Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors: Shatter Limiting Beliefs - Redefine Success - Chase Big Dreams

Unleash Your Inner Bad B!tch, with Dr. Syreeta Rios

• Erica Anderson Rooney • Episode 62

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0:00 | 39:02

WHAT IF

What if the thing that’s been holding you back isn’t your resume, your credentials, or your experience. But the version of yourself you’ve been shrinking to fit rooms that were never built for you? Dr. Syreeta Rios has a doctorate, two decades in tech, a PMP certification, and a global career that took her from Delaware to Atlanta to Dubai. She still had to fight every single step of the way. Her answer wasn’t to conform. It was to unleash.


SUMMARY & GUEST INTRO

Dr. Syreeta Rios walked into corporate America with every credential they said she needed. The bachelor’s, the MBA, the PMP. And they still told her she couldn’t handle the questions. She built her career anyway, taking herself from the conference rooms of the US to international assignments in Dubai, navigating single motherhood, divorce, and her own dark seasons, and coming out the other side with a framework she now teaches women across the country. She’s an Afro-Latina tech executive, board member, 2024 International Impact Book Award winner, founder of the Bad Bitch Boardroom, host of the Professional Bad Bitch Podcast, and author of Unleash Your Inner Bad Bitch. She means every single word of it. I needed this conversation. And by the end of it, so will you.


INSIDE THE EPISODE

  • Credentials Weren’t Enough. Dr. Syreeta had the bachelor’s, the MBA, the PMP — and still heard “I don’t think you can handle the questions.” She breaks down the moment she stopped asking for permission, started networking around the gatekeepers, and went and got it herself. FAFO energy, activated.
  • Dubai, Disrespect, and Discovering Her Authentic Self. As one of six Americans and one of four Black people in a workplace abroad, Dr. Syreeta was called fat every single day. She stayed for three years, proved herself anyway, and credits that pressure cooker environment with the moment her authenticity fully came alive. When everyone questioned her worth, she stopped questioning it herself.
  • The B.A.D. B.I.T.C.H. Acronym. Before you clutch your pearls — it’s an acronym. Brave. Ambitious. Determined. Bold. Intelligent. Talented. Creative. Heroic. Dr. Syreeta breaks it down and makes the case that if you have even three to five of those qualities, you are already a bad bitch. It’s time to take credit for it.
  • From Shy to Unstoppable. Dr. Syreeta was super shy in her first corporate job — quiet in meetings, dressed to blend in, watching her ideas get credited to the man sitting next to her. She traces the slow, deliberate transition from shrinking to showing up. Starting with the hoops, the wings, and the decision to stop making herself smaller for rooms that didn’t deserve her full self.
  • Project Management Is a Life Framework. Scope management. Stakeholder management. Communication management. Dr. Syreeta has spent 15 years applying PM frameworks to billion-dollar projects. Every single one maps directly to life. Whether you’re planning a birth, running a household, or navigating a career pivot, you are already a project manager.
  • The Guilt Audit. Career mom guilt. Partner guilt. Family guilt. Dr. Syreeta breaks down where it all comes from: an ex-husband who told her she was putting her job before her family while she was on back-to-back meetings during COVID with a one-year-old in the house. Her reframe: the things that fill you up don’t need to be justified to anyone. And science backs it up — career moms do not negatively impact their kids. Full stop.
  • Dark Places and Real Talk. Dr. Syreeta spent three to four years in a genuinely dark place: divorce, single motherhood, starting over. She wrote her book in the middle of it, which triggered it all over again. Her message to any woman in that place right now: you are not alone, you are still a bad bitch, and therapy is not optional. Go get a therapist. Even when things are good.


RESOURCES & LINKS


HER Collective: Send Erica a DM. She’ll invite you to sit in on a live HER Collective session as her personal guest. No pressure, no strings attached.



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[00:00:00] Erica Rooney: Welcome to Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors, the podcast where we stop playing small, start calling things out, and actually do something about it. I'm your host, Erica Rooney, executive coach, speaker, and a little bit of a movement maker, and I'm on a mission to get more women into positions of power and keep them there.

Because let's be honest, we've been told to lean in, but not too far, to speak up, but not too loudly, to be ambitious, but somehow still likable. And y'all, we're done doing that. This is the space where we break it all down, the sticky floors, the ceilings, and the gaps that are shaping who gets ahead, especially in this next era of AI and leadership.

Some of it's mindset, some of it's burnout, and some of it is the system working exactly as it was designed. Either way, we're not staying stuck in it. Each episode is your nudge to move, one decision, one shift, one bold [00:01:00] step forward. No overhauls, y'all. No waiting until you feel ready. Just real momentum. So if you're ready to think bigger, move smarter, and build power on your own terms, you're in the right place.

Let's smash the ceilings and close the gaps. 

