Muslim women – Photo credit: muslimvillage.com

Women around me inspire me. Most of the stories I write about, tips I share and (slightly frenzied) enthusiasm I have for anything pro-woman, is because of them. Like my dear friend F., who apart from knowing me better than myself, also happens to be an incredibly smart corporate sister. She is also Black and a Muslim.

When we think of women at work, we picture the struggle for equal rights, equal pay for equal work, and breaking that d… glass ceiling in a million scattered pieces. We ponder about work-Iife balance, and having it all. We strive at leaning in, as many of us end up doing the exact opposite. As a matter of fact, for women of color, and minorities even within this group, leaning in does not exactly have the same meaning.

Yet what we often miss are the countless layers of experience embedded in the reality of working women. Nameless and at times faceless experiences of double and triple minorities at work. Experiences that could teach and edify us more than we’d ever suspect…

My friend F. loves her job, and excels at it. Unless she’s asked about her religion, or deals with the occasional imams who stop by to inquire about their accounts, she doesn’t really worry much about it. She also dresses in a Westernized fashion and has always done so. “If I covered up, I’m sure I would have an entirely different experience”, she says.

My friend K. is also Muslim. She also happens to be from the Dominican Republic, and looks like a strikingly beautiful mix of Arabic and Latin. Weren’t it for her gold necklace shaped into Arabic letters, or some of her Facebook posts, you would never know she too, is part of the changing face of diversity in the corporate world.

These are only a drop in the sea of talented, striving women who not only defy the stereotypes of women at work, but don’t even fit into them. They are not bragging about their rights, or screaming “discrimination”, yet are peacefully giving a voice and a face to a positive, ever-changing picture of diversity at work.

So as we fight for gender equality and equal pay for equal work, let’s also not forget that diversity at work extends beyond the value of our paychecks, or the statistics around women on corporate boards…

It’s also about embracing an ever-changing spectrum of diversity as we all reach higher…

The Corporate Sis.