Jude Guaitamacchi is an award-winning LGBT+ speaker, campaigner and advocate whose work spans mental health, inclusion and gender diversity. Over more than a decade, they’ve delivered powerful talks and helped shape inclusion strategies for leading global brands, schools and organisations.
They were the first non-binary person to feature in Harrods’ H Beauty campaign — a milestone in representation — and founded the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, which has driven ground-breaking campaigns and hosted the UK Parliament’s first all-trans expert panel.
In this exclusive interview with The Diversity & Inclusion Speakers Agency, Jude reflects on how businesses can create truly inclusive workplaces, foster authenticity and vulnerability, and better support employees’ wellbeing. Their lived experience brings both empathy and authority to the evolving conversation around equality and identity in the workplace.
Q: Many organisations want to be more inclusive but don’t know where to start. What practical steps can businesses take to better respect and support people’s gender identities?
Jude Guaitamacchi: “My top tips in terms of businesses thinking about ways in which they can support people’s gender identity is to firstly acknowledge gender diversity — so not just binary genders, men and women, but thinking about the diversity within gender, and with that, that includes trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.
“Thinking about ways in which companies can do that would really be to take into consideration what the issues could be. A recent survey by Total Jobs in 2021 reported that 40 percent of transgender people have had to leave their job due to an unwelcoming environment.
“There’s been an increase of two-thirds of trans people that have felt they’ve had to hide their identity at work, and there’s also been 20 percent of trans people who have experienced fewer microaggressions since working from home.
“That just really reflects that people don’t feel comfortable in a work environment to be who they are and feel they’re encountering indirect forms of discrimination in the workplace.
“In order to facilitate people to feel comfortable, my top tips would really be to think about the specific ways in which that company could further education — for example, ongoing training or inviting speakers to come in and talk about their experiences.
“It would be looking at inclusive practices as well — how to create an environment that’s inclusive of different genders, such as gender-neutral bathrooms and pronoun visibility.
“Also, looking at how they can advocate and perhaps celebrate gender diversity in the workplace, looking at some of the events that we host every year like Trans Pride or Pride events. Essentially, celebrating in a more visible way would be a way to help employees feel more comfortable and know that their company supports them.”
Q: The idea of ‘bringing your whole self to work’ is often spoken about but not always practised. How can leaders create space for authenticity and vulnerability among their teams?
Jude Guaitamacchi: “I live by authenticity and vulnerability, and sometimes that means that I have to accept my own imperfections. I’m quite aware of my imperfections — in fact, I don’t even think of them that way. I almost see them as just who I am as a human being.
“I really love the idea of companies thinking more about how they can move from this idea of just always having to be professional and focusing on efficiency but actually thinking about how they can support people’s mental health and the struggles that we all experience in life. While I agree that efficiency and professionalism in the workplace are important, studies do show that happiness increases productivity.
“Creating a culture that encourages courageous conversations and supports employees is integral not only to them as individuals but to the company as a whole. Vulnerability can feel like quite a scary topic, but I really see it as a strength. It’s helpful in supporting people to help one another as well — I think we connect through vulnerability.
“It’s not that we need to disregard professionalism or not bring our personality to work. I think by bringing who we are to the workplace, it helps us to bring our own individual talents and strengths. I believe the true success is found in learning to embrace our authenticity, learning what makes us unique and embracing that in one another.
“Connection helps us empower ourselves in unapologetically being who we are. That’s something I’ve learned through my life experiences — how to get to a place where I can be myself, even professionally. My ability to be able to do that actually helps me in everything that I do.
“When I create that kind of personal relationship with someone, we automatically feel more comfortable. Although we’re not friends, we can still be friendly, and that already sets the tone of what the relationship is going to be like. If we go in with a facade and never truly connect on a level that’s deeper than surface level, it becomes very transactional.
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Being authentic and vulnerable in the workplace
“I’m more creative when I’m myself. I’m less creative when I’m trying to be somebody I’m not. I’ve spent a long time trying to be someone I’m not — including in my job. Even today, sometimes I fall into the trap of feeling like I need to be something other than who I am, but when I’m myself, everything flows.
“We don’t need to rely on this archaic idea of discipline. I see it with the children that I work with in schools — teachers feel they need to enforce discipline to improve young people’s productivity, but I’ve noticed that if you bring people up to your level and show them respect without shouting or disciplining them, they’re far more engaged.
“It’s the same in a work environment. If you respect somebody and make them, feel at ease, that helps them to be more productive, feel that they’ve got something to offer, and feel respected by the people around them. It’s such an important topic in the workplace, and it’s helped me to get to where I am today despite all of the challenges I’ve faced.
“I’ve got imposter syndrome — I still struggle with that. I’m neurodiverse with ADHD, and that gets in the way of what I do sometimes. I still carry a residue of shame from my past experiences, but I’m able to manage that and accept the times where I can’t manage it because I’m realistic.
“Being transparent with people about that is really helpful — almost like grassing myself up, saying “I’m really nervous” or “this is going on for me,” and once I talk about it, it takes the power out of it. These kinds of conversations would be really beneficial in the workplace — supporting individuals to do their best and taking the pressure off.”
Q: Workplace stress is on the rise across industries. From your experience, what are the main causes — and how can employers better support their teams?
Jude Guaitamacchi: “The biggest cause of stress, in my mind, is just having too much on our plate. That can be different for different people, and it’s also about how we manage those tasks as well.
“It’s useful to know what stress actually looks like because it’s not just a psychological experience — it’s also a physical one. When we experience huge amounts of stress, we can go into the fight, flight, or freeze response — a primal reaction that happens when our brain perceives danger. When that happens, we begin to feel physical sensations due to the release of cortisol and adrenaline.
“Of course, those chemicals are there to help us get out of danger or respond in the moment, but when we experience those physical sensations, we can go into panic. Stress can also cause illness — medical research shows that up to 90 percent of diseases are caused by stress.
“Learning what stress means to us individually — what it looks like and how to manage it — is really useful. Stress can come from the amount of work we have, how important we feel that work is, and other responsibilities in our lives. I really think it’s about acknowledging how stressed we feel as individuals because some people will feel it more than others.
“It’s the stress management we need to look at — how to reduce it. Talking from my own experience, I’ve had to find ways to manage the physical responses I feel, whether that’s breathwork, meditation, or exercise — all of which help. The world we live in is stressful, so finding those techniques can be really useful.”
This exclusive interview with Jude Guaitamacchi was conducted by Megan Lupton of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
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