Women who lead—whether in business, boardrooms, or their own brands—carry a unique weight. The pressure to perform. The constant pivoting. The need to show up, even when you’re struggling to keep things together on the inside. The world isn’t always designed to make that easy, especially for Black and Brown women in leadership.
That’s why the words you speak over yourself matter—they directly shape how you lead, how you handle challenges, and whether you move forward or hold back.
Whether it’s prayer, affirmations, or mindset work, your words shape your leadership, your confidence, and how you handle stress. Science backs this up—what you hear, you believe. And if you’re constantly feeding yourself doubt and worry, it’s no wonder your anxiety spikes before big decisions.
Faith, Mindset & the Power of Words
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Translation? What you believe is more powerful than what you see right now. Faith isn’t just about spirituality—it’s the confidence to trust your vision, move forward, and lead with certainty, even when the outcome isn’t clear.
So, ask yourself: Are you speaking words that build you up? Or are you unknowingly tearing yourself down?
2 Daily Power Practices for Women Who Lead
1. Speak Strength Into Your Mornings
Before you check emails or get caught up in meetings, set the tone for your day:
“I make confident decisions.”
“I deserve every room I walk into.”
“My work speaks for itself—I don’t have to prove my worth.”
Words like these rewire your brain to lead with clarity instead of doubt.
2. Create a Reset Ritual for High-Stress Moments
When overwhelm hits, don’t spiral—pause and reset:
Step away for a 60-second deep breath.
Repeat a power phrase: “I am calm, capable, and in control.”
Ground yourself in truth—whether it’s scripture, a mantra, or a reminder of what you’ve already overcome.
This simple shift helps you respond with confidence instead of reacting to stress, anxiety, or overwhelm.
Final Thought: The Words You Speak Shape the Leader You Become
Your leadership, peace, and success are all tied to what you tell yourself daily.
So, let’s get intentional: What’s one phrase you need to start speaking over your leadership today? Let us know in the comments! And share this with a powerhouse woman who needs this reminder.
Written by Amanda Fludd, psychotherapist, mindset coach, and founder of The Business Skool for Black and Brown Women in Business. She helps high-achieving women step into their power, overcome self-doubt, and lead with confidence.
Amanda also hosts a monthly prayer call for faith-driven women navigating leadership and entrepreneurship. Have you joined yet? Get the details here.
The holidays are often painted as a magical time for kids, full of joy and potential presents but also full of chaos and stress. And just like us, our kids can feel the weight of all that holiday hustle and stress. Whether it’s the pressure of social events, changes in routine, or simply picking up on your stress, kids need support to navigate this busy season. But don’t worry—we have some actionable tips to help your kids manage holiday stress while creating moments of joy and connection.
Why Are They Melting Down Over Elf on the Shelf?
Kids might not know how to express their holiday stress. They may act out, withdraw, or seem anxious. The reality is your child’s brain is still developing. The part responsible for emotional regulation—the prefrontal cortex—won’t fully mature until they’re around 25 years old. That means their emotional circuits might trip more often than you’d like, especially during the high-stress holiday season. When your child is frustrated, tired, or overwhelmed, start by naming what they might be feeling. For example, say, “It looks like you’re feeling frustrated about all the holiday activities or all that’s happening. Let’s talk about it.” Avoid dismissing their emotions with, “You’re fine.”
Acknowledging your child’s feelings may feel counterintuitive, especially if you didn’t grow up with that experience. But think about this: when you’re frustrated or overwhelmed, do you want someone to tell you to calm down or that your feelings don’t matter? Or do you want to be fully seen and heard?
When you gift your child the space to feel heard and understood, you’re not just helping them—you’re healing generations of trauma.
A simple “I see you’re upset. Let’s work through this together” can go a long way.
Other Ways to Cope with Holiday Stress
Children do best with predictability, even during the holiday chaos. While schedules might shift, keeping core routines like bedtime, meal times, and quiet moments intact can provide a comforting sense of stability.
Instead of striving for Instagram-worthy moments, focus on what truly matters: connection. Simple activities like baking cookies, watching holiday movies, or reading stories together create meaningful memories that outshine the pressure of a perfectly decorated tree or matching outfits.
Remember, your kids are watching how you handle stress. Show them positive coping skills like deep breathing, taking a short walk, or simply saying, “I need a moment to reset.” When they see you manage stress effectively, they’re more likely to mimic those behaviors into adulthood.
