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Employee Spotlight: Pride is Power

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Ask a Mobile Expert: How Do You Activate an eSIM Card? (Video)

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As T-Mobile celebrates Pride 2022 with the affirmation “I am an advocate for my community, making an impact,” we bring you the personal stories of several employees who share exactly how they live out that commitment at work and beyond.

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While T-Mobile recognizes that support at the national level is important and continues through <a href="https://es.t-mobile.com/brand/celebrating-diversity/lgbtq-plus-pride">partnerships with GLSEN, Happy Hippies and HRC to</a> improve the quality of life of at-risk LGBTQIA+ community members, it’s vital to show that there is power in every single voice. Spotlighting how individuals can make an impact shows that Pride is Power.

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The anti-transgender legislation making news of late is more than just a headline for the people interviewed in this spotlight. Everyone featured says that telling their story is an actionable item in the ways they want to celebrate Pride this year. It is how they are being advocates for their community, making an impact. From Seattle to Wichita to Memphis and Colorado Springs, their stories include gender-affirming treatments that they say T-Mobile's health benefits made possible, or changing chosen names on work badges and pronouns with co-workers. They're experiences that help shape T-Mobile's own advocacy practices that now include things such as a thorough transition guide and employee handbook of policies designed to create a better experience for co-workers across the company who come out as trans at work.

"Our Pride Employee Resource Group (ERG) is a place where our employees can bring their ideas about how to make our workplace better for all," says Jen Palmer (She/Her), senior director of T-Mobile's Technology Project Management Office and the chair of the Pride ERG. "We take great pride in consistently looking at new ways to improve experiences. Whether it's encouraging all to add their pronouns to badges and email signatures, or recommending inclusive language on our restroom signage, or looking at our own internal systems and fixing issues that may pop up when a colleague changes their name. As we hear from our employees, we also continually evaluate our benefits to ensure they meet the unique needs of the LGBTQIA+ community. Our ERG does not settle for the status quo. It's our role to champion inclusivity and continuous improvement."

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“Sometimes I think that the Pride Employee Resource Group at T-Mobile found me just as much as I found it,” says Haven Vilminot (They/Them), an HR data analyst and non-binary/transgender T-Mobile employee in Seattle.

When talking about T-Mobile's Pride is Power 2022 initiative, it's important to remember how the company's Pride ERG began and how those simple beginnings continue to have visible effects on its members today, even for those like Haven from the newer Gen Z workforce. Pride participation at T-Mobile began as a grassroots movement before becoming an influential, company-wide commitment.

Back in 2013, some thirty employees from two call centers in Albuquerque took it upon themselves to represent T-Mobile in their local Pride parade. The news of these employees spearheading this participation traveled fast all the way to T-Mobile's headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., inspiring another hundred employees to not only march in, but also sponsor the Seattle Pride parade the following year. Today, the ERG boasts more than 13,000 members across 50-plus chapters in the country.

“For me, queer community was something that I had outside of work, but that I wasn’t able to bring into work with me, and that’s a very unsustainable way to live,” says Haven, “but T-Mobile is actually the first place that I’ve ever worked where I felt safe to be all the way out of the closet.”

Haven says one reason for that is T-Mobile is the first place where they had an openly gay boss, who connected them to resources at the company specific to the LGBTQIA+ community.

"For me, Pride Month is a moment, I think, where a lot of us like to pause and think about our history, but it is also a time where I feel particularly moved by being able to imagine futures together as people," says Haven. "For Pride Month 2022, something that I'm thinking about is the concept of taking a door off the hinges when you go through. Outside of my T-Mobile community, I find myself making sure that I am visible and out and taking that door off the hinges on my way through, so that anybody who comes after me maybe has to do a little bit less of that. We're building on it for each other everywhere we go."

Brantley Clark (He/Him) says he is many things: A partner. A girl dad. A trans man. A black man. A trans black man. And he is crystal clear how to encapsulate all that succinctly if you ask what Pride means to him.

"Progressive Individualism," he will tell you. "Those are two words that I hold during Pride."

