A World Of Inclusivity And Community

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Eduardo Chamia, Senior Vice President of Sales and Revenue at OneSpaWorld. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, he shares his insights on how inclusivity helped him flourish professionally and personally.

Each June, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) community in the United States come together for a month-long celebration of love, diversity, acceptance, and unashamed self-pride. This celebration has long been something close to my heart as it celebrates the simplest of joys – love for one another, love for our neighbors and love for our community.

It has been a long road since the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. That day, on June 28th, members of the LGBTQ community stood up against a police raid at the inn. This was the starting point for gay liberation. Since then, we have made great strides as a community calling for inclusion, respect and a voice.

Each person in this world should feel free to be themselves and love the person they want to love without fear. Our beautiful world needs to be a place where we thrive together, without subjective judgment based on personal beliefs.

That being said, I am proud to work for a company that has been nothing short of spectacular when it comes to inclusion. Despite the challenges we live in current times, I have been able to flourish personally and professionally without any discrimination based on my sexual orientation, race or background. I have been given equal opportunities to grow based on my accomplishments and talent each step of the way.

With each milestone and accomplishment in the last 22 years at this company, I stay forever grateful for the mentors and leaders I have found along the way. Each one celebrated my ideas, enthusiasm and passion for this industry. They helped build my confidence through knowledge and support, allowing me to flourish personally and professionally.

I am happy to say I have made major strides from the young man, in my early 20s, who came to the United States from a small town in Argentina. Fresh out of law school, I followed my dreams and searched for my calling. I found it in wellness. I made my way from a humble massage therapist onboard a cruise ship to an accomplished Senior Vice President at OneSpaWorld, a company that made inclusion a priority when it may not have been the easiest choice at the time.

Choosing an inclusive company such as this one was a major component of my personal and professional successes. This is why I strongly believe in making businesses as inclusive and welcoming as possible. Discrimination against any group is bad for our global community as humans and bad for business. Open and inclusive societies are happier, healthier, more innovative and successful.

Let us leave this world a better, more inclusive place than we found it.