Suezette Yasmin Robotham has recruited expertise for corporations reminiscent of Google, Meta and Salesforce, and he or she is aware of the importance of a title or work persona. Nonetheless, in an period marked by profession disruption and financial uncertainty, Robotham is shifting how professionals see themselves together with her new e-book, Past Titles: Fearlessly Main and Dwelling Authentically at Work.
Past Titles arrives at a pivotal second, providing each hope and steerage to readers going through the most difficult job market since 2003. All through 2025, headlines have delivered daunting information about unprecedented layoffs throughout industries from tech to media, with Black girls disproportionately affected by the cuts. Stories point out that almost 300,000 Black girls exited the workforce in 2025 alone, making their distinctive challenges with profession id and resilience extra pressing than ever.
In Past Titles, Robotham responds on to this actuality, encouraging readers to ask, “Who’re you when the titles fade away?” She supplies sensible instruments to assist folks rebuild or rediscover a private id amid the chaos, particularly when job loss triggers id crises or shrinks skilled networks.
Robotham’s work acts as a information for anybody navigating areas the place conventional definitions of success not apply.
Blavity spoke with Robotham in regards to the roadmap she lays out in Past Titles and the way she helps Black girls perceive that power and success come from defining themselves by what they offer, not simply what they listing on a résumé.
Past Titles emphasizes main and residing authentically, even amid skilled uncertainty. How can authenticity function an anchor when somebody is compelled into an unplanned profession transition?
Suezette Yasmin Robotham: Authenticity, to me, means main and residing from what you consider to be true, and doing so from the healthiest and most efficient model of your self. When you find yourself confronted with an unplanned profession transition, that perception will get examined. For therefore many people, particularly Black girls, a title has usually been tied to our sense of value, stability, and even delight. Dropping that title can really feel private. However additionally it is a second for readability. It’s a house to pause and ask your self: What impressed me in my final chapter? The place was I actually aligned? And what not matches who I’m changing into? For me, these questions have guided how I take into consideration what’s subsequent and what sort of experiences I wish to create transferring ahead.
Authenticity turns into your anchor in that house. It helps you progress by means of uncertainty with out dropping your self. It reminds you that your worth was by no means simply in a job or a title, however in who you might be, what you carry, and the way you lead. Past Titles is about precisely that. It isn’t solely about main fearlessly, however in regards to the reset that occurs once you revisit your “why,” reclaim your energy, and allow your self to reimagine who you might be and the way you wish to dwell. As a result of even when your title modifications, your reality stays the identical, and that reality is what retains you regular and complete.
Having labored inside main corporations reminiscent of Google, Meta, and Salesforce, what did you observe about how company cultures reward titles versus real management?
SYR: Having labored for main tech corporations like Google and Meta, I’ve been lucky to not have my title restrict me. I’ve constructed enterprise circumstances for multimillion-dollar packages, sat alongside senior executives whose choices reached the CEO, and led initiatives grounded in my very own imaginative and prescient and technique. The reward of working in tech is that once you place your self as a strategic accomplice, an issue solver, and a visionary, your influence can prolong far past your title. That stated, I’ve additionally seen how a lot company cultures can nonetheless overvalue hierarchy. Titles can form entry, voice, and visibility in ways in which usually have little to do with functionality or management. True management isn’t given by title. It’s earned by means of affect, relationships, and the consistency of your outcomes. That’s the reason constructing robust relationships with mentors, allies, and sponsors is so vital.
When folks all through a company can converse to your influence and integrity, they assist increase your attain. Your community turns into the amplifier of your work, not simply the viewers for it. We frequently say your community is your internet value, however in massive corporations, it’s additionally your credibility forex. When folks know who you might be, the way you lead, and the distinction you make, you begin to take away the limitations that titles can create. This perception formed a lot of what I share in Past Titles. Management begins once you cease ready for permission to guide. The work of affect, goal, and alignment is what defines you, not the phrases printed on what you are promoting card.
What preliminary steps do you suggest for professionals who’re redefining their id after a layoff? Particularly these whose self-worth or id has been tied to their job titles?
SYR: Step one is to offer your self permission to really feel it. Enable your self to grieve. Too usually we rush to repair it, to replace the résumé, to seek out the subsequent factor. However a layoff impacts greater than your employment standing. It could shake your confidence, your rhythm, and your sense of id. You want house to course of that earlier than transferring ahead. You by no means wish to begin a job search from a spot of worry or desperation. You aren’t simply “open to work.” You’re open to your subsequent nice alternative. That reframe issues as a result of it shifts your power from loss to chance.
