The Working Lives and Careers of Women of Colour

To mark this years #EmbraceEquity International Women’s Day, three women from the Communicate Inclusively team share their working and educational experiences as women of colour.

Natasha

From a young age I was told by my parents that I would have to work twice as hard as my white peers/colleagues and three times as hard being female. As a young girl, I definitely felt the pressure of needing to be perfect, which evolved into having life completely figured out as I reached adulthood. This may have been exacerbated by my own comparison of friends/colleagues as well as external cultural pressures, which I think many women of colour can probably relate to and being of South Asian heritage, there can be a certain expectation to uphold, especially for girls/women.

Growing up, I loved painting with my grandmother when I would visit, which continued into my teenage years. Despite always loving art, I chose the ‘sensible route’ to study Law at university and subsequently got a job at a Law firm in London. This was my first real eye opener, as a woman of colour, which was also challenging due to the nature of the corporate industry already being competitive. After a year of working in Law, I found myself feeling unfulfilled, missing painting or just having any kind of creative spark and I knew that a lifetime career in Law just wasn’t the end goal for me, so decided to hand in my notice.

I decided to set up a portraiture business and marketed my portfolio using social media, which was my main source of clientele. At first, business was slow but after a few months my social media started to build and turn in commissions for paintings. I was loving being creative again, but the business seemed to have seasonal peaks and troughs, which just wasn’t lucrative enough for me to make a living off. I had to think of a more commercially viable way to sell art, which led me to undertake a tattoo apprenticeship.

I didn’t know what to expect going into the tattoo industry, but it soon became apparent that it was predominantly a white male dominated industry and for the most part, they wanted it to be kept that way. As an apprentice, I witnessed my fair share of toxic masculinity and was grinded down but stuck it out with a few apprentice colleagues as I believed I could make something off of it. Between mopping floors and cleaning equipment, I tried to absorb as much as possible from senior artists, in spite of them sometimes being reluctant to share tips, especially with a woman. I attended conventions and seminars for my own professional development and soon started tattooing myself, after receiving my certificate and tattoo licence.

Whilst growing up, I sadly rejected my culture due to the pressures I felt as well as facing racism. But tattooing gave me the opportunity to fully embrace my culture again as I decided to specialise within Indian/folk tattoo art after a few years of tattooing experience.

Now, I have been tattooing for almost 7 years and work at an all-female, black-owned tattoo studio that welcomes people of colour and the LGBTQ+ community, a stark contrast to where I had started. Most of my clientele are women of South Asian heritage who are in search of finding a female Indian tattoo artist, which is rare to come by, due to tattooing not being the most conventional career pathway within our culture.

Upon reflection, I have met some really inspirational women that choose to get tattooed to celebrate their journeys, passions, memories or even help in overcoming past traumas. Meeting and connecting with these women gave me a sense of fulfilment and also gave me the chance to reconnect with old friends as well as collaborate with authors, musicians and social media influencers.

I now tattoo part-time, whilst also working as a Digital Marketing Assistant- as my mother used to always say, never rely on just one job. Having friends and colleagues that are predominantly women of colour and according to ‘The Great British Businesswoman Series’, it seems that women from Black and Minority Ethnic Groups are adopting this way of life in order to offer stability and financial security; widely referred to by millennials and Gen Z as a ‘side hustle’. I think this highlights that women of colour are still facing discrimination/inequality in professional working environments yet epitomises the resilience of women in spite of all odds.

Savannah

My employment career so far has been short and sweet. I fell into the field of marketing as a result of the decisions I made during my GCSE’s and A-levels which led me to finding an occupation that was both creative and business savvy.

After doing a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management and gaining experience through marketing internships, I have managed to find myself with a marketing executive role working with a lovely group of diverse individuals and participating in an extended portfolio of work. This has enabled me to grow and develop in my profession and set myself up for what I hope to be a successful career. Alongside this I am also expanding my qualifications by doing a master’s degree in Digital Marketing with the hopes of becoming a better marketer for the future.

I have been quite fortunate as to not have experienced any out of the ordinary problems on my career journey and through hard work and dedication I have made it to where I am now. However, I know that there will be many challenges ahead of me as a working woman and especially being a working woman of colour. Whether that be in the form of access to equal pay and opportunities or facing discrimination and prejudice. But I am hopeful that these will only be minor concerns for the remainder of my journey.

There have been a number of women in my life who have inspired me. From family and friends, to teachers and colleagues. Each have had a part to play in teaching me and guiding me through my journey so far and I am sure I will come across many more along the way.

Atlyn

In general I’ve had a positive experience wherever I’ve worked, and I’ve been rewarded for my hard work, but it hasn't always been easy. Being a woman has its challenges, being a black woman has even more challenges and being a black woman who is a single parent has a lot more challenges, but I've overcome them. I've been ignored in meetings, had others take credit for my work, been mistaken for a junior rather than a director and had more focus on my latest hair style than on the campaign ideas I've brought to the table.

I've had to juggle childcare and school commitments whilst travelling overseas for work 50% of the time, I’ve even flown to the Caribbean for one night to attend a meeting, so I could get back for a school event. At times it's been really hard and I’ve felt guilty for not always being there when my girls needed me, but on the whole I've enjoyed all of my work experiences and wouldn't change a thing, as they have all led me to where I am today.

There have been positives throughout every part of my career and I’m excited about my future endeavours as I focus on work and projects that are inline with my passions and enable me to live a more intentional and fulfilling life.

I hope that by sharing my experiences as a black woman in the workplace I can inspire my daughters and other women to feel confident to have a voice, to share their ideas openly, showcase their expertise with pride, make sure they get credit for their hard work, get paid the same as male counterparts and keep pushing the boundaries to get the recognition and rewards they rightly deserve.

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