All right, y'all. I've gotta tell you, I have been looking forward to this conversation that we are about to have for a while now, because today's guest is the kind of woman who just walks into the room and she makes you immediately wanna level up. Y'all, she has spent 20 years as a project management powerhouse.

She's working in tech, holding board positions with the Project Management Institute in LA and Dubai. Y'all, she got a doctorate in business administration, y'all, all while being a mom, a wife, an entrepreneur, and an Afro-Latina woman who has been navigating spaces that y'all, we know this, they weren't built for her.

She is known as the Fashionable PMP. She is a [00:02:00] 2024 International Impact Book Award winner, founder of the Edgy Opulence Lifestyle and the Bad Bitch boardroom, and host of her own podcast, Professional Bad Bitch Podcast. Y'all, she also wrote a book with the title that I love, called Unleash Your Inner Bad Bitch.

So y'all, this is right up our alley. But before you go out there clutching your pearls, okay, just know that she means every single word of it, and by the end of today's episode, so will you. So Dr. Sarita Rios-Bond, welcome to the Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floor Podcast. How are you? 

[00:02:37] Dr. Syreeta Rios: All right, thank you so much.

[00:02:41] Erica Rooney: Oh my gosh. I'm so happy to 

[00:02:41] Dr. Syreeta Rios: be here. 

[00:02:43] Erica Rooney: Girl, I'm so glad you're hopping today. It's gonna be such a fun conversation. If you're listening, people, y'all, I hope you're driving in the car. I hope you don't have kids. Get your earphones on, 'cause we're about to have some grown folk talk here. Yes. If you couldn't tell by the intro, right?[00:03:00] 

So, Dr. Cerita, we're gonna kick it off, right? You have a doctorate. You've got two decades of experience. Mm-hmm. You've got a PMP- Mm-hmm ... that's a project management professional certification, and you have a career in tech that has spanned, you know, so many years, and it's a global role, but you still had to, to fight to be in the room.

So I'd love to kick it off. Just tell me a moment in your career where you really realized that the credentials weren't gonna be enough. Like, let's keep it real. 

[00:03:30] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Oh my goodness, yes. Um, wow, it's been... Okay, so it's been such a long time and a long journey, um, with these last, like, 15 years, um, at the company that I'm at now, but, um, I noticed that it wasn't enough when, uh, any time that I applied for a higher level role.

Um, so the first time I applied for a higher level role, keep in mind, I already had the previous role of being a [00:04:00] manager. I, like, ran, like, a store, things like that, and, um, I had my bachelor's at the time, working on my MBA. And the person was just like, "Oh, I don't even think you can handle the questions."

Damn. Okay, bruh, even though I just did this role in, the role before I came here, I did this role. So I was like, "Okay, cool. You got me. Okay." What is it? FA, FO, fuck around and find out. Okay. F-A-F-O. Watch, now I'm gonna kill you. Well... So I, yeah, so now I'm gonna ruin you. All right, so then I was like, okay. And then when I applied for another role, so any time I was doing a higher level, oh, no, you gotta have an MBA.

Oh, no, you gotta be in a managerial leadership position to get those roles. Oh, no, this and this. It was always like a setback. So I'm like, okay, so now I got my bachelor's, now I got my MBA, now I'm PMP certified, now what you gonna tell me? So I stopped asking for permission. I stopped asking people to, "Hey, I'm gonna go ahead and apply for this role.

What [00:05:00] do you think?" Like, I stopped doing none of that. Like, I d- no. I was like, you know what? Fuck that. I'm just gonna go ahead and get, get it myself. So I started doing my own networking. Um, and I knew what I was bringing to the table. I knew the level of experience that I had. And plus, I am a people person, and I'm cool as sh*t.

So I'm just like, okay, let me use these skills to get to where I wanna be and actually find the people th- that can make a difference. Sometimes the people that you work with are not the ones that's gonna help you get to where you wanna go. Huh. And that's just being real, especially if they are just, like, a couple levels ahead of you.

Either they will try to help you progress, or they wanna keep you where you at, especially if you're good at it. And that's just, that's just honesty. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna go ahead and, and apply for these roles myself. I'ma hit up the recruiters directly. I'ma talk to the managers directly. Who do I know in there?

And that's how I was able to progress and move to different roles. And then they were like, "Well, how come you didn't tell me?" No, I did tell you. I did [00:06:00] tell you that I'm always looking for the next level. I put that in my review. I put that in all of my development conversations. Yeah, I wanna do this, and wanna do that.

You didn't lead me there, so don't claim that you did either. So yeah, that, oof. I'm s- 

[00:06:13] Erica Rooney: No, I love it. Like, because this is such a real thing, is so many women often wait to be tapped, or they're looking for the right support. Right. Oh. And what I'm hearing from you is at first you're like, "Yeah, I'm gonna talk about these things.