Upon getting honored the feelings, begin reflecting in your “why.” What sort of work energizes you? The place did you’re feeling most aligned in your final position? What sort of surroundings helps your greatest self? The solutions to these questions turn into your compass. You wish to transfer from a spot of abundance, not from a spot of lack. That begins with releasing the disgrace that generally comes with a layoff and recognizing that your worth was by no means outlined by a title. It’s outlined by who you might be, what you contribute, and the way you rise once more. As I write in Past Titles, authenticity isn’t a set state. It’s an evolution. It’s the ongoing work of changing into who you are supposed to be, even when the whole lot round you is shifting. You aren’t beginning over. You’re persevering with your changing into.
You’ve got launched Past Titles throughout some of the difficult job markets in over twenty years. How did present financial situations and the state of the employment pool form your message or urgency in writing the e-book?
SYR: This e-book has actually been ten years within the making. I began speaking in regards to the concept of “masking” within the office practically a decade in the past, and Past Titles is the pure continuation of that work. However I believe the timing of its launch in the midst of this 2025 wave of financial uncertainty has made its message much more pressing. Over the previous few years, we have now seen a gentle change in what job safety appears like. Firms that had been as soon as rewarded for progress for its personal sake are actually being pushed to concentrate on sustainability, margins, and effectivity. That shift has modified how folks take into consideration their careers and their sense of stability.
The reality is, the world of labor is evolving sooner than ever, particularly as rising applied sciences reshape complete industries. We are able to not outline ourselves solely by our job titles. Now we have to start out considering extra holistically about who we’re, what abilities we carry, and the influence we create. It is a skills-first, skills-forward economic system, and the professionals who will stand out are those who can clearly articulate the outcomes they drive, not simply the positions they’ve held. The best way we used to go to work is not going to be the best way we discover or create our subsequent alternatives. That sense of urgency formed this e-book. Past Titles is about redefining success, reimagining how we speak about our price, and reclaiming our sense of value. Titles might change, however your influence, your integrity, and your skill to adapt are what make you future-ready.
Almost 300,000 Black girls have left the workforce in 2025, reflecting deep inequities in alternative and retention. What systemic modifications do you consider organizations should prioritize to counter or change this narrative?
SYR: As one of many practically 300,000 Black girls who’ve left the workforce in 2025, this second is deeply private to me. Behind each statistic is a girl whose profession, id, and contribution mattered. Once I take into consideration what systemic change ought to seem like, accountability is at its heart. Organizations need to be keen to look inward by means of sincere fairness assessments. It isn’t sufficient to make statements about variety, belonging, or illustration, particularly on this shifting political local weather. Some corporations say they’re staying the course, but on the identical time, they’ve made choices that disproportionately influence Black girls. For them, and for many who have pulled again fully, this can be a reminder that variety, fairness, and illustration usually are not elective. They’re enterprise imperatives.
Illustration is your differentiator. It’s your superpower. A consultant workforce is the way you increase alternative, drive innovation, and meet international market potential. The politics will proceed to shift, however the organizations that suppose long run perceive that inclusion is the way you keep related, aggressive, and related to the world you serve. Accountability isn’t punitive. It’s reflective. It’s the willingness to carry up a mirror and ask: Are we creating the sort of office the place everybody can rise, contribute, and be seen for his or her influence? And for these of us who’ve left, even on this second, our tales, our brilliance, and our resilience stay simple.
After years of selling variety hiring initiatives, what does this second reveal about how sustainable, or performative, these initiatives actually had been? What ought to corporations do to alter that?
SYR: This second is revealing. For years, many corporations have talked about variety hiring, however now we’re seeing who constructed sustainable techniques and who constructed performative ones. The truth is that many organizations made commitments with out constructing the infrastructure to maintain what they began. I see this as a possibility to evolve. The way forward for this work isn’t solely about variety. It’s about tradition. It’s time for corporations to suppose past a Chief Range Officer mannequin and begin constructing towards a Chief Tradition Officer method. Tradition shapes the whole lot: how persons are employed, developed, promoted, and retained.
Having a various, high-performing crew is nice for enterprise. It drives innovation, strengthens decision-making, and expands market attain. The businesses that perceive it will deal with the present second as an opportunity to reset how they outline and spend money on expertise. Sustainability means fairness isn’t a separate initiative. It’s embedded in how choices are made, how success is measured, and who will get to guide. This isn’t a second to retreat. It is a chance to rebuild with intention in order that progress is pushed by rules, not politics or headlines.
Throughout this shaky economic system, we’ve repeatedly heard the thought of reimagining what success means. Is {that a} optimistic, helpful apply to place in place when contemplating profession success?
