Black Women's Financial Liberation will be the Downfall of Workplace Inequity

After years of DEI work, there's only been one solution to workplace inequity that I've found to work for Black women.

It doesn't repair the system.

It doesn't reduce discrimination or bias. 

It also doesn't result in better leaders. 

However, this solution grants us peace... all without asking us to be the martyrs of the workplace. 

That solution is business ownership.

When I started my business, I did it because I was struggling to see a reality where navigating the workplace was a long term solution for me.

I was fighting battles with leadership.

I was fighting for equity and decency in HR policy and procedures.

I was fighting for others to see my value and pay me accordingly.

And at the end of the day, I was doing all of that scared. 

Scared of the outcomes and consequences of doing what I KNEW was right. 

It wasn't until my business actually started generating a profit that I was freed from that. 

I remember one of the last tense meetings I had before I quit my job to go full-time. 

As predictable as it was, I was leading a project that many expected to go nowhere. 

I was doing everything that was asked of me, following processes that were outlined, and meeting the project objectives. 

But I was labeled difficult to work with and told that what I was doing was unacceptable. 

At the time, I felt like my reputation and character were being dragged through the mud.

Unforuntately as many of us know, this story has repeated itself throughout my career... time and time again.  

But this time was different. 

Several months before this happened, I hit a big goal. I had actually become work optional. 

I had paid off almost all of my debt and I was making enough money in my business to cover my expenses. 

So every day after, I was just stacking coins and waiting to make a decision about the future of my career. 

And this moment was the tipping point for me, because I had decided long ago that I'd never be afraid to keep a job or a paycheck. 

AND finally... I wasn't.

So what did I do...? I actually became difficult to work with. 🤣

I stopped being overly polite. 

I stopped caring what they said or did.

I pushed back unapologetically on false narratives.

And then I took the most self-centering, selfish step I could. I quit. 

I chose me. 

And guess what? 

NOW the only person who can underpay me for my value is ME.

The only person who can put me on a performance improvement plan is ME.

The only person who has control over my future is ME.

The path to equity in the workplace is having business equity first.

It's at that point that Black women have the choice to stay or to go. Push back unapologetically and authentically show up in our Black Woman Bliss Era.

How to use your 9-5 skills to build a profitable 5-9

An example and exercise for Black Woman Bliss Community Members.