They are two words that the global care business support manager from the T-Mobile Wichita Customer Experience Center says not only give space for the many layers of his own unique identity, but also helps to invite others who perhaps, like him, did not always feel represented under the Pride umbrella.

“There’s this epiphanic moment in June that everyone gets from a societal perspective,” says Brantley, “but I walk this journey every day, not just in June. And it’s an every day progression into the right direction as an individual.”

Brantley says when he began his transition at T-Mobile it was abundantly clear that despite the lack of support from family members, he could safely be in what he called “a long-term relationship” with T-Mobile.

"When I stepped into global care as B, as Brantley, I didn't have to bring on that past history with me," he explains. "Being in a spot where I had the financial means, the benefits, the insurance and many other supporting factors, is when it really hit home for me, and I realized that T-Mobile is a place that I could commit myself to. T-Mobile gave me the ability to control what I look like and what I presented to the world, and it really helped me to align my internal with my external, and I don't compromise that for anything."

This Pride, Brantley says he is hyper-focused on trans visibility within T-Mobile and beyond.

"I have a seat on this plane called Pride," he says. "But are we always doing the seatbelt checks to make sure everybody's buckled in? Are we making sure everybody on the manifesto is actually on the plane?"

A leader in his local Pride ERG chapter, he says he was the first trans person on the advisory council and as such feels a sense of responsibility to create a path that others can follow and join him.

"From a LGBTQIA+ perspective, there's not many examples of leaders who looks like me," he says. "Which is why my mantra this year has been we're going to do the work to get it done, even if it means that I have to be the face for people to see. What we really need to do is create equality and equity across Pride."

For Jason Bayless (They/Them), a Community Expert at T-Mobile’s Colorado Springs Customer Experience Center, their advocacy stems from a painful experience with a previous employer and a desire to give back to those who showed them what true advocacy looks like.

“The reason I started at T-Mobile, and it’s a reason that I hear a lot of people say that they are at T-Mobile, is because it is a place that they are able to truly be themselves,” says Jason. “Not embracing that and not stepping out of what for me personally had been a very easy bubble of just passing — that wasn’t being true to myself because I was not giving back what this company had given me, and it’s not helping to pave the way forward for other people.”

Jason became co-chair of the Colorado Spring Pride ERG chapter as a way to advocate for others. Jason's story of qualifying for hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery and being supported by T-Mobile's benefits plan along the way is profound because of the way they felt unable to do basic things according to the gender they identified as in previous jobs.

“More than anything, it had to do with the people around me,” says Jason.

Not comfortable with being out at work previously often led to Jason being “pegged as a lesbian” because there simply were no open conversations about it and using the restroom they felt comfortable in was never something they were able to even consider.

While Jen Palmer says most all of T-Mobile's properties, including its headquarters, call centers and retail locations, have genderless bathroom options, the company's gender transition guide and employee handbook also state clearly that "all employees should have access to restrooms that correspond to their gender identity" and that "employees should determine the most appropriate option for themselves." It's a policy Jason says they never had before, and the lack of that protected inclusivity caused very public derision.

"Once in a meeting at another company I was very pointedly told by upper management in front of everyone that I was not allowed to go into the restroom that I actually identified as, because that's not what it showed on my birth records," recounts Jason. "It's not what showed on my ID. And if I did not agree with it, there was the door. These people that I'd worked with for years, looked me in the eye and then literally physically pointed at the door. I was broken."

Compare that to the experience Jason had after joining T-Mobile, where they say managers and co-workers not only supported all the protocols to change their name and pronouns after their transition, but even quickly helped fill their shift when a last-minute appointment for part of their gender affirming surgery became available. From the small things to the very big things, Jason says there's no price you can put on the value of being surrounded by advocates.

“You don’t have to always make a big splash to make an impact,” says Jason. “To turn to my coworker, a cis male who says he has never known anyone who wasn’t straight and have him say we can participate together in ‘<a href="https://www.cnet.com/health/personal-care/what-is-movember-and-no-shave-november-the-history-and-how-to-participate/">No-Shave November</a>’ now that I have been able to grow a full beard, is so incredible.”

