Feeling Unsupported By HR As A Black Woman? Download The Kith Republic App

Source: Whitney Herrington / KITH REPUBLIC

I don’t know about you, but there have definitely been times over the course of my career when I felt like I was getting the run around by Human Resources (HR) and/or that my concerns weren’t be taking seriously.  In other cases, I didn’t feel like I was actually listened to, and more importantly, heard, let alone understood.  In asking around among my colleagues, I found that my negative experiences were unfortunately extremely common, most especially with my fellow female colleagues of color. The question then becomes, how can you take advantage of the full benefits of services provided by HR when you can’t access or don’t receive proper treatment when reaching out to the very office that is supposed to serve you?  That is where Whitney Herrington, CEO and founder of the Kith Republic app comes in.  I had the pleasure of asking her some questions about the Kith Republic app and what sparked her inspiration for creating it. However, before we dive into that, we should know what the app is for, am I right? The application’s LinkedIn page states that “Kith Republic is a real-time chat app that focuses on helping women navigating complex career challenges. Whether it’s sexual harassment in the workplace or how to get a raise, Kith connects women to HR professionals committed to professional success.”

After understanding what the app was all about, I wondered if Ms. Herrington had experienced some of the same negative experiences I, along with my peers, had encountered with HR. When asked what sparked the idea, she replied that anytime someone – family, friends, friends of friends, etc. – learned that she worked in HR, they would ask if they could get advice on something they were facing at work.  She said it could be anything from, “My job is trying to fire me and I think it’s racially motivated.  What can I do?” to “What questions should I ask in my interview?” or “How can I get a promotion or a new role?”

“I realized that people are always seeking advice for how to handle things at work, but not everyone has a ‘Whitney’ to ask,” she says. “So, I wanted to create a platform that would give every woman a ‘Whitney’ or an experienced HR professional who can give them the “real” and help them figure things out at work.”