obviously didn't create that quote, but I truly believe everything happened for a reason. Um, and we all have a. [00:09:00] A timeline. You know, we all have an expiration date, if you will. so my mom was 35 and I didn't think, and she was pregnant, she was full term pregnant as
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: so my
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I'm, I'm so sorry.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I am too. I know, look, I'm not trying to traumatize anyone out there, but I, I say all this to say, no matter what you're going through, I think it definitely serves a purpose. You can navigate it, you can overcome it. But it, there's some themes that I'm, I'm hearing from myself that are coming up that saved me, which was community, which was, uh, family. Um, even when I felt like, all right, God, you owe me, I'm going to create the family that I felt like was taken from me and had a child at a very young age. My son Trent, he has been my, my, my motivator, He's been, God has been my guiding light for sure,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: but not, but, and Trent, um, those two together
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: a north star for me that has kept me. [00:10:00] Hyperfocused, uh, overachieving, um, and successful in a plethora of ways. So from there, um, I started working at the phone company, you know, and in, yes, in the little town in Louisville, Kentucky. I was working at, uh, at and t,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: um, I think it was Bell South first. And then, um, at t purchased them. Um, a step back actually, working at the, a restaurant called, uh, the Old Spaghetti Factory.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: you ever been
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, I've been there a couple times. Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes, very average.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: grateful. But the food is, but my favorite thing was like ra cheese and butter sauce or like tomato sauce. Very plain.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Very blank.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Very plain. I encourage you to go, I think there's one in Vancouver. Go. And then, um, you know, for me it's very nostalgic, but for anyone else it's just like, why would you even eat there?
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: so I worked there, um, and I met my best friend, DeAngelo there.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And D'Angelo had worked there before, and when he came back and [00:11:00] saw me, he was like, who's this girl with this rap dress on? Little flip hairstyle and cute shoes. Uh, but we, we've both decided to compete for the lead co-host position.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Uh
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: again, I think that's another seed that comes up for me that helped me continue to thrive is competition.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: You know, so community, um, I said three C's. I love a good alliteration Joe, but community and competition so far. Um, but we were competing for that, that lead host position. We were making like, um, I don't know, eight 50 an hour or something like that. And, uh, we made like 10 50. So that was a big improvement for us. But I had a little kid, you know, and I was like, DeAngelo, I have all these bills already. I have these things I need to take care of. I need to be making like $15 an hour. And he was like, good luck. Like we didn't, we weren't in college. We took a different path. Um, you know, he was supportive, but.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I think slightly skeptical, and I need that sometimes too.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Right, right.[00:12:00]
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I need someone who's just like,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: that he didn't believe in me, but that it's almost unbelievable.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Right.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And so this lady came in one day, she had on a BellSouth hat. She was like, Hey, are you all hiring? My little niece needs a job or something like that. And I was like, are y'all hiring? She was like, go apply.
And then I got the job starting at $15 and 17 cents.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: manifestation.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. Oh yeah, I believe that.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. So I, I think that was my first, uh, sales, you know, kind of tech job in telecom.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm. And that wa that $15 70 cents, uh, an hour, uh, wage was at at and t.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: It was,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: was. So I started there. I wanna say about. Maybe I was like 19 by that time.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um, and I left there making $27 an hour. I was there for four years. I thought that was just, you know, I was making great money, especially not to have a degree to be living in the town I was living [00:13:00] in, um, under my circumstances. And I was raising my son and, uh, my son's father. Father and I, you know, I think we would be great friends to this day if, you know, maybe life hadn't handed us, you know, different cards. But, um, we just weren't, we, we weren't connecting, we weren't co-parenting either, um, in a healthy way. So I decided I'm gonna move to Atlanta,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Ah, okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: know? So that, that kicked off Chapter two, I think, of life, maybe chapter, maybe we're on chapter three. I'm not sure, Joe.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: No, that's okay. I'm not keeping count. Uh, but how old were you when you moved to Atlanta?
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I was 23 years old.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I was 23, Trent was four years old. Um, and at that point, my cousin and I, Kristen, we had been traveling back and forth. We would just get on the road. It was a six hour drive, so we would go there and just kind of live it up. You know, I could dress how I wanted to [00:14:00] dress. We were, uh, part of, you know, community, which again, was important to
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: you know, figuring out my, my sexuality too, at a very young age.
I was just like, I know I'm not bisexual, but I know I don't just like men
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: know, all of these things I didn't know. But when I went to Atlanta, I just felt like I was part of community. I felt affirmed and accepted and welcomed and, uh, that was important to me. And so, yeah, 23 years old, I took my maybe $7,000, 401k or something like
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: That's not bad.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I, you know, I was being responsible,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, that's not bad.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: you know, I can't say that, you know, I started with nothing. Um, but I definitely worked hard to get it. And, uh, I was determined to be a fashion stylist, so I was like, yeah, I'm, I'm going to style celebrities or, you know, whatever. And I don't know how I, I ended up doing this, but I, I styled on a couple of fashion shoots for, what is it called?
