Let's Talk with Leaha & Rhonda

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of higher education.

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Hi, my name is Leah Crawford. And I'm Rhonda Nolan. And you're listening to the Let's Talk with Leah and Rhonda show. For all the beautiful entrepreneurs out there, this is for you. Good morning Las Vegas. Leah, how are you doing on this fine Saturday morning? Hey Rhonda! Okay so it rained yes then it rained yes and then it rained that's right okay so I don't know if you know because it doesn't rain a lot in Vegas you don't know if you have leaks in your roof oh you don't know if you have house issues oh okay until it rains until it rains because it doesn't rain in Vegas for real I looked in my office I was like oh wow okay here we go but thank you for the rain I appreciated it because it cleaned everything up but it's been a lot of rain this year it has been we this month has been very rainy it hadn't been over the last couple of years but when I first moved to Las Vegas it rained a lot and then there was no rain and now we're back to rain again back to rain again and rain again my weeds love it you your weeds do love it your weeds do love it. And I realized that because it was raining and I went out back and it was a weed as tall as me. I was sitting there. I was like, well, where'd you come from?

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Exactly.

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So we pulled him out said, thank you. And then we moved on but pools you got to put the chemicals back in your pool and do all the other stuff around the house.

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This is a lot.

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So Las Vegas, we got rain. We got rain, but that means the weather is beautiful.

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We have beautiful weather.

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Weather's lovely. How's your foot? We're getting there. Okay, all right. Well, enough about us because today we have a very, very special guest in the studio. We are going to talk about her, her background. I guess reintroduce her again to this community because she's been here for a while now. She's going to tell us about her story. Miss Phyllis James, welcome to the Let's Talk with Lea Ronda show. Thank you so much for having me. It's our pleasure. Thank you for accepting the invitation. We truly appreciate it. I want to know your background. I want to jump right in. Where are you from?

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I grew up in Washington, D.C.

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Go, go, music.

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No, way before go, go, music. Okay, so we are both Howard graduates. Okay, both of us are Howard graduates.

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My daughter's a Howard graduate. We love DC. Love DC. Love DC. Where'd you go to college?

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I went to what was then called Radcliffe College, but it was the female part of Harvard College. Now it's Harvard College.

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Now it's Harvard College.

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Okay, where'd you go? Okay, so you're a lawyer.

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Yes. Where'd you go to law school? I went to Harvard Law School. So you went to Harvard all the way through?

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You were in the Boston area?

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Yes. Cambridge. Cambridge.

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Cambridge. So are you Martha's Vineyard? Did you go to the vineyard and stuff?

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No.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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All right.

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That's okay.

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Harvard, the other H-U.

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The other. Okay.

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Right. It is.

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It is the H-U.

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Harvard University.

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Okay.

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Right.

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We're going to take that. We accept. What made you want to be an attorney? What drove you? Because law school, because I don't want to, okay. I guess there, I'll answer your question this way. There are two, there are three big reasons why. The first is, I grew up watching Perry Mason Okay. He was my introduction to law and my role model because I didn't know any lawyers. I never met a lawyer when I was growing up. So I was so impressed by the fact that he seemed to be all knowing. He did his homework. He was ultimately rational. And he commanded the courtroom, even schooling the judges. And so I thought, Oh, you know, I want to do that. Yes, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be like him. And so that's the first reason. And then when I was growing up, I think this was around junior high school, I met a woman who was not from DC, but was a student at Howard University Law School. And she was playing the role of played the role of Ola Finch was her name, her fictitious name. She had been fooling around with an older guy and went down to Hanes Point in Washington, DC and became involved sexually with this man. And the question was, was it rape or was it consensual? And that was heavy. So I had to learn the role. I mean, because there was a whole script, and I had to learn direct examination and cross examination. And I thought, Oh, this is very, very interesting. So that was the second reason. The third reason was, when I got to college, I met a lot of people, When I got to college, I met a lot of people at the graduate schools at Harvard. And a lot of law students used to come over and study at the undergraduate library that I studied at. And I grew friendly with a particular law student who was, to me, she was older. I mean, she was the typical age for a law student. Okay, but and so she became kind of my model. And that's how I ended up going to law school. also went to Harvard Law School. Yes. A lot, yeah, no, Harvard Law School. I am impressed, but you've been here in Las Vegas for how long now? Since 2002. Over 20 years? Yes. Over, wow, it's over 20 years, over 20 years. So your career in Vegas, what have you done here in Vegas? MGM Resorts International. It kind of was an outgrowth of the second major part of my career. I met the MGM leadership when they competed for a license to build and operate a hotel casino complex in downtown Detroit. And at the time, I was the chief lawyer for the city of Detroit under Mayor Dennis Archer. And after our term in office ended, I was recruited by the leadership of MGM Resorts to join. So I joined MGM Resorts as a lawyer in-house. And I had a number of different legal roles. I was property counsel for MGM Grand Detroit, although I always lived in Las Vegas, a lot of travel there. And I then became the head of MGM's corporate legal litigation function. And later in around 2008, I took on the additional role of chief diversity officer for MGM Then I became the chief corporate responsibility officer. So I also took on responsibility for their community philanthropy and social impact. And then finally, the last three years I was there, I didn't work on the legal side, but I was basically the chief corporate social responsibility and diversity officer.

