Black History Month: Dusty Baker, Regina Lawless and J. Luke Wood reflect on keys to their success

MONTH FOR 2024. ALL MONTH LONG WE’VE BEEN CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY BY INTRODUCING YOU TO LEADERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE. TONIGHT, WE WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE KEYS TO SUCCESS THEY SHARED DURING OUR INTERVIEW EARLIER THIS MONTH. WE HEARD FROM DUSTY BAKER BEFORE HE WAS SET TO SPEAK TO A GROUP OF STUDENTS AT MCGEORGE SCHOOL OF LAW IN SACRAMENTO. THE SACRAMENTO NATIVE MADE HISTORY IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL BY BECOMING THE FIRST BLACK PERSON TO WIN A WORLD SERIES. AS A PLAYER AND A MANAGER, HE SAID THE KEY TO HIS MASSIVE SUCCESS IN LIFE WAS DISCIPLINE. FROM HIS PARENTS AND COACHES. YOU WANT SOMETHING, YOU GET IT AND THEN YOU NURTURE IT. AND THEN I MEAN, EVERYBODY DREAMS OF BEING SOMETHING AND I’M THE KID THAT THAT, THAT DREAMT OF BEING SOMETHING. AND AND IT WASN’T ALL MY DOING, YOU KNOW, I HAD SOME BREAKS ALONG THE WAY. I HAD SOME PEOPLE THAT HELPED ME. I HAD SOME PEOPLE THAT DISCIPLINED ME, MY MOM AND DAD AND A COUPLE COACHES BESIDES BASEBALL. BAKER ALSO WENT ON TO ESTABLISH BAKER FAMILY WINES. THE COMPANY PRODUCES AND BOTTLES THEIR WINES IN WEST SACRAMENTO. A FORMER META EXECUTIVE IS NOW SHARING SOME OF HER LESSONS LEARNED FROM HER CAREER, AND SHE HOPES TO HELP OTHER WOMEN SUCCEED IN THE WORKPLACE. REGINA LAWLESS WAS THE HEAD OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION AT INSTAGRAM, AND SHE ALSO WORKED FOR SOME OF THE OTHER TOP TECH COMPANIES IN THE WORLD. SHE SAYS AS A BLACK WOMAN, SHE HAS FELT PRESSURE TO CONFORM. I REMEMBER I HAD A LEADER THAT TOLD ME I WAS GOING TO DO THIS REALLY BIG PRESENTATION IN FRONT OF, LIKE THIS BUSINESS UNIT HEAD, AND HE WAS LIKE, YOU SMILE A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH. SO KIND OF. DOWNPLAY THAT. DON’T, DON’T. THE WARMTH THAT I COMMUNICATE WITH IS WHAT MAKES ME, ME TAP INTO YOUR YOUR UNIQUE WAY OF DOING THINGS AND LAWLESS. NOW WORKS AS A SPEAKER AND A CAREER COACH. AND SHE JUST WROTE HER FIRST BOOK CALLED DO YOU. WE ALSO HEARD FROM DOCTOR J. LUKE WOOD, ABOUT EVENTS IN HIS LIFE HE SAID IMPACTED HIS SUCCESS. DOCTOR WOOD IS THE PRESIDENT OF SACRAMENTO STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE YOUNGEST PRESIDENT OF ALL FOUR YEAR INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, HE SAID. IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. ONE TEACHER NAMED MR. G MADE A HUGE IT WAS JUST AN AMAZING TEACHER. HE SAW THAT I LIKED TO WRITE. HE SAW THAT I WAS ACTUALLY VERY TALENTED ACADEMICALLY, AND HE INVESTED HIS TIME IN ME, WOULD STAY AFTER SCHOOL WITH ME, HELP ME WRITE SHORT STORIES WHERE SOMEONE SAW ME THROUGH A LENS OF DISTRUST, DISDAIN. AND DISREGARD. HE EXTOLLED MY BRILLIANCE, MY DIGNITY AND MY MY MORALITY AND DOCTOR WOOD WOULD GO ON TO WRITE SEVERAL BOOKS, ONE OF THEM INCLUDING A CHAPTER ABOUT MR. G. AND YOU CAN WATCH OUR PROJECT COMMUNITY SPECIAL CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY ON THE KCRA THREE APP RIGHT NOW, JUST SCAN THIS QR CODE AND THAT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE SPECIAL. AND YOU CAN WATCH MORE STORI