Ashley. It's a brand called Ashley something. I'm sure I'll [00:15:00] remember
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: once we,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: we finish.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: that's okay. Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: that's where I started.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. And then how, so that, okay, so you entered tech and then you briefly left tech. Um, and did you kind of, um, resume your tech career in Atlanta, or that was after Atlanta?
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, no. So it was in Atlanta because, um, what I realized after, uh, a couple of photo shoots, um, I was like, the checks are not coming in fast enough.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And they're, they're definitely not as big as what they were at, at and t, and I have a little one to take
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: You know, my cousin and I, I think we lived together for six months, um, like in college park area. And if, you know, you know, um, I needed to move to a different area. It was a great, uh, foundation, I needed something different from, for my son. Um, different schooling and all that
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And, uh, I, I, I don't know where I found this job, it was two jobs. It was one, it was like advertising and I was like, oh, I've done [00:16:00] sales
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: so I can do advertising sales. And I got this job and it was like boiler, boiler room style. Have you seen that movie? all of the desks are in one room and there's just phones on the desks,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, I've seen that scene. Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: no
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: It's not like you can like, Hey,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Blair. Like everyone can hear your pitches.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Huh.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I was selling ad space on a, on in, in, in-flight magazines. So those are the magazines that you kind of pick up while you're reading, while you're on the
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Just imagine selling ad space, like,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: you know how many eyes are gonna be on this? I could, but you can't judge or you can't measure its success. So anyway, long story short,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I was fired.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Nah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: didn't plot twist. You thought I was gonna say I was killing it. No ma'am. Um, so I did not do well there.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: After a few months, there was this, I cannot remember, I think her name [00:17:00] was Jamila, she was, or Jamila, she was, um, she was like the, the recruiter and such a sweet lady and she was just like, Blair, this is not working out. I was like, I know. So I left and then I found another job. I can't remember where, um, it was like advertising or marketing is what it said. And it, you know, I was like, okay, again, we're still in the same kind of realm. um, the company was called Global. That was it, like Global Inc.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And the guy's name was Daniel Kim. I'll never forget, and again, if you know, you know, this was one of those like outsourcing agencies who get contracts from corporations to like launch new, um, new products or new campaigns.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: guess what Mine was, it was. At t to start, which was easy, right? I had already sold at TI was in the store. So you would come [00:18:00] into the store and the at t store and you may have questions about your cell phone bill, right?
Or maybe you wanna buy a cell phone. But I would be in there with my little clipboard. I would get your home phone number and I would upsell you or your home phone services too easy. I had already done
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: so we were killing that campaign until the contract was over. And so there was a new campaign and I think it was like credit card billing.
It was B2B, so we would go to businesses and sell like credit card processing.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: That was hard. It was, uh, we were glad it was over when it was over. But then, and then, um, there was another campaign which was easier, which was uh, um, energy. So I
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: was like scanner energy. I would go to your door, I would ask you, you know, who are you, um, paying for your energy bill, right?
Um, and then I would just have a lower price, easy I would get you to switch over. Done is done.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So then that campaign ended and [00:19:00] so again, it's with the same
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: The last one was security systems.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: at this point I'd found my niche, right? So B2B I did not love that. Uh, B2C, which is us to just a
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: B2C.
I was like, yeah, great. I've already been selling energy. Um, I could definitely do this. Door to door stuff, not a
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And then there was a move where you had to go into a person's house.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So I also said I'm a little strategist, not because of what I do, because I'm four 10 and a half for anyone out there who doesn't know.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: getting in someone's home, I felt like I was not very intimidating or threatening. Right. So you would have to like point to the back of their home Joe and say like, oh, you already have a security system. Let me take a look. And you would just walk into their house.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh my gosh. And so from there, that's when the pitch would start.
Can you imagine?
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: No.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: No. [00:20:00] Yes. So when you talk about like the boldness that I have, the grittiness that I have, the resiliency that kind of exists in me, I believe it really started from that,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: particular job,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow. I mean, I said no because I would never imagine myself doing that. 'cause I. You know, I, I'm just afraid, you know what, if you just, you don't know who those people are.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Why would I wanna go into their house? Right? And,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: oh, I forgot to mention this part. It was a hundred percent commission,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: so no hourly pay. It was basically, you know, you eat what you
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: of
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. So you have to, yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Exactly. But it taught me a lot about like law of averages. How many doors do I have to knock on in order to hit X amount of
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: It taught me a lot about positivity because you would have to go into the office before you hit the field. And um, if you had a negative attitude, they [00:21:00] called it nagging out. Yeah. So people, there's someone I know who got fired from nagging out. He ended up in tech too, but I thought that was very interesting. But you had to have a positive attitude. You also had to wear a suit to
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: work. Now again, I'm knocking on door selling security systems in Atlanta, Georgia. And then the top salespeople actually ended up going to Houston, Texas. So it's hot. Can you imagine? you had to be very professionally poised. We were 20 something years old.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And I'll never forget, one day I came into the office, there were two, you know, handsome young black men at the front of the, the room and in these great suits, and they were presenting. And I was like, wow, look at them like teaching, you know, this audience about sales skills. Come to find out they were Jehovah's Witnesses as well.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh my gosh.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: they had it in 'em. They had it in 'em. But um, they were two, um, that were of the like top 10, top seven elite sales [00:22:00] folks, including myself that went to Houston.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. a journey at a young age talking about eventful. You're right.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. So you got promoted to and relocated to Houston. Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. And I was about. Maybe 25, 26 at the time.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So again, we thought we were big stuff. We thought we were
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: open this new office, we're in this emerging market, you know. But, um, again, in hindsight, it taught me, it prepared me for startups,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: it prepared me for, you know, wearing multiple hats. Um, it prepared me for leading with influence and leading without
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And, um, because we were, you know, top salespeople, we always had someone with us that was shadowing us.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So that's when I started really training, in essence, um, and coaching.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So I think that's when I started getting a knack for it. I was just like, you know what? love being able to, to win, [00:23:00] but I love creating processes that could be duplicated so other people can win too, right?
