Porscha Jackson, PhD, is a powerhouse in Houston’s small business ecosystem! As the Business Development Manager at the City of Houston Office of Business Opportunity (OBO), she’s not just managing programs; she’s the secret sauce for small businesses hungry for success.
Beyond her city role, Dr. PJ is an author, penning two books, “Pursuing Legacy” and “It’s Me, Not You”, as well as contributing to academic texts and anthologies. With a heart for the underdog, she’s not just a professional rockstar but a community champion, fighting for inclusivity and brighter futures. 
“It’s Me, Not You” is not just a book for the shelf but one for your hands. You’ll journey alongside Dr. PJ as she reflects on her contributions to her toxic work experiences and ultimately offers practical tips to handle and overcome toxic behaviors and environments.
Join Dr. PJ in this transformative journey to understand and combat workplace toxicity, making “It’s Me, Not You” an essential read for anyone looking to thrive in today’s professional world.
Don’t miss out—grab your copy on Amazon: https://buff.ly/3XtEZjS
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.
Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. I have a very special guest here. She’s been with me before just a few weeks ago, and I’m going to tell you about that as well, so you can go back and listen to that. But I’m really excited about having doctor Porscha Jackson on the show again today. We spoke a few weeks back about the Office of Business Opportunity for the City of Houston, which you run that program and how many amazing things are coming out. So, Porscha, welcome to the show. I’m so glad that you came back today.
Porscha Jackson: Yes, I’m glad to be back.
Trisha Stetzel: Awesome. So for those of you who may be interested in those programs that I just talked about. Please go listen to the last episode that Porscha was on with me just a few weeks back. You can find it down inside of the list of radio show series in there. So, Porscha , today we are not talking about the Office of Business Opportunity. We’re talking about you. And I’m so glad that you agreed to come back and let us focus on you, what you’re up to. And oh, by the way, I happen to know that you’ve got a book release coming up. So for those who don’t know you already, would you just do a quick introduction for our audience?
Porscha Jackson: Absolutely. So hello, everyone. Um, like Tricia said, I’m Doctor Porscha Jackson. I also go by doctor PJ. And so outside of my duties with the city of Houston, I’m a published author. So I’ve written, um, this is my second book and affectionately titled It’s Me Not you. How I survived toxic work environments. But in addition to that, I’ve written also another book, Pursuing Legacy, which is about family, businesses and intergenerational careers and have contributed to other bodies of of of books, academically as well as fictional anthology. And so writing is my passion. And so doing that, as well as dabbling in entrepreneurship and in the retail industry and a lot of different things, that’s me. But ultimately, my personal mission is to help people become better versions of themselves. So everything that I do aligns with that personal mission. So I’m just here trying to help people connect on our stories. And, um, and that’s pretty much who I am.
Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And I think this book that you’ve written is really going to resonate with a lot of people. You hear. I heard the words toxic work environment. And I was like, oh, I need to know more. And I think that you I don’t think I know just from having the conversations that I’ve had with you over the past several months, that you are very passionate about sharing knowledge and bringing people on board and getting everyone moving in the right direction, doing the right things at the right time. And I appreciate that so much. And we need to be out there supporting each other. Let’s talk more about the book. So why did you decide to write this book? It’s me, not you.
Porscha Jackson: So and the funny part about this is I had been preparing for this book for years now. And so the book is a journey with several different jobs that I’ve had in several different industries. And so when it came down to the bulk of the book with this one particular job, things became a bit chaotic that I started just recording things and putting it in folders. And then years later, it just popped up in my head like, what are you going to do with all those emails and those notes that you took? And I said, you know what? I’m not the only one who had to experience this. Other people have experienced it, but let them. Let me just share that, because we have to kind of get that out of us and not hold on to that toxicity, otherwise it consumes us. And so that’s why I decided to to write this book and saying, hey, this is how I survived it. Maybe this will help you survive it. And even, um, if you never tell your story. But if you’re still in toxic work environments, you can use this tool. And that’s where the saying came from. It’s me, not you. And so that you can help that get you through, through that process until it’s your next step of maybe getting to a better environment or hoping that that environment changes.
Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. So the book release, we got to get people to preorder because it’s on September 30th, and we want people to preorder so they can find the link in Amazon. Now I’m going to put that in the show notes. So anybody who’s watching or listening electronically, just grab the show notes and click on the link. If you’re not, then you can find this book by simply going to Amazon and doing a search for Porscha Jackson. And her name is spelled p o r s c h a Jackson. So if you do a search there, you’ll find the book. It’s me, not you, and we want everybody to go out and get their preorder in September 30th. Awesome.
Porscha Jackson: Absolutely.
Trisha Stetzel: So, Porscha, I think it’s amazing that you’ve been able to this is your second book. Um, get it all in writing. I know so many people who have a story to tell, but they never tell the story. So how did you get past or energize yourself to get past? Just collecting all of this data and making the decision to put this out there for others?
Porscha Jackson: It’s I think it’s kind of I enjoy writing, but it’s hard to get that time in to write. And but then also I’m of kind of of a reflective person. And so I believe that everything we go through is not wasted. And so when I realized and going through some files, you know, sometimes you’re just cleaning up. And I found those files, I was like, you, they’re still here. You have to do something with them because that’s what you’re supposed to do. I’m telling myself that’s what you’re supposed to do. So start writing now because somebody is waiting for this. I don’t know who they are. I don’t know where they are. But somebody is waiting for this, and you’ve gotten through it, so you owe it to get that out because it’s going to help somebody. And really, that was my fuel and my push to say, you know what? It’s been collecting dust here in this folder. Let me get this out and let me start writing. And I just started breaking it down in chunks. So one month I’d work on, you know, one particular folder that I had of that information. Another month. I’ll work on that. Now, I took a series of years because, you know, you start things and you have to kind of like, stop. But it was just the underlying push that you have to get this out. You went through this not just for you, but for some other people. So you owe it to them to get it out.
Trisha Stetzel: I love that it’s your gift, right? It’s your gift. I love that you’ve been able to put this in print. So if there’s one, one thing that you could share without spilling the beans about the book, what would you want people to know about? It’s me, not you.
Porscha Jackson: I want them to know that toxic environments one can and that’s the key is not just workplace. It’s Is environments, right? And that sometimes we it’s so easy for us to put the blame on other people, even if we’re not toxic. It’s easy for us to say they’re crazy or they did this to me. But what I really want people to take away from the book is look at yourself and what can you do differently so that you don’t become a part of what they did. Right. So I’m not into the blame game, but how do I take accountability for myself and create an environment for myself that I can deal with, and then they’ll just have to deal with themselves? But how can I take accountability to make my environment better for me? Until I’m able to make it to to the next, to the next step?
Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that. And a lot of it is really self-reflection. How am I participating in what’s going on here? Am I a standard? Why am I just watching what’s going on? Am I also participating in this toxic environment in a bad way, or is it something that is there something different that I could be doing in this environment? And yeah, you’re right, there’s so many. It’s not just work. A lot of us tend to talk about that when we’re younger, and we’re still in our careers and we spend more time at work, I feel like, than we do at home. But those environments can propagate from each other where you’re taking that toxic toxicity from work, home, even creating space like that there. What, um, from all of your. So you’ve been writing this book for years, you’ve collected all of the data and you’ve been putting it together for years. Is there a favorite story that comes to mind, whether it’s in the book or not, but just something that you reflected on as a story that you’d like to tell?
Porscha Jackson: Yeah. Um, one of the Stories. That’s actually in the book. And I always laugh about it because and it’s my favorite, because I was so engrossed in the dream of this job that I wasn’t seeing the red flags. And, um, and to me, it’s just like, you didn’t wake up. You didn’t you didn’t see all these things. People were saying all that. And I’m like, nope, nope. But it hasn’t happened to me. It hasn’t happened to me. And I kept going on and didn’t ask questions. When I did see some things that were odd, I just kept moving because at that time it didn’t happen to me. But y’all, you know what happened, right? It ended up happening to me. And then, you know, I’m mad and had to write a book about it. But no, but, um, but that’s one of my favorite stories is because I had all the red flags there early on, but it was just I was so engrossed in the dream that I overlooked everything. And it just thinks about. I just think about other people. And sometimes they’re so engrossed in what the potential of something could be. When all everything is saying, this is not it, this is not it. Your gut is saying, this is not it. But you’re like, no, but it could be. You know, we try to force things. And so that’s why that’s my favorite story. And it’s about, um, uh, working in the a sports agency.
Trisha Stetzel: Okay. All right. Yeah. And I could see that being a part of just who we are, like, this is my dream job. It’s going to be fine. I know we’re all going to get past this. And then it comes back around and it becomes part of your story then as well, because we I think we oftentimes will just ignore those signals because we want it to be okay. We want things to be great. Right? Yeah. So who should pick up this book for sure?
