The realities of workplace trauma for women of colour

10/12/21 • 19 min

As women of colour, our sense of community, belonging and the ability to truly thrive in the workplace is limited immensely by the representation we see, by how many of us are in leadership, how differences are managed and how welcome we are made to feel. I suspect if you or I asked the women of colour in our circles of influence, most if not all would be able to quickly point to numerous defining moments within the workplace full of dangerously bad leadership, micro aggressions and carrying the emotional tax of being seen but not heard.

In this episode, we explore the idea of workplace trauma for women of colour and walk through 4 ways to get to a place of healing if you're struggling through your own workplace trauma.

If you ever want to connect, provide feedback, share your story or give me any perspective on topics you want me to cover, reach out anytime at [email protected]

The Colour Gap Podcast is part of the Alberta Podcast Network, locally grown, community supported.

Research cited in this episode:

1. https://www.thestar.com/business/2019/07/24/survey-finds-canadian-people-of-colour-carry-an-extra-weight-at-work-thats-so-significant-it-impacts-their-health.html

2. https://humannatureatwork.com/article/the-hidden-cost-of-workplace-trauma

3. https://www.mindaharts.com/rightwithin

4. https://medium.com/surviving-ideo/surviving-ideo-4568d51bcfb6

2. https://humannatureatwork.com/article/the-hidden-cost-of-workplace-trauma

3. https://www.mindaharts.com/rightwithin

4. https://medium.com/surviving-ideo/surviving-ideo-4568d51bcfb6

Previous Episode

Lessons from being a "Covid Hire" - how I got the job and got promoted in the middle of the pandemic

In May 2020, I made the difficult decision to move on from a company I had an incredibly successful run with for nearly 6 years. I left because I was itching to do something new, to challenge and rebrand myself. I decided to not only leave the company, but take a big step back in order to eventually propel my career forward. Talk about a massive risk!
Just this September, I accepted a promotion back into a leadership role and this episode is all about my journey of being a Covid hire - how I landed the job, how I made it work through the most difficult time in my life both personally and professionally and how I got promoted. All while working virtually and in under 18 months. What a ride it's been.
I share some well earned and learned advice on the number one thing you can to land that next opportunity and 3 things you can start doing today to get noticed and get promoted (within Covid or beyond).
If you ever want to connect, provide feedback, share your story or give me any perspective on topics you want me to cover, reach out anytime at [email protected]
The Colour Gap Podcast is part of the Alberta Podcast Network, locally grown, community supported.

Licensed intro music from NoMo

Next Episode

Why you need to be kinder to yourself

I've felt for a long time that the happiest and most successful people amongst us have a gentleness in which they speak to themselves, in which they look at failure and move through adversity. Yet I wonder why so many of us struggle with self-compassion, with being kind to ourselves and showing up for ourselves in the same ways we show up for our nearest and dearest and what kind of detrimental impact this has on our careers and our ability to truly thrive at work.
In this episode, we explore why you need to be kinder to yourself and more importantly, how. All that negative self talk, all the times you beat yourself up for being human and the ways in which you don’t give yourself space to make mistakes is detrimental to your progress in ways that will hold you back from accessing the places and opportunities you really deserve. Let's change that together.
If you ever want to connect, provide feedback, share your story or give me any perspective on topics you want me to cover, reach out anytime at [email protected]
The Colour Gap Podcast is part of the Alberta Podcast Network, locally grown, community supported.
Research cited in this episode:
Give Yourself a Break: The Power of Self-Compassion: https://hbr.org/2018/09/give-yourself-a-break-the-power-of-self-compassion
The power of self-compassion: https://www.tenpercent.com/meditationweeklyblog/the-power-of-self-compassion

Licensed intro music from NoMo