Last week, I asked a client to summarize their wins for Q1. They looked at me blankly, blinked, swallowed, opened their mouth and then shut it again. That happened twice. I smiled and then laughed and he laughed with me. I shared that I wasn’t laughing at him, but I was laughing because his reaction was my exact reaction a few years ago. 

This was meant to be a “simple exercise” but to any first or second gen professional or professional of color, it feels more like torture. I asked my client to just try it. No judgment. He was on the phone with me and I wasn’t the one in charge of his promotions and pay raises. So he did and this is what he said. “I supported a few key initiatives and helped the team stay on track. We saw some positive results across projects.” 

Now this response is pretty standard and the more I have my clients do these exercises, the more apparent it is that we (as immigrants, children/grandchildren of immigrants and professionals of color) are all so trained to downplay our achievements, fade into the background and give others the credit we deserve. We have truly mastered the art of being impressive while remaining invisible at the same time. I smiled gently and told my client that what he said meant nothing to me. It didn’t give me any more information than had he not said anything at all - and herein lies the problem.

Then I asked him to unpack his statement further, with specifics. Without outing my client too much, I’ll just say that he shared some pretty baller numbers, hit some aggressive KPIs and was actually beaming when he finished listing his accomplishments.

“What was that?” I asked. 

“I don’t know. I guess it just felt pretty good saying it out loud.” 

“Yes!”

“But I could never say that to my manager.”

“Ok, how come?” 

“Because I feel arrogant and it feels gross. No one takes credit for their work like that. They’ll think I’m not a team player.”

In those three sentences, my client hit the nail on the head. And because of this, instead of sharing wins, we shrink them. So much so that many of the the sentences we share when it comes to what we've actually done, literally mean nothing. They may sound polished but in reality they are so stripped down, so safe, that they don't add anything new or novel and as a result they are instantly forgettable.

I heard my client and we talked through this. We talked about narratives he grew up with, the rules of corporate America that he was never taught, and what actually happens behind most closed doors when colleagues get promoted and paid while we watch from the sidelines. 

I asked him to phrase his accomplishments in this framework: “I led X project, which helped us hit Y milestone two weeks ahead of schedule. It also reduced back-and-forth with stakeholders by X%, which made the next phase smoother.”

He did this with a few of his accomplishments and while he wasn’t beaming the way he was after he had just listed them straight up, he was smiling. 

“What’s up?” I asked.

“That didn’t feel gross. It wasn’t comfortable and it will definitely take some practice to get used to it, but I didn’t feel arrogant and I don’t feel icky inside.”

Yes! Now it was my turn to beam. That is the key that so many people (coaches and professionals) miss. The way you present needs to be meaningful, impactful and it cannot feel gross during or after you share or you won’t do it again. The change won’t stick and you’ll go back to quietly sharing nothing and quietly wondering why everyone else seems to be moving ahead faster.

Here’s something to consider: If you don’t share your own wins, people will make up a version of your impact - and it will almost always be smaller than reality. Not because they’re trying to underestimate you, but because they don’t have the full picture. Your brain goes with it because it feels safe but we’re not here for safe. We’re here to get credit for the work we’ve done without feeling arrogant, gross or icky so that we can then reap the rewards of that hard work with promotions and pay raises. 

Sharing wins is not about you. It’s about clarity. When you talk about your work in terms of outcomes, you’re not bragging, you’re just helping people understand what actually happened clearly. And clarity builds credibility and credibility is what promotions and pay raises are built on. 

So, if this still feels uncomfortable, here are two ways to make it easier: First, talk about the work like you’re talking about someone else. You wouldn’t say, “She kind of did some stuff.” You’d say, “She led this and this is the impact it made.” Give yourself that same energy. Second, anchor everything in outcomes. Not what you did or how hard it was, but what changed because you did it. Think: before → after.  “We were missing deadlines → Now we’re consistently delivering a week early.” “Customers were dropping off → Now retention is up 20%.”

That’s not bragging. It’s reporting and leaders trust people who can clearly report what’s working (and what's not).

Here’s the truth. You don’t feel “gross” because you’re sharing wins. You feel uncomfortable because you’re not used to hearing yourself take up that kind of space. There’s a difference. So the next time someone asks what you’ve been working on, don’t disappear mid-sentence. Say the thing, name the impact and let it land. And if you’re practicing this and it still feels a little awkward, that’s okay. Awkward is usually a sign you’re doing something new, not necessarily something wrong.

Try speaking up about one of your accomplishments just once next week and please tell me how it goes. I read every reply. 

