At my last job, I had a group chat we nicknamed “The Minority Report” consisting of the three other people of colour who worked on my team. In the chat, we would complain about micro-aggressions that came up in meetings, share our concerns about our work culture, and just send around funny memes. Those messages were my lifeline on days when my “onlyness” as the sole Black woman felt like it was hindering my success, or when it was stopping me from speaking up for myself. “Having likeminded friends at work isn’t just helpful from a coping standpoint for the stress of being a minority in a work situation,” says therapist and relationship expert Miriam Kirmayer . “Those friends are there to remind us to put ourselves out there. Women — especially women of colour — who feel more socially connected with one another tend to feel more comfortable asserting themselves.”