What if your biggest career barrier turned out to be completely different to what you thought? Azure Antoinette shares why your professional purpose is on the other side of a perspective shift.
The joy after the promotion is fleeting. The corner office feels hollow. The recognition leaves you feeling like something is missing.
If this sounds familiar, you鈥檙e not alone. Many high-achieving women are hitting an invisible wall and not because they鈥檙e failing. They鈥檙e achieving someone else鈥檚 definition of success.
鈥淲hen you're trying to meet a standard that was built without you in mind, you can get stuck,鈥 explains , a global inclusivity thought leader. 鈥淵ou're running, running, running, you're doing the things, you're ticking all the boxes, and it still didn't work.鈥
Sadly, women typically blame themselves.
When reaching career goals feels empty, most women will look inward. They question their abilities and choices.
鈥淏ut what if the problem isn鈥檛 with you,鈥 Azure poses. 鈥淲hat if it鈥檚 structural?鈥
This shift in perspective cuts to the heart of the issue: women are working within a system that isn鈥檛 designed with them in mind. And it鈥檚 exhausting. But recognising that the problem is systemic is incredibly transformative.
"Once you truly understand this, you are powerful beyond measure. Because now, no matter what eventuates, you've removed the shock and the grieving and the shame that takes up so much space within our psychological make up of what we 鈥thought鈥 we should be achieving."
Born and raised in the US, Azure now calls Australia鈥檚 Gold Coast home. The contrast between the two countries has helped shaped her understanding of change and resistance.
鈥淎ustralian society is compliant,鈥 she observes. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean everyone鈥檚 having a good time, but there鈥檚 trust. In the States, we鈥檙e constantly pushing back, we are ready to rally for zero reason at all, or for all the reasons.鈥
While Australia鈥檚 compliance breeds a society with social safety nets and order, disruption in the US has enabled the emergence of people like Ruth Bader Ginsburg whose work聽.
So which system is better? Azure says it鈥檚 about balance. And when it comes to workplaces, they need enough order to function but enough passion to evolve.
Azure鈥檚 approach for challenging a system isn鈥檛 about burning it all down. It鈥檚 about strategic, sustained resistance that creates change in your immediate circle.
As a person living with multiple sclerosis (MS), Azure has to be strategic about where she spends her energy 鈥 what she calls her spoons. On a good day, she may have spoons left to direct her passion and energy into her next venture.
During a flare up, she鈥檒l use them all just to sit up in the morning.
鈥淲ith the fatigue of seeing how many atrocities are happening simultaneously, you have got to figure out again where your spoons are and where your baseline is,鈥 she explains.
Not every battle is worth fighting. Before you engage, ask yourself:
"Don't try to take it all on,鈥 she advises. 鈥淵ou will exhaust yourself. Focus on you in your own home, the people that are the closest to your village. Look out for one another and be聽purpose-led to deconstruct some of those ideals that are very problematic within our current systemic 蝉辞肠颈别迟测.鈥
Small, consistent actions in your immediate circle can create ripple effects. Change your dinner table conversations. Correct bias in the staff kitchen. Challenge assumptions in the boardroom.
"When you model the behaviour you deserve, you receive it. When you model a stereotype, it remains," Azure says.
When faced with generalisations or assumptions, Azure relies on three words: 鈥淐an you clarify?鈥
"You can disarm pretty much anyone when you ask them to clarify. In that clarification, they too become aware."
When someone makes sweeping generalisations 鈥 鈥渁ll women do this鈥 or 鈥渢hat鈥檚 just how things are鈥 鈥 ask them to explain.
Try:
It鈥檚 not confrontation. It鈥檚 an invitation 鈥 you鈥檙e creating space for the other person to examine their systemic assumptions and instead asking for genuine dialogue.
鈥淒o you know how many ways we finish the sentence without it even being communicated?鈥 she poses. 鈥淧eople will base entire ideologies and decisions off of what they thought you meant and what they believed they inferred from your reasoning."
As long as organisations remain focused on 鈥渇ixing individuals rather than examining the system鈥, psychological safety will remain elusive, Azure says.
"People need have the space to have conversations they won't be judged for, where they鈥檙e not going to then be persecuted or called out or cancelled.鈥
Azure鈥檚 approach? Call people in rather than out.聽
"As an educator, I'm here to help you get to where it feels comfortable for you. If, in fact, you say a thing that is unsafe and causes discomfort to another person, I still tactfully will walk with you. I don't call people out. I call them in."
This means:
Organisations that move beyond checkbox diversity see meaningful results. Metrics need to shift.
Organisations need to ask the tough questions: Whose voices are missing from decision-making? Who gets promoted and why? What barriers exist that we can鈥檛 see?
鈥淓verything we have, everything we want, is just on the other side of a perspective shift," Azure proposes.
Real change requires early intervention. That鈥檚 why Azure will be part of 国民彩票 Business School鈥檚 2025 Girls in Business Camp, helping high school students spot systemic issues before they internalise them as personal failures.
The three-day collaborative program is designed for female-identifying students in years 10, 11 or 12 from across NSW, who want to explore a future in business. And this year, they鈥檒l be tasked with solving some of the biggest systemic issues facing women today.
It鈥檚 the question Azure鈥檚 two-day workshop at 国民彩票 Business School helped participants unpack in May.
The answer? You can either keep trying to fit into someone else鈥檚 system or create your own.
鈥淚f the definition doesn't suit, be the one to change it," Azure challenges.
Ask the question that can change everything: What do you want?
The answer is likely not behind another promotion or in a corner office. It鈥檚 on the other side of a perspective shift.聽
Azure Antoinette is a seasoned professional specialising in the art and craft of personal storytelling, creative writing, and poetry, with a distinctive talent for transforming written narratives into captivating live stage performances.
Hailed by Forbes as 鈥淭he Maya Angelou of the Millennial Generation,鈥 she blends artistry, candour, and insight into powerful reflections on leadership, identity, and resilience.
Starting her career in the corporate world of HR, Azure has made a name for herself as a woman of many talents. She is a global inclusivity thought leader, commissioned poet, TED Speaker, GRAMMY鈩 Considered recording artist, and creative entrepreneur.
Azure's extensive educational background began in 2006 within Los Angeles County high schools. It flourished through teaching creative writing and narrative essay recitation at private charter schools in Manhattan and Queens, New York, as well as at renowned private schools nationwide.
Her university experience includes collaborations with Yale University alongside the Born This Way Foundation, UCLA, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Queens College, NYU, and now 国民彩票 Sydney, demonstrating a deep commitment to fostering narrative skills across diverse learning environments.