Black women are still getting laid off—even with strong résumés, experience, and proven results.
In this episode of Sanctified & Stilettos, Dr. Heather E. Burton sits down with Alfie Chapman Walter and Tanya Horn for a real conversation about layoffs, workplace inequity, and the emotional toll of unemployment.
This discussion explores how race, gender, faith, and power shape career outcomes—even for highly educated professionals.
In this episode:
Why Black women with strong credentials still face layoffs
The emotional and mental toll of unemployment
Workplace bias, ageism, and DEI challenges
How faith plays a role during uncertain career seasons
Why mentorship, sponsorship, and community support matter
👉 Why do you think highly qualified professionals still face job insecurity today? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Why Highly Educated Black Women Are Still Getting Laid Off. So what happens when you do everything right—earn the degrees, build the résumé, produce results, and still get laid off? In this episode of Sanctified and Stilettos, Dr. Heather E. Burton sits down with Alfie Chapman Walter and Tanya Horn for a raw, necessary conversation about layoffs, workplace inequity, faith, burnout, and what it means to be an educated Black woman navigating unemployment in today’s economy.
This is more than a career conversation. It is a real discussion about the emotional, professional, and spiritual toll of job loss, especially for Black women with credentials, leadership experience, and a proven track record. From higher education to nonprofit leadership to corporate America, these women unpack repeated layoffs, broken promises, workplace bias, ageism, DEI backlash, networking myths, and the role faith plays in surviving uncertain seasons.
If you are a Black woman facing unemployment, job loss, downsizing, career transition, corporate burnout, or professional discouragement, this episode will speak directly to where you are. It also speaks to anyone trying to understand how race, gender, faith, and power shape the modern workplace.
This episode of Sanctified and Stilettos sits at the intersection of faith, femininity, work, calling, and cultural truth. If you have ever asked, “How am I still unemployed after all I’ve done?” this conversation is for you.
Subscribe for more faith-filled, fearless conversations on womanhood, purpose, power, and real life.
#BlackWomen #Layoffs #Unemployment #FaithAndWork #CareerTransition
Suggested Chapters
These are editorial chapter titles. If you have the final runtime, match these to exact timestamps in the edit.
00:00 Welcome to Sanctified and Stilettos
00:38 Degrees, experience, results—and still laid off
02:10 Meet the guests: Black women navigating repeated layoffs
04:05 Tanya’s four layoff experiences and what changed
07:02 How layoffs deepen faith and change prayer
10:08 The emotional toll of unemployment and waiting
13:10 “You have a great résumé” — why does it not guarantee a job
16:04 Network, power, and why influence often fails Black women
19:42 Depression, disappointment, and surviving job loss
24:08 Stress, burnout, and what Black women carry at work
27:30 Why community matters during unemployment
31:12 Ageism, experience, and being overlooked in today’s workforce
35:46 Entry-level jobs, underemployment, and career frustration
39:28 Why institutions take your value but will not keep you
44:05 Grief, faith, and not taking layoffs personally
48:22 Politics, DEI backlash, and moving backward in the workplace
53:10 Sponsorship, mentorship, and the future for younger Black women
58:05 Final advice for women facing unemployment right now
1:02:14 Stiletto Moment: fight, comfort, and what comes next
📌 Strategic Moves Media Network is Black-led media based in Cleveland, focused on politics, culture, faith, and community empowerment.
46
!["My Divorce Was Messy — And It Was a Whole Financial Recovery." Pastor Courtney Jenkins on life after divorce, singleness, and why she wants a life partner who meets her in Rome. Sanctified & Stilettos with Dr. Heather Burton.
She didn't sugarcoat it. "My divorce was messy. And coming out of that financially — it's a whole financial recovery, baby. It's a huge adjustment."
And then she said something that has the church in a full uproar.
"I would take me a life partner. You live in your house, I live in mine. We can meet up in Rome. I ain't got no problem."
When she was told the congregation was coming for her? "Come for me. I don't care."
Pastor Courtney Clayton Jenkins is a senior pastor, a single mother, and a woman who came through a messy divorce — financially and emotionally — and landed on the other side knowing exactly what she wants. She names the financial reality that most women in ministry won't say out loud. She watches older women in ministry who spent decades condemning non-traditional arrangements quietly change their tune once their 401k is right and their house is how they like it. And she says plainly: when you have built something for yourself, the calculus of who to let in and how changes entirely.
This is a clip from the full Sanctified & Stilettos episode: Faith Leaders Dating Publicly — Unfiltered. Watch the full conversation here → [Full Episode Link]
🎙️ Sanctified & Stilettos — where saved and sexy intersect
🌐 Visit: aStrategicMove.com
📩 Subscribe: youtube.com/@StrategicMovesNetwork
📲 Follow Dr. Heather Burton: @DrHEBurton
📲 Follow Pastor Courtney Jenkins: @RevCCCJ
💬 Drop your take: Has financial stability changed how you think about relationships and who you let into your life?
0:00 — "My Divorce Was Messy — And It Was a Whole Financial Recovery"
0:28 — The Huge Adjustment Nobody Talks About After Divorce
0:52 — "I Would Take Me a Life Partner" — Meet Up in Rome, Live in Separate Houses
1:18 — "Come For Me. I Don't Care." — Why She's Not Apologizing
1:44 — Older Women in Ministry Quietly Changing Their Views
2:10 — "Uh-Huh — Your Money's Steady Now, Huh?"
2:36 — When You've Got Your House How You Like It — You Rethink Everything
#Divorce #FinancialRecovery #ChristianDating #Singleness #WomenEmpowerment #FaithJourney #ChristianSingleness #BlackChurch #DrHeatherBurton #SanctifiedAndStilettos #ChristianWomen #SingleMom #PastorCourtneyJenkins #SelfAcceptance #SMN
Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀
https://vidiq.com/StrategicMoveMed](https://moviesmedia.webzlo.com/wp-content/plugins/youtube-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
Why I Stopped Following the Traditional Relationship Script | Sanctified & Stilettos
Strategic Move Media Network June 20, 2026 6:45 pm