The Era of the Third Culture Kid Has Arrived

“Where are you from?” A simple question—yet for some of us, the answer is as complex and intricate as a tapestry. By heritage I am Indian, Pakistani, Arab, Burmese and Turkish. By birth I am British. By fate I am American. By faith I am Muslim. And by experience I am uniquely me. Neither I, nor my counterparts across the world who hail from a mix of regions, cultures and faith, fit into anyone’s box. Yet it is the diversity of our being that has put us in the tribe of third culture kids. Who are third culture kids? We are people who have been born or raised in countries and cultures not of our ethnic and cultural heritage. We—third culture kids and the adults they've grown into—are the now; we are the future. We are chameleons of culture. Informed by experience, we not only understand where we came from and where we live now, we’re also creating culture just by being. We are bridges of empathy and understanding, and when given an autonomous chance, we are the change-makers of modern business, the secret competitive advantage of any organization—should they choose to see us. As third culture kids, we are living embodiments of intersectionality, representing our emergent identities in every classroom debate, friendly conversation and corporate meeting, wanting to be heard for the complexity of our thoughts and emotions. We are the nomads who are from everywhere and nowhere all in the same instance, navigating corporate culture as the misfits of “cultural fit.” We are part of the collage of "others" in the 2020s who have learned the survival technique of compartmentalizing world events at work while we, our families and communities are impacted by real and imminent dangers of racism, apartheid, unequal healthcare access, immigration and economic instability. As a third culture kid, I often get asked how I’ve navigated my career during a post-9/11 era, in ethnically homogenous industries, with management teams who had never engaged with people like me, alongside peers who believed the playing field was equal for everyone because it was equal for them. My truth? To thrive, I focused. Survival instinct taught me block out all the noise and live by Steve Martin’s famous words: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” I focused on my craft, be it as a data engineer, digital transformation and data strategy leader, driver of platform partnerships and global growth and expansion. I focused on being the best version of myself in every role and delivering business impact. To exist, I spoke up. For my mental health, I advocated for a designated room to perform daily prayers. After witnessing Islamophobia, my colleagues and I banded together to host annual Eid Education Days during Ramadan to introduce Islamic culture and change the narrative in a post-9/11 world. When international pitches weren’t authentically represented, I advocated, and when my teams were treated with a blind harshness over visa petitions and extensions, I lobbied. To connect, I became a cultural connoisseur. With my American colleagues who saw me as British, I played up my Greek life experience and support for the Chicago Bulls to prove my “American-ness.” To my colleagues from India and Pakistan who saw me as an American, I parlayed my knowledge of Bollywood songs and spoke in broken Hindi and Urdu to prove my “Indian- and Pakistani-ness.” It wasn’t until almost a decade into my career that I finally learned that leaders, not jobs, were the key. Informed by years of struggling to be seen and recognized for my tangible contributions impacting business culture and growth, I learned the dire difference between operational managers and inspiring leaders. With that realization, I knew I had to be inspired to continue with my professional journey. With the right leaders as my advocates, I fully stepped into my “brownness,” “mozlemness,” “Oreoness,” “ethnically ambiguousness” and third culture kid identity with agency—and realized bringing my full self to the table was enough to drive business impact. I parlayed my full self—my business, operational, financial, technological and international acumen—to lead digital transformation, scale a global data business, and build and operationalize Stagwell’s affiliate network with more than 50 partners across Latin America, MENA, Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe, resulting in the firm being able to tackle new kinds of global business. I’ve found my sweet spot and provide value to enterprise by having a unique blend of perspectives and skills that directly drive growth for business in a tangible manner. As we move forward in an increasingly connected world, the era of the third culture kid has arrived. Cultural fusions will continue to accelerate, globalization will proliferate in direct proportion to digitization, and knowledge share will transcend time. For us, it is imperative we continue to focus on being the best at our crafts, picking inspiring leaders over roles and amplifying our narratives across worthy channels. Meanwhile, corporate leaders must actively create space and provide sincere support structures that enable us to do so. ‘A Positive Platform to Build On’—Industry Responds to WFA’s Diversity Media Framework