Quick Announcement: My new Confident Career Accelerator Group just launched! If you're interested in making small shifts to reap big rewards while learning from an awesome group of like minded people, just reply to this email. 

🔥 If you know someone who is brilliant but doesn't know how to share their wins without feeling gross, this one’s for them too so please forward along. And if you haven’t subscribed yet, join Unmuted here to get next week’s issue. You don't want to miss it!

👋🏽 Hi! I’m Minal - a Career Success & Leadership Coach for ambitious and talented 1st and 2nd gen immigrants and professionals of color. I teach you how to translate your hard work into actual words your manager, skip, and the C-Suite respect and reward, so your efforts turn into recognition, promotions, and pay raises ranging from $10K-$60K vs. a quick compliment, a pat on the back, and more work to do. All without working harder, finding a new job or pretending to be someone you're not. If you’re reading this and thinking, “Heck yeah… I need this,” reply to this email and let’s explore what working together could look like. You can also book a free career clarity call here or click on the button below.

See you next week,

Minal 

If you’re not visible, you’re replaceable.

I was reminded of this just last week on a sales call. I was speaking with a potential client who had been lurking for a while. Everything I shared was solid - they liked the approach and they liked the results - but at one point, they asked, almost casually, “Who else is offering this kind of coaching?” Boom - that moment hit me. Even though I knew my work was strong, they didn’t see me yet. They didn’t know me well enough to understand the value I bring.

It actually sent me down a little reflection spiral, thinking about all the times I’ve stayed in the background, hoping my work would speak for itself. Sure, people notice effort, but like I say repeatedly, effort alone rarely translates into recognition, impact, or opportunity. Visibility isn’t about bragging or overselling, it’s about showing up in the spaces where decisions are made, and presenting your work in ways that leadership or in my case, decision makers can actually understand and appreciate.

That morning, I had also been rushing my three kids to school, juggling breakfast, backpacks, and a million small tasks that felt invisible, too. And again it hit me. Visibility applies everywhere: at home, at work, and in your own life. You could spend months creating the ideal course, weeks helping your team hit deadlines, days prepping the perfect report, or hours cooking a birthday breakfast for your kids but if no one notices the results, it doesn’t get counted.

Here’s a little framework I use with my clients: if you’re naturally low-key in some areas, look for small, strategic moments to be seen in others. 

• At home, maybe it’s sharing with your partner or kids something you organized that made the day run smoother - like the week you reorganized school drop-offs so mornings ran 15 minutes faster. 
• At work, it’s about naming your impact: “By improving the product rollout process, we cut release time from 10 days to 6 and increased user adoption in the first month by 20%.” Even casual team emails or quick updates in meetings can turn effort into impact that people notice. 
• In community spaces, mentoring, volunteering, or helping a colleague with a high-profile project is a chance to make contributions visible in a natural, low-pressure way.

After that sales call, I made a conscious choice to be a little louder about my wins, my approach, and my perspective. Not flashy, because that’s just not me, but clear and aligned. I requested another call with the potential client and shared concrete examples: a client who, as a result of becoming more visible and vocal in ways that aligned with her, landed that high-impact project she had been silently hoping for for 6 months; another client who increased his promotion readiness score by 40% with simple, daily shifts that felt natural and easy to implement; and another client who just landed a promotion and pay raise after being the “go-to” PM for 3 years. Framing my work in terms of outcomes rather than effort changed the energy entirely. The client went from cautiously interested to genuinely enthusiastic once they could see the value that I brought to the table. They could finally see me.

Let me be clear - visibility isn’t about being “on” all the time. It’s about being deliberate, present, and confident enough to let people know what you’re contributing when it matters. And once you start doing this consistently, opportunities follow. Recognition, influence, the right projects, pay increases, clients - they all require one thing: for someone to actually see you.

So here’s the question I keep asking myself - and my clients too: How visible are you in the moments that matter? And if you’re quiet by default, where could you shine naturally this week without stretching yourself too thin? Sometimes all it takes is one small update, one framed outcome, or one story told with confidence for people to start noticing the work you’ve been quietly crushing.

And if you’re not ready to say it out loud quite yet, reply and tell me…because starting somewhere is better than not starting at all. And even this small act, will start to shift how you show up.

🔥 If you know someone who is brilliant but constantly flying under the radar, this one’s for them too so please forward along. And if you haven’t subscribed yet, join Unmuted here to get next week’s issue. You don't want to miss it!