If you look up Ellis Bishop-Wright (He/Him) online today, you would be hard pressed not to find some kind of positive comment about how he has impacted people at work. As Ellis was preparing to be part of a <a href="https://lesbianswhotech.org/pridesummit2022/">Lesbians Who Tech</a> event with T-Mobile Chief Human Resource Officer Deeanne King this month to discuss his coming out story at the company, many who felt touched by his kindness were on all major social channels singing his praise.

"Ellis has been a leader and advocate for Human Rights as long as I've known him," writes one person. "He is someone I am proud to work alongside and learn from."

Others posted that the senior learning solutions consultant in T-Mobile's Career Development and Learning organization is someone who has been "dedicated to creating a safe and affirming environment in the workplace." Ellis' online persona paints an unshakeable force. But speak to Ellis directly and he will acknowledge that the powerful person he feels today is in stark contrast to the person he felt like just four years ago.

“It was May of 2018, and I was depressed, unemployed, and had real doubts I would ever get hired,” says Ellis.

Having lived in a part of Memphis where he says he and his wife were not particularly welcomed in their local stores or their kids’ schools, it wasn’t until he joined T-Mobile a year later that something switched.

“The environment at T-Mobile gave me a lot of confidence and that space to explore who I am,” says Ellis, “and helped me get to the point where I was like, ‘Okay, I’m trans and I need to admit this and stop spending so much time and energy not admitting it.’”

Ellis says he knows there are so many who do not share in his positive experience of coming out at work.

"I am representing trans people of T-Mobile," says Ellis, "and my coming out was like landing on a soft cloud. Deeanne was excited. My manager happy-cried when I told her. People got so excited for me, and it has just been like doors always open … but I know that others - many, many others - haven't had such a positive coming out experience as I have and sometimes I feel like guilty about it."

And while Ellis is careful not to imply through his personal story that there aren’t real risks that trans people face every day when they come out at work, he says he hopes showing what a positive experience can do for both the person and the overall work environment can be impactful on a micro and macro scale.

“This is my first foray into the world as a transgender man,” says Ellis. “When I combine that with the terrifying and terrible legislation that is happening all over this country against trans people, I feel now is the time to speak up and have our voices heard.”

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You’ve heard some of their voices, now see some of their faces below at T-Mobile sponsored Pride events as they become available all month long.

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/_admin/uploads/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-10-at-8.40.18-AM-1024x685.png" alt="" class="wp-image-88535"/><figcaption>Pride Miami 2022</figcaption></figure>

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/_admin/uploads/2022/06/22CM0154-01_Pride_Parade_Miami-FL_LM2-1223-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88643"/><figcaption>Pride Miami 2022</figcaption></figure>

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/_admin/uploads/2022/06/22CM0154-01_Pride_Parade_Miami-FL_LM2-1235-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88652"/><figcaption>Pride Miami 2022</figcaption></figure>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/_admin/uploads/2022/06/22CM0154-01_Pride_Parade_Miami-FL_LM2-1240-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-88649"/><figcaption>Pride Miami 2022</figcaption></figure>

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T-Mobile celebrates Pride by sharing the stories of LGBTQ+ employees who live out their commitment to community and advocacy at work and beyond.

Employee Spotlight: Pride is Power - T-Mobile Newsroom

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May brings with it many things to reflect on and celebrate, from Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month to Military Awareness Month to Mental Health Awareness Month. Here we speak with a T-Mobile employee who experiences the intricacies of all three.

For Aaryanna Nijjar (She/They), May is a time where she can’t help but feel with a certain acuteness the complex results of who she is today mixed with the things that have influenced her since childhood.

The graphic designer for T-Mobile's T-Studios says as a mental health advocate from a military family with Southeast Asian heritage, Asian American Pacific Island Heritage Month, Military Awareness Month and Mental Health Awareness Month converge on her in a way that at times can be too overwhelming to put into words. Which is reason, in part, why she has a tattoo that expresses the paradox of it all on her hands - hands she uses every day to also express herself as an artist.

