Pride Month Employee Spotlights 2024
As part of Pride Month, we’re spotlighting a few employees who share insights about their role with 7-Eleven, what Pride means to them and why it’s so important that we continue to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Read on to learn more!
Josh – Area Leader
A California native, Josh has served as an Area Leader for three and a half years, overseeing 15 stores throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Mountain Region. An avid bicyclist, he enjoys roaming the hilly neighborhoods of San Francisco and trekking across the Golden Gate to neighboring Sausalito with friends. “The bridge is a lot longer than it looks and surprisingly steep until the middle, then it’s a coast the rest of the way!” But he admits that he hasn’t been as dedicated to biking since the pandemic. Although he adds quickly, “I’m determined to get back to it, because the views of the bay and the ocean are unforgettable.”
What’s the role of an Area Leader?
“My role is what you might call the “middle-ground” between the franchise and the corporate office, in that I support the Franchise Owner in their entrepreneurship of being a business owner and a franchisee, while also making sure that they believe in the brands they champion. I try to help them understand why they bought into our brand in the first place, along with supporting them as much as possible and doing the right thing for them. I’m also there when they need advice about their store. I live by my Outlook chore list!”
What does being the social co-chair of the 7-Pride Associate Business Resource Group (ABRG) entail?
“When things started opening up after COVID-19, I volunteered to work on community involvement events for Pride Month and other activities throughout the year. And I knew other ABRGs were starting up and in the back of my mind, I wondered if 7-Eleven was going to develop a group for LGBTQ+ employees. The answer was yes, and I thought it would be great to volunteer and get involved because I really enjoyed what I did with events and have hands-on experience with how to get things done. And that led to utilizing the connections I have here and throughout the company to do this on a broader scale and talk with subject matter experts for community involvement in the various markets throughout the country. Along with my co-chair Amisha, we’re creating an interconnected web through these connections and seeing what other areas are doing and making sure everybody knows about it. And finally, it’s a safe space for some of our employees, which is very important.”
What does Pride Month mean to you personally?
“I grew up in the Central Valley area of California where there wasn’t much lifestyle visibility or awareness. So, when Proposition 8 came along, I’d be driving to school and there were suddenly mobs on the street with picket signs all over the place. It was kind of scary. I realized I wanted to expand my horizons, so after a year at California State University in Fresno, I transferred to Humboldt State University, which was much different culturally. I began my personal journey there.”
Editor’s Note: Proposition 8 was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in court.
Any role models you’d like to highlight?
“Harvey Milk, who started the Castro Street Fair in San Francisco in 1974 to encourage inclusiveness and togetherness. One of his most famous quotes still resonates: ‘Hope will never be silent.’ I like that because it dovetails nicely with our company’s leadership principles. Besides, we share the same birthday!”
Anything else you’d like to share?
“I’d like people to understand how important diversity is, whether it's in the area you live or where you work. We grow as people when everybody brings something different to the table; different ideas come from people's upbringings and experiences and being able to have conversations about it. Otherwise, the world would kind of be a boring place, right?”
Amisha – Market Leader
Whether she’s tearing up the Bonneville salt flats in her Ford Mustang GT or racing a Lamborghini on her birthday, there’s no doubt that Amisha knows her way around the joys of motoring. “People wanted to street-race me because they thought, ‘Oh, it’s a girl in a Mustang,’” she laughs. (Needless to say, she smoked them) When she’s not indulging her inner Richard Petty, she indulges her passion for Indian culture by enjoying chai tea and celebrating religious holidays and events.
She’s brought that same zest to her 16-year career at 7-Eleven, where, among other honors, she’s been nominated as “Field Consultant of the Year” an unprecedented three times, earned a “Mid-Year Champion Award” in 2017 and a year later, won the prestigious “Special Achievement Award.”