I'm gonna, you know, hopefully it, it gives me the support and the confidence I need." And then you quickly realize, like, no, these people are probably more threatened by me than anything else, and they wanna keep me small- Yeah ... for whatever reason, right? Yep. Maybe you are the person that always- Yep ... makes them look good.

I don't know. But then you just- Right ... became more of that, like, silent assassin. Like, "I'm just gonna do it myself," that, "Thank you, I see you now, but I'm not gonna let it stop me." Mm-hmm. That's, that's the vibe, right? 

[00:06:53] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yep, exactly, exactly. I love it. You can't wait on them. And, you know, like once I [00:07:00] moved overseas, then that was a whole different level, too.

Mm. So I, I progressed, um, in the States and everything, and then I was like, "Okay, so now what?" And then the opportunity came for me to, to transfer to Dubai. So I used to live in Dubai for almost three years. Girl, that's so cool. And I worked a role there. Yeah, and it... Oh my God, it's hot as hell. Like 135 degrees easy.

When it's like 100 in Texas, I'm like, "This is nothing." 

[00:07:23] Erica Rooney: I mean, I watched one or two of The Real Housewives of Dubai episodes, so I do know. You could probably just get- Yeah ... a bunch of ice shipped into your pool. 

[00:07:32] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. And this is like, I don't know what type of setting spray they use, 'cause them hos, like, makeup stay on there.

Like I, I can't... I don't get it. But anyway, 'cause I'm like, "How are you not sweating?" 

[00:07:42] Erica Rooney: It's a lot of constant reapplication. 

[00:07:45] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. So anyway, so I moved over there, and wow, that was different. 

[00:07:52] Erica Rooney: I wanna ask you a quick question, right? Hold on, I wanna dial in on this. Mm-hmm. Right? Because you're Afro-Latina, and you're working- Yes

in a corporation where the old [00:08:00] pale stale and the Brad Chad and software developer dads reign strong. Mm-hmm. And then you go to Dubai. Mm. Was it a different vibe from- Yes ... the race and ethnicity standpoint? Like talk to me. 

[00:08:12] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Ooh, okay. So it was, um, and I'm on the chunky side of the game, I've always been a thick girl, right?

So I, and I say this in my book, I say this, like, on my show, everything, like every day I was insulted. 

[00:08:25] Erica Rooney: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:26] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Every single day. So every day I was called fat. Um, I was one of six, um, Americans, one of four, um, like Black people in, in the workplace. Um, and it was rough. Like it was so different. It was different, but not...

It, just a different culture. International business and international corporations, when you're working in that environment, it's solely different. And the reason why I even moved over there was because they were looking for more, [00:09:00] uh, Americans, because we're an American-based company, to come over there and like really to envelop the culture.

Mm-hmm. So I was like, "Oh, okay, got, I got it." But I was not prepared for that. So blatant, straight up disrespect. Um, and the way that they spoke, you know, of course a lot of men, a lot of Middle Eastern men. It's, you know, it's different. Like let's be real, Sharia law, all of that, it's different. They treat women differently.

So I came in there like, "Okay, well, let's get to it," you know, like I'm, this is a part of my team. You're, you're part of my team, but it's a whole bunch of men that was just like, "Who are you? Why are you talking? Oh, and you're fat, and you're Black." I'm like, "You know what? Okay." 

[00:09:44] Erica Rooney: And 

[00:09:44] Dr. Syreeta Rios: you did that for three years?

Here we go again. I'm gonna show you how to do this. You did that for three years? Yeah, girl, yeah. Wow. Okay. Yeah, so when my contracts are up, so everything's like contract work. When them things were up, I was like, "Yeah, I'm ready to go. Bye, peace, see you." Send me home. Yeah. I'm- send me home to my [00:10:00] free, crazy country.

I will take it any day. Like, I'm outta here. Uh, plus it's hot. And I'm, I'm like, if I'm gonna be... And it's like, I'm not getting called fat every day. If anything, we like, we love big girls over here. So I'm just like, "Yeah, bring me back home." But, uh, yeah, that was different navigating that. But then again, I had to show them who I was and show them that I'm, I'm not just like some regular bitch.

I'm, I'm a bad bitch. 

[00:10:23] Erica Rooney: You're a bad bitch. So- You're a bad bitch ... girl, and 

[00:10:25] Dr. Syreeta Rios: that's 

[00:10:26] Erica Rooney: when I 

[00:10:26] Dr. Syreeta Rios: started- 

[00:10:27] Erica Rooney: Yes ... I started my doctorate there. No, hold on one second. I wanna talk about the bad bitch, and the bad bitch framework, and all of that. Like, where does this come in? Did you- Yes ... pull out this bad bitch while you were in Dubai?

Tell me all the things. 

[00:10:40] Dr. Syreeta Rios: You know, I always lived in my sister's shadow, so I kinda came into my own, um, just going, starting work and, and being in these different roles. But it truly, truly tapped in when, um, when I moved on my own. Like, I moved with one paycheck and no job to Atlanta. And I, you [00:11:00] know, 'cause I'm from Delaware, so I moved to Atlanta, was like, "I'm gonna make it.

