When Biggie mentioned the ladies in the place with style and grace, I'm pretty sure he was talking about Ryan Destiny.
The actress was awarded the International Women of Power Event earlier this year for her ability to slay each and every damn day, and according to her, this 24-year-old style icon is just getting started.
After starring in Lee Daniel's hit show, STAR, Ryan made her mark in the entertainment industry as someone to look out for, and now, even after the show's recent cancellation, she has remained booked and busy. It was recently announced that Ryan was cast for a recurring role on the Freeform show, Grown-ish, as an HBCU transfer student who comes to shake things up for Zoey's gang at Cal U. And so far, the future is looking pretty bright for this fashionable young firecracker.
We Stan for a cutely covered queen with melanin to boot, and Ryan's timeless style is well-deserving of our "yassss". If you're still not convinced that this Michigan-born fashion maven isn't the queen of all things style, I guarantee that the ten photos below will change your mind expeditiously.
Ryan is dripping nothing but sauce all in the atmosphere in this high-end Elisabetta Franchi knit fabric dress.
Sis looks like a whole bag of money in this iconic oversized blazer set by House of Holland.
On Wednesdays, we wear pink. But if you look as good as Ryan in this monochrome pant set, everybody in the room will be dying to sit with you.
John Parra/Getty Images for Revolt Music Conference
While I'm over here trying to pick out some elaborate outfit for date night, Ryan Destiny is out here snatching edges in a blazer and some boots. This blue printed piece from Off-White is just as versatile as her iconic wardrobe.
Melanin plus monochrome equals the ultimate drip. Ryan was royal AF in this purple on purple ensemble from New York design studio, AREA.
Giving us big Josephine Baker energy, Ryan served up this vintage look in a pair of Loriblu luxury Italian sandals.
Ryan is a whole mood in this silver two-piece ensemble, showing just enough skin to give this timeless look a little bit of an edge.
This look is serving up simple but significant, sassy but sophisticated. Ryan is the queen of looking blazing in a blazer, and this cropped suit is no exception.
Featured image by Ryan Destiny/Instagram
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Since it’s Stress Awareness Month, we caught up with Keanne Owens, LCSW, founder of Journey To Harmony Therapy Center, to talk about these triggers and what Black women can do to manage and cope.
Owens is an experienced South Florida-based counselor and social worker who offers her services via Grow Therapy, a therapy and medication management platform. She has worked with Black women professionals to unpack issues related to workplace stressors. “One is the pressure to perform–having to meet deadlines and deliverables. And a lot of times, these subtle stressors from performance are put upon ourselves as Black women. We want to make sure we’re doing our best. We don’t want to be critiqued in certain ways.”
Excessive micromanagement leading to fear of overly critical bosses is another subtle trigger that can negatively impact Black women in the workplace.
“Whenever something is done wrong, or we experience some type of injustice and have to report it, it’s the fear of retaliation–[fear that] we won’t be taken seriously or [our words] will be taken out of context because of being deemed as the ‘angry Black woman,’” she said.
Black Women And Workplace Stress Triggers
Her sentiments are backed by research. A recent report by Coqual found that 28% of Black women (compared to 17% of White men) say their supervisor uses “excessive control or attention to detail” when managing them. There’s more: A survey by the National Employment Law Project found that Black workers were “more likely to have concerns (80 percent) and twice as likely as white workers (18 percent) to have unresolved concerns at work, with 39 percent reporting they were “not satisfied with the employer’s response or did not raise concerns for fear of retaliation.”
The survey also found that 14 percent of Black respondents said they “avoided raising concerns to their employer for fear of retaliation—more than twice the average rate of 6 percent for all survey respondents.”
Owens pointed to the fact that these subtle stress triggers can negatively impact our physical health and our career advancement. “A lot of time it’ll affect our productivity,” Owens added. “We start to have negative thoughts of ourselves. The stressors can also cause fatigue. We’re no longer meeting or working up to our desired potential.” Other challenges as a result include insomnia and increased insolation, withdrawal, and lack of motivation to apply for jobs or promotions even when qualified.
valentinrussanov/Getty Images
How To Manage Subtle Stress Triggers
While there are systemic issues at play for Black women at work that has less to do with us and more to do with major overhauls that must be addressed by the powers that be, there are steps we can take for the betterment of ourselves and our mental health. Owens offered the following tips:
Tap into a support system, whether it’s a coworker you trust, a family member, an organization, or an outlet like a hobby.
Create a good work-life balance before burnout even starts. “Having certain boundaries [is the goal] such as, for example, if you get off at 5, you get off at 5. If your job description is this, you don’t go above and beyond because that brings you to a lot of burnout,” Owens said.
Prioritize self-care, whatever that means for you. “If you don’t have a routine, create one. Practice mindfulness and even some meditation,” she added.
Create structure in your life outside of work. “Even if you have a family, applying some structure in your routine helps relieve stress,” she said.
Get into grounding techniques. “Do a real quick square breathing exercise, that’s literally 30 seconds, or you can do a grounding technique that’s less than two minutes, right there where you are. You don’t need any other materials. That’s something you can do with just yourself and your body.”
Ask for help. “As Black women, we don’t ask for help enough,” she said. “Find where you need to ask for help. A lot of times, people think that’s indicative of weakness, but we need to rewrite that narrative. It’s okay to ask for help where you see fit. [If] you’re a mom, [it could be] every Wednesday from 5 to 6, your children are with the dad. You have to carve out that time.”
For more information on Grow Therapy, visit their website. You can also find out more about Keanne Owens, LCSW, via BeginYourJourneyToHarmony.com.
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