Dear Woman in Career,
The woman behind the job description. The one who leads meetings, hits targets, maybe raises children, and still wonders if she truly belongs. Perhaps because you’ve been interrupted one too many times in a boardroom. Or because someone echoed your idea five minutes later, and got the credit. Or maybe it’s the quiet voice that questions if you’re good enough, even though you show up day after day, giving your intellect, presence and strength to patients, policies, spreadsheets, task lists, meetings, reports or systems.
Women are dynamic. We adapt and bring color, order, wisdom and nurture, even in systems that weren’t built with us in mind. As Women in medicine, law, tech, education, media, academia, civil service, we sometimes find ourselves in structured systems that reward order, logic, deadlines and deliverables. Many of these systems were designed with little room for the emotional labor, caregiving demands or intuitive leadership styles that women bring. This is why, in rooms not made for you, you sometimes feel the need to rephrase your thoughts, soften your voice, or translate your faith into “professional” language. No wonder some say, “Nice girls don’t get the corner office.”
But especially as christians, will we continue to play by the rules of others even to our own disadvantage? How long do we keep downplaying our convictions so we don’t seem “too much”? At what point do we stop translating the fire in our spirit into palatable language that doesn’t offend anyone?
At what point do we stop asking for permission to be who God has called us to be? While others are pushing their ideologies boldly into boardrooms, policies and screens, we’re editing ourselves to appear “balanced.” It would be such a shame for heaven to watch us carry all this fire and potential yet keep still while others dominate and propagate the agenda of the enemy.
Your workplace may never call it ministry but every moment you bring peace into conflict, excellence into mediocrity, compassion into competition, you’re doing God’s work. Your cubicle is a mission field. Your professionalism is an altar. And your life may be the Bible someone never gets to read. Faith isn’t always loud in the workplace. Sometimes, it’s choosing integrity over a chance at promotion. Sometimes, it’s just whispering, “Holy Spirit, help me,” before you hit the send button. Maybe you’re in a season of uncertainty. Maybe your role no longer fits but fear keeps you from letting go. Maybe your new job feels like a demotion in disguise. Transitions aren’t always pretty. They may come with silence, shame or second-guessing but every phase has its purpose so let God lead and use you, even if it’s one quiet step at a time.
Growth comes with pains. A bigger role means bigger battles, more visibility, more vulnerability, more authority, more accountability. Meaning, even the dream job might feel like the wilderness when you finally get there. But you are allowed to figure it out on the spot. You are allowed to ask for help. You are allowed to not have all the answers. You may be the first in your space. The youngest. The only woman. The only believer. But that doesn’t mean your presence is invaluable. You are the fulfillment of many prayers and the beginning of new ones.
The barriers you break today are the bridges your daughters will walk across tomorrow. So please be reminded that your early mornings and late evenings are not just to get a salary or earn a title. They are to lend your voice, your vote, your convictions to the policies and decisions that will shape the lives of many, now and in the future. Carry this vision as you clock in for the day, as you pray over your desk and office, as you converse with your colleagues, as you conduct interviews, as you attend to clients, patients and customers, as you draft policies and dare to ask the right questions in meetings, as you vote in favor or disproval of decisions during board meetings. Some may say “You’re too emotional.” Others may say “You care too much.” But when you understand whose cause you’re fighting, you’ll drown those voices and execute your duties like it’s the last opportunity you have.
Not all battles need a stage. Some are won in silence, with wisdom, with prayer and strategy. But silence should never be your default. Be wise enough to know when to wait, bold enough to speak when your voice is needed, discerning enough to choose your battles and courageous enough not to avoid the ones that matter. There will be moments when your quiet excellence will speak volumes. But there will also be moments when silence becomes complicity.
The world glorifies independence: the self-made woman, the lone achiever, the rise-at-any-cost mentality. But the Kingdom is built through interdependence, alliance and community. You need people, wise people, godly people, strategic people, who remind you of who you are, especially when you forget. People who see the gold in you before the spotlight does. People who will open doors when you can’t find the key. People who will say your name in rooms you haven’t yet entered, not because you asked them to, but because your integrity earned their trust. So walk with character. Let your decisions be consistent, even when no one is watching. Let your private life be as honorable as your public image. Let your excellence speak for itself but let your humility leave a lasting impression. Because what opens doors might be your résumé but what keeps them open is your reputation.
May your passion never turn to bitterness, and your purpose never into pride. May you rise, not just for your name but for the names of those who come after you. May you be led by the Spirit. And may you never forget that you are not just part of the system, you are a solution within it. May your decisions reflect justice, your presence command respect, and your private life remain anchored in truth. And when the lights are off, the emails sent and the title is stripped away, may you still know who you are. Seen. Sent. Empowered. By God and for His glory.
With purpose,
Women of Purple
