“Ambition Shouldn’t Hurt: The Price Black and Latina Women Pay for Success”

Ambition Shouldn’t Hurt is more than just a thought; it’s a lived reality for too many Black and Latina women who climb professional ladders only to find the higher they go, the less air they’re allowed to breathe. The tragedy of Antoinette Candia-Bailey, a higher education leader who died by suicide after enduring months of documented workplace abuse, was not an isolated case. Her story cracked open a conversation many have been quietly surviving inside for years: What does it cost to “succeed” in a toxic job that never meant to see you thrive?

The Pressure to Perform in a Broken System

Candia-Bailey was not just a professional; she was accomplished, educated, and determined. Like many Black and Latina women in academia, corporate America, and nonprofit sectors, her identity became a tightrope, poised between professional excellence and systemic harm. When Heliana Ramirez, a mental health practitioner and expert in workplace racial trauma, created the Black Women Toxic Job Survivor Suicide Prevention Resource Guide, it wasn’t just an act of care; it was a necessity. The guide is a lifeline for women navigating spaces that see their labor but not their humanity. The phrase “Is professional growth just a better mask?” rings differently in the context of these tragedies. It asks us to consider how often excellence is used as a shield, not from failure, but from mistreatment. And how often that shield becomes too heavy to carry.

The Myth of Meritocracy and the Mask of Success

In workplace culture, especially in predominantly white institutions, success is often seen as proof that the system is working. However, for many Black and Latina women, success comes with silence. Silence after reporting harassment and being ignored. Silence while HR departments weigh “culture fit” over lived trauma. Silence while navigating microaggressions, tone policing, and coded language designed to make assertiveness look like aggression. We don’t talk enough about how professionalism itself has been weaponized. How “ambition” for Black and Latina women often means over-performing to be seen as competent, yet still being passed over for promotions, excluded from leadership conversations, and gaslit when advocating for themselves.

Supporting Data

Black and Latina women experience higher rates of workplace discrimination. Statistics show they face microaggressions more frequently than their white counterparts. Research shows that Black women, in particular, encounter a disproportionate number of subtle biases and insults in professional settings. For instance, studies indicate that women of color often experience microaggressions. These microaggressions stem from the intersection of race and gender biases. This further complicates their professional journeys.

Microaggressions can manifest in various forms. These include being mistaken for someone of lower status, assumptions about communication style, and invalidation of experiences. These everyday encounters highlight the urgent need for systemic change and greater awareness in workplace cultures.

A Culture That Punishes Truth-Telling

Dr. Candia-Bailey documented her experiences. She reached out for help. She filed complaints. Her death was not because she didn’t speak up; it was because the institution failed her after she did. Ramirez’s guide points directly at this systemic failure. It’s not about resilience; it’s about responsibility. Workplaces must stop expecting Black and Latina women to carry entire institutions on their backs while being denied safety, dignity, and support. Psychological safety is not a perk; it is a requirement for survival. This raises critical questions for leaders and colleagues alike: How do your systems respond when someone says they’re being harmed? Are you prioritizing liability over lives?

From Survival to Support

Creating safer environments begins with accountability, not just allyship. It means funding external investigations when internal departments are compromised. It means giving people real options to exit toxic jobs without financial ruin. It means listening the first time someone says they’re not okay. If you’re navigating a toxic job, you’re not alone. Start by documenting everything. Keep digital or physical records using tools like a lockable, fireproof document bag for personal safety and security. For those managing the emotional labor of reporting while working, journaling with a guided therapy journal can help track patterns of behavior and prioritize mental clarity.

Mental Health Support Must Be Culturally Competent

Therapy is not one-size-fits-all. Accessing culturally competent mental health professionals, especially those trained in racial and workplace trauma, is crucial. Online platforms like Therapy for Black Girls, Clinicians of Color, Latinx Therapy, and Inclusive Therapists offer directories with options tailored to lived experience, not just clinical diagnosis. Too often, Black and Latina women are pathologized instead of supported. Therapy shouldn’t feel like another space where you have to explain your existence. Culturally informed care sees the whole person and understands the layered impacts of racialized trauma.

Redefining Professionalism as Safety, Not Sacrifice

If climbing the ladder costs your health, your peace, your joy, what are we really building? It’s time to disrupt the performance personas that Black and Latina women are forced to wear just to be considered valuable. The ones that say, “I’ve got this” when the truth is, “I’m drowning.” The ones that keep us polished but paralyzed, praised but exhausted. Real growth doesn’t come from wearing better masks. It comes from systems where people don’t need masks to feel safe. It means moving past diversity trainings and into trauma-informed leadership. It means putting policy behind values.

We Can’t Heal What We Don’t Acknowledge

This isn’t just about Antoinette Candia-Bailey, though her memory demands our action. It’s about every woman who has smiled through slights, folded herself into titles, and convinced herself that exhaustion was a badge of honor. We owe them more than hashtags. We owe them structural change. That starts by naming the problem: institutional betrayal. It’s uncomfortable, but necessary. Just like healing.

Your Voice Matters

Are you working in a space where you’ve been silenced? Are you carrying invisible wounds from a toxic workplace? Have you had to mask your identity to be accepted? Ambition shouldn’t hurt, let’s talk about it. Share your experience below or tag someone who needs to see this. Your story is not just your own. It may be the reminder someone else needs to seek help. It might encourage them to speak up or walk away.