So not only do I get the shine, we all shine.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So I, I felt that at a young age, Houston did not work out. We did not open this brand new office that, you know, was sold to us. We were sold a dream. Um, we did this for a little while, so I feel like this whole process was maybe a year and a half
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and, uh, you know, you would see people quitting every day like, y'all are crazy.
This is dumb. Like, y'all aren't even getting paid and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. But we kept going and, um, we did enough to, we did enough to do what we were set out, what we set out to do, which I think is really important. Joe.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: think sometimes we go to jobs and we look up and we don't know why we're
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: but you are going for the pay.
You may be going for the title, you may be going for the credibility. Whatever you're going to get, what you plan to get out of it. And then when it's time to leave, you know when it's time to go.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. I really like that mentality is, you know, [00:24:00] know when to hold on and know when to let go.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Ooh, ooh. That's a theme in personal life and professional
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. Yeah,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Absolutely.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah. Wow. Um, so you let go around, you know, 26, 27, something like that. And that point you have already gone through kind of a few iteration of your early career journey,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: is that when you moved to the West Coast?
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Ooh. Um, almost, not quite. So this is actually when I would say tech career really kind of started
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: at this point Houston didn't work out. You know, my son is traveling back and forth from Atlanta to Houston. Um, I had some, some help there.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um, but that was hard being away from my son and not knowing like, what is happening next. So we, I ended up going back to Atlanta and because I left my apartment, I, I ca I came back to nothing
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: [00:25:00] Right.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um. But my, my brother Blaine, um, he also has two brothers, so we don't do halves. So I have another brother, Gabriel,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Gabriel. He had this beautiful town home in Atlanta. it was a little party house, but we could stay there.
So we stayed there on the bottom floor for a little while until it got a little bit too much for us. There were superstars coming in and out of this house.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: was a time, was, it was a time. we stayed there for a little bit. then, um, I was in a relationship and, you know, we got an apartment and, uh, I got a job at, um, Cox Communications. uh, Cox Communications is a huge, uh, telecom company, a huge media company in Atlanta and probably in other markets as well. uh, I was doing advertising again. So me and one of those, um, top salespeople, we, we got a cushy job. So we went from the field. Now we're inside with ac.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: yay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay, we have a salary making 50 KA [00:26:00] year.
We're like, we are living it up. Um, he couldn't stand it. He was just like, you know what? Corporate is not for me. Like he was physically ill. He ended up leaving. so he went a different path and I stayed the corporate path. I stayed at this, uh, startup, I think it was called, um, kudzu. Kudzu. Uh, so we were like, um, it was like Groupon for home services, so home services and it was advertising sales as well.
And I did really well. I was one of the top folks there and then they shut down Kudzu. And, uh, I was recruited by Dell,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: That's when it, yep, that's when it started. So I don't know if I had a LinkedIn profile back then. I must have, because I don't know how they found me, but I was recruited by Dell. They were taking too long to get back to me and I was like, I need a job. So I started looking for jobs that were similar and I found Veeam Software. So that's V-E-E-A-M.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Now Veeam is where I really started my tech career. It was backup and replication software, and I started as an inside [00:27:00] salesperson. I was there for four years. And, uh, that is where, yeah, I think that, yeah.
I was at, at Veeam for, I was trying to think if that's where I started making my six figures. But, um, I think with, uh, commission
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Right. Wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah. And so I was there for four years before moving on to Dell. Then I did go to Dell SecureWorks.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: But it took a while.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. It took a little while. It was, yeah. They were just taking too long.
And then, um, Dell, I think, uh, I was ready to do training. So, um, there was actually a woman in the front of the room who trained us, who did new hire training. And bless our heart, we've had this conversation since I could tell her heart wasn't in it.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I was just like, she needs someone that does sales in the front of the
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And so I offered to, to just come in and speak to folks, and I did. And so I did the hybrid thing for a little
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And so long story short, she decided to quit one day. [00:28:00] This was, uh, you know, years later maybe. And she said, you know, you've been helping me out. And the first person that I can think of to take my role would be you.
I was on vacation
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Ah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and she called my manager. My manager called me and was like, Hey, the role is open. Do you want it? and she kind of discouraged me at the beginning. I remember she was like, Blair, you're never gonna make as much training. As you what in sales? Like, why would you wanna do training? And I, I, you know, shared my love and my passion for, you know, helping other people win. And she was like, all right. And so I started in that role at 80 k.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And, uh, that's when my training career, my, my sales training career started and I started training new hires, doing onboarding training at that point for all roles, C-level engineers, sales, any, anyone you could think of.
