Every Tuesday morning at 6:30, a group of about a dozen women join a conference call to pray, praise, and worship together. We range in age from our thirties to our seventies and live all over the United States. God gave me the idea for Women Connecting Through Christ fifteen years ago, at a time when so many of my girlfriends needed support. Divorce, miscarriage, an abusive relationship—they were going through it, and I wanted to be present and supportive for all of them.
God showed me we could get together and pray about those challenges, but the responsibility wasn’t just on me. We all needed to pray for each other. I extended the invitation, and we’ve been going strong ever since. I’m glad to know I also have their support during difficult times.
I often reference prayer as a powerful tool essential to my success in corporate America, but I don’t typically have “on your knees with your eyes closed” talks with God. Outside of our group, prayer is like breathing to me. I’m regularly in communication with God as I go about my day. I ask for God’s help when I need to understand complex topics, communicate my ideas, or address a concern that could become a conflict. I enter my prayer closet when I need focused quiet time with God, but I don’t limit prayer to any dedicated space or time.
As a Christian, the two greatest commandments I’m called to follow are to love God first and to love my neighbor as I love myself. When it comes to business, loving God means making decisions in alignment with my values, which reflect God’s desires for us. Loving my neighbors as I love myself means I first have to love myself—carry myself with dignity, take care of my overall wellness, and advocate for myself. The “love your neighbor” part comes in when I advocate for other people, offer mentorship or a kind word, seek the best possible outcomes for all involved, and remember my career grows when I serve my clients in the best possible way. “Love your neighbor” means my career is never just about me.
The limitless truth is that your faith is one of the most powerful tools you have to grow your career. Before you can do that, however, you need to understand what your faith really means to you and provides for you. What are the essential tenets of your faith? How do they apply to situations you deal with in your work life? Look to the fundamentals of your spirituality and use them to guide you as you move through the business world.
Even if you’re a Christian, your faith practice may not look much like mine. Yet you know the God we worship wants us to be fair and just, to be truthful to ourselves and others. You know God wants us to treat people with kindness, exhibit patience, and seek peace. The way you show up in business should reflect those beliefs.
To claim your inheritance, you have to get clear about what that inheritance is. You can’t rely on your parents or your grandparents or your husband, wife, or partner to define your faith for you. Even if you have the same spiritual beliefs as those people, how you put those beliefs into practice is entirely up to you. Apply prayer, meditation, spiritual reading and journaling, praise and worship, or other elements of your faith practice in the ways that work for you. If you’re not sure what will benefit your most, just start with what feels most accessible. As you would in business, test, evaluate, and optimize along the way.
When you have a challenge or a goal at work, it’s natural to want to talk to your friends or your partner about it. But you can get so lost in talking and researching that it feels like you’re taking action when you’re just rehashing the same problem, just as I did when Stacey turned out to be something other than what she portrayed herself to be. Stop talking and pray. Stop complaining and read your spiritual text. Stop seeking advice and meditate to hear the answers you seek. Rely on your higher power before you get input from your partner or your friends on every decision.
As a Black woman making your way through the business world, you’ll face tremendous challenges. A strong spiritual life will help you develop the necessary resilience to survive and thrive through them. Get centered in the spiritual realm and nurture your connection with your higher power. Be intentional about choosing the parts of your spiritual inheritance you claim and rely on them as you become the boss you want to be.
Excerpted from Never Wear Red Lipstick: 8 Lies That Stop Black Women from Succeeding in Life and Business, by Karmetria Dunham Burton PhD. Copyright © 2025 Broadleaf Books. Reproduced by permission.
RLC welcomes and encourages individuals who engage in critical thinking at the intersection of faith and justice to contribute to our blog. The views and opinions expressed by our blog authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of RLC, its staff, members, or officers.