I'm gonna sell my clothes in boutiques. I'm gonna make it. This is like the Black Mecca. I'm gonna go." And, and then I was thinking like, "Oh, wait a minute. Nobody knows me. I'm here by myself." I had, like, one cousin, and that was it. I'm here by myself in this big ass state. So that's when it started to come in.

That's when I started to really get my bearings and be my true, authentic self, um, and really just tap in. So then I finished all my degrees, and then I moved overseas. That was another level of tapping into the inner bad bitch because then my authenticity truly came alive. I truly became an American. I truly became Afro-Latina.

I lived in my authenticity because every day people were questioning me and questioning my worth. Why are you here? How did you, why did you, uh, put your, why do you put your credentials and your signature in your email? Why do you do this? Why do you do that? So different, and I guess that's just international, you know, like, [00:12:00] politics or whatever.

Either way, I was just like, "Oh my God, I'm standing by who I am. Like- For real. So then the, um- Well, 

[00:12:08] Erica Rooney: hold on real quick Mm-hmm Tell me, 'cause I love this and I can totally- Mm-hmm ... see the authentic side of you because that's who's here with me right now. But tell me about the Sarita that was not that authentic version.

What did she look like? How did she act? Mm-hmm. Like, I wanna see that difference. 

[00:12:24] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. Oh my gosh. I was super shy. Mm. Super-duper shy, um, growing up, and even with my first corporate job. So I came from banking, 'cause in Delaware there's nothing but banks there as jobs. Like, all banks, you know, everybody gets incorporated there.

It makes sense. Um, and just like wearing the suits and, you know, being real quiet in meetings and not really... Just, like, intimidated all the time. Um, anytime I had a idea I went, "Hey, I got an idea," and all that, and they were like, "No." And then, you know, the white guy that was sitting right next to me be like, "Oh, yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking, da da da da da."

And they'd be, "Oh, that's a great [00:13:00] idea." I'm like I just said that. So then super-duper shy, like trying to be with the trends and, and dress like everybody else. And then I was like, "You know what? This isn't working." 

[00:13:13] Erica Rooney: It makes me, or anytime I, I, you know Fitting the square peg into that round hole. 

[00:13:15] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah.

Anytime I went to the, um, like promotion or, or try to interview and everything, "Yeah, Syreeta, we actually... You know, you did great, and the other person did great too. We just chose them." That, that was the feedback, "We just chose them." 

[00:13:30] Erica Rooney: That 

[00:13:30] Dr. Syreeta Rios: ain't good feedback. "Okay. All right. I see how it is then." So I was like, "You know what?

Where the hoops at? Where my wings? All right. I'm done. I'm done." Like, "Let me be me." Get the hoops, get the wings. And especially when I started my... Yeah, when I started my fashion business- Passion about that ... and then I got all, all into the fashion, I was like, "Yeah, I'm bringing... I'm, I'm living this," and that was the end of that.

And it didn't... When I started showing up as myself, it didn't stop anything. Like, anytime I wanted to do something, I was able to do it. 

[00:13:57] Erica Rooney: I think we hear a lot, like, "Just be yourself and step into [00:14:00] yourself," and I, I love that, but I think that's easier said than done. And I think when you- Yeah ... fit yourself into a box for so long...

Talk to me about- Yeah ... like do you do that in small ways? Do you just start wearing brighter colors? Mm-hmm. Do you start, you know, dipping your toe in the pond a little bit, or did you just go all out? You said, "Fuck it," like boom, total makeover. What was it like? 

[00:14:22] Dr. Syreeta Rios: No, no, it was like kind of like just, um, I guess it was like a transition.

Um, I would just like, you know, put the little pieces on that were me. Uh, al- then I just started wearing hoops all the time. I always did, like, my wings and all that. Um, and then just dressing. You know, some, you know, some places do have a, um, a dress code, you know, so you gotta follow that. Right. But just wearing like, you know, like putting it...

Like a graphic tee with some dress pants, stuff like that, just mixing it up. Um, but really, like, going into myself and, and channeling, like, the power that I had. Like, I knew I had this power. I [00:15:00] knew I... I know I am smart. I know I am capable. And just, you know, over time I was just like, okay, you know, I'm not, like, talking super-duper crazy in the meeting.

Like, I still had work etiquette. Don't get it twisted. But still, I'm just like, uh, no, like, you're not going to try to make me into something that I'm not. And my best work comes out as me. Like, I can't sit here and be worried about this and that and all that and what you think, think about me and all that when I got like seven projects that I need to, like, bust out and, and make sure they're successful.