Your Kids Need a Calmer, Happier You
The holidays are a great time to model self-care for your kids. One of the best gifts you can give them is a calmer, more connected version of yourself. If you’re ready to prioritize your well-being and build stronger family bonds, therapy can help, and we encourage you to reach out to us and book an appointment.
If you know someone having a hard time through the holidays or who could benefit from this blog, please share this with them—it might be the gift they didn’t know they needed.
Taking up space means giving yourself permission to express your thoughts, feelings, boundaries, and anything else that feels authentic to you. It’s about rewriting cultural norms that have confined you to a prison of “shoulds” and “need-tos,” pulling you away from deeply trusting yourself.
Why is Taking Up Space Hard?
For many women of color, taking up space is challenging due to societal pressures and cultural expectations. We are often taught to be obedient and submissive and serve others, usually learning it is ok to put our needs last and rarely voice our concerns about that. In addition, external power struggles and internalized beliefs, particularly when intertwined with trauma, make it difficult to see our value and accept the attention that comes with taking up space.
If you are of a marginalized identity, you might find yourself making an effort to fit in and not be “found out.” This could manifest in various ways, like avoiding negotiating at work, accepting the opinions of others even though it makes no damn sense, allowing those in perceived authority to interrupt you, or swallowing your thoughts and emotions in relationships for fear of conflict. There are countless subtle ways that shrinking back, playing safe, or remaining hidden can appear in your life, often without conscious awareness.
The world (and sometimes our own narrative) has often conditioned us to believe that it’s safer to be small and quiet as women. But as we’ve come to understand, shrinking to fit into preconceived molds only serves to disrupt our potential.
Why Practice is Essential
In the Mindset Collective, our membership community for women of color, we explore the importance of practicing the concept of taking up space. (Join us here!) By actively engaging with this idea, we start to unravel the limitations placed on us by societal expectations and personal insecurities. This is a journey of self-discovery and empowerment that requires consistent effort and practice.
The practice of taking up space is about more than just being seen and heard. It’s about reclaiming our right to exist fully and authentically. Life presents us with unexpected challenges, and by practicing the art of taking up space, we equip ourselves with the tools to not just survive but thrive.
Consider Simone Biles, who honored her emotions by withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics to prioritize her mental health. Her decision, initially met with criticism, was a powerful statement of self-awareness and self-care.
Fast-forward to this year’s Olympics in Paris, where she returned with renewed confidence and strength and dominated her field. Biles’ journey teaches us that taking up space often requires making bold choices that honor our well-being.
Similarly, Sha’Carri Richardson faced intense scrutiny and judgment, grappling with personal challenges and public expectations. Her journey back to the track was marked by resilience and growth. Richardson returned with a powerful presence, embodying both humility and strength. Her story is a reminder that taking up space sometimes means confronting our mistakes and emerging stronger.
Even Kamala Harris, as Vice President, navigates the complexities of her role in a landscape that often tries to minimize the voices of women of color. Her journey represents the ongoing challenge of taking up space in positions of power and influence.
I’m personally looking forward to the 2024 Olympics and the Track and Field events, where we get to see the resilience and strength of athletes like Richardson. Their stories inspire us to rise above the challenges that try to subdue us as women, especially those of us who are marginalized.
How Can We Take Up Space?
So, how do we take up space? Taking up space is about more than physical presence; it’s about asserting your right to be seen and heard in a world that often tries to silence you. It’s intentional acts that need to be practiced.
Here are a few ways you can start practicing this concept:
Embrace Your Emotions: Don’t shy away from expressing how you feel. Whether it’s joy, anger, or sadness, acknowledging and voicing your emotions is a powerful act of self-validation.
Speak Up: Whether in a meeting, a social gathering, or even online, practice sharing your thoughts and ideas. Your voice matters, and your perspective is valuable.
Set Boundaries: Protect your energy and time by establishing clear boundaries. Where do you need to set a boundary in your life today? Create an action step for it.
Rest: Knowing when it’s time to pull back and restore your energy is also key. We don’t always have to keep pushing (or at least out loud). Take time to give yourself what you need so you can thrive when the opportunity comes.
Now, it’s your turn. How are you taking up space in your life? Share your experiences or intentions in the comments. I would love to see the different ways we practice taking up space.