“It’s my favorite quote,” she explains. “It’s by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Gide">André Gide</a>. It says, ‘Everything in the world that needs to be said has already been said, but since no one was listening, it must be said again.’ That in itself, it inspires everything I do in life, including art, but advocating for mental health too.”

She continues: "I struggle with my mental health - I really started struggling with it as a teenager, growing up in a military family and feeling very alone. Then you bring my ethnicity into it, and including that into those experiences, it can be very ostracizing. It feels like a displacement all over the place."

We sat down with Aaryanna to talk about how her heritage, her military family upbringing and the attention to her own mental health has influenced the person and the artist she is, this May and beyond.

You are currently a content creator, but did you always want to work in an artistic field?

Growing up, I always loved being involved with art. I come from a military family, so we moved about every three years so everything was always moving and that's when I started getting into photography. I really held onto that throughout my entire childhood and then into my adult life as well. Just that feeling of allowing things to stop for a singular moment and breathing within that moment, whether that be through art or photography or sculptures. But I never had a professional or educational background in art: all self-taught. I think that's the brilliant thing about art, it doesn't have to be expensive. You don't have to be in a big role, you can just create and you can feel. It's an incredible thing. It's so much more than a job for me.

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How has growing up in a military family alongside your cultural identity influenced you as an artist?

Both of my parents were in the military, and that's where they met. I was born in California and we were stationed in about seven different places. I've also lived in Alaska, Oregon, North Carolina, just to name a few. My father is Indian, and he immigrated to the United States when he was about four years old. My mother's Italian, but lived in Boston her entire life. My culture has shaped me in numerous ways, mostly through color. It's really interesting when you look at Bollywood films, you see tons of colors - in Indian culture we celebrate color. I think that to a core is so beautiful, and I definitely use that as momentum to push my art in different ways.

One thing that always highlighted that intersectionality for me was the question, where are you from? When I started a new school every three years, they were always saying, "Where are you from?" Interestingly enough, during the month of May, getting questions like that is complex. Are they asking me where I was originally stationed with the military, or are they asking because of my complexion? I remember asking my mom, like, "What am I supposed to say when these kids are asking me these things?" It's a really interesting question for me specifically.

You're very vocal about mental health wellness and overall awareness. What advice would you have for someone beginning their own journey with self-care?

My thing that I recommend the most for mental health quite genuinely is therapy. I find therapy to be incredible. I'm an advocate for it. And not just traditional therapy because I think there are forms of free therapy. Some people just need to reach out and talk to a friend. I think it's important not to isolate yourself, and to practice self-care. Oftentimes within society, we picture self-care as bubble baths and face masks, and that's awesome and that is self-care to a point. But it's also taking space in other ways. It's important knowing when to set boundaries and when you shouldn't include certain people in your life. For example, my Instagram is where I do a lot of mental health and eco-activism, but I have not posted on social media in about a year. I took a break for my mental health.

What does this month mean for you in terms of celebrating simultaneously all these things: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Mental Health Awareness and Military Appreciation Month?

It's transformative for sure. It has brought up a lot of conversations that have been challenging, and I'm appreciative of that. May even leading into June and what June represents as well [with it being Pride month], and being included in that, it is a lot of transformation. I have a project just coming out that connects to this. T-Mobile Careers reached out to me and they asked me to do a self-portrait and they gave me full free range on it.

I created a piece where it's split down the middle. The left side portrays things that were expected of me as an Indian individual growing up, and in an American society. Then on the right side, it shows who I truly am: queer and creative, and maybe a little weird. It's just very interactive and it has sparked a lot of conversations. It's been great to share my background and things of my culture and not only the joys of it, but really what it means to be a woman in my place, to be an individual in my place.

Meet a T-Mobile employee who experiences the intersectionality of May, with its focus on AAPIHM, Military Awareness and Mental Health Awareness.

Employee Spotlight: An Intersectional Experience of May - T-Mobile Newsroom

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As we celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day, a T-Mobile intern and participant in the American Association of People with Disabilities’ intern program interviews the President and CEO of AAPD to talk about disability advocacy, accessibility and inclusion for future talent. 

