Carla Harris’ career advice for Black women right now might not be what you think
TheGrio...
“It’s time to sit back and take stock of what it is you really want to do,” Carla Harris told theGrio.
As careers and industries evolve, Carla Harris shows what it really takes to stay strong, adapt, and succeed. A Harvard graduate and the second African American woman to serve as managing director at Morgan Stanley, Harris has shattered glass ceilings and paved the way for other Black women in finance. As we close out Women’s History Month, her insights and advice for Black women are more relevant than ever.
In an interview with theGrio, Harris discussed topics including navigating change, the importance of self-reflection, her personal journey to Wall Street, authenticity in the workplace and more. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Black women lost a net total of 113,000 jobs between January and December 2025 due to federal layoffs, the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and economic shifts.
In year one of President Donald Trump’s second term, “Black women accounted for 54.7 percent of all female job losses, despite making up only 14.1 percent of the female workforce,” the IWPR report states. In response to Black women navigating increasingly anti-DEI and anti-diversity environments, Harris shared the best ways to approach these challenges.
“Whenever things like, you know, a layoff or a restructuring or something like that impacts you, it’s time to sit back and take stock of what it is you really want to do,” she said.
Harris’s core advice to Black women right now is to take a step back and reassess their career goals. Many have felt unsupported in the workforce and may be looking to pivot to a similar or different industry, but don’t know how to get started.
“If I were going to spend the next two years doing something that really lit my fire—it really gave me a lot of joy, and by the way, I can get paid whatever I thought I wanted to get paid— what would that thing be? Start there.” Harris explained.
Her approach emphasizes identifying personal passions and aligning them with career goals. Harris believes that creating a personal inventory of skills and experiences is crucial because many Black women have graduated from college and headed to graduate school without knowing what they wanted to do.
“Many of us ran to these situations without any thought as to whether or not what we really wanted to do. So now is the opportunity because the environment has created the air cover for us to refine our narrative,” she said.
Black women learning to articulate their unique value propositions can navigate their careers with intention and purpose. Harris has applied these principles throughout her personal and professional life. Her journey to Wall Street was not straightforward. She initially aspired to become a lawyer, but was ultimately guided by both familial and societal expectations.
Harris’s exposure to the SEO Career Management Program during her college years reshaped her career trajectory. She realized that the skills and drive that had drawn her to law could also be applied in business and finance on Wall Street.
What has given Harris her staying power? She has been with Morgan Stanley since 1987. In her almost 39 years at the firm, Harris explained what has kept her in the industry for so long.
“I genuinely liked finance. And there’s nothing that you do in the world from a career standpoint that doesn’t have a financial aspect to it,” she said.
One of the pivotal moments in Harris’s career came when she realized that her real power was her authenticity. Early in her career, she hid her passion for singing, fearing that it would undermine her professional image. However, a senior colleague’s critique inspired her to show up as her real self.
“The real Carla Harris wasn’t showing up in Morgan Stanley. I’d lost my voice somewhere. I’d lost my confidence, and it was now creating a competitive differential for me. And I also realized a little further down the road that a lot of people were afraid to show up authentically,” Harris said.
For years, Black women have struggled with the idea of authenticity in the workforce. Often expected to work twice as hard as their white counterparts, showing up as their true selves usually takes a backseat.
According to the NonProfit Quarterly, a 2024 Black Women Thriving report stated that “fewer than half of Black women felt they could be authentic in the workplace without jeopardizing their positions.” For many, perfection becomes the driving force.
To address these challenges, Black women have built personal and professional support systems to share advice, resources, and encouragement. When asked about her five pillars (truth-tellers, encouragers, challengers, connectors, and industry experts), Harris explained that a strong support system of friends or “mentors” can offer invaluable support.
“I knew very early on that the support was important because I’ve been blessed to have some really good girlfriends along the way who frankly I consider as mentors,” Harris said, noting that a strong support system and her unwavering faith have guided her throughout her career on Wall Street.
A trusted community of friends, family and colleagues is also needed for Black Millennial women. Many women in this generational group, especially those approaching their 40s in a few years or already in their 40s, are under professional and societal pressures, married with kids, navigating their careers, caring for their older parents and experiencing high levels of burnout.
Harris encourages Black women to give themselves some “grace” and “to redefine what victory and success look like” in these situations where having control may not be an option. She also restated her earlier point about them taking stock in what they want to do with their lives.
“Now at 40, you find yourself being in and around and doing something for 15-ish years, and it’s not lighting your fire anymore. Well, that means you have probably fully prosecuted that opportunity. And now it’s time for you to think about a different opportunity,” Harris explained.
She continued, “It can be in the same house, meaning at the same company. It can be in the same industry, meaning the same chair, but a different house. Or maybe time to now do something else because your skills and your experiences have caught up with the thing that you’re really supposed to do.”
Harris’s insights are a reminder that self-awareness, authenticity, and community support are key principles for helping Black women thrive. Her wisdom to heart can help them pursue careers that inspire and fulfill them.
“You need to constantly be checking yourself. What brings me joy? To make sure you’re getting lined up with that and you’re getting some of that, or your movements towards that every day,” Harris said.