Amanda Fludd, LCSW-R is a Licensed Psychotherapist, Speaker, and Mindset Coach for high-achieving women leaders and entrepreneurs. Her joy is tackling mental health on multiple platforms and you can learn more about her at: http://www.amandafludd.com.
Mental health in the workplace is a significant issue that’s not improving. Statistics reveal that one in two employees are grappling with stress, anxiety, and depression. This reality underscores the importance of leaders actively promoting mental health at work. Here are some practical tips to help create a supportive and mentally healthy work environment for your team.
They Don’t Care
As both a manager and employee, I’ve said and heard those words countless times, often peppered with expletives, within well-established organizations. Leaders are charged with ensuring workers align with the mission and bottom line, but the human energy driving that mission is often overlooked—and your team notices.
When the focus is solely on productivity and speed, with little regard for the people making it happen, employees inevitably feel unsupported and conclude, “They don’t care about us.” Think about being in a relationship where you no longer felt cared for. How did that work out?
The reality is people have long been unhappy, stressed, overworked, and disconnected from their work. According to the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, more workdays are lost due to stress and emotional health issues than many chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma, and arthritis. Add the current uncertainty around layoffs, economic instability, and the struggle to balance demands at work with personal priorities, and it’s clear why employees are increasingly reevaluating not just their well-being but their great purpose and fit within organizations. This period of reflection and new demands has prompted many to reassess their personal needs and aspirations, leading to a collective wake-up call about their priorities.
Why Should Leaders Care About the Value Shift of Employees?
Ignoring employee well-being directly impacts the company’s bottom line. While the economic focus might have shifted from turnover to managing with less human capital (with looming layoffs), the cost of neglecting our teams’ emotional and actualized needs remains significant. Research suggests that happy employees can be up to 20% more productive than unhappy ones, with even higher increases in productivity for sales roles.
The threat isn’t just in losing employees but also the cost of those who remain and are emotionally checked out. Invisible costs to the company include absenteeism—missing work due to emotional or physical health issues—and presenteeism—employees who are physically present but mentally and emotionally absent. These “invisible” costs slowly erode productivity and engagement.
We often talk about these half-life worker bees as “stealing time,” but it’s more than that. It’s a sign that your team may be overwhelmed, underutilized, exhausted, and needing attention. As a workshop facilitator, I’m always amazed at the level of unrecognized stress and the lack of emotional resources to bridge the gaps within organizations. Instead of questioning how much more they can do, consider their message: they need more support. Addressing these concerns can turn a disengaged workforce into a motivated and productive team.
How Can Leaders Respond to The Crisis of Mental Health at Work?
Work on cultivating a culture of caring that includes normalizing the conversation of mental health, assessing the needs of your employees, and implementing onsite and ongoing support is key.
There is a false sense of comfort in tasking wellness to only Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to address workplace mental health concerns or health insurance because the reality is, it isn’t enough. Most EAP’s only cover approx six sessions, and finding a mental health provider with availability that takes your insurance is like performing a magic trick, especially for minority populations. So, while those ideas are good, they shouldn’t be the only strategy to support your team. Crisis calls for more intentionality and creativity.
3 Simple Ways Leaders Can Promote Mental Health
Value and Encourage Employee Input (aka Listen to your people)
I was once in a meeting being welcomed by executive leadership, and everything was going well. They sounded glad to have me on board and painted an open-door policy. Then I accidently asked, “So if I have an issue, can I come to you directly?” To which the lights dimmed, her eyes glared, a wisp of cool air entered the room, and a professional no fell out of her mouth.
I understand that there is a hierarchy to how we do things. However, if leadership is drawing a line between genuinely knowing what is happening in the lower ranks and positing themselves to respond, it is already creating an atmosphere for chaos. I walked out of that meeting thinking they don’t give a shit what happens, and they lived up to that with poor dissemination of information, limited support, and ineffective leadership. Guess who left that job?
As a leader, you need a strong voice and boundaries, but also need to know when to listen. Employees who provide direct service are the lifeline of your organization. Making decisions without them, and they can’t see themselves in your larger vision, can easily contribute to a crisis.
Active and empathic listening will allow managers and leaders to ask questions that get to real concerns before they become costly issues. Creating space for engagement and dialogue fosters a sense of belonging and respect. It also allows you the opportunity to grasp innovative ideas for your best assets that will eventually contribute to your bottom line. Engaged and included employees are more likely to navigate stress and overwhelm and less likely to use lunch breaks for job interviews.
