Authentic The myth of bringing your full self to work

Review by Booklist Review

With deeply personal sharing by Burey and many interviewees, this powerful book chronicles the pitfalls of attempting to be authentic at work for people of color and other marginalized groups. A hiring process that claims the existence of a workplace culture welcoming authenticity is often followed by scrutiny and pressures to conform. This contradiction heightens the distress that isolating behaviors cause. Chapters address, among other things, authenticity as spectacle--representation (organizational tokenism), accommodation (demands to continually prove a need or disability), difference (e.g., fascination with intricate hair styles)--and outlines the challenges authenticity brings to people of color across intersectionalities. The expectation that these employees accept the invitation to authenticity, only to have that authenticity weaponized in daily interactions and performance evaluations, is more harmful than beneficial. Additionally, Burey shares that larger discriminatory practices, such as pay inequity and occupational segregation, must be addressed separately through collective action to create healthy workplaces. Authentic is an important work with the potential to inform workplace culture while allowing marginalized people struggling to bring even a piece of themselves to their workplaces to be seen. Authentic is a highly recommended addition to public, academic, and business library collections.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Debut author Burey expands on her 2020 TED talk for a powerful examination of identity in the workplace. Through personal anecdotes and interviews with people of color, Burey argues that companies' diversity and inclusion efforts are far too often hollow. Workplaces encourage people to "come as you are" or "bring your full, authentic self to work" but eschew policies that would enable employees to do so. That can look like "celebrating Juneteenth instead of mandating pay equity" or "complimenting our hairstyles instead of addressing racist performance reviews that label our workstyles as difficult and aggressive." The problem, Burey notes, has only gotten worse as the political winds have shifted and many diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are being shut down across the country. Burey explores how people can reclaim their agency in and outside of work, emphasizing the need for collective organizing for the well-being of all employees, abandoning myths of status and success, and taking time to take care of oneself. Drawing inspiration from poets and writers like bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Toni Morrison, Burey distills her perspective in lyrical prose and memorable declarations ("I am not a worker. I am a person at work"). This is a vital resource for those pushing for labor reforms. (Sept.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

From the seed of her viral 2021 TED Talk, Burey--a Black disabled woman with a master's degree in public health--yields a sharp, incisive debut book. It traces an anonymized version of her career path, including working at a large outdoors retailer ("the Store"), a woman-centered coworking company ("the Startup"), and a U.S.-based organization dedicated to international development in sub-Saharan Africa ("the Org"). Across these and other sectors, Burey has experienced a system that elevates work above well-being even while claiming to care about employees. Via autobiography, interviews, scholarship, and pop-cultural analysis, Burey unpacks how seemingly well-meaning workplace initiatives can and often do mask the inequities that irreparably harm marginalized workers at every level. This includes top global companies such as Nike, whose ad campaigns showcased groundbreaking women athletes at the same time as the company was rejecting maternity protections for its employees. Although written at a moment when U.S. workers are experiencing widespread backlash to remote work, DEI initiatives, and labor organizing, this book grounds readers in a hopeful vision for what prioritizing authenticity can look like. VERDICT Burey's keen wit, analytical mind, and unflinching insight make this multifaceted title a compelling, cathartic, and crucial read.--Lauren Seegmiller

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