What makes Disney magic groundbreaking? Martha Blanding and her new book.

Before that story, here’s what you should also know this week

• Disney has activated many ways to support employees and those affected by the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. Among the resources offered to victims include a $15 million donation for the rebuilding efforts, offering temporary housing, providing clothing and supplies, and so much more. Read the full statement here.

Martha is groundbreaking.

Martha Blanding was one of this past year’s Disney Legend honorees, and rightfully so. In being the first full-time VIP tour guide at Disneyland park back in the 1970s, she took on a role and a cultural environment that didn’t welcome her because of her ethnicity just a few years before.

In her new book out now called Groundbreaking Magic: A Black Woman’s Journey through The Happiest Place on Earth, Blanding explores what it was like to pioneer the role with someone like her, both the struggles and successes. We connected with Blanding to talk about the book recently. Read the interview below.

DE: What do you think made you the specific person to take on a role that didn't have a Black person in it before?

MB: Looking back over 50 years, I had no idea I was the first of anything! I loved what I was doing.  Somebody must have been keeping tabs because the next thing I knew was that I was told I had been the first permanent Black tour guide and VIP Hostess at Disneyland, along with being the first Black female buyer, the first Black woman in management at the park (and of the first in the entire Walt Disney Company), and the first Black employee in the entire company to retire with a half-century of service.

DE: A lot of your achievements seem to have come because doors opened to you specifically. What advice do you have for people who want to pioneer in similar ways?

MB: First of all, I would tell them what my mother told me: don’t let other people determine your future; that’s your job. Be positive in your thinking, look for a career that you love, listen, and ask questions. Don’t be afraid to try something new, and if you don’t like what you’re doing, walk away and try something else.  

Always put your best foot forward, you never know who is watching you. When picking your battles, choose the ones that make you look good, and remember, sometimes, to win a battle, you just have to be quiet.

DE: Outside of your career at Disney, what are you most proud of? What is legacy to you?

MB: My journey is a great American success story, not just for me but for my family as well. My parents were good, hardworking high school sweethearts who grew up in North Carolina during the Great Depression. 

Eventually, they moved to California, hoping for a better life, and started a family. Family is very important to me, and I am active in my church, so those two areas of my life kept me grounded and balanced.  I’m proud of my unbelievable Disney career, which includes lots of fun and misadventures with celebrities, artists, authors, and athletes. 

I’m also proud to be the co-founder of PULSE, which stands for People United to Lead Serve and Excel.  It started as a Disneyland Resort diversity resource group—now better known as a BERG - Business Employee Resource Group. 

I co-created PULSE as an in-company community where cast members and salaried staff of color can freely embrace their culture and exchange experiences while positively contributing to the success of Disneyland Resort by being a sounding board, advocacy group, and advisement resource.

Now, after being designated a Disney Legend, I want people to be inspired by my story. If a little girl from Watts (who was told by her high school counselor that she would never make it in corporate America) can indeed make it, so can you! I want to remind people that they have the magic to make your own dream come true.  

“Groundbreaking Magic” is available wherever you get your books and audiobooks.

Our special thanks to Martha Blanding for contributing to this story!

STILL TO COME: A peek at the first-ever Pixar series, Win or Lose!

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