Silent No More: Reclaiming Your Voice At Work

🥹I remember when weekly, I’d wake up with the ‘Sunday Blues.’ Knowing I had to go to work the next morning and face her—again. After a restless night, I’d drive to work feeling sick to my stomach. Knowing in just a few minutes, I’d have to interact with her—again.

🦎Never knowing what to expect, I was always, exhaustingly on guard. A chameleon, quick to shift and adjust to accommodate her erratic behavior. But those feelings of dread didn’t stay at work. They followed me home, creeping into every part of my life.

My sister-in-law once asked, “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

 I wasn’t.

I was exhausted. I was experiencing health issues that I couldn’t explain. And the worst part? I didn’t have the words to describe what was happening to me. The bullying was so subtle, so intangible, that I doubted myself. On top of that, I carried shame—deep, heavy shame. Shame that I:

• Couldn’t talk about it

• Didn’t stop it

• Felt like I had to be someone other than myself just to keep my job

It wasn’t until I was out of that situation that I fully understood how damaging it had been.

💡And that’s the thing. Too many women are expected to be a chameleon, to adapt—to fit into environments where they don’t feel safe because they’re being bullied or harassed at work. As a result, they deflate, their world turns grey, they lose their voice. 

⁉️Have you ever walked into work feeling like you had to be someone else that day? Like you had to shrink yourself, soften your voice, or mold your personality... just to fit in?

This, my friend... is trauma.

Being bullied at work sucks. Especially, if that bully has control over your salary or promotional path. Keep this in mind, what they hate in you, is missing in them. As Maya Angelou famously said,

“When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”

You can’t control what they do, but you do have control over how you respond. Don’t let their behavior tear you down. Use it, to reclaim your own voice.

March is Women’s History month, Let’s change the narrative.

For far too long, women have been conditioned to just deal with it—to ‘toughen up,’ to not ‘rock the boat.’ But history tells a different story. Women have always been trailblazers, change-makers, and revolutionaries. From the suffragettes fighting for the right to vote to the women today who are shattering glass ceilings, we are not meant to be silent.

As Malala Yousafzai so powerfully said:

“I raise my voice—not so that I can shout, but so those without a voice can be heard... we cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”

And as Meghan Markle put it:

“Women don’t need to find a voice. They have a voice, and they need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.”

So, here’s my challenge to you:This month, and every month after, reclaim your voice. Speak up. Stand tall. Be loud. Take up space. Be a role model. Be a mentor. Push back. Don’t settle. Because when women use their voices—when we refuse to shrink, to silence ourselves, to play small—we change everything.

🔥I do not chase. I attract.

🔥I do not bow. I rise.

🔥I do not whisper. I roar.  

Stay tuned for my next update out in two weeks about losing toxic people.

♥️Today I will be fearless. Today I am grateful.

P.S. Are you trying to better understand and improve the female dynamics on your team, follow me on LinkedIn to learn more!

#accelerateaction, #PsychologicalSafety, #frenemies, #behindfrenemylines, #changethebehavior, #squadgoals, #empoweringwomen, #sisterhood, #connection; #reclaimyourvoice