#SpiritofDiageo: Meet Amy Vaughan, Gov’t Compliance Analyst, Southern Hub “It has been my experience in life that I’ve never been able to actively find my path. My path has always found me. It wasn’t until I started living my life true to the person I am, & not the person I thought I needed to be, that the most amazing things began to happen. And when my Diageo mentor challenged me to identify my top three core values in life, the one that popped out was authenticity. When I interviewed at Diageo in 2021, I wanted to be certain that my prospective team knew exactly who I was: what I knew & what I didn’t. I wanted them to know that I sometimes go to my sister’s oncology appointments, that I, at the time, had a parent with Alzheimer’s, that I’m kind of nerdy, that I drink far too much espresso, & that my wife & I have a toddler. In my brief time with Diageo, I’ve been consistently impressed by the company’s willingness to foster authenticity by holding space for vulnerability. Employees cannot be authentic if they do not feel safe being vulnerable. That same year, a few people in my local community formed a committee & hosted the county’s first Pride festival & parade, and it drew hundreds of attendees! But with all the excitement, it also attracted people that didn’t support our community or the families who were proud to celebrate Pride with their young children. Through this experience, we chose to form a non-profit, & I was asked to be a co-founder. With this opportunity, I had to face my fear of being super public with my life. But with the daily lessons I get in authenticity from my child, who is always unabashedly himself, I knew I had to honor him, & all of us, so I agreed to serve. I’m proud to say that our 2022 Pride festival was a major success & the support from everyone at Diageo has been incredible & overwhelming. Now that Pride has passed, let’s continue to celebrate & let the world see us as we truly are, not as we think we ought to be. In the words of Mr. Rogers, “The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.” We are better for celebrating ourselves & our colleagues in all the ways we are perfectly & imperfectly human.”