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Wow.

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And now?

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And now, and now, and now what are we doing? that I formed with the support of MGM resorts called the Foundation for Women's Leadership and Empowerment. The Foundation for Women's Leadership and Empowerment. So being you. OK, so just as you were naming, I couldn't write it down.

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I was like, she said that fast and I can't write it down. You have some major positions throughout your career. Correct. Some major positions being a woman, and especially a woman of color. How did you, I mean, well, the first big job, how did you feel? Did you run home and tell your parents? Just family and friends? How did you feel when you got your first major position and then things started happening for you?

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My first job was as a junior associate lawyer in a major corporate law firm in San Francisco, California. By that point, my mom was deceased, so I didn't run home about that. I don't know how much you know about elite corporate law firms, but it's basically work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, you know, the Rihanna song. It's 80 hours a week. It's a 16 hour day. Easy. Yeah, exactly. And so I and you're really working. Yeah, you're really working. You're really working. Yes, right. So there's a funny story there. I used to often do all-nighters or work until, you know, three, four in the morning. And I had, back in those days, the lawyers didn't do their own typing. We had word processors. And there was a particular word processor who would work late for lawyers, and a couple of them, actually. So we became known as the three Catholic girls, because if somebody had a rush project they needed to have done,

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they knew the three Catholic girls would get it done. And so I know I love that. I love that. Because I mean, and I guess youth today, they don't understand technology wasn't there. It was no technology wasn't there. You had a book that you had. I mean, because I work for so my mentor was a Howard law professor. And he was native Washingtonian third, fourth generation Washingtonian. So I know a little bit about and then my daughter worked in big law for a little bit before she went somewhere else. And we had all the legal books. And just him and I was like, you've read those? And he's like, several times. And I'm like, okay. I mean, just the reality of you having a hard, you had to open a book and read and research. Yes. And there was a typewriter before the word process. And if you made a mistake. Yeah, whiteout. I don't know if they had

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whiteout. Did they have whiteout at first? Not in the beginning. They had to really redo a lot of things.

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Had to redo it. Wow.

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Right, exactly. So when you see those old manuscripts and you look, okay, somebody took a lot of time. Right.

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Okay.

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them person years, not man years, working in law libraries into the wee hours of the night. And it did pay off because I did become the first black partner at my law firm. Can I give you a high five? I know they can't see me. I know they can't see me. But no, because that's huge. That's huge. And when you talk about Big Corps and moving up, there's a lot you have to maneuver in order to get there. Well, I mean, sometimes they say the more things change, the more they stay the same. But at that particular time, which was in the 80s, there was not much of a track record for African American or other lawyers of color in the elite corporate law firms of America. They were basically bastions of white maleness, sprinkled with some white women, but very few lawyers of color. And so there were three, I would say, attitudes or mindsets that lawyers of my generation in that particular context had to deal with. First off, corporate lawyers are considered the elite, the top echelon of the profession. So, because they deal with the most complicated, the most complex, and the hardest legal problems on the planet, and persons of color not having worked there had to prove that you were smart enough to be in a white law firm. And you had to demonstrate that you had the right temperament. That is, that you could be corporate in your demeanor. You could say the right right things, conduct yourself appropriately with clients, with judges, with other lawyers, etc. And you also had to prove that you had the work ethic that was necessary for those firms because they got paid by billing by the hour. So, I mean, 9 to 5 was unheard of except for secretaries, who are all women by the

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way.

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So, you had to demonstrate that you could work into the wee hours of the morning, that you could do all-nighters, and that you could still be articulate and fresh and presentable regardless.

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Wow, so you are listening to the Let's Talk with Leah and Rhonda show. I am Leah Crawford. I am Rhonda Nolan and we have, we are most gracious to have Miss Phyllis James in the building. She is the president of the Foundation for Women's Leadership and Empowerment. I love it. I love it. So you're articulate, you work hard, you've done the work. Now you are

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partner in the elite law firm. What's next? So then is that when you get to Detroit and work for the mayor? Yes, actually, it is. And you know,