So just really, like, honing in on myself. So yeah, it takes time. It's not easy at all, especially, um, in meetings and, and just dealing with diverse cultures and all that. It's so hard. And now that I'm fully into my authenticity, now I have, like, new challenges being authentic You know, because people are still in, like, these certain bubbles, and [00:16:00] especially when you're dealing with, like, different stakeholders and different organizations, different levels of leadership.

So you've really got... It becomes so strategic living in your authenticity. It's like a s- a total strategic game. So it's that, too, and that's challenging, so it's like, all right, I'm still not gonna tone myself down, but I am gonna speak, like, a certain way, um, or stick to the facts, depending on the audience.

Like, it's constant thinking. Yeah. I mean- It, it is. It's constant thinking ... 

[00:16:29] Erica Rooney: from the chief people angle, like, you, you can't show up as this, as what we imagine to be your full authentic self, right? Like- Mm-hmm ... I think my full authentic self is Friday night after the work week, I'm at home with my kids. I ain't got no bra, no filter.

What, that's my authentic self, okay? That's when she really comes out. But y'all, we can't have that in corporate America. Hell no. We can't have that on stage when I'm giving keynotes. And so we have- Yeah ... to separate this idea of, like, you have to be fully authentically you [00:17:00] 100% of the time- Mm-hmm ... or you're not authentic, to- Yeah

no, I have all of this authenticity, but I also recognize the system that we live in and the social- Yes ... norms that I sometimes have to adhere to. Yes. And then in my world, I've got standards that I will not conform to, right? Yes. So if I find myself in a room where everybody is, like, conforming in racism and Agent Orange and all of that, I'm out.

Mm-hmm. Like, I will take myself out the game. Yeah. And so you have to- Yeah ... describe it like that. 

[00:17:35] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. Yeah. And then if it becomes, uh, too much s- uh, too toxic for you, I talk about that a lot, too. When it becomes, like, a toxic environment, it start mess- messing with your mental health. You can't even concentrate.

You're constantly worried. That's a problem. That's a problem, and it's gonna lead to, it's gonna lead to poor performance, and we can't have that. We gotta be on point. Poor 

[00:17:53] Erica Rooney: performance- So- ... burnout, all the things. 

[00:17:55] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. And you're just gonna start regretting coming into work. You crying in your car [00:18:00] and sh*t while you in the parking lot.

Uh-uh, no, no. Yeah. When you start dreading it. You know that feeling when you're walking in. Like, you park, you might be halfway decent because your song is on. Like, I love music. Music saves me, too. 

[00:18:11] Erica Rooney: Yeah. 

[00:18:11] Dr. Syreeta Rios: And then, you know- Music saves me same ... I be putting on some gangster sh*t walking into the building

girl. But if I feel dread as soon as I come in Come on now. 

[00:18:20] Erica Rooney: Something's gotta give I always say if you have the Sunday scaries every day, that's not normal. 

[00:18:25] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. 

[00:18:25] Erica Rooney: But- 

[00:18:26] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah, something's gotta change ... 

[00:18:27] Erica Rooney: yeah. Sarita, like talk to me about this bad bitch framework. If I'm listening- Mm-hmm ... and I'm like, "Okay, I am vibing off this energy.

I need to have more bad bitchism in my life," whatever it is. Like what advice would you give to the woman who's listening to be like, "This is how you can start to reclaim your bad bitch"? 

[00:18:44] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. Well, for one, I would like, I, I preface it with saying that bad bitch is a acronym. Yes. Because it's some people I've been told like, "Why you call yourself a bad bitch?

Like, that's, that's wrong." You know? What does it stand 

[00:18:58] Erica Rooney: for, though? Give us the whole thing. 

[00:18:59] Dr. Syreeta Rios: It's a, it's a [00:19:00] acronym. I was, I tell them, I said, "It's a acronym," because you're brave, ambitious, determined, bold, intelligent, talented, creative, and heroic. If you telling me- Hell yeah ... that you, if you don't have at least three to five of those things, come on, you a bad bitch.

You are. You need to take credit for the stuff that you do, and I put that in, um, as career momming. Oh my God, that was a complete turnaround too. I became a fucking mom during COVID. I was like, "Oh my God, I wasn't even done partying yet," and I was 42. I was like, "Oh, God, I'm in LA, it's like dead bodies all over the place, and I'm over here pregnant."

I was like, "Oh my God. Now I'm, oh, I'm a mom now. Okay. Okay." I'm really am a bad bitch because career mom and life and navigating that, and then she's a turnt up toddler. Ooh, [00:20:00] and now I am a single mom 'cause I got a divorce from that psycho. Dang. So I'm just like, "Damn, this is really hard," but I'm a project manager, and I'm a bad bitch, and I got it.

Let's do this. No, but this, that's the thing. Look how many ways you are a bad bitch in your life. We already like, you, you a bad bitch at work. You're a bad bitch as a career mom. You're a bad bitch as a mom, period. Even like if, if you do have a partner and being like a wife and, and a partner and everything, that stuff is so hard.

