Episode notes
This week on They Tried It, Zara Northover joins Lindiwe Davis for one of the most powerful conversations of the season.
Zara is a Jamaican Olympian, founder of Moving In Faith, former mortgage banking leader, TEDx speaker, and pro se litigant currently representing herself before the Michigan Supreme Court after alleging workplace discrimination and retaliation during her corporate career.
In this episode, Zara shares:
- How she earned a full athletic scholarship through pure audacity and self-belief
- What it took to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games for Jamaica
- The realities of navigating corporate America as a high-performing Black woman
- Workplace retaliation, favoritism, discrimination, and “office pet to office threat”
- Why she refused to sign away her voice with an NDA
- What she’s learned representing herself in court
- How faith, discipline, and courage helped her keep moving forward
This is a conversation about resilience, justice, advocacy, corporate culture, mental toughness, and choosing yourself, even when the system hopes you won’t.
If you’ve ever dealt with workplace discrimination, retaliation, toxic leadership, burnout, HR issues, or the pressure to stay silent, this episode is for you.
Follow Zara:
Instagram: @zaranorthover LinkedIn: Zara Northover, OLY
About the Host
Lindiwe is a sought-after speaker, interviewer, and culture strategist across several industries, known for bridging theory and practice through storytelling and lived experience. With over 25 years of experience spanning leadership development, organizational effectiveness, coaching, and media storytelling, she is the founder of FutureState Collective—the culture and media platform that produces They Tried It.
She has interviewed actors, authors, activists, and cultural leaders; has been invited to speak and host conversations across platforms; has been featured by Bloomberg Radio and SAG-AFTRA; and has hosted Google's "Level Up in Tech," to name a few.
Learn more about Lindiwe and view her media kit here.
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