So that really started the foundation of my tech career.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um, and then I did enablement at Dell. And then that's when I was just like, Hey, [00:29:00] I'm ready to take it to the top. I'm ready to go director level. And that's when I started looking for jobs on the west coast.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Gotcha. Wow. Okay. That's really awesome because talking about doing something that you love and passionate about while, you know, supporting a lifestyle that is important to you, plus you are a parent, so of course every decision you make or made have to be, you know about your child as well.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, you know what? And you're absolutely right. I remember fussing with my, my best friend or one of my, you know, them best friends, and she would often say, or say something to the tune of, you know, you can't, you can't move and you can't keep making these kind of changes, these risks because, you know, you're not thinking about your child. And I'm paraphrasing.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And, um, I remember us, you know, kind of going back and forth, just talking about what parenthood meant to each of
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Now, you know, I lost my parent at a young [00:30:00] age, didn't have the best relationship with my father, and, uh. Parenting was just different for me. You know, I didn't believe you had to give up your dream, I didn't believe that it had to look one way, that you had to just stay at home or, you know, work a dead end job or, you know, that was it.
I just didn't believe that I was, I was just built
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um, and I remember, uh, you know, not even wanting to identify, this sounds crazy now because this is all I identify as I feel like, but identify as, you know, a mom first, because I didn't want that to be my soul identity. And I didn't want to forget about all the other things that were important to me. But of course, with time and with age, I realized I can identify as a mom first and still have that mentality. So, know that that's what, not having you know, your parents around or not having adults around who are living the life that you wanna live
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.[00:31:00]
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: because you're constantly reprogramming yourself. You have to have mentors around.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's part of the kind of, uh, blessing in disguise. Um, it's tragic to lose a parent at a young age and the kind of. Um, not grieving or kind of, uh, you basically, you have to, you had to grow up as your own parent as well. So that part I think is very, I mean, it's hard at the same time, so critical for your kind of maturing as a person for yourself and for your child.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Absolutely. Uh, absolutely. And again, it's not giving all myself the credit by any stretch of the imagination. I think, you know, all of these people and all of these adults contributed to who I am today. But having that constant, steady figure in your life, um, at [00:32:00] least one, is really, really important. And I think Nene, um, again, my godmother, uh, was, was, was that person. Um, in addition to that, because we're all different and we're all
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I believe children need and deserve to have their gifts nurtured.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Like in high school, you know, especially moving from somewhere else. You know, I was weird to a lot of
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um, I didn't, you know, even know that I was, you know, cute or attractive until maybe junior year or
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: senior year in high school.
You know, I have very, um, uh, features, I say, but, you know, I have big nose, I have big lips, you know, I'm a curvy
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and, you know, I was called Big Nose Blair. I didn't, I didn't think that I was cute. I know, right? I know. Well, I'm giving side eye to those people too. A, it is what it is. But at the same time, I don't feel like, um, I knew that I was stylish or that I was, [00:33:00] um, a little, a powerhouse in the making until much later in life.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: uh, and I, and uh, unfortunately, I, I lost my father too while I was at Veeam. So at that point my, my father passed away. You know, I felt like an adult orphan. I was, um. I still had this drive in
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and this ambition, and then this little light, which was my son, who was constantly motivating to do more, to do better, and to be great. So,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: that's wonderful. And, um, again, it's hardship, but that really shaped you, who you are today. Um, so I'm hoping folks who are listening can also, you know, take a lesson from that experience as well, because we all go through things in this life, but what do we do about it is our choice.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um, yeah. So. So then you started looking for jobs to the West [00:34:00] Coast and you know, at the beginning of our conversation, we talked about career, we talked about community, and then talk about another SEAS connection
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: yes. There
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: earlier.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: So now I'm, I guess we are, you know, moving to the, maybe perhaps the west coast. After you launch your new kind of job search, uh, I'm curious to see if connection has kind of helped you along the way.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Absolutely. You know, at this point, you know, I always say that I was born in Dallas, Texas, raised in Louisville, Kentucky, launched my career in Atlanta, but I became a woman. I became the woman that I wanted to be, um, in Portland.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And so when I was in Atlanta looking for these jobs, you know, I was dating a guy and he lived on the West Coast, or no, he didn't live, he worked on the West Coast.
And I was just like, oh yeah, maybe I should move out there so I could be closer back. Um, so still glad I did. And, um, I started looking for director level [00:35:00] positions because I wanted to, to people lead at that time. And so there were two roles that were presented to me. One was, um, uh, or that I settled on. was at, um. ZoomInfo, or it's called, or it was DiscoverOrg and it was director of, think like sales training or something
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Training and enablement, probably. Training and enablement. And then the other role was at LinkedIn. So back, yes, back then in 20 18, 20 18, LinkedIn, um, uh, some type of consultant role, I think back then as well. And so I asked my son Trent, I was like, Hey, you know, this is a big move. You're about to go into high school. want you to feel a part of this
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Which city would you choose? So we, we went to Portland one day and, you know, kind of traveled around and he got to see Portland. We started looking up stuff in San Francisco because that's where I would
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and how much it would be.
