We're celebrating Latinx Heritage Month by spotlighting our Latinx Doximity employees. This week, we interviewed Renata Caple, Client Services Manager from San Diego, California.
How has BIPOC@Dox influenced your experience at Doximity?
Well, it actually made me fall in love more with the company and my job! I had never worked somewhere where being myself, bringing my culture and personality to the table, were 100% acceptable. I have worked in many places where I was (literally) asked to be a "lite" version of myself, to voice my opinions a little differently (or not at all), or where I was advised to approach situations differently because of how others would perceive me. BIPOC@Dox is a nice safe haven where I feel encouraged to be more of who I am and that's ok.
I am part of the group that helped start the BIPOC@Dox Board and, as a result, encourage some important conversations to happen. We've helped hold space for some who have needed it, raised awareness, shared knowledge, and started creating some positive changes that are influencing the culture of our workplace. I can't imagine how my experience would have been without this, but it's certainly made it feel more like a 'home' than any other place where I've had the chance to work.
How are you taking care of yourself during challenging times?
During the past year (or year and a half at this point?) I have found that there are only so many hours of TV you can watch. Being at home for so long forced me to pick up some hobbies I used to love when I was younger like drawing and coloring. I started working on my writing again and, most importantly, I remembered what it was like to be a kid and play again. I never knew how much I love building Legos! Another thing that helps a lot is going on long walks with my husband and our dog.
When heavy things happen in the world, I cope the same way - I try to "do" something, even if it's doodling something in a notebook. The sense of completion and joy you can get from doing 'something' can sometimes be all you need when you feel like you can't do 'anything.' This is something I saw on a post a friend shared recently and it was eye-opening in the best of ways.
Finally, therapy. It helps me not only process my feelings but also cope, understand and heal to make sure I can bring my best self to every area of my life.
How do you bring—or strive to bring—your full self to work?
For me, it looks like having honest conversations with people. Whether it is asking colleagues how they are doing, sharing how I'm feeling when asked, or holding space when something relevant happens and the world feels heavy. I think a lot of the time we forget that while at work we have to be our professional 'self,' we still carry who we are as people wherever we go.
For example, if there's an earthquake in Mexico, it's going to be in the back of my mind all day and likely will affect my performance because I'll be worried about my friends and family who still live there. If something happened anywhere else in the world, I'm likely going to feel some type of way about it. I try to make sure I am taking care of myself, but also bringing my empathy with me when I start working. These two parts of me are as inseparable as being Mexican American. We have built a nice community where we have several spaces where we get to just be 'people' and it's nice to see how everyone encourages that. I am very lucky that on my team we have very kind and human leaders who also promote this openness as part of our work culture.
We're always hiring and we'd love to hear from you! See our open positions across all departments, including Client Services.