Narrator: Imagine you're early in your career, driving your boss and a colleague to a client meeting. You're a young Black woman, and they are both white. Trying to make conversation, your boss glances at your hands on the steering wheel and jokes, "You people sure do love your bright colors," referring to your burnt orange nail polish. The other colleague laughs and agrees. For the next fifteen minutes, you're forced to endure a conversation centered on the stereotype that Black people love bright colors, all while trying to maintain your composure and professionalism. You laugh it off, but inside, you feel annoyed, confused, and isolated. This small, seemingly insignificant moment is a microaggression, a subtle sting of bias that women of color face constantly in the workplace. It's a reminder that the rules of the game are different for them.

In her book, The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table, author Minda Harts provides the career playbook that has been missing. She argues that the well-intentioned, one-size-fits-all advice popularized by books like Lean In fails to account for the systemic racism and unique challenges that women of color must navigate every single day. This is the memo they never received, but desperately need.

Narrator: The central premise of The Memo is that the dominant career advice, largely written by and for privileged white women, is fundamentally incomplete. Harts critiques Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In as a primary example. When Harts first read it, she felt a profound sense of disconnect. The advice to "lean in," speak up, and demand a seat at the table didn't resonate with her experience as a Black woman. For women of color, leaning in can be perilous. Speaking up can get them labeled as "angry" or "aggressive," while the tables they're told to join are often surrounded by people who don't see or value them.

Harts expresses this frustration with a powerful sentiment: "If I leaned in any more, my face would be on the damn table." The issue isn't a lack of ambition or effort. The issue is that women of color are playing a different game, one with invisible hurdles and unwritten rules designed to keep them out. They face systemic racism, constant microaggressions, and a lack of representation that their white counterparts do not. The book argues that it's time to stop pretending that all women face the same struggle and to create advice tailored to the specific, intersectional reality of being a woman of color in corporate America.

Narrator: Success is rarely a solo sport, and for women of color, building a strategic network—or a "squad"—is a non-negotiable survival tool. Harts emphasizes that this goes beyond simply being good at your job. It involves navigating the complex world of office politics, where relationships and social capital are the currency of advancement.

She illustrates this with the fictional but all-too-real story of "Becky's Promotion." Becky may not be the most qualified person on the team, but she never misses a happy hour. She laughs at her manager Bob's jokes and learns that he loves red velvet cupcakes, which she thoughtfully brings in for his birthday. Through these social interactions, Bob sees Becky as a "team player" and feels more comfortable with her. When a promotion opens up, Becky is top of mind, not because of her performance, but because of her social capital. Meanwhile, women of color who may opt out of these after-hours events for valid reasons—like family obligations or simply not feeling comfortable in predominantly white social settings—are inadvertently sidelined. Harts’s message is clear: "stuff happens after 6 p.m.," and being strategic about building relationships, especially with leadership, is crucial for getting seen and sponsored.

Narrator: One of the most challenging and honest sections of the book confronts the often-strained relationship between women of color and white women in the workplace. While many white women claim to be allies, their actions often fall short, perpetuating a system that benefits them at the expense of their colleagues of color.

Harts shares a painful personal story from early in her career when she was the only Black woman on her team. Her senior colleagues, a group of white women she calls the "Nordstrom Ladies," created a deeply toxic environment. They undermined her, excluded her from important meetings, and made racist remarks. When Harts tried to address the behavior with her department head, also a white woman, her concerns were dismissed. The experience took a severe toll on her mental and physical health, eventually forcing her to resign. This story exemplifies a painful truth: white women are often the gatekeepers of a culture that harms women of color, either through direct action or passive complicity. Harts calls for white women to move beyond performative allyship and acknowledge their role in upholding systemic racism, urging them to become active advocates for their colleagues of color.

Narrator: The wage gap is not a myth; it is a chasm, and it is deepest for women of color. Black, Latina, and Native American women earn significantly less on the dollar compared to white men. Harts dedicates an entire chapter to the critical importance of negotiation, framing it not just as a career skill but as an act of self-respect.

She shares her own evolution in negotiation, from accepting a minimum wage job at Dairy Queen as a teen to learning how to advocate for her worth in the corporate world. A pivotal moment came when a mentor, a white man named Chuck, coached her through a salary negotiation. Harts was preparing to ask for the bottom of the salary range for a job she felt underqualified for. Chuck stopped her, helped her articulate her transferable skills, and pushed her to ask for significantly more. She didn't get her full ask, but she landed $10,000 more than she would have otherwise. The experience taught her a vital lesson: you must know your worth and be prepared to ask for it, because companies will rarely offer it freely. The book provides practical strategies for negotiating not just salary, but benefits like vacation time, professional development funds, and remote work options, empowering women of color to demand the compensation they deserve.

Narrator: Navigating a biased system takes an immense psychological toll. Women of color are often plagued by imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and the pressure to be perfect. Harts argues that developing an "Empire State of Mind"—a mindset of resilience, confidence, and self-awareness—is just as important as building external skills.

She speaks candidly about her own struggles with imposter syndrome, which stemmed from growing up in a financially struggling family. When she entered the corporate world, surrounded by colleagues from privileged backgrounds, she felt a deep-seated need to hide her past and assimilate. This constant anxiety and self-monitoring was exhausting. It was only when she sought therapy and began to address her internal insecurities that she could truly own her power. Harts emphasizes that while the system is flawed, women of color must also do the internal work to dismantle self-limiting beliefs. Quoting Toni Morrison, she reminds readers, "If you want to fly, you have to give up the sh-- that weighs you down."

Narrator: In a chapter addressed directly to her white readers, Harts makes a powerful plea: stop giving yourselves a pass. She challenges the very definition of allyship, arguing that the term has become a passive badge people wear without doing the work. Instead, she calls on white colleagues to become "success partners."

She recounts speaking on a salary negotiation panel at The Wing, an all-women's social club. She was the only woman of color on stage. When she asked the predominantly white audience how many considered themselves allies, nearly every hand went up. She then challenged them. She asked them to stop quoting the statistic that "women make 80 cents on the dollar," because that number represents white women's earnings and erases the much larger gap faced by women of color. The room was shocked; most had never considered this distinction. A success partner, Harts explains, is someone who is intentional. They don't speak for women of color; they pass the mic. They use their privilege to advocate for promotions, ensure fair pay, and challenge biased language. It requires moving from well-meaning ignorance to intentional, active support.

Narrator: Ultimately, The Memo is a declaration that the old rules no longer apply. Its single most important takeaway is that for women of color, achieving success requires a dual strategy: mastering the external game of office politics and negotiation while simultaneously fortifying the internal mindset against a system designed to induce self-doubt. It is a guide to not only surviving the workplace, but thriving in it on your own terms.

The book leaves us with a profound challenge, one that extends far beyond its target audience. It forces every person in a position of privilege to ask a difficult question: Are you a passive ally, content with the title but absent in the fight? Or are you a true success partner, willing to use your influence to actively dismantle the barriers that hold others back? The answer will determine whether we are truly building a workplace where everyone has a seat at the table.