And you know, the apartment was like a $3,000 for one bedroom. And he said milk was [00:36:00] $10. He still says that to this day. I don't know where he was looking. so we went to, I took him to a, a, a concert rolling loud. Don't ask, um, back in May, just so you know, we can, you know, forge that connection, listen to some music together.
And so it was around Mother's Day and I got the call, from ZoomInfo, and he, he was just like, that's the one that, or DiscoverOrg, he said, that's the one I think we should be in Portland. It reminds me a lot of Louisville, like geographically. Um, and, uh, it looks like a community. And plus it's close to Nike. My son's in fashion. Yeah, he's into fashion and he, he was like, I wanna work for Nike. So I let him choose.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: let him choose. so we actually ended up in Vancouver, Washington, where the headquarters is, um, for a couple of years before I bought a house in,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: in Portland, Oregon.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: hmm. Wow,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: that's so beautiful. And I mean, talk about the mother, son kind of [00:37:00] bond, right? It's like.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, that's my best friend. Yeah.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Just think about the trust you have for each other. It's like having the ability to choose, like both of you. It's not just like one person's decision. It's like, let's try it out. Let's field it out. Let's visit, let's hang out there and see how you feel about it.
And I, I think that's just a very, it's a very beautiful process and I feel, um, parenting today is hard. And, um, if more parents can, uh, have the opportunity to build that trust and that bond with their children, um, it, it's just so beautiful.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Thank you. And you know what? We had always been very close. Um, and I really pride myself on introducing to him to some great music, some great musical artists. We are very rap forward in our household. And so there were artists like Young [00:38:00] Jeezy and Lil Wayne, you know, that he grew up on, and Jay-Z. And so, you know, our musical, um, tastes were pretty
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: mean, for obvious reasons. And then he started getting his own musical taste, which as he should, you know, shaped by his friends and all that
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And then shaped by living in Atlanta.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And, um, I was like, I, he always had his headphones on.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: hmm,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Would you like that as a teenager? Like I'm, no. Right. wasn't even, he always had his headphones.
I was like, what is he listening to?
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And I started listening to some, I was like, oh, these lyrics are a little, little weird. It was like XXX ion, I think back then. And some of it was kind of, I think it was like Playboy, Cardi, and some of it was kind of, um, not quite, um, it was a little depressing, like, I think they called it emo.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay. Yes.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So I was like, so that's why I, I recommended we go to this concert so I could
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Um.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and list and get the, the feel for the energy. And so when you're talking about parenting and connecting with, you know, your children or [00:39:00] anyone, sometimes you just need to be in their space.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I think we forget that even as we're in community and, and working with other people, like we want them to, you know, show up to volunteer or come to this gala or come to this event with me. But, you know, you and I, we'll do coffee and just chitchat about relationships and.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: What's going on in
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: That connection is really important from youth to, to adulthood through adulthood.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, I think that's very, you are right. It's not just with children or young people, but really with, uh, everyone or anyone in our life is having the, almost like the courage. 'cause I feel sometimes feel, people feel kind of intimidated or I think we talked about this before, like the intimidating part of building relationships and being in someone's space.
But if we don't take that step, we may never have the opportunity to get to know [00:40:00] each other and then potentially influence each other in a very positive way.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. that's how we truly get to, to learn more about each other. It's not asking stereotypical questions. I'll never forget, you know, again, growing up in sales and tech, you know, some things were, um. Accepted that definitely wouldn't be accepted today because it was a very dominant culture. It's white male dominated, you know, slamming your fist on the desk and f-bombs.
And you know, if you sit next to someone and asking someone you know, you know what type of rap artist you like, why would you even assume that? Now I do love rap, but why would you assume that?
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: maybe I love classical, you know?
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: maybe I do. But you know, so I think, um, it's really important that, again, we take the time to be in each other's space so that we can learn more about each other as well.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I love that. Yeah. Oh, go ahead. Sorry.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, I was just gonna say, and so we, [00:41:00] um, can also feel more comfortable being ourselves around, uh, you know, that, that dominant culture. But what were you gonna say?
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm. Oh, I was going to say, um, in today's world, especially in the US it's very, uh, individualistic and I feel that can get very polarizing. And so that even drive people away further from each other. Is this individualistic kind of ideology or kind of value si value system and being in other people's space, I feel perhaps is a remedy to that so that we can, you know, have the chance to actually build something together, be it a connection, be it a community or like a space just so that we can hold each other.
Um, so yeah, I was just gonna say, say that.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I love that. so, you know, leaning into, you know, what we were talking about as far as, you know, all these changes and moving to this space, again, [00:42:00] moving from Atlanta to Portland, you know, if you don't know, uh, do your Googles about the demographics, but totally
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. Very different.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: at diversity totally different, you know, in Atlanta or there times where I felt uncomfortable, maybe so, because my peers at the time were like 50-year-old white men, you know, and it was just a different conversation, you know, these folks were married, you know, they, I, we just didn't have, um, anything in common it felt like, right?
