Creating a More Inclusive, Diverse Workplace

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Photo courtesy of Gus Martinez

At 14 years old, Gus Martinez sat on a train on his way back to his home on the South Side of Chicago. He stayed late after school to finish a project and found himself surrounded by men in suits on their way home from work. 

“First, I did not know what careers these people had, but knew that I wanted to also wear a sharp suit to work,” Martinez says. However, another thought popped into his head. As he looked around, none of the men looked like him, a Hispanic man. “Yeah, I wanted to fix that once I grew up and got older,” he says. 

This goal stayed with him as he committed himself to his education, graduating from college in 2008. In the workforce, he’s experienced what it feels like to be unheard and treated unfairly compared to his white coworkers. Now, he wants to work with businesses to change inequity in the workplace. 

Last year, he launched his own diversity firm, GSM Consulting LLC.  Martinez offers his services to businesses as a diversity consultant, looking to humanize the topic of diversity and inclusion. Martinez shared more about what led him to Milwaukee, his passion for equity and what exactly a diversity consultant can do. 

Where did you grow up? How did your experience shape who you are today? 

Excellent question. I grew up in the South Side of Chicago in an inner-city neighborhood called Roseland. The area is an underserved community with limited resources. My parents provided as best they could. I recall seeing liquor stores on the corner of every other block. The environment made me become a stronger individual who could handle adversity and challenges and, in some instances, made me a bit fearless. 

What brought you to Milwaukee? 

Back in 2014, I was growing restless living in Chicago and needed a change in scenery. My professional career was in the tourism and hospitality industry. I was given the chance to join the VISIT Milwaukee team and I seized that opportunity to work as their convention sales manager. So, I uprooted and moved to Milwaukee to advance my career.

How did you become so passionate about diversity and inclusion? 

I have seen and experienced firsthand the negative effects of when diversity and inclusion is not given proper attention and focus. The interesting part of this is when I first entered the workplace after graduating college, I saw I often was the only person of color on my teams. In those early years I felt I had to hide my cultural identity to make others more comfortable. That meant: be Gus the employee, not Gus the Hispanic man. 

As time went on, I also started seeing unfavorable patterns. People with less experience than myself were getting hired and promoted. People in the office who were not pulling their weight were getting praised and sponsored by upper management. It became crystal clear that race and skin color were becoming big factors. The reason why I am passionate, and dare I say obsessed, with diversity and inclusion is because I genuinely care about equality. I believe in the fight for equity and disrupting the status quo. This work inspires me because I know we are stronger and better if we all work together for a common goal.  

When did you realize you wanted to launch your own diversity firm? 

In March of 2020, my position was eliminated due to the pandemic. It was crushing on my levels as I loved what I did and tied a lot of my identity into my career. As the author, Robert Schuller said, “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.” I used that time to reflect on my other passions and instantly knew my next chapter would be focused on diversity and inclusion. I recall the times of feeling isolated, alone at work, unseen, and frustrated for being passed over for promotions. I would brush it off as that’s normal business life. It was not till later in my career when I spoke with other people of color on these topics that I came to the realization that these experiences were not unique to just me, and that it happens far too often in the workplace. Dominant white culture, especially in leadership, often tells minority middle-managers to “Be patient,” “Wait your turn,” and “Continue being a loyal soldier.” There is a massive equity gap and disconnect when it comes to the subject of diversity. I launched my firm because I saw a cancerous problem that people were not addressing and is only growing bigger.

Can you describe what a diversity consultant can do for one's workplace? 

The biggest advantage of working with a diversity consultant is to help identify your organization’s blind spots. You cannot fix a problem if you can't pinpoint the issues. For some companies, that might be taking a deeper look at their hiring practices, learning to diversify staff and leadership, fostering a healthy and inclusive work environment where all employees feel safe, valued, and celebrated. I like using the analogy of fitness. If a person has never worked out in their entire life and one day was dropped inside a gym, he/she would feel intimidated and lost. So, in that sense, a diversity consultant is like a personal trainer, there to help you achieve your short and long term goals. (They’re) there to guide your organization in creating a successful roadmap by educating and motivating those in leadership. 

What can your perspective, specifically, bring to diversity consulting? 

I carry with me two unique and valuable perspectives – the Latinx and Millennial lens. The reality is how people have managed yesterday will not work tomorrow. In 2019, millennials made up 50% of the U.S. Labor Force. That number will jump to 75% by 2025. These younger employees want a greater sense of purpose in their work, they want to be engaged, and feel valued and appreciated. Last year, Glassdoor reported 67% of millennials weigh diversity as a factor before accepting job offers. Companies are missing the boat on top tier talent if they are excluding this group and failing to adapt. 

Equally, as a proud Latinx man, I understand the social and economic challenges facing black and brown communities. I have lived and worked in Chicago, D.C., and Milwaukee, so my experiences are wider than most. 

Why do you believe it is important to humanize the topic of diversity?

I really love this question! It is key to humanize the topic of diversity and inclusion because it is not a math problem nor an experiment.  Diversity is about human behavior, patterns, and creating trust. The reason why many of us say “diversity is a journey” is because we must unlearn things that we have been taught our entire lives. So, yes, diversity is a long-term game in which we must be patient as results will not occur overnight. My approach to D&I is also different from others as I focus more on the heart and human spirit vs. the head, or what makes sense on paper. For diversity to be successful, it must be personal to leaders and staff as it requires some organization to make a culture shift, and that’s not something that you can think into existence. 

What do you think companies may be missing when it comes to diversity and inclusion that they may not be aware of?

Companies tend to put most of their attention and energy into the “how” and “when” instead of the “who” and “why.” In other words, many companies want to learn how they can become more diverse and when they will see the results, compared to caring about who is not being heard and seen at the workplace, and why a company needs to focus on inclusion and a healthy work culture. In my experience, companies are looking in the wrong direction – they are more interested in the symptoms and not the sickness. The toxicities of systematic racism and unconscious biases are what hold back blacks, indigenous, and people of color. For example, if an organization commits to hiring 10% more minorities one year but fails to create a safe environment that elevates and celebrates people’s differences, then they are just putting a bandaid on the issue. It’s likely those 10% that were hired to fill a quota won’t stick around the organization for very long, and the company is back to square one.

To learn more about Martinez and his services, go to www.gsmdiversity.com, or contact him at gus@gsmdiversity.com.