Why Diversity Training Fails and What Actually Works.

Why Diversity Training Fails and What Actually Works

What happens when you've spent 30 years telling CEOs the truth nobody else will?

In this episode of From Underdog to Entrepreneur, Pat Miller sits down with Mauricio Velasquez, president of Diversity Training Group (DTG) and author of the newly released book Tackling Toxicity: A Skills-Based Guide to Addressing Toxicity. Mauricio has trained, consulted, and coached over a million people across every U.S. state but one in a career spanning three decades.

Mauricio opens up about starting his business on a houseboat in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, a $520-a-month setup with no insulation but a "billion-dollar view," and how growing up watching racism directed at his immigrant parents shaped his life's work. From there, he built a career doing the jobs nobody else wants to touch: sexual harassment training, executive coaching, and calling out toxic behavior that most companies would rather ignore.

What You'll Learn  Why most people are conflict-averse and avoid addressing toxic behavior  and why that silence only makes it worse

The difference between responding and reacting when someone is being toxic or bullying

Why "soft skills" are actually the hardest skills to master, and why the label undersells them

How writing a book and speaking at conferences became a lead-generation engine for his consulting business

Why diversity and inclusion work is tied directly to business growth, market expansion, and staying competitive

Real, unfiltered stories from Mauricio's career from a car dealership salesman ignoring his wife, to a model home saleswoman questioning whether he could afford a house, to his own mother's initial rejection of his wife

Why he believes DEI work is set for a resurgence, even amid current industry headwinds

About Mauricio Velasquez Mauricio Velasquez is the President of Diversity Training Group (DTG), a company he founded that is celebrating 30 years in business this year. Over the course of his career, he has trained, consulted, and coached more than a million people in every U.S. state except North Dakota. His work covers diversity and inclusion training, sexual harassment training, mentoring, and executive coaching, helping organizations and leaders address issues they'd often rather avoid. Mauricio is also the author of the newly released book Tackling Toxicity: A Skills-Based Guide to Addressing Toxicity, which draws on real stories from his three-decade career to teach prac