So sometimes it felt uncomfortable
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: got to know each other. And then as time went on, um, in a more, uh, you know, dominant culture or white dominant culture, um, I think that feeling was much more. Uh, pervasive, like
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and that code switching came about. So I, I wonder if you can relate to this, but you know, whether it's your voice or your name or know,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Definitely.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: the case may be, have you experienced like the need to code switch?
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: definitely. [00:43:00] Yeah. I mean, uh, at the moment I, um, moved to the US you know, uh, from China. I kind of just almost immediately started to learn about, you know, how people speak and, uh, just even like your posture, even your body language even, you know? 'cause I lived in the Midwest for a couple years for, uh, grad school.
You definitely observe how people, uh, kind of behave there. It does a lot of like, um, being friendly or being easygoing and just very. Uh, very different from other parts in the country. So I think even as a student, I started to observe the kind of different language and what people say. And sometimes it's like, you know, there's a term called benevolent racism.
Um, right. Like, like they will say something that they think is a [00:44:00] compliment, but it, it actually feels weird. Like they will actually say, oh, I will never have guessed that you are from China, or things like that,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, I see.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: But like, it sounds like a compliment, but it's not. 'cause it's like, kind of like what I mean, yeah.
I'm from China, there's nothing wrong about it. What, what are you talking about? Uh, so, so that kind of like. Language definitely taught me kind of early in my early days in the US is I need to learn how to speak, not just the language itself, but kind of like in what situation you say what things like that.
So yeah, code switching. And also in the tech industry, of course it's like, it's all this kind of masculine language being used. Like be a rock star. Not everyone wants to be a rock star. You are killing it. No,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: You're crushing it. [00:45:00] All
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: you are.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Like everything is just so kind of like hard.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Correct.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: what else? Yeah, there's just a lot of like language that I feel are used by man
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I feel like as a woman, I don't necessarily want to kill it or like break a leg.
No, no one to break a leg.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: You are so funny. You know, it's, it's very interesting. Um, when I took a break from Tech for the second time, for a very small period of time, I realized too that I was bringing that type of leadership into a much more feminine space, a much more fragile
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: we won't get into that too much, but you know, these, that experience or these experiences can definitely shape you. because you, to want to show up how people that are successful are showing
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And when we were introduced, you introduced yourself to me as summer. So [00:46:00] tell me about, uh,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: that was like 2018. So 2018 I was still in the tech industry. I, I used my kind of like nickname. Or like a, a faced out name summer when I moved to the US reasons being like one, I was lazy. 'cause
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: when I was in China, we, we started learning English early, right? Like I was maybe nine years old when I learned my first English word.
Um, and, and then in middle school, our English teacher asked us to pick, uh, uh, an English name as a nickname so that we could use that in class. So it was a way to kind of help us learn the language and for whatever reason, I picked Summer as my nickname as a child. And,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: and, and then that was it. So nothing happened with the name until I moved to the us And so we went to grad school and I was like, no one [00:47:00] knows how to say my name, Joe.
So I'm just gonna kind of dig my old name out. And I just started using summer again and I continued to use it, uh, you know, after I entered the workforce.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: And, um, yeah, so I just kept using it and they was, it was easy 'cause no one had to learn how to say my name. And in the tech industry, you know, everything's very fast-paced.
Who got time for that? No one's got time to learn how to say your name. Um, and also summer is just, it's a, it's a semi unique name, so it's a very memorable, it's know you introduce you, um, with the name and people just remember your name immediately. So that was also kind of like helpful air coating a way, uh, when I was working in tech, but I think somewhere after 2018, I think it was around [00:48:00] 20, around COVID and then Black Lives Matter movements,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I started to think, you know, I think people, I mean, I deserve to use my real name and
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I feel like I don't want to consider my name as a chore.
Like my name's now a chore.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: that's correct.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: So I, I, around the time when I started my own practice. Intersectional group. I just, I just, I made a hard switch. I just like, I don't, I'm just gonna coat, coat Turkey. Anyone, everyone I encounter from now on, uh, will know me as Joe and I will gradually tell my friends and community members, you know, I have stopped using the old name.
And please call me Joe, going forward.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I love that.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: you.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: know, and [00:49:00] congratulations.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, thanks. Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I know I have, I have a lot of name privilege. You know, one syllable sounds the same just about in every language. So I definitely, um, you know, I, I think about, you know, you and my best friend DeAngelo, you know, constantly
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Correcting, uh, folks' names. So thank you for that.
And I think for you, I would introduce you a summer and then you would shake someone's hand and say, hi, my name is Joe. And I was like, oh, maybe. So I think I just kind of gradually caught on, so,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, it is a process, you know, every now and then, I still would have someone from a long time ago. It's like, I think it was just this summer, I ran into an old friend who I hadn't seen for years, and then he called my old name and I just immediately told him, um, I, I'm using my, you know, Chinese name now.
So, and I taught him at a spa and then he learned it at a spa. So, like, it, it really, it takes one minute to teach someone to say your name. It's why not?
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: so [00:50:00] yeah, so thank you. It's, it's a gradual process, but at this point, I wanna say 99% people in my life now, just, just call me Joe. Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I love that. Yeah. And then I think that's another lesson in just paying attention to, you know, your friends. You didn't have to say, Hey Blair, I don't go by that name anymore because you never said that to me. I just paid attention and just asked. And even after all of this time, you know, we both, um, checked in with each other at the very beginning of the call.
