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Ever felt like you're navigating a world that wasn't built for your success? This deeply personal episode unravels the complex journey of achieving professional excellence while wrestling with life's most challenging transitions.

I'm celebrating passing an international certification with distinction – an achievement that came while balancing new motherhood, marriage, and career demands. This victory wasn't just academic; it represented overcoming postpartum depression, therapy struggles, and the persistent pressure to overachieve that many Black women know intimately. Your career can become a lifeline during periods of emotional displacement and loneliness, but there's danger in becoming defined solely by what you do professionally.

The conversation expands beyond personal experience to examine how systems consistently cap Black success – whether through UK taxation policies that punish achievement, workplace cultures that view Black women as threats rather than assets, or the persistent colonial mindset that extracts value without giving credit. Drawing powerful parallels between personal career liberation and the broader decolonisation movements happening across Africa under leaders like Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, we explore what true freedom looks like in both professional and global contexts.

Throughout this episode, we discuss navigating environments not designed for your advancement: understanding organisational politics, recognising your value as a subject matter expert, creating leverage through continuous learning, knowing when to walk away, and strategically planning career moves without revealing all your cards. Whether you're feeling stuck, undervalued or simply seeking a more strategic approach to your professional life, this conversation offers both practical guidance and the emotional validation that your experiences are real.

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Music (Intro and Outro) Written and created by Nomadic Star