“I should be able to succeed in the corporate world without having to disguise, hide, or abandon who I am,” Cherek declares. With crisp, sometimes pugnacious prose and a sturdy moral compass, Cherek points out clear wrongs—including “crude jokes, awkward comments, blatant stares at my boobs and legs”—that in individual moments it might feel easy to just let slide. Doing so, she now argues, legitimizes the underlying assumptions of the biased. Instead, Cherek makes the case that thriving in the workplace—and improving society—means being truthful and encouraging women to tell their stories, to dare to quit bad jobs, and to not blame themselves when “the world or the workplace is unfairly stacked against you.”
Tread Loudly offers catharsis and hope as Cherek urges women to be bold—and be themselves. She buttresses her observations with examples from others’ careers and the hard facts of the closing chapter, which notes how women still lag far behind men in business, government and academia. A former attorney, she makes a compelling case for change.
Takeaway: Hard-won insight and guidance for women in male-dominated workplaces.
Comparable Titles: Alicia Menendez’s The Likeability Trap, Elaine Welteroth’s More Than Enough.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