I walked into my first day of high school in 2015 feeling unconfident, un-liked and unsure of what the future would bring.

My mind raced with crushing doubt. Would I survive academically? Socially? I know high school is a scary rite of passage for most, but throughout my life I was continuously tested for learning disabilities, provided accommodations and sat through countless Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings. I was often told aiming within my "abilities" meant solely graduating high school and finding a job. When I argued that I wanted more for myself, I was met with blank stares and shrugs.

I was frustrated not only with my learning challenges, but with the systems in place that prioritized adult decision-makers choosing my educational path instead of asking me. I knew if I did not take ownership of my academic future, it would be decided for me. I took a more decisive role in better understanding the intricacies behind my own IEP and the legislation behind it. This self-advocacy empowered me to feel unafraid to demand what I needed to succeed. I entered college determined to do my part in advocating and supporting fellow students with disabilities.

I began my advocacy work in the most natural of places — in a legislator’s office. I interned for United States Senator Patty Murray’s office during the summer of 2021. There, I got my first glimpse of how real societal change comes to life, and I never would have had this opportunity if it weren’t for the <a href="https://www.aapd.com/">American Association of People with Disabilities</a> (AAPD).

AAPD is a national cross-disability civil rights organization that focuses on building the economic and political power of the 61 million disabled people across the country. As a member of their <a href="https://www.aapd.com/summer-internship-program/">Summer Internship Program,</a> my peers and I had access to an entire network of employment opportunities, including my internship in the federal government. I also have this program to thank for my most current internship at T-Mobile working in Corporate Communications, an experience has been incredibly valuable to me as I explore a career where I can help share stories with a broad audience in ways that create impact and drive change.

As I soak in every moment of my experience learning more about my own career passions in communications, while also supporting T-Mobile in its mission of being an ally to the disability community, I wondered if the opportunity to be an agent of awareness was right in front of me.

So, I reached out to <a href="https://www.aapd.com/about/maria-town/#:~:text=Maria%20Town%20is%20the%20President,power%20of%20people%20with%20disabilities.">Maria Town</a>, President and CEO of AAPD, to learn more about what it takes for an organization to be a stronger ally and to discuss her life and career path in disability justice, her current work at AAPD and what roles she believes large companies like T-Mobile play in employing, mentoring and advancing people in the disability community.

An extremely important advocate for the community, Maria has served as the Director of the City of Houston Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and is a former Senior Associate Director in the Obama White House Office of Public Engagement.

What gives you the dedication and drive to work every day advocating for the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities?

One thing that I love about AAPD is that we are led and staffed entirely by people with disabilities. I am disabled myself; I have cerebral palsy. This is a disability I was born with and have lived my whole life with. I have always had to advocate for myself and for my inclusion in mainstream society, whether that was in school, in things like Girl Scouts, and in the workplace. I'm lucky to work in a field and in a role that is so deeply personal to me. Sometimes that makes the work hard.

When I was growing up, I did not see a lot of people like me in the world. I was the only child with a visible disability in most of my classes, all the way through college. I didn't see anyone who was working in advocacy or in policy full time. The world of policy as a career was not available to me. I got into my career because of people who were part of my journey and who connected me to people they thought I would like and who I could learn from.

One of the signature programs that AAPD coordinates is the Summer Internship Program, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this summer. I took part in the program and benefitted greatly. Can you tell us a bit about this program, and why you believe it has been and continues to be so pivotal for young adults with disabilities?

The AAPD Summer Internship Program selects students and recent graduates with disabilities and places them in internships. All the interns have very different disabilities and are varying ages from post-secondary programs to those who are pursuing their PhD's. Because the disability community is so unique and diverse, we want to include as many people as possible - so we cover transportation, housing, technology, food, and provide them with paid internships to make it seamless and easy.

Internships are vital career development opportunities for not only young people, but anyone who is trying to figure out their career. Students are placed in an internship and paired with a mentor. They also participate in the disability advocacy certificate program to deepen their awareness of disability history, key issues and what it means to be an advocate and tell your story.

