When Power Undermines Lived Experience: A Story We Know Too Well

In seventh grade, we were studying world history. That day, the lesson focused on Mexico. My teacher was reading aloud from the textbook when she reached the word Oaxaca.

She mispronounced it—badly.

I was the only Mexican student in the class. A native Spanish speaker. I raised my hand and gently corrected her.

Without missing a beat, she replied, “No, it’s said [insert butchered pronunciation here].”

I was stunned. I felt heat rise in my face. For a moment, I wondered: Wait… am I wrong?

The doubt settled in quickly. I carried it with me all day, quietly spiraling.

When my mom got home from work, I opened the textbook and asked, “How do you say this?”

Without hesitation, she answered: “Oaxaca.”

And just like that, I remembered what I already knew.

The Pain of Being Dismissed

If you are a leader of the global majority, especially one doing values-aligned work in systems that weren’t built for you, I know this story isn’t unfamiliar.

You’ve likely been in a room, literal or figurative, where someone with institutional power dismissed your lived experience. Where your knowledge, culture, or language was invalidated. Where you were made to feel like the outsider in a place that should have honored your presence.

This story isn’t just about pronunciation. It’s about the way dominant culture elevates perceived expertise over embodied knowledge.

It’s about how easy it is for systems—schools, nonprofits, businesses—to gaslight those of us who carry ancestral wisdom, community insight, and a deep understanding of what justice truly requires.

And it's about how those moments of dismissal, even the small ones, accumulate.

They wear on our confidence. They pull our focus. They distract us from the transformative work we’re here to do.

Administrative Support Should Honor Lived Experience—Not Override It

At Galvan Consulting, we see how these patterns show up not just in classrooms, but in board rooms, inboxes, and workflows.

We’ve worked with brilliant leaders who’ve been told their way is “too messy,” “too emotional,” or “not efficient enough.” But what’s often misunderstood as disorganization is actually deep relational labor. The kind that can’t be captured in a spreadsheet, but is core to community trust and impact.

This is where we come in—not to fix you, but to free you.

We provide administrative support that respects your leadership style, your cultural rhythms, and your hard-earned clarity. We partner with mission-aligned businesses, nonprofits, and solo founders to handle the logistics—so you can focus on what you do best.

Whether it’s streamlining your calendar, managing your communications, or creating workflows that actually reflect your values, we center care, justice, and efficiency—without compromising your humanity.

Let’s Be Clear: You’re Not “Too Much.” You’ve Been Undervalued.

That teacher may have dismissed my correction, but the real lesson that day had nothing to do with world history and everything to do with power.

It taught me what happens when institutions prioritize control over collaboration. When they deny the truth that lives in our bodies, our families, our lineages.

It also taught me the kind of partner I want to be in this work.

At Galvan Consulting, we don’t ask you to shrink. We make space for your fullness.

We believe that sustainable systems should hold your vision, not hinder it.

Honoring lived experience is not a courtesy. It’s a necessity for any liberation-centered work.

Because you deserve to be supported by people who see your brilliance and never question it.