SYR: I believe that is such a gorgeous and vital apply. Now we have to start out seeing success past titles, past compensation, and past exterior validation. Success immediately may seem like mentoring somebody and watching them develop, or selecting peace and alignment over burnout and proving your self. That is actually what Past Titles is about. Achievement isn’t outlined by the position you maintain. It’s formed by the alignment between who you might be, what you worth, and the way you present up on this planet. While you lead from that place, success turns into extra significant and extra sustainable.
And sure, in an plentiful universe, something is feasible. We restrict ourselves after we let establishments, techniques, or previous variations of ourselves outline what we are able to turn into. That is the time to dream greater, to construct lives that honor each our ambition and our well-being. Success is not only about what you obtain. It’s about who you turn into within the course of. I consider this for me, and I consider this for y’all, too.
In instances of mass skilled uncertainty, what does profession success seem like if one chooses to not return to the normal company path?
SYR: You already know, I believe profession success can look loads of other ways proper now. And actually, entrepreneurship isn’t for everybody. We generally make it sound like the one various to company life is beginning a enterprise, however that’s not true. My associates who’re entrepreneurs are a number of the most unbelievable folks I do know, however success can present up in another way for every of us. When your world shifts all of a sudden, it’s okay if the next step doesn’t look linear. Achievement doesn’t all the time include a title. It usually begins with curiosity. Possibly it’s leaning right into a ardour, or discovering new methods to do one thing you’re keen on. For me, that would seem like instructing Pilates, one thing that retains me grounded and aligned.
And there’s no disgrace in returning to company if that’s what feels proper. Stability remains to be success. Achievement isn’t all the time about leaving. Typically it’s about selecting in another way, setting higher boundaries, or redefining what success means to you. What I encourage everybody to do, regardless of the trail, is to continue learning. Particularly in AI, as a result of it’s our new superpower. There’s a lot alternative forward for individuals who perceive the right way to use it. Even small steps—taking a category, reconnecting with mentors, or exploring a inventive curiosity—will help you rediscover your sense of goal. In an plentiful universe, something is feasible. You’re not beginning over. You’re beginning aligned.
What mindset shifts are important for professionals who wish to transfer from profession survival to purpose-driven employment?
SYR: I believe one of many greatest mindset shifts is remembering that your goal doesn’t disappear when your place does. For me, religion has been an enormous a part of that understanding. I consider in the next energy, and I genuinely consider within the blessings that may come even by means of one thing as tough as a layoff. While you open your hand to launch what not matches, you additionally open it to obtain what’s subsequent. That’s actually what Past Titles calls folks to do. To get regrounded of their values and keep in mind who they’re exterior of any office or title. Ask your self, who am I past what I do? What do I consider in? What provides me that means? While you begin from that place, you progress from surviving your profession to residing your goal. I additionally wish to honor that this sort of transition isn’t straightforward. Individuals have households, obligations, and actual monetary wants. However even in that actuality, you might be nonetheless your biggest asset and your biggest funding. Dwelling with goal isn’t about ignoring the laborious components. It’s about selecting to consider that there’s extra forward of you than behind you, and giving your self the house to turn into.
How can professionals use the teachings in your e-book to pivot industries or create extra aligned profession paths regardless of a tough economic system?
SYR: Professionals can use the teachings in Past Titles to pivot industries or create extra aligned profession paths by beginning with one easy however highly effective apply: interrogating their why. For therefore lengthy, many people have adopted expectations about who we needs to be or what success ought to seem like. Now we have been advised to chase sure titles or paths, usually with out pausing to ask, Is that this actually aligned with who I’m and what I worth? This e-book helps you try this deeper work. It’s a guided reflection that invitations you to look at your beliefs, motivations, and sense of goal, particularly the components formed by different folks’s expectations. My e-book additionally provides you sensible workouts and practices you should utilize to help this work. It helps you reconnect to your values and your intent so you can also make decisions that replicate who you might be changing into, not simply who you’ve got been.
In case you are in a season of uncertainty, begin small. Replicate on the moments when you’ve got felt most alive and efficient. What had been you doing? Who had been you serving to? What issues had been you fixing? These clues can level you towards your subsequent aligned transfer. You can even start journaling, looking for suggestions from trusted friends, or exploring roles that construct in your pure strengths. Even in a tough economic system, alignment creates alternative. When you find yourself clear in your values and your goal, you possibly can see the place your abilities and passions intersect with what the world wants. And in the event you can not make an enormous change proper now, that’s okay. Doing the inner work of readability and alignment implies that when the appropriate door opens, you’ll be able to stroll by means of it. Totally different doesn’t imply much less. Totally different could be unbelievable!!!
About The Author
