What Happens When You’re Written Out of the Story You Helped Author

A garden section lesson in systems change.

A few days ago, I was in the garden section of my local Walmart—shopping for plants, not purpose—when I struck up a conversation with a retired executive. She was warm, curious, and deeply insightful. At some point, she asked me the simplest of questions:

“So, what do you do?”

In that instant, the scaffolding of identity—two decades of building, leading, and studying systems—collapsed into the void. Years of praxis, scholarship, and lived commitment dissolved into marketable fragments that might fit inside a socially acceptable answer.

My most authentic response? I survive. Barely.

But survival doesn’t land well in casual conversation.

I identify as a scholar-practitioner—someone who brings both academic depth and real-world application. I don’t just study leadership; I put it into practice, shaping organizational and societal change. My work over the past 20 years has centered on organizational development, talent strategy, and workforce design—often in the very spaces where upskilling, reskilling, and educational attainment are the focus.

This identity wasn’t built in a classroom. It was forged in boardrooms, clinics, classrooms, and community forums, then honed through rigorous research.

What drives me most is working alongside people rarely seen as leaders, yet who lead anyway—out of necessity, resilience, or vision. These are everyday leaders who create change without credentials or titles:

• A patient’s story shaping health policy

• A parent improving school climate

• A community member influencing city planning

• An advocate pressing elected officials to act on local needs

I believe people do not need a title to create a safe space for change. These leaders with lived experience act with intention, not authority, building trust and equity in the spaces they move through:

• Parents fighting for inclusive education

• Patients and caregivers demanding dignity in healthcare

• Educators ensuring every student feels seen

• Community organizers building pathways for belonging

• Frontline workers fostering trust in social services

• Local leaders amplifying every voice

My role has been to serve alongside them—taking lived experience and helping translate it into lasting impact.

In 2021, I relocated to Northwest Arkansas just as the most influential corporation in the country was piloting skills-based hiring—the very model I had championed and advocated for over two decades. I celebrated the policy shift without recognizing my own positionality in it, never imagining it could undermine my own financial security.

Skills-based hiring has created a new, largely unspoken barrier—one that leaves many who have already invested deeply in education both economically vulnerable and psychologically exposed. It’s not just about removing degree requirements; in some markets, it has effectively excluded people with degrees from consideration altogether. Even scholar-practitioners like me who hold 34 SOC codes (practical, skills-based career pathways) report struggling to find even entry-level opportunities.

I cannot fault corporations for listening to advocates like me and acting on the change we called for.

But I now understand what it is to sit with the vulnerability—and at times, shame—knowing there is little I can do to alter the outcome.

How do I shoulder the crushing weight of basic living expenses when I’m shut out of even entry-level roles—roles where I’m ready to commit, contribute, and grow for the long haul?

I may be an unintended casualty of the very policies and talent strategies I spent my career advancing.

Still, I believe in the purpose of skills-first hiring. We must dismantle degree requirements when they serve only as artificial gatekeepers. We must create pathways that meet people where they are, offering opportunity and the safety nets that make risk-taking possible. We must build the strategies that serve the needs of people in our communities through targeted pipelines from education to the workforce. Read this by my colleague Carol Silva-Morales, President and CEO of UpSkill NWA: LINK. Then, visit her website: LINK

We must also value the 30% of Americans with degrees—those who have used both education and skills-based experience to open pathways for others.

Policy changes—even well-intentioned ones—impact real people. Replacing one gatekeeper with another, such as devaluing educated professionals in favor of skills-based performance, is just the same mask on a different face. We must coexist, care for one another, and, when good intentions create harmful outcomes for any group, work together to solve the problem.

I’m not sure what the way forward looks like. I feel like I’ve reached the limits of what I can do right now.

But if we want a workforce that thrives, we must design systems that see all of us.

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A Call to Action:

I can’t climb out of this alone. I’m calling on the leaders I once stood beside to reach back, lift up, and help chart the path forward for me.

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How do we balance the value of formal education with the recognition of lived experience and skills in today’s workforce development?

• What barriers might arise when we prioritize one over the other?

• How can organizations create opportunities that both value degrees and acknowledge the importance of on-the-ground experience?

1. In what ways can we empower "everyday leaders"—those without formal titles or credentials—so they can continue creating meaningful change in their communities?

   • How can we recognize and amplify the leadership of these individuals, particularly in systems that are not traditionally designed to support them?

   • How can we design inclusive environments where these leaders can thrive without formal recognition?

2. What does the shift to a skills-based hiring model mean for those with traditional degrees who have invested deeply in their education?

   • How can this shift be made more inclusive, ensuring those with degrees aren’t inadvertently excluded or left vulnerable?

   • What systems or support structures can be implemented to help those caught in the intersection of skills-first hiring and educational attainment?

These questions are designed to spark thoughtful discussions about workforce development, leadership, and the tension between skills-based hiring and traditional educational credentials.