I just wanna verify, how do you say your last
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: pronounce your first name? Uh, I think, you know, time goes on and people just forget, uh, the, the details that really matter,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: And I feel, you know, in, in this culture, in the US feel sometimes people sometimes feel like embarrassed to ask that, um, people just feel like, oh, I should know this. Or people just assume other people should just know this.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Right.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: but you know, again, we're in a very diverse society and there were a [00:51:00] lot of like cultural differences and preference.
I feel it's always a good idea to ask and double check it. It doesn't really say you are stupid or you are ignorant. It, it just shows that you care about it.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes. That's another C we can
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. Care.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I love that.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a theme that came up for me as I moved out to the West Coast, focusing more on care.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, I would, uh, well, I shouldn't say I would agree 'cause I feel folks in the Midwest, they are genuinely, they are pretty caring people as well. Um, but of course life is different there. So, um, at this point, you, well, let's talk about today then. Like, you moved to, you know, it comes full circle, right?
Like
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: did. Yes.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: it came up before and now it's a reality. Talk about your transition from Portland to Oakland and from Portland to LinkedIn.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh my [00:52:00] goodness. You know, when I think about this, um, this last c you know, this, this care, um, remember I told you, you know, I was very selfish and, um, a little bit of a savage as well when it came to my personal relationships in my early twenties. Just, you know, um, after being hurt and experiencing so much pain and so much loss, I felt like again, God, you owe me and I'm gonna put this on other people, which was a very selfish, um, thing to do.
And it took some healing and some self-awareness and therapy to get through that. And so now I'm in a space where, you know, I can focus on caring for others. Not in a way that censors myself, but in a way that develops other people. Um, so whether that's professionally, so again, right now I work at LinkedIn as a senior sales performance consultant, which is very much so on brand because I did have some, um, other stints at some great companies like AWS and Salesforce, um, in between there. But I only worked there for, you know, a couple of years, um, each [00:53:00] time and I started to feel like I'm just a consultant. That's what I kept. I kept saying that I'm just a consultant. Like I go into these companies, um, at times of, you know, rapid growth or change. I go make an impact and I put something in place that can live on and then it's time for me to move on.
Like that had been my theme. I'd only been at two jobs for four years, which was. At t and Veeam. so these other ones were, you know, just adding to my experience. So now to work in the capacity of, you know, a leader, not a people leader, but a leader in the sense of, I work with executives, um, leaders and leaders of leaders to help uh, develop their talent to help them. With their sellers, um, to help them win more and save time, thinking about how do we leverage technology, whether it's ai, et cetera, et cetera, in a way to, to help them be much more productive and effective in their roles. Um, this is what [00:54:00] I've been doing all along. I've been partnering with leaders and founders, even in my entrepreneurship
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: um, uh, to coach them, to mentor them, to consult them, to create strategies, um, excuse me, and now execute and build on these strategies as well. So I'm really excited to, to do that in this role. Um, as far as where I live, uh, our headquarters is in San
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: It's, um, the dream. When I tell you I'm spoiled, spoiled, I mean, there's a cafeteria, breakfast is free, lunch is free. Um, you know, all the snacks, all the lattes. Spoiled. Okay. Like I had to slow down my first month.
I was like, Ooh, I still have to watch out. My face is a little puffy. I was like, ah, have been living life. Um, and then I found Oakland. Well, a friend of mine, um, drove me around and I was like, this is my place. This is, this feels like community. Um, you know, one of the first apartment buildings I went to look at, they were speaking to the, uh, I wanna say the [00:55:00] city council person, you know, in the penthouse.
You know, like the, the community had gotten together in that high rise to, to ask questions. And I was like, this is my place. Um, so I didn't live, I didn't choose that apartment building, but the sense of it, there's a big lake called Lake Merit. I can walk around. So lots of greenery, um, not too far from downtown. Um, I decided to live a car-free life a little over a year
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Nice.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: not even knowing what I was gonna do. I thought I was gonna live somewhere internationally. So I don't have a car. I don't have those types of worries. I just, uh, get on the bart and um, I came over to Oakland. I was like, wow, I can get to work in 20
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I don't have to, you know, I can still get a little exercise in and
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Uh, but it's just a convenient, beautiful life. Oakland is like Atlanta and Portland had a baby. Yep.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Say that again.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yep. Oakland is like Atlanta and Portland got together and had a child. Oakland is it's love child. [00:56:00] Okay. It's between the people, the style, the community, the heart, uh, the diversity, um, just the way, you know, from the hood to the neighborhood, like everything in between reminds me of both cities.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow. I love it. Another reason I'm laughing is, uh, a couple, so I visited Oakland this summer to see some friends, and they also moved from Portland to Oakland.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, wow.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: And before that they, they, so they are from New York. Um, they're basically like, they are like real, like New Yorkers. They're from New York. New New York.
