Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ newest star Bozoma Saint John has divided opinion after revealing the lengths she went to in order to increase diversity in the workplace during her corporate career.
The businesswoman, 47, previously held high-ranking positions at companies like Uber, Netflix, PepsiCo, and Apple Music before venturing into reality TV.
Discussing her hiring practices at the 2019 Women in the World Summit, the former Netflix CMO said that she intentionally sought out other women of color for roles – even if they hadn’t applied for the position she was hiring for.
‘I walk into the room and very rarely does it look like, you know, anyone who reflects my community or my friends or my circle,’ she told the crowd.
‘I decided, hell, focus group of one, team of one, I’m gonna just hire myself. Again and again and again and again and again.
‘If I want to increase the numbers of diversity, or especially Black women in tech, I’m gonna do it myself,’ she continued.
‘So, as I looked at the resumes that were NOT diverse candidates, I just started pulling from my group of friends,’ she laughed.
‘I started pitching them. Like, “Girl, whatchu doin’ today? You like your job? You don’t like your job, c’mon!”
RHOBH’s newest star Bozoma Saint John (pictured) has admitted to hiring her Black female friends for jobs after she found that the candidates applying weren’t diverse enough
Discussing her hiring practices, the former Netflix CMO said that she intentionally sought out other women of color for roles – even if they hadn’t applied for the position she was hiring for
‘The first Black woman I hired it was like, “Okay, great. Fantastic. We didn’t even know she existed.” I was like, “I know, I got her.” And then the second one it was like, “Okay…” The third one, it was like everybody kind of paused.’
Bozoma said that she then received a call from the HR department after hiring the fourth consecutive woman of color.
She was asked if there was ‘anything wrong’ with the candidates that HR had been sending her way because it seemed like she was ‘hiring a certain type of person.’
‘And I was like, “Yes, you are correct.” And then they were like, “Well, is there any way that we can help to make sure that we’re looking at a broad range of candidates so that you have a wider pool of people to hire.”
‘And I was like, “Did you tell homeboy down the hall that? Did you tell him that he shouldn’t hire anymore white men? Because I don’t think so!”‘ she finished.
Bozoma’s resurfaced comments divided opinion after All About The Tea reposted the clip to their Instagram account, but most people seemed supportive of the star.
‘This! It’s okay when they do, but it’s a problem when we do it!’ gushed one fan.
‘She is BRILLIANT,’ wrote another. ‘Instead of huffing and puffing and reacting off emotions, she was strategic, professional and INTENTIONAL with how she made that change.’
The 47-year-old joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills this year
The fourteenth season of the popular reality series recently premiered
A third added, ‘This makes me like her even more. She can’t do any wrong.’
However, not everybody was a fan of Bozoma’s tactics, with one commenting, ‘DEI is never the correct way to hire someone. No matter what race you are. The most qualified candidate should get the job.’
Another wrote, ‘So she actively discriminates qualified people to artificially increase the number of Black employees. That is pure racism. Outrageous and against the law!’
Bozoma is one of the most successful women in the marketing field.
Her work has previously been recognized by Forbes, Billboard, Fortune, and Ad Week, and she was inducted into the American Marketing Association Marketing Hall of Fame in 2022.
She joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills this year alongside actress Jennifer Tilly.
She was introduced as a friend of Sutton Stracke’s on the series, but has since formed a close bond with Dorit Kemsley.
