DIVERSITY – This spotlight series features T. Howard Foundation (THF) alumni working in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.
Darren Anglin (THF ’15)
Diversity Recruiting Manager, Allstate
Please describe your role.
I am the Diversity Recruiting Manager here at Allstate and I am responsible for the diversity recruiting attraction strategy for the company. I lead a small but mighty team that focuses on best practices, partnerships with diversity organizations, and programs that position Allstate to attract and hire some of the best talent from many different backgrounds with a focus on historically underrepresented groups.
What do you enjoy most about your company?
My company has been around decades and continues to transform to align with technological innovation. I enjoy that I have the opportunity to develop in new roles at Allstate. It’s great to work for a company that offers good work life balance, opportunities for development, and job security.
In what way did this type of work interest you and how did you get started?
HR recruiting and Diversity have both been in my line of sight since my internship at ESPN. I was a marketing intern at the time, interested in the intersection of media and marketing. During that internship, I realized the disparity in representation in corporate and thought pivoting to HR would be an opportunity for me to impact how a company strategically recruits the best talent from all walks of life. Fun fact is that I wouldn’t have even gotten considered for my internship at ESPN had it not been for T. Howard. Now, I’m in a role where I work with organizations like T. Howard to place talent in my company that have, what we consider, the skills of the future across multiple business areas and experience levels. I get to have conversations regularly with executive level leadership on the direction my company should be taking to diversify our company with bright minds from emerging talent segments that we historically haven’t considered.
How has your affiliation with the T. Howard Foundation influenced your career?
Without T. Howard, I wouldn’t have a headshot, my first paid internship at a fortune 100 company, or one of my closest friends (Ranita Findley (THF ’15)). The program gave me access and opportunity that just wasn’t in my immediate line of sight as a junior in college. I was working 2-3 jobs to stay in school and couldn’t afford any unpaid internships or to pay for a headshot for my LinkedIn profile. Thank you so much T. Howard. I may not be directly in media, but I am constantly working to pay it forward in my personal and professional endeavors.
What personal attributes have been essential to your career success?
- Impatience*
- Organization
- Story telling
- Data usage
- Networking
*My experience doesn’t always apply to everyone, but for me, impatience has held me accountable to aggressive but achievable timelines. In some cases, I had leaders who believed I wasn’t ready for an opportunity, and the reality was that they weren’t ready for me to have the opportunity. My hunger and impatience to develop pushed me past some of unnecessary corporate barriers that come along with development and upward mobility. Now, by no means and I saying that I am perfect. You have to be really self-aware to know when impatience is appropriate, and when its not. The moral of the story is, sometimes waiting around for a process, person, or sign from the universe can have you sitting still way longer than you need to be. Jump in, speak up, ask for what you want – because if you wait for someone to hand to you, you’ll be waiting forever.
You also have to be willing to put in the work though…I moved halfway across the country 3 times, in most cases I didn’t know anyone in the cities I moved to. Started on new teams, built new roles from scratch, and even moved companies. I did all these things strategically of course to get the experiences I needed faster.
Pair impatience with strategy, hard work, and perseverance and you create a power individual who is prescriptive and knows how to drive results…
If you were entering this career today, how would you prepare to facilitate entry?
I would work on getting an internship, developing PowerPoint & Excel skills, and apply to HR rotational development programs offered by fortune 100 companies.
In one sentence please describe what work/life balance means to you.
Shutting my computer and my brain down at a reasonable time daily so I can focus on life outside of work.
Are you an early bird or a night owl? How does this show up in your working habits?
I’m a night owl. I like to use the mornings for admin time to get my thoughts, plans and strategies in place. I typically try to schedule meetings with clients and peers in the afternoon 😊
Do you have any of the following at work? a mentor, mentee, sponsor, work BF or work spouse? If so, which one(s)? What are the advantages of having these relationships?
I have mentors at work who have created a safe space for me to vent, reframe my perspective, and make sound decisions. These mentors have also helped me with imposter syndrome as well. Navigating Fortune 100 companies isn’t easy. Sometimes there will be leaders that won’t value your work or not understand it. Having a mentor even outside of your business unit who can objectively listen to your barriers and provide constructive feedback without having a stake in the game is essential to being successful in this space.