Everything in life is so hard. And women are the most like powerful, resilient, strongest creatures on the planet because we keep going no matter what. We run on autopilot sometimes, which is dangerous, but we do. Like, we just do. We do all the time. We show up all the time. We're empathetic, we're caring, we're nurturers.

This is all [00:21:00] bad bitch energy. All of it, all of it. Any word in that acronym is you. 

[00:21:06] Erica Rooney: So- What I think I love about this, and what I think you're showcasing with maybe not even realizing it, right, is that you didn't have an easy life, right? You didn't have a white picket fence and, you know, m- all the things that people think is just how life goes.

You know, it's the little dream you're promised when you're a little young thing just getting your degree. You didn't have any of that. You had a 42-year-old pregnancy where you're like, "Okay, we taking a left turn now." Yeah. We're talking about divorce, FICO, all... Like, those are real things. And what you demonstrated- Yeah

though, because let's also like reference check. COVID was 2020, and here we are in 2026. It's not like this is- Yeah ... two, three decades of healing that you had. No. But what you demonstrated is that like, "I can have these big things happen in my life and I can still be a bad bitch. And guess [00:22:00] what? Here I am now, however many years later."

Mm-hmm. "I recognize that happened. Hey, I'm still a bad bitch." But you don't dwell on it. Like, so many people get stuck in those phases, and they stay there for way too long. Yeah. And all that does is postpone your happiness. And so I think you did such a good job like, "Hey, all this sh*t did happen to me, but we don't have to stay stuck there.

Like, let's keep moving. Let's be a bad bitch." Yeah. "Let's go." 

[00:22:27] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. And it just, you know, and just to be like super transparent because I am a, a, super transparent, if you listen to my podcast you will see like I keep it 100 because people need to know, and I think a lot of people are scared to talk about this.

But, um, oh, no, no, no, I was in a dark place for probably three to four years. And it wasn't until I did like those huge moves like a divorce or, um- Yeah ... moving states and really just like, like- Tuning in and being present for my daughter, [00:23:00] and going to therapy. Girl, if you don't go, please go especially 

[00:23:07] Erica Rooney: when you're in a dark place.

I'm like, I tell everybody they need a therapist. Like, and if you're doing great- Yes, you do ... that's really when you need the therapist because when things are bad- Yes, because she saved me ... you don't have the mental capacity to, like, break down all the things you need. But when things are going good- Yes

you can talk about this with your therapist, and so you already have an action plan. 

[00:23:28] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yeah. 

[00:23:29] Erica Rooney: Like, be proactive. 

[00:23:30] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Girl, like, she saved me. Like, I still with her to this day. Yeah, and, and when I wrote my book, it was, uh, while I was in my dark place, so that's why I'm just like, eh, I'm gonna put all this out. Like, I'm remembering everything.

Remembering when writing the book also triggered it, so I was just like, "Oh, my God, I'm not over it." Or now I wrote it out and I explained, and I didn't do anything about it, so I gotta put i- that in the book, but then I gotta give a solution to what I should've did. I put that in the book. That was, like, triggering but healing at the same [00:24:00] time.

Um, so yeah, it's, it's... Yeah, but I tell everyone, "If you are in this dark place, if you feel like you don't have a way out, you do, mamas. You do. You can come through this," because either way, like, in your dark place, in a good place, in a all right space, in your healing space, no matter what, you are a bad bitch and you are making, like, you making it through, and you're going through it, bitch.

And you're not alone, too, 'cause I've really felt alone in this. 

[00:24:30] Erica Rooney: Yeah. Yes. That I think is, and that's why it's so important to talk about it. That's why I have this podcast, is because I know when I was going through all of my struggles and my darkest times, which are also f- just like you, laid out all over this podcast in all of the episodes.

[00:24:45] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Mm-hmm 

[00:24:46] Erica Rooney: It felt very alone for me going through those times, and I found so much comfort when I heard other people share their stories because it made me feel not alone. Yeah. So I love that you have that same philosophy, and now you're this open book and you're out [00:25:00] there. And also, too, if you're listening and you're going through it, like, the more you talk about it, the easier- Yeah

it gets. And I know it's hard- Yes ... to talk about it. Yes. But the easier it gets. Yeah. But Sarita, I wanna take a- Mm-hmm ... small left turn here because I find this so fascinating. Mm-hmm. Because you are a project manager. You know all the things that it takes, right? Mm-hmm. You have taken all of these frameworks that project managers use to run billion-dollar, you know, deals, and you said that women can use- Yeah

these same tools to run their whole life and their career. Please draw those connections for me. 

[00:25:37] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yes. Yes. So when I'm thinking about it, right, 'cause, um... And I guess people that are not project managers or don't know, like, are not PMP or you just haven't studied it, it's kinda hard to grasp. But at the same time, even if you just dip your, like, did, like, one, like, small, like, basic project [00:26:00] management course, you will understand because these frameworks, scope management, stakeholder management, communication management, they are so relatable to real life.

