"I Choose to Be Well"
New Report with research findings, implications & recommendations for:
Professionals of Color Navigating Well-Being in Contemporary Workplaces
Professionals of Color
Organizational Leaders
Allies & Colleagues
Coaches, Mentors & Sponsors
Why This Report Matters
Workplace well-being is not experienced the same way by everyone. For Professionals of Color, it is shaped by how workplace conditions are interpreted, how risks are assessed, and how support is accessed—inside and outside the organization.
This report captures what that experience looks like today, and how POCs are sustaining well-being through agency, adaptation, and intentional navigation.
Who This Report Supports
If you navigate, lead, support, or advise workplace experiences, this report offers timely insight for you:
Professionals of Color navigating workplace dynamics
Leaders and supervisors shaping culture and engagement
Allies and colleagues seeking to better support others
Coaches, mentors, and sponsors guiding professionals through complexity
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What You’ll Gain
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Insight into how POCs actually experience well-being
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Clarity on how organizational signals shape engagement
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Recognition of the hidden labor of interpretation and adaptation
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Perspective on strengthening agency, support, and long-term sustainability
Voices From the Research
“I’m really starting to listen more to my body… I could feel the stress coming on. That’s a sign to stop or take a break and focus on things that fill my cup.”
— POC Woman, Focus Group Participant
“When I feel the pressure, I pray. I go back to my family… work is just one small part of my life.”
— POC Man, Focus Group Participant
“I prioritize my work, but I do it with strong boundaries… I care about my work but do not let it affect me emotionally.”
— Anonymous Survey Respondent
A Wise Observation
Workplace well-being is not a fixed state—it is continuously shaped by the interaction between environment and individual response.
TESTIMONIALS
An Owlservations Client says:
Richard Yep
Global Principal, Ocean Vista Advisors
Dr. Cie Armstead is someone for whom I have great respect, especially in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. She brings both a lived experience and a deep understanding of why DEIB is critical to professional societies and their members. I was asked to organize a professional society's diversity speaker series of world-renown experts and Cie was someone I immediately placed on that list. Attendees appreciated her explanations, descriptions, and examples of DEIB. Cie makes challenging topics easier to understand and apply to one's personal and professional life. I will also say that she was a speaker who was incredibly easy to work with and very flexible as we launched this inaugural speaker series. If she isn't on your list of "go-to" DEIB speakers, she needs to be!