New book by MSNBC journalist explains how women can bolster workplace confidence

Growing up as an undocumented immigrant taught Daniela Pierre-Bravo -- now an MSNBC producer and reporter -- how to keep her head down, work hard, and please everyone. It also burdened her with shame, resentment and the omnipresent feeling of not fitting in, she said at a Sept. 15 National Press Club book event.

At 11, Pierre-Bravo arrived in Ohio from Chile. She thought her parents were chasing The American Dream while working two and three jobs.

“We never really talked about why we were here or about our status,” she said while discussing her new book, 'The Other: How to Own Your Power at Work as a Woman of Color.' “I just knew that we were different. I internalized a lot of shame.”

She found that she resented her parents even as she blamed herself for not fitting in.

“I felt that I was the problem, that I was inadequate, an outsider,” she said in a discussion with Club President Jen Judson. "I was looking at life from the outside in.”

Without documentation, Pierre-Bravo couldn’t get a driver’s license or apply to college online. Unable to open a bank account, she kept her earnings from babysitting, waiting tables and selling Mary Kay cosmetics under her mattress. She got into Miami University by filling out a paper application and paying with cash she earned from odd jobs as she was not permitted to apply for loans.

In 2012, the year she graduated college, President Barack Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects from deportation undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Finally, Pierre-Bravo obtained legal status.

When she started work for Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, she found that her deeply-rooted sense of inadequacy propelled her to develop a people-pleasing, scrappy, never-say-no work ethic which, in turn, helped her climb the corporate ladder.

It also resulted in her feeling overworked and overwhelmed. And, when it came time to ask for promotion and higher pay, she felt both guilty for asking and afraid of causing unease with her boss.

Pierre-Bravo said she suffered from “imposter syndrome,” the persistent feeling that she didn’t deserve her success.

“I don’t think my story is unique,” she said. “It’s the story of so many women, particularly immigrants and women of color. We have a sink or swim mentality.”

She pointed out that Latinas are the most underpaid of any group in the United States, earning only 49 cents on the dollar compared to white men.

Pierre-Bravo said her book offers advice for women to claim their power in the workplace, from negotiating raises to embracing their differences and advocating for themselves from a position of confidence and strength.

“Our otherness really has nothing to do with us, but with the people who label us,” she said.