They are. And I just see that. I see that. 'Cause project management saved me. It saved me, um, semi-financially. Like, now I'm in a better place and I can do things and I got my house and all that. Like, n- is that part too, but also at the same time, being organized. Yeah. Um, making sure things, like, get done, delegating.

That's all project management. So that's how I relate it to... And I just know the frameworks because I still do this, like, that's my job. That's been my job for the last 15 years. I know it so well that it, it just seems very transferable to me. And a lot of women, um, when I go to speaking events and things like that, and conferences, they're like, "Well, I don't know if I'm a project manager."

I'm like, "What do you do?" "Oh, I'm in healthcare." "You're a project manager." "What do you do for d- implement like, implement healthcare apps" or whatever. "Oh, you're a project [00:27:00] manager." Everything has a beginning and a end. That's all it is. "Oh, well, I'm a, I'm an event planner." Project manager. 

[00:27:07] Erica Rooney: I mean, everybody's a project manager.

I'm a project manager. Are you a stay-at-home parent? You're a project manager. Project 

[00:27:11] Dr. Syreeta Rios: manager. 

[00:27:12] Erica Rooney: Right? Are you having a baby? Yeah, schedule. Schedule. You're a project manager. You gotta figure out- Yeah ... and plan the hospital and the doctors- Yeah ... and the nursery. Like, ev- It's like everyone's in sales. Tell me.

Everybody's a project manager. 

[00:27:23] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yes. So that's how, like... And I just try to, like, uh, push that message out to, like, everyone, like, "Hey, girl, you got this. You got this, and you've been doing this-" It's, it's, that's how, you know, putting it in a project management term, that's what this, what you're doing, that's what this means in project management terms.

And I feel like it's, like, super helpful. 

[00:27:47] Erica Rooney: I love that. Okay. We're getting close to the end, but I've got to ask, you have something called the guilt audit, and this is something that I know I struggle with. I know so many of my friends, so many of the women in Her Collective, [00:28:00] like, we all have this guilt, whether that's mom guilt or the guilt that I'm not doing enough in my job, or I'm not moving the needle on my business enough.

I wanna know, like, where does that guilt come from? What can we do about it? And, like, why is this a woman's burden? Mm. Why... I don't see no men feeling guilty out there

[00:28:21] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Nope. Nope. I just did a webinar with PMI LA chapter, um, the other, uh, the other day, like last week, and we were talking about this, and the thing is, is that it comes from, it comes from all angles. It comes from all angles. So my ex-husband, he was... When I had meetings back to back and, and it was like a work from home day, and baby girl, she's like a year old, and I'm like, "Bruh, you can do this.

Like, it's okay. Um, you can handle it. I'm in these meetings. You can't come in here. I'm talking about super secret sh*t. You can't come in here. You can't bring her in [00:29:00] here." He's like, "You put your job before your family." Clutch my cherries. I was like, "How fucking dare you?" So I, so that was guilt. I felt guilty.

Um, so then it was like, okay, it got to the point now where I'm like holding her and she's like going hard, screaming, whatever, but I'm holding her, I'm on you and I'm in a meeting, like straight up. Hopefully cameras are off, but if they're not off and she's there, yes, career mom life. I'm not feeling guilty about it anymore.

Um, and even like with my family too, like, you know, I have a support system, but it's, you know, limited. So like, I'm like, "Hey, Mom, could you come watch Steffi? I got trips to do," whatever, whatever. And she be like, "Syreeta, why don't you just slow down?" I'm like, "You know me, you know me." You're not in an option.

I am ambitious as fuck. So I'm like, these things make me happy. These things keep me solid. These things help me. I love traveling for [00:30:00] work. I love going to conferences and motivating women. I love speaking. And then I also love my girls' nights. I don't have a girl-- I'm not going out every fucking week. I'm going out like once every quarter, but it's the best night of my life.

So I'm just like, "What are you talking about?" So people put, people put it on you, but they don't realize how much this sh*t saves you. Mm-hmm. If you don't want me burning down the world in flames, let me do me, like for real, for real. And you don't have to understand me. 

[00:30:31] Erica Rooney: This makes me happy. Yeah, you don't have to understand me.

Yes. That's been the hardest part, I think. And also too, for the woman listening, like it is hard to know and accept and realize that not everybody is going to understand those things that fill you up and make you happy- Nope ... and bring you joy. 

[00:30:45] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Nope. Nope 

[00:30:47] Erica Rooney: And you don't gotta justify it And that's 

[00:30:48] Dr. Syreeta Rios: the 

[00:30:48] Erica Rooney: thing.

[00:30:49] Dr. Syreeta Rios: You gotta stick to it You don't gotta justify it Get, you gotta... No, you don't. So it's just sticking to it. If it makes you happy, if you love it, if you need that time, you need those two hours where it's like no kids, no, no, [00:31:00] no partner, nothing, let me please be in my tub or go to my spa or do whatever I need to do.