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1992,

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everybody was in that everybody on the Democratic side that is was enamored of not only Bill, but his extremely impressive wife Hillary. And so a friend of mine, a lawyer in San Francisco, who went to Yale Law School with both of them, said, they're looking for lawyers of color who want to apply to be White House fellows. You would be perfect. Why don't you apply? So I did. Yes. I what well, I did. I really didn't. I was going to, but I needed a reference. And so I said, Oh my God, who can I get as a reference? And I don't I'm not political. I don't know politicians. And she said, Well, you know, Dennis Archer from the ABA. And I said, the American Bar Association. And I said, Yeah, call him. He just got elected mayor of city of Detroit. He'll write a letter for you. So I contacted him and I said, Dennis, would you mind doing this reference for me? And he said, Why do you want to go there and work with them? Okay, he really did. And I said, Well, it's Bill Clinton. And he said, yeah, but White House fellowship, that's not going to be challenging enough for you. And I said, how do you know that? And he says, trust me, I have a better job for you. And so I said, what's that? He said, how would you like to come to Detroit and be the chief lawyer for the city. And this was a very impolitic question, but it just came out. I mean, I had been living in San Francisco. And I said, Do I have to move to Detroit? short, I went, I was going to take a leave of absence from the firm to help, you know, usher in a renaissance in a predominantly black, depressed, economically city. So I thought, well, this is wonderful. I've spent all this time working to establish myself as a corporate lawyer. Here's an opportunity to do some public service in a predominantly black city. And that's why I moved to Detroit. How was that living in Detroit, in Detroit for a decade from 92. And so you get here in 2002. Two terms was eight years, two times eight years. Okay. Two times. All right. So terms of, all right, so you're there. And then what was during our term in office that there was a statewide initiative to legalize Las Vegas style gaming in the city of Detroit. It passed. And so it fell to our administration to implement the project, which meant preparing an RFP, conducting the entire RFP and selection process, and then helping whoever won establish their casinos. And there were three authorized. And as it turns out MGM at the time, MGM Grand, was one of the three developers and that's when I started working with all three casinos but that's how the people at MGM got to know me. Nice I love it so doing a good job wherever you were and representing your employer professionally, articulately and I'm sure there was a lot of hard conversations that had you know that were had or just interesting conversation because you're negotiating you're talking yes right going through the RFP process yes and then working long hours and negotiating the development agreements was particularly hard I can I can oh yeah because there's a lot of money on the table yes a lot of money on the table and the city wanted as much as we could get I understand that so I understand. So let's talk about this. You're now nonprofit now. Yes. You started it. How does it feel now to be a president, CEO, executive director of this nonprofit founder of a nonprofit? Some days exhilarating, all days tiring and challenging, but rewarding because you are, I am working for such a worthy cause, which is developing and empowering women to become leaders of society. And when's the conference? Now you have a conference coming up this summer. Our conference is September 18 and 19. And when is the conference? You have a conference coming up this summer. Our conference is September 18 and 19, just three weeks from now at the MGM Grand Conference Center. And if you would like to attend any women entrepreneurs or any women in leadership,

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you can visit www.fwle.org. And as soon as you hit that page, all the information about the conference is right there. You can register to attend. And I'm sure you have some great speakers lined up.

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Oh, we have a fabulous slate of speakers. We pride ourselves on diversity of speakers. So I'll give you our main stage is the first woman Air Force pilot to become one of the Thunderbirds, which is huge in the history of the American military. We have a young black woman named Deitra Giles, who's going to talk to us about wearing a mask. named Deitra Giles who's going to talk to us about wearing success. How do you become successful and how do you wear the mantle of success? Because a lot of us are successful but we don't know how to project as successful and she's going to tell us all about it. I am excited so Rhonda can you give that website one more time? The website is

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www.fwle.org I'll say it again www.fwle.org

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Well, I know it has been a pleasure a pleasure a pleasure speaking with you today

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Is there anything else like any anything else you want to share with us about you? Some inspiring words? Because I know there are some young women out there right now that really don't know, and they need help.

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And you've accomplished a lot.

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Well, I would encourage people to come to our conference, because it really doesn't matter what stage you are at in your career, it is an opportunity for you to see really accomplished women role models. That is hugely important. You can get your inspiration from a real live black woman on stage or white woman on stage and not from a TV character like Perry Mason. You will meet people who are like you. You can potentially meet a mentor and that is extremely important. And then we have a lot of education sessions that you can choose from that will help you understand better what the skills are that are required of effective leaders. Because believe it or not, most people are not born leaders, they develop into leaders. And so how you do that is what we specialize in in this conference. I love it, but I would like you to say that again because I think people need to hear that. Please say that again. I I said, leaders aren't born, leaders are developed. And there is a process for developing effective leaders. And many times women have not had the ability to have access to that kind of learning and training. And that's why we exist. Miss Phyllis James, I want to say thank you. Oh my gosh, she just dropped a nugget on you. I don't know. She dropped a she dropped a nugget. She said it twice. And she said it twice. So I hope y'all understood whatever you are going through, you are growing through it. Growing through it. The conference is on September 18 and 19 www.fwle.org Rhonda and I will mention this for the next couple of weeks. We encourage you, we encourage you, your small business owner, your mom, you're in your job, and you just need to know how to, how to go, I mean, how to progress, how to get the raises, the bonuses, whatever, I mean, just move up, move around. This is the conference for you. Yes, this is continuing learning. We always talk about this. You have to continue to learn to grow. You never stop growing. You learn something new every day. But thank you so much. You've been listening to Let's Talk with Leah Crawford and Rhonda Nolan. I am

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Leah Crawford. I am Rhonda Nolan and thank you Mrs. James for joining us today. Leah Crawford. I am Rhonda Nolan and thank you Mrs. James for joining us today. We look forward to coming to your conference. See you later Las Vegas. Bye.

Transcribed with Cockatoo