Twenty years later, this program is still critically important because even though the <a href="https://adata.org/learn-about-ada">Americans with Disabilities Act</a> has existed for more than thirty years, we continue to see huge gaps in disability employment. The gaps in disability employment reflect gaps throughout the systems in education, career development and learning that people participate in before they get a job. We need the AAPD internship program to exist and grow so that more young career professionals with disabilities can get these experiences.

Recently, we have seen an increase in disability representation in the media such as the film CODA winning the Oscar for best picture, which is helping more people around the country be more understanding of people with disabilities. What do you believe companies such as T-Mobile can do to add to this awareness?

I believe companies like T-Mobile should seek to hire people with disabilities in every job level from frontline customer service positions to corporate executives and invest in advocacy and mentorship. For example, I would have never been able to work at the White House without <a href="https://es.t-mobile.com/news/community/disability-awareness-claudia-gordon">Claudia Gordon</a>, T-Mobile's Senior Accessibility Strategy Partner who is my dear friend. Seeing her in that space and knowing that I could do that work as well was vital for me. Also, when I was offered the position in the White House, I was intimidated, and imposter syndrome set in! But Claudia took me to lunch and said, “You can do this!”  Having people that believe in your abilities and worth is vital, and we all need to support people in their goals and aspirations. Not only is advocacy critical, but it’s also important for companies to host companywide celebrations for key disability events or bring in speakers to come share knowledge, so that everyone can learn that having disability is about far more than needing special accommodations and assistive technology. Getting employees and everyone at your company to understand the culture around disability is key.

What advice do you have for young people who are reading this article and have had the same thoughts of self-doubt in achieving their own personal and professional goals?

I feel like today's younger generation could give me the most valuable advice, and that makes me hopeful and inspired. Young people today have greater access to information about disability and the disability community than I ever did. Part of that is because of social media and the way communities are formed via the internet and technology and use of mobile devices. If I had to give any advice, I would quote one of my favorite poems, which is "You Get Proud by Practicing" by Laura Hershey.

One of my favorite lines in it is, "Remember you were not the one who made you ashamed." Even though I have had my disability my whole life, there are moments when I get really frustrated, whether it's with my body just not doing what I want it to do or with the outside world not accepting me as I am. Those are all moments where I practice my pride

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As you figure out who you are, what it is you want to do, and who you want to be in the world, it's okay to try something and decide it's not for you. It is okay to take risks and make mistakes. As disabled people, I think we must deal with the reality that we aren't given much grace to make mistakes, because we have to try so hard to overcompensate for a perceived deficit. There is a community of fantastic people out there who want to support you and are willing to reach out if you're willing to reach back. I would point them to our internship program or many similar programs on our website.

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As T-Mobile's collaboration with AAPD continues to grow, so does its pipeline of unique, diverse young talent. I am incredibly grateful for the support I’ve received from my experience with both organizations, and I’m thrilled to share that another fellow AAPD intern will be joining T-Mobile's Summer 2022 internship program – ranked among the <a href="https://www.nationalinternday.com/top100-2021">best in the nation</a>!

If you share T-Mobile's passion, ambition, and desire to do things differently, check out the T-Mobile <a href="https://es.t-mobile.com/careers/culture-and-benefits/diversity">career diversity</a> and <a href="https://es.t-mobile.com/careers/meet-our-teams/students-and-grads/internships">internship</a> pages to keep up to date with the latest career opportunities. Customers can also learn more about T-Mobile's accessibility accommodations through our support page <a href="https://es.t-mobile.com/responsibility/consumer-info/accessibility-policy">here</a>.

As we celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day, a T-Mobile intern and participant in the American Association of People with Disabilities’ intern program interviews the President and CEO of AAPD to talk about disability advocacy, accessibility and inclusion for future talent.

Accessibility and Inclusion for Future Talent

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Accessibility and Inclusion for Future Talent  - T-Mobile Newsroom

As the country honors its servicemen and women this month, T-Mobile renews its lead sponsorship of a nonprofit helping veterans and their families meet the challenges of life after the military. We bring you a special story of how three employees found themselves demonstrating what Military Appreciation Month in action truly means.