Let me decompress and break away from y'all because y'all driving me crazy. Yeah Like, I need a break too. I need a break too. Yeah And it's just like you can't feel guilty, but super-duper 100,000% do not feel guilty for making moves and being career-focused too. And, uh, there's studies on it and I swear the studies are coming out after I said this.

I was like, you know what? The internet is, like, watching me. But anyway. But there's, like... 'Cause I researched the hell out of this. Pe- career moms, their, the kids are not, um, uh, failures. They're not, like, it doesn't negatively impact- Oh, I know what you're gonna talk about ... there's science behind this You go, "Penny, there was that study" Being a career mom, yes Yes.

And I'm like, that's, it's, do not let people think that because you're busy at work... 'Cause I'm like, there's a couple t- conferences where my [00:32:00] daughter came with me, 'cause I was like, "Come on, let's go. We going" I'm showing her the world anyway. She, she's gonna see the bad bitch of a mom that she has. She's gonna see a mom that's, like, busting moves and, and making her businesses work, and doing whatever she can.

It's not gonna be, like, a resentment. It's not a negative impact on their behavior. None of it, none of that. No. No, and that's- No ... backed by science. So again, do not feel guilty. Do not feel guilty at all. 

[00:32:25] Erica Rooney: No, and I will be the case study. I've got an eight-year-old daughter. She has a business that she runs.

We have inventory meetings. We have- I love it ... product meetings. We have marketing meetings. Like, we do it all, and, you know, she knows that I'm the board chair, and she's gotta run these things by me, but we have financial meetings. And it, you know, at first I did feel really guilty about a lot of the work that I did.

And Sarita, when I was in corporate, I was traveling to India all the time, so I was just gone. Mm-hmm. And now that I come home, and I also- [00:33:00] Yeah ... see my eight-year-old daughter, who will hold a play microphone and be like, "My name's Erica Rooney, and I wrote the book Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors" guess what she wanted to do the other day?

She went to sit down, 'cause she was bored, and she was like, "Mom, I have a book I wanna get published." Mm-hmm. "How do I do that?" And I was like, "Girl, what you writing about?" You know. And of course it's about the dog, so I mean- I love it. But we're, we're making moves. But I share that to say- We see you. Ambition

like, it might not make sense right off the bat, but they learn it, and they see it, and she already at eight knows what is possible. I didn't know... I s- I'm 41. I still don't know what's possible, okay? Thank you. Like, I'm still trying to figure out what Erica Rooney is capable of. She's gonna be well ahead of me.

[00:33:45] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Yes, and that's the beautiful part about it. 

[00:33:49] Erica Rooney: Yes. Last question, best question. If you could go back in time to the 2020 Sarita who's having just that sh*t hell hole of [00:34:00] a time, right, in her dark place- 

[00:34:02] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Mm-hmm ... 

[00:34:03] Erica Rooney: she hasn't yet discovered her inner bad bitch, what piece of advice would you give her today? 

[00:34:10] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Ooh

I would say get your PMP at that time. Become a project manager then, because it's, I could've been making 100 grand at 25 and I probably would've been a millionaire by now. Real sh*t. And never, and never dim your light. Never dim your light at all. Stay true. Wear the hoops, wear the wings, and get your PMP, and get that money.

[00:34:43] Erica Rooney: I like it. I like it. We've got real. Focus. We've got practical. 

[00:34:46] Dr. Syreeta Rios: And don't mess with the, uh- We've also got, like, the bigger picture one ... don't mess with that guy. 

[00:34:49] Erica Rooney: We've got it all. All right, y'all, thank you so much for tuning in today. This was Dr. Sarita Rios-Bond. She was just incredible. She is the Fashable PMP [00:35:00] and the woman who just is gonna teach us all how to be an inner bad bitch, so get out there, buy her book, check out her podcast, listen to all the things.

Dr. Sarita, thank you so much for being here. 

[00:35:09] Dr. Syreeta Rios: Thank you so much for having me. Love it. 

[00:35:13] Erica Rooney: If this episode resonated with you, don't let it stop here. Send it to a woman you care about, a colleague, a friend, someone who's been on your mind while you were listening. These conversations are meant to be shared, and you never know what one small shift can unlock for someone else.

And if you haven't already, make sure that you're following the podcast. Leave a rating and write a quick review. It helps more women find this space, and it keeps these conversations going. If you're ready to go deeper, come a little closer. Send me a DM. I'll invite you to sit in on a live Her Collective session as my personal guest.

No pressure, no strings attached, but you get to experience it, feel the room, and see what happens when women start moving together. Until next time, y'all keep going, keep [00:36:00] choosing differently, and let's smash the ceilings and close the gaps.


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Erica Anderson Rooney

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