Describe your role as a Market Leader
“With responsibility of supporting 146 stores in Orange County, California, our main priority is to help with daily operations to ensure that the company and Franchise Owners are able to maximize performance, ensure that things are simplified and better able to execute successfully.”
How has your role as social co-chair of the 7-Pride ABRG made a difference to you and to others in the group?
“As a Pride ally, 7-Pride has taught me a lot about the LGBTQ+ group and how I can better serve the community. And it’s given me the opportunity to work alongside Josh, who is amazing! He’s helped me reach outside of my network to contact different Pride resource groups in other parts of the country and help plan their Pride events. It’s wonderful to be an ally and part of the driving force that creates change within the community. And just seeing the joy and success of these events is also very rewarding for me personally. It's fun!”
What does Pride Month mean to you?
“Inclusivity and celebration. It's a month that we bring an expanded awareness about the LGBTQ+ community to others, as well as share history, acceptance, love and kindness. It’s eye-opening and humbling. I also think it’s interesting to see how Pride Month has expanded the trajectory for inclusivity and hope that continues to grow and evolve.”
Any personal history that might help people understand why Pride Month is so important to you?
“To me, it’s about acceptance. As an ally, I want to be a resource that someone can come to and be heard and know that I stand with them. I come from a different background and acceptance hasn't always been part of my journey. Even though I was born and raised here, growing up was definitely difficult. I didn’t actually speak English until I was five, so there was a language barrier. I’m also a vegetarian which wasn't as accepted as it is now, so I can understand the bullying. Feeling equal and accepted, no matter your skin tone, your culture, your background—I get that. So that’s why 7-Pride and all our ABRGs are extremely important to me.”
Lillian – SVP, General Counsel & Secretary
As General Counsel and Secretary for 7-Eleven, Inc., Lillian leads the company's legal, government affairs and compliance functions while also overseeing matters relating to the Board of Directors. You might call her 7-Eleven’s top attorney. But despite her role leading multiple functions and helping the company navigate complex issues on a daily basis, Lillian describes herself as “basically a boring person.” Which is to say, she is also extremely humble.
On the variety of her role
“There is no such thing as an average day. It literally could be anything and everything based on the range of areas my teams support—whether it’s a legal issue, a government affairs effort or a compliance initiative—the team has a broad scope and a packed schedule. The company has grown to have more stores and a larger presence in the marketplace, while adding new lines of business, as well. As a result, you can imagine that our team has an incredible range of opportunities to partner with the business while developing as professionals.”
Her favorite activity
“I adore my kids and love to travel with them. It’s one of the things I live for.”
Why she is a staunch ally of the LGBTQ+ community and celebrates Pride
“Some of the closest people in my life are part of the (LGBTQ+) community and it means a lot to me whenever this community comes together. I think the word ‘pride’ says it all. We are all united as people and I believe that through greater recognition and understanding we can forge greater unity in our broader society. Fostering the acceptance of all people is essential for me.”
The most important thing an ally can do
“Being an ally means that you value and embrace the whole person you are supporting. You can’t take away pieces of their identity when they come to work. As an ally, it’s my job to learn how to get comfortable in supporting all of our employees, even if that takes me out of my comfort zone. It’s the only way that person can be their true, authentic self—which is what we strive for in allyship.”
Finding acceptance and hope in younger generations
“I have family members and friends who are part of Gen Z and love the inclusiveness that I see in their generation. The acceptance and support they show each other is remarkable; it really warms my heart. They care about the person, not the label, which gives me hope for the future.”
Why it is important for companies like 7-Eleven to champion diversity and inclusion
“There are so many reasons! But at a foundational level, people are diverse. It’s real. And it is incumbent upon us as an employer to hire the very best people and then to support them and help them develop so they can thrive. It makes good business sense but more importantly, it’s the right thing to do. It would be a lot better if all people were accepted 100 percent of the time without the need for special groups and events. But until then, we need to actively provide support for the LGBTQ+ community, because having this dialog is the only way we’ll get there.”