👋🏽 Hi! I’m Minal - a Career Success & Leadership Coach for ambitious and talented 1st and 2nd gen immigrants and professionals of color. I teach you how to translate your hard work into actual words your manager, skip, and the C-Suite respect and reward, so your efforts turn into recognition, promotions, and pay raises ranging from $10K-$60K vs. a quick compliment, a pat on the back, and more work to do. All without working harder, finding a new job or pretending to be someone you're not. If you’re reading this and thinking, “Heck yeah… I need this,” reply to this email and let’s explore what working together could look like. You can also book a free career clarity call here or click on the button below.

See you next week,

Minal 

Years ago, I was sitting in a leadership meeting where I absolutely knew the answer. Not “I think maybe” and not “I read an article once.” I knew. The team was debating a strategy that was clearly going to create more problems than it solved. I had seen this play out before. I had the data, I had the experience, and I had the pattern recognition. And when it was finally my turn to speak, here’s how I started. “This might be off, but…”

I actually felt it happen in real time. The shrinking, the softening, the apology before the idea. No one told me to do that. No one interrupted me or had dismissed me before. But I pre-rejected myself just in case.

Upon reflection and some coaching, I learned my lesson. But it’s something I still see with my clients all the time. Brilliant people, super sharp thinkers, deeply competent, and yet their sentences start with, “I’m not totally sure, but…;” “Just a thought…;” “This might be a silly question…” Let me be very clear here. Your ideas are not the problem. Your delivery is.

As high-achievers we don’t dim our light because we lack confidence (although some of us definitely do). More often than not though, we dim it because we’re managing risk. We don’t want to sound arrogant or make other people uncomfortable, and we don’t want to be directly challenged in our thinking. This is especially true if you grew up in an immigrant household being told to be humble. Or perhaps it was to be respectful. Maybe don’t show off or don’t talk too much. Don’t be “that” person. Any one of these would create an aversion to shining.

So what do we do instead? We soften, we over-explain and we add disclaimers. For all intents and purposes, we wrap our brilliance in bubble wrap. Here’s the problem though, when we shrink our delivery, people shrink our expertise. They don’t experience us as thoughtful. They experience us as uncertain. And leadership is not lining up to promote uncertainty.

One of my clients, let’s call him Daniel, tested this in a small but powerful way. In meetings, he used to end every suggestion with, “What do you think?” His tone went up at the end like a question even when he had already done the analysis.

After noticing this pattern, we made one tiny shift. Instead of asking what people thought, he ended with: “Here’s what I recommend.” Then he stopped talking. No extra explanation or nervous laughter. No filler, he just stopped talking. Same information, completely different energy.

The first time he did it, he told me his heart was pounding. He was sure someone would push back hard or think he was overstepping. You know what happened?

His manager said, “That makes sense. Let’s go with that.”

That was it. No pushback, no drama, and certainly no heart explosion.

I want you to try this this coming week: 

Drop the disclaimer, say your idea and just stop talking OR end with a recommendation. Not “What do you think?” but, “Here’s what I recommend” and then stop.

It will feel abrupt at first, maybe even rude. That’s okay. You’re not at home and you won’t get into trouble. The feeling that will likely follow is just unfamiliar power and once you get used to it, it’s actually pretty addictive.

You do not need better ideas. You need cleaner delivery because clean, confident delivery changes how people experience you.

Get experienced as decisive and clear, and you get invited into higher-stakes conversations. Higher-stakes conversations lead to high-impact projects. High-impact projects lead to promotions and pay increases. Not because you magically became smarter, but because people can finally feel your competence.

If you notice yourself softening your sentences next week - pause, catch it, and start again. No disclaimer. Just say the thing and let it land.

Let me know when you try this. I’d genuinely love to hear what shifts for you as often the smallest changes in delivery often create the biggest shifts in trajectory. I read and respond to every email I get.

🔥 If you know someone who is brilliant but pre-qualifies everything they say, this one’s for them too so please forward along. And if you haven’t subscribed yet, join Unmuted here to get next week’s issue. You don't want to miss it!

👋🏽 Hi! I’m Minal - a Career Success & Leadership Coach for ambitious and talented professionals of color. I teach you how to translate your hard work into actual words your manager, skip and the C-Suite respect and reward, so your efforts turn into recognition, promotions, and pay raises ranging from $10K-$60K vs. a quick compliment, a pat on the back, and more work to do. All without working harder, finding a new job or pretending to be someone you're not. If you’re reading this and thinking, “Heck yeah… I need this,” reply to this email and let’s explore what working together could look like or book a free career clarity call here.

See you next week,

Minal