Still I Rise: Defining Success, Finding Balance, and Living in My Own Joy

Abstract

This chapter traces Dr. Stephanie E. Blake’s journey as a Black Jamaican-American woman leading across early childhood education, workforce development, and advocacy. Beginning with the inherited refrain, “You have to work twice as hard to get half as much,” she describes how she moved from chasing titles and external validation to defining success through clarity, peace, and purpose. Through narrative, research, and practical frameworks, she shares how she built a career ecosystem that spans classrooms, consulting, and policy while navigating racialized and gendered barriers in leadership.

Anchored in Black feminist thought and grounded in lived experience, the chapter emphasizes the power of alignment, strategic risk-taking, relationships, and rest. It offers concrete tools – such as the Success Alignment Statement, career ecosystem mapping, the GROW Spiral, and the Alignment Test – for readers to apply in their own journeys. Ultimately, the chapter affirms that for Black women and women of color, joy is both resistance and restoration and that true success is embodied when one’s values, work, and well-being are in harmony.