Unlocking Trapped Value for Black Women

Hello AFIYA Readers!

In my last column, I introduced the concept of trapped value—value that is created but never completes its journey back to the person who generated it. For many Black women, this shows up as undercompensation, invisible labor, overlooked leadership, and relationships that consume more energy than they replenish.

Recognizing trapped value is only the first step. The more important question is: How do we unlock it?

While there is no single answer, there are three practices that can help ensure the value you create is met with an exchange that honors your contribution.

I share them below.

Unlocking Trapped Value

1. Name Your Value

You cannot reclaim what you have never recognized.

Many Black women move through the world creating extraordinary value so consistently that it becomes invisible—even to ourselves. We solve problems before they become crises. We mentor without the title. We bring calm to chaos, connect people across differences, generate ideas, anticipate needs, and hold communities together.

Because these contributions often aren’t listed in a job description or reflected in a paycheck, we can mistakenly believe they don’t count.

They do.

Conduct a value audit. Write down every way you contribute to your workplace, your relationships, your family, and your community. Include the visible work and the invisible work. Include the emotional labor, the strategic thinking, the cultural wisdom, the creativity, and the care.

The first step in unlocking trapped value is seeing it clearly.

2. Assign Value to Your Value

Once you’ve named the value you create, ask yourself an important question: What is an equitable exchange?

Money is one form of value, but it isn’t the only one. Perhaps what you need is greater decision-making authority. More flexibility. Public recognition. Mentorship. Rest. Introductions to influential networks. Protected creative time. Reciprocity in your relationships.

Every exchange is an energy exchange. The goal is not simply to receive more money, but to ensure that the energy flowing back toward you is at least equal to the energy you’ve invested.

Too often, Black women are taught to treat our gifts as limitless resources that should always be available to others. But value that is never reciprocated eventually becomes depletion.

Your value deserves a healthy return.

3. State Your Value

Knowing your value is powerful. Communicating it is transformational.

For generations, many Black women have been taught that if we work hard enough, someone will eventually notice. Sometimes they do. Often they don’t.

Value that remains invisible is easily overlooked.

Stating your value isn’t about arrogance. It isn’t about boasting or demanding special treatment. It’s about making visible what has too often been taken for granted.

Tell people what you bring to the table. Advocate for the opportunities that reflect your contributions. Set boundaries around where your energy goes. Ask for reciprocal investment instead of assuming others will offer it voluntarily.

Communication creates a clear pathway for a return on the investment of your value. It also becomes a powerful measuring tool, revealing who is prepared to honor your value and who simply expects access to it without offering anything in return.

Knowing your value is powerful. Communicating it is transformational.

Conclusion

You are extremely valuable, and you provide a tremendous amount of wisdom, knowledge, and grace to those around you. When you name your value, assign it worth, and communicate it with confidence, you create the conditions for reciprocity instead of extraction.

This is how we, as Black women, can begin to liberate ourselves from trapped value and create the abundance that has always been possible for us. I 1000% believe in you.