Create Opportunities for Advancement
Humans crave progress. Employees must feel they are on a meaningful path and part of an evolving workplace culture.
Do you know the areas where your team members need the most support or want to develop? Is it communication, managing emotions, resolving conflicts, or enhancing professional skills? Do you allow them to focus on these areas during their workday?
Have you created space for continuing education and critical conversations that address and dismantle race-based biases limiting upward mobility within your organization? We live in one of the most diverse times in history, at the crossroads of our beliefs, experiences, community trauma, and survival. This reality enters your workplace daily, impacting your staff’s emotional safety, well-being, and productivity.
While recognizing the importance of mental health at work is a positive shift, it can still be a struggle to conceptualize where to start and what steps to take next. This is where external expertise can make a significant difference. Bringing in professionals who aren’t entangled in company dynamics can provide fresh perspectives, essential skills, and much-needed support.
Investing in wellbeing and leadership training may seem costly, however, when compared to the expenses associated with losing the expertise of staff, intellectual property, and the hidden costs of presenteeism and burnout, it’s a minor investment in your retention strategy. Prioritizing a mentally healthy workforce is essential for overall organizational health.
Amanda Fludd, LCSW-R, and Katiuscia Gray, LCSW-R, are Licensed Psychotherapists and Mental Health Consultants. They work in partnership with organizations and institutions like law firms, schools, and women’s organizations to assess an organization’s emotional health and craft customized mental health and wellness workshops and trainings incorporating evidence-based approaches like Mindfulness, Yoga, Movement, and Human Behavior Strategies. To request further details contact: 347-868-7813
Being authentic isn’t easy — especially for women of color. The expectations, the pressure to perform, and the unspoken rules about who we’re allowed to be can be exhausting. Over time, that constant weight shows up as self-doubt, anxiety, emotional fatigue, and the quiet feeling that you’re always carrying more than you should have to.
I see this firsthand in my work as a licensed psychotherapist supporting Black women who are high-functioning, capable, and deeply committed — often to everyone but themselves. Many of the women I work with are successful on paper, dependable in their families and communities, and still feel internally stretched thin. Not because they’re doing something wrong, but because they’ve been doing too much alone for too long.
Therapy isn’t about fixing you or pushing you to be stronger. It’s about slowing down, creating space to breathe, and having a place where you don’t have to explain, perform, or hold everything together. It’s a space to unpack the pressure, reconnect with yourself, and learn how to carry life with more support and less strain.
If these quotes resonate, there’s a reason. And if you’re ready for support that meets you where you are — not where you think you should be — therapy can be a meaningful place to start.
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We witness this struggle firsthand in therapy and when I coach our leaders. We see brilliant, fully equipped women being subtly held back by the world around them. These microaggressions often fuel an internal battle of self-worth, triggering imposter syndrome. The real work involves creating distance between these emotional threats and our true capabilities and recognizing our belief in ourselves and the expertise we bring to the table.
The journey is about reclaiming our space and affirming our right to be authentic, capable, and remarkable despite the world’s efforts to say otherwise.
– Marian Wright
If today is one of those days you are tired of fighting for your value, motivation is running low, or you are just looking for self-assurance, we hope to inspire you with the words of other phenomenal women of color as you continue to create the change you wish to see. Find a quote that works for you and repost one for a friend.
If you are overwhelmed and it’s disrupting your peace, book a therapy appointment and let’s chat. There is power in adding a dope therapist to your team.
In whatever season this finds you, I hope these positive quotes by other women of color will help you feel motivated and inspired.
(1)
— Iyanla Vanzant
(2)
– Angelique Kidjo
(3)
– Gabrielle Union
What I will say is that what I’ve learned for myself is that I don’t have to be anybody else and that myself is good enough; and that when I am being true to that self, then I can avail myself to extraordinary things. You have to allow for the impossible to be possible.
Did you find at least one quote that resonated with you? Take that quote and say it aloud to yourself when you need a little encouragement, and better yet, share it with other phenomenal women of color. There is someone in your circle who needs to feel encouraged today.
Amanda Fludd, LCSW-R is a Licensed Psychotherapist, Speaker, and Mindset Coach for high-achieving professionals. Her joy is tackling mental health on multiple platforms. She is available for speaking engagements (workshops, panels) and coaching. You can also find her at the annual Renew Connect Restore Black Women’s Health Retreat.
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