Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work
September 30, 2025, Flatiron Books
From the creator of a viral TED talk comes a bold call to rethink authenticity at work
Workplace dynamics in recent years have been a dizzying storm of broken promises. