Some years back I had a barber who, over the course of a year, regularly updated me on the events happening in his life.
His story was both amusing and sad; I would regularly be asked to provide updates at dinner meals with friends - and as much as everyone laughed they would pause afterwards to consider the pathos of Vic's circumstance.
I orgininally wrote this as a blog; but have recorded it here as well because I think it's a story worth telling. Vic and Angie are not the real names of the characters; but everything else here is exactly as they told it, or as I experienced it myself.
I was privileged enough to see - and record - Alex Harris talking at the recent ISACA conference.
I found his talk inspirational, and he was gracious enough to grant me permission to publish it. Listening to it again as I edited the recording, I relived the experience - I would encourage any organisation looking for an interesting speaker to approach him.
Alex - thank you again for allowing me to use this content.
Alex can be contacted at
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His website is at www.alexharris.co.za
I was recently involved in rebranding the company I work for and I found it to be a fascinating exercise. I went back afterwards to discuss the process - and branding in general - with Grant Thom and Vuk Miller from Gold Creative
The first gender reassignment surgery occurred in 1921. Nonetheless, for most people this remains a little-understood and controversial topic. It is also rare enough for most people not to have ever met a gender reassignment subject.
Natasha (not her real name) came into the studio to talk to me about her motivations, experience and reflections on why she chose to become a woman, how the process changed her and what she has learned.
Natasha's insights into what it means to belong to a gender, her commitment to the change she made, her struggle to deal with personal cost she paid: all of these will change your perspective. I left this interview realizing that courage is not always where we expect, and that our perceptions of identity are more complex than we realize.