"I worked in a small ad agency with some Ad tech Properties. I was an Account Executive coming into a new role. I stepped away to grab another executive. I was told that someone had made a comment about being the hood kid from Compton."
"Sitting amongst my white colleagues — a white Sales Director looked in my eyes while walking into a conference room for a meeting and offered $100 to the person who would pull him out of the meeting in 10 min."
"I was told I was not collaborative and a good 'culture fit' when I walked in front of my male co-presenter on stage to better engage with an audience of 150 people."
"A White service rep boldly applied a Black stereotype when he asked 'Oh you grew up with your father in your home?' Then he delivered a backhanded compliment by saying 'And you’re doing so well! Your parents must be so proud' as if it came as a surprise to him."
"I was about to pitch a project about soccer to a client. I have been a huge athlete my whole life, and was so excited. I created the work, but was not allowed to present my own work to the client, because I was told by my account manager they didn't want any gringas in the meeting."
"My colleagues tell me that I don't have any commitments at home and therefore have the ability to stay late at work. It hurts because I didn't choose not to have children - it's how life turned out for me."
"When I was about to make an offer to a new hire the CEO of my company pulled me aside to give me some advice. He wanted me to know that women don't negotiate and I should offer a lower number to her. I was stunned as I am a woman and he hired me."
"When I interviewed for a new position managing a physician practice the doctor insisted on interviewing me himself. He asked me about my family life (was I married — did I have children — etc) and persisted even after I told him that he legally couldn’t ask me those questions."
My manager who knew about my pre-existing mental health struggles - during the pandemic - during BLM - protests told me she wishes I would just go back to 'normal'.
"I was told I was not collaborative and a good “culture fit” when I walked in front of my male co-presenter on stage to better engage with an audience of 150 people."
"My male manager told me that women are never the same after they come back to work after having a baby. He said their work suffers because their focus is no longer there. Little did he know I was pregnant at the time."
"Our company CEO emailed me to curtly request that I bring him a coffee. I had spoken with him twice since I joined the company in a business development role. His assistant and I were the only two women of color at the company, and she was out that day."
"A leader in our agency referred to a creative concept as gay. Which might have been ok if they meant homosexual but instead they just meant to say it was bad."
"When I was job hunting several organizations rejected me once they heard my stuttering during the interview process. They made a choice to focus on that single negative rather than the many positive things I would have brought to the organization."
My joints were swollen and incredibly painful due to my autoimmune disease. I had an important session so I pushed myself to get to work. When I explained this to my supervisor her response was “you don’t look sick.”
"In response to what I described as multiple incidents of belligerent and micro-aggressive behavior - a member of senior mgmt explained the employee's behavior as maybe being the result of 'personality' differences. The comment felt marginalizing, paternalistic, and insulting."
"In my yearly pay review I was not given any technical feedback as a web developer. Instead I got told that I came across too serious and grumpy because I didn't smile enough and heavily implied that it had an impact on the sort of projects that I got resourced for."
"After I returned from a vacation I was told by a white male that he needs to get his wife a job like I have because then they could take vacations too. He then said, "Just kidding. We still have kids at home and don't want to neglect them." (I had 3 young children.)"
"I had a meeting with my boss where she announced a new hire. My white supervisor asked "what's her heritage and ethnic background" because the email that the new hire wrote was written "so eloquently". The new hire was black."
"I tried my birth name instead of my white-sounding nickname on my resume while job-hunting. No calls, no rejection emails, radio silence. I put my nickname and started getting 3x the amount of communication. Got married, changed my last name, and got 5x the responses & interviews."
"My manager told me that he didn't understand why I would want a pay raise (to bring me in line with my performance and experience) because my husband worked...so why would I need more money?
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"A white male colleague told me after he found out I was pregnant that "I'm so happy for you! When you told me before that you didn't plan to have kids I was so sad for you."
"The firm removed me from a long-term corporate client and placed me with a nonprofit one solely to present a “Black face” after another police killing of an unarmed Black man. I was the only Black person on the team."
"My new manager told me that he saw my role as "administrative" - scheduling meetings, coordinating social engagements and stocking supplies. At the time I was leading Operations for a $5B business. After I left for another role he requested a male backfill."
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