So I, I'm laughing because they also shared with me that Oakland is like, it feels like community. Like they feel like they can be there. Um, they didn't live in Atlanta, so I'm laughing because I'm really, I wanna share that with them [00:57:00] so bad.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yep. See what they say.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, I mean if you're open to it, I'm happy to connect you with them.
Um,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: love
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah, they've lived there for a couple years now, so not exactly new to town, but relatively new. And, um, yeah, they took us to some pretty fun places in Oakland. So yeah, I'm happy to connect you with them. And, um, one of them works for Bart, actually as their
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: director of communications, um, at Bart. Uh, so yeah, talk about enjoying the, the transit, public transit.
Public transit is great.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: yes. There are some people who have made faces like you, like Bart. I'm like, yeah, it's fine. But I think it also depends on where you move from and where you're
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: know? Um, there's, there's metros and different places, whether it's Atlanta, um, to, to
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and those are different experiences in every place.
But I find it [00:58:00] clean and quiet and easy. And I watch my YouTube videos about where to stay away from and I talk to people, you know, it's safe.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: time.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, exactly. I mean, knock on wood, you could always use your shoe as a self-defense.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Come on, look circle. I dunno, these days I'm wearing sneakers. I don't know if that's helpful, but.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I'm sorry.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I don't worry about it too much. I just, you know, mind my business and, uh, you know, I, I make sure that I'm taking care of myself so I can take care of others. I think that's a big part of this living alone or empty nesting.
Well, maybe they kicked me out of the nest.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah, I was gonna say like, wait.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I forgot to mention that. So I, I bought a home in
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: 2021.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And so my son, he's 22. He's, he lives in the
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: so I call him the man, man, ager the house manager. So I try to make sure he remembers. He's not quite the head of household, [00:59:00] because I'm still paying a good portion of it.
But he and his brother live there. His brother, he has several siblings on his father's
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: So his 19-year-old brother lives there with him. And, uh, we call it the launchpad, you
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I love that.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: This is where they can practice adulthood,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: have some safety.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: enrolling back in
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: and then they have plans to bring their other siblings there year after year.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, oh.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah, when I talk about care, that's what I mean. It's not, I'm not
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Wow.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: here catching flights and, you know, making my dreams come true for me, it's to really give people around me the permission to do the same.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh my gosh. That is so cool. Like I imagine your house, the launchpad being an incubator.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Uh,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: yes. That's exactly what it is.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: that made my heart smile. Now, now I wanna put structure around that. But yeah, we have our, [01:00:00] our weekly accountability sessions.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Okay.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: we hop on the call, they talk about their goals, they talk about what they've accomplished. I may give them some tactical things like, Hey, have you called pest control?
Or, you know, did you make sure you, um, called the a DT, you know, little things. And then I, I'm gonna start assigning them bills. And so, know, it, it just takes a spin on that idea that, you know, once you're 18, you need to, you know, get outta the
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: sell mama's house. And, you know, no, let's create a culture of family verb. Like we're doing family together and I love that it
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: I love that. It's like, oh gosh, that reminds me, you know, love is not just a nun, it's a verb.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: is.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: And how do we love
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: that?
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. How do we show that? How do we demonstrate
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Does that mean for a long time? For me it was like, okay, how much money do you need? Or how can I help you get your business started? Or what [01:01:00] can I buy for you? Um, like I'm just trying to, you know, buy your love. You know, I went through different, different iterations, this squiggly line, whether
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: professionally or personally, but now I'm at a place where it's just like, okay, how can I support
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Mm-hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: And it may be carving out an hour once a week to talk to my brother about how do you build an AI business. It could be, you know, again, these accountability sessions with my, with my young, my young men is what I call it. Um, so it's not always financial. How do you give your time? How do you really demonstrate mentorship?
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: And I think that's much more sustainable, right? You are giving them the tools that, you know, they will need, you know, on this journey. Um, so,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: How to fish,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: teach them how to fish.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Teach 'em how to fish. Exactly. Um, so, wow. Okay. Um, I, we do need to wrap up here, even though I don't really want to, um,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: It's okay.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: yeah. We need another session to talk about travel.[01:02:00]
That that's what's on my mind.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: I would love that.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. Um, so that's, you know, that's a, that's another date. Let's put a pin on it.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Let's do it. And then it can be a real conversation. Um, but I really appreciate you taking the time to ask me these questions. It allows me to be reflective and introspective in a way that, um, is very useful to me right now. So this is a very valuable session.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Oh, thank you.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: you're, you're an amazing human.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: you too. You too. Oh my gosh, I'm so happy. Um, do you want people to find you, and if so, how do people find you? LinkedIn,
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Uh,
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: obviously.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: LinkedIn. That's what I was gonna say. obviously. Blair g Hery, that's Blair with an e, Hery with two E's. Um, G is the middle initial, like genius maker, gorgeous. Great, whatever. Um, and then Blair g Hery also on Instagram. I'm back.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Hmm. You have returned.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yes, come see you a little bit [01:03:00] about my style and about my travels, but I would love to connect with you in either place.
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Thank you so much, Vale again.
blaire-g--hervey_1_10-13-2025_120727: Thank you. All right. Have a good
zhou--she-her-_1_10-13-2025_120727: Yeah. Let me stop here. I.