#41 “At what point can I be myself without having to reach for some ideal?”
“As a minority, I often can't tell if the feedback I get is true feedback or if I'm facing discrimination. Early on in my career I was told that I'm too aggressive, too machine-like early on in my career and display ‘too much’ ownership. So I took a step back and approached how I present myself to others. Now that I am later on in my career, I find that I'm often dinged for being ‘too funny’. One of my managers has explicitly told me that I need to tone down on the funniness or else as a woman I won't be taken seriously. Sucks cause that's a big part of my personality. At what point can I be myself without having to reach for some ideal? Sometimes I wonder if I'm made for a corporate career at all. As a woman it seems like I literally cannot win.”