“I’m often asked how we got connected with <a href="https://warriorsandquietwaters.org/">Warriors & Quiet Waters</a>,” says Paula Timmons, a T-Mobile director of Government Affairs in Washington, D.C., with a smile. “I guess that would start with me. In the back of my head, I kept thinking of my friend Laura and her husband Drew. Laura and I have been close friends for almost 20 years and over that time, watching her with Drew, I knew I wanted to be an ally for her — be a better friend for her.”

Our story begins here, with this simple thought from an ally. This small but mighty space held for allyship led to a path that's connected three people to a cause, as well as a commitment to each other, that they never could have expected.

Paula says in her role she sees herself as an ambassador for T-Mobile, sharing its policies and values with policymakers on Capitol Hill. She says as the daughter of a Navy Captain and the sister of a brother who served in the military, she found herself focusing on Veterans Affairs and the work the company was doing to serve its veteran employees and community.

Paula says she was working on a project to find underserved rural markets in need of the benefits of fast and reliable connectivity, when she met officials from the state of Montana. She was invited to represent T-Mobile at an event with Montana Senator Steve Daines. While there, she struck up a conversation with a few men who said they were on the board of an organization called Warriors & Quiet Waters.

“I learned they were all veterans who suffered from some kind of PTSD,” says Paula. “One of them even brought a service dog to lunch that day.”

She says they described their mission at Warriors & Quiet Waters as helping post-9/11 combat veterans and their families thrive by building a support system and sense of community through outdoor excursions like fly fishing. Sensing that Paula was really interested in their work, she says they asked if she thought T-Mobile might be interested in learning more and sponsoring one of the biggest events they were planning that year, called the <a href="https://warriorsandquietwaters.org/events/warrior-taste-fest" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Warrior Taste Fest</a>.

“I knew right away I wanted T-Mobile to be part of this event in our new Bozeman Montana market,” says Paula, “but I found myself constantly thinking about my friend Laura. Knowing she was an avid fly fisher and knowing what she had been going through with her husband Andrew, I just felt like I needed to make that connection.”

“In the words of Johnny Cash, we got married in a fever,” laughs Laura Linderman Barker, a senior director on the Government Affairs team at T-Mobile.

Laura says she met her husband Andrew when he was doing reserve duty in the Navy and working with the Department of Justice. They fell in love quickly - then married quickly - because he was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan. They got hitched in San Diego in 2008, and a day later he began his seventh deployment. It was always meant to be his last, but not for the reasons that came to be.

"Unfortunately, when he was there, Andrew was in close proximity to a blast and suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury," says Laura. "TBIs are complicated. I had no idea what it meant to be a military wife. I was someone who always planned everything and felt in control, but then became someone who never felt so emotionally vulnerable. And I deeply missed my husband."

Laura says she had no concept of what to expect of supporting a navy veteran reintegrating into civilian life but they just kept moving forward as life took over. They were busy working and raising their two daughters. While on the outside they may have looked like any other family, Laura says in no uncertain terms they were struggling with very complex issues at home and she felt overwhelmed.

When Paula first mentioned her chance encounter with the board members she met from Warrior & Quiet Waters, she says she saw it as a wonderful opportunity for T-Mobile. The company could sponsor the Warrior Taste Fest to continue its work of supporting veterans, and the part of Montana where the organization is located was a rural area in need of better connectivity.

“Our boss Tony Russo, VP of Government Affairs, saw an obvious alignment with the brand's values," says Paula, "but he too saw Laura struggling and once I pitched it to him, he said he would support the sponsorship — so Laura and I headed to Montana to represent T-Mobile.”

Laura says when they arrived and she shared her personal story with some of the staff at Warriors & Quiet Waters, someone referred to her as a caregiver and it was the first time she had ever even thought of herself that way. It's no surprise that members of the organization saw Laura for exactly who she was, as Warriors & Quiet Waters was beginning to work on a caregiver focused fishing expedition program.