Porscha Jackson: Who should pick up this book. This should be everybody who has a story to tell. Who has been in toxic work environments, who are currently in those environments, or folks who just like a good story to really to relate to. As far as the things that happen on your job, in your social organizations and you’re wondering, this is weird, but does it happen to other people? Pick up the book. We all want to connect, and we all want to share these stories. And so everyone go out and pick it up. Whether you’ve been in a toxic work environment or not, I’m sure you know some of the characters. And that’s why I say them as as characters, uh, in the book of what I’ve experienced, because I think you can really identify with some of the folks that are the characters are in the book, and you may have run past them a couple times or two. And so it’s a good read. And, um, I just really hope everybody enjoys it and, and is able to relate to it and wants to. And it helps people to kind of detox and share your stories, because you want to get that and get that out of folks.
Trisha Stetzel: I love that and also share this with other people. So if you’re out there and you’re listening to this and you intend to go get the book, please share this episode and share it with other people who can benefit from getting this book as well. Now, if you’re catching this before September 30th, I want you to go preorder right now. The link is in the show notes, or you can just go look up Porscha Jackson on Amazon and find the book. It’s me, not you, and get your preorder in. If you’re catching this episode after the 30th, it’s okay. You can still go get the book. We want you to do the preorder so that we can get it to the top of the list. We want to help Porscha get there and we want to share this with other people. So again, if you feel like you know someone who could benefit from this book, please share this episode with them. Get the link over to them, tell them how to find it and get this book on your reading list. I’m so excited about getting this book, Porscha and I would be remiss if we didn’t spend just a teeny bit of time. I know you described Pursuing Legacy, which is your first book you wrote several years ago, but I’d love for you to give us a little information about that, because maybe it’s a twofer and they want to get both of your books.
Porscha Jackson: Absolutely. So pursuing legacy is really my my dissertation that I did. Um, and so I just brought it into life. And it’s really going the patterns that we have growing up determine who we become. And so what this book is describing and giving the stories of six different families who’ve either had family businesses or intergenerational careers. So why did they continue to go in the business? Why did they continue to go in the same career? And what it reveals are the family patterns and how our environment shapes our aspirations, especially our career aspirations and our social aspirations, but also not just for positive, but for negative too. And so what I really wanted to get out with this book is for folks to understand your environment shapes who you are. So as you move forward in your life to make sure that you’re doing things for the next generations that help to shape them for the better.
Trisha Stetzel: I love that, and I can see how these two books play into each other so much, where you are driven by certain things as you mature in home life and work life, and sometimes that may turn into a position where you got your dream job, and so you’re ignoring all of the bad things that are going on over here because it’s not you, it’s not you, it’s not you. Right? But then it becomes you, right? Right. Yes. Oh my goodness. Well, I’m excited about both of these books. Again, it’s me, not you. You can find it on Amazon.com. Get your preorder version before September 30th. If you’re listening after, you can always still buy the book out there. I’m really excited. So, Porscha , what would you like to leave the listeners with today as we close?
Porscha Jackson: Everybody get the book. Um, and I just really want to make sure you fully understand that our life is really not our own. Right? Our life depends. What we do in our life goes to help other people and contribute to society into this world. And so all I’m really trying to do is make sure that you understand you’re not by yourself. There’s tools out there. There’s other people who share the same stories. And if we just come together and connect, we can help each other through this thing called life, and we can actually make this world better. And all it takes is one person. All it takes is that one mind change and change of behavior. So that’s what I want to leave with you, that you’re not alone and we can do this together. And we all want to strive just to be better people.
Trisha Stetzel: I love that. Thank you for sharing such words of wisdom with everyone. And I love having conversations with you. I know we are starting to connect or have been connecting on a regular basis, and I it always thrills me to have conversations with you and thank you for coming on the show again. I hope we can get you to the top of that list by doing all of these orders. It’s me, not you. Help us get Porsche to the top of the list on Amazon. That is so exciting. And if you’re interested, Pursuing a Legacy is the other book that you wrote a few years ago that she just described, and I’d love for you guys to share that story with her as well. Porsche, I know people can find you on social media. Is it okay with folks to connect with you there?
Porscha Jackson: Absolutely. I would love it. Connect with me. I’m definitely on LinkedIn. Um, I’m on Instagram. I’m trying to get better, but definitely on LinkedIn. And my handle is PJ, PhD. Uh, you can find me there.
Trisha Stetzel: Awesome. Doctor PJ. Thank you for being on the show with me today.
Porscha Jackson: Thanks for having me.
Trisha Stetzel: You’re very welcome. So I want to say this because I think it’s so much fun. Porsche with the is with the heart of the underdog. She’s not just a professional rock star, but a community champion fighting for inclusivity and brighter futures. Thank you so much for being on the show today.
Porscha Jackson: Thank you for having me. Bye bye. Thanks.
Trisha Stetzel: And that’s all the time we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.