“I admit when I first heard of Warriors & Quiet Waters, I immediately thought I need to get my husband involved in this and it kind of went over my head that I should apply as well,” she says.

Paula told Emily Sather, Chief Development Officer at Warriors & Quiet Waters, about how impacted Laura was by the Warriors Taste Fest and Emily asked if Laura would be interested in applying to their new program. She immediately called Laura.

"I think Laura for the first time felt that she found a community that understood who she was and what she was going through - she was a caregiver", says Paula. "And the opportunity to take advantage of this new-found community through fly fishing came at the perfect time with what Laura was going through. I saw her struggling and I needed to help her put one foot in front of the other."

Once again, Laura says it was her ally Paula who pushed her to see that she, too was, deserving of care.

Connecting veterans (and their families) to careers. T-Mobile has partnered with <a href="https://www.hiringourheroes.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjwjtOTBhAvEiwASG4bCJcu2JUfxNReMCYUNU25ZqXk2_hJjQLBeV_--Toju8tVfbYtWGu6vBoCoRIQAvD_BwE">Hiring Our Heroes</a>, which finds meaningful employment opportunities for service members, veterans and spouses. It is also <a href="https://www.militaryfriendly.com/is-t-mobile-usa-inc-military-friendly/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nationally recognized</a> as a military-friendly employer and has committed to hire 10,000 veterans and military spouses by 2023. Since its merger with Sprint in 2020, T-Mobile is more than halfway there.Fostering a culture of inclusion and professional growth. T-Mobile offers resources to help retain veteran and military spouse employees throughout their career. <a href="https://es.t-mobile.com/news/community/returnship-helps-veterans-reenter-workforce">The Tech X Returnship program</a>, which connects people with a path back to the careers they love after a considerable break due to personal reasons, has accepted a number of veterans transitioning back into civilian life.

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"I had been going through a particularly rough period at home, and I just remember after that conversation with Paula, I submitted my application," says Laura. "A total of six people are chosen for their caregiver fishing expeditions and I feel grateful I was chosen last year. My takeaway is that I'm of no value to my husband and family if I'm not taking care of myself. And this program reminds people to stop and energize and refuel because you're going back to a situation that requires your energy and if you don't ever recharge it can be a recipe for disaster. It reminded me to not just focus on what it is to have my most basic needs met, but to challenge me to pursue a life of purpose."

“Laura is someone who always wants to do what’s right,” says Emily, “and it’s an honor to partner with someone who is not only service-oriented but also brings her own personal experience of being a military caregiver and the challenges and opportunities therein.”

Laura returned from that trip excited to do more for the organization, but says attending that first Warrior Taste Fest was monumental thanks to one chance encounter.

“That’s when we met Larry,” she explains.

“I am one month away from retiring after almost 30 years of service with the Washington Army National Guard, and even right now Warriors & Quiet Warriors is helping me with such a big transition,” says Larry Weidinger, a T-Mobile Operations Manager in Montana.

A chance sighting of pamphlets for the organization back in 2014 led Larry to ask some questions about what exactly they did on these outdoor expeditions that was so special. Fast forward more than eight years later, and Larry has become a staple figure with the non-profit. He says his volunteer work as a companion to help other soldiers struggling after service was something he believes is part of his purpose.

“It’s just something I knew I needed to do as much as I can for the rest of my life,” says Larry.

Empleados

Employee Spotlight: Pride is Power

Employee Spotlight: An Intersectional Experience of May

Accessibility and Inclusion for Future Talent

An Ally. A Military Spouse. A Soldier.

The U.S. Military Creates Great Leaders: T‑Mobile Wants to Hire Them

Employee Spotlight: How These Magenta Rock Stars Go Green

The Magenta Wave

Celebrating Women’s History by Making Women’s History

Humanity During Hurricanes

Making a Great Place to Work Even Better

Ask a Mobile Expert: How Do You Activate an eSIM Card? (Video)

Together We Give More: T‑Mobile Rallies Communities to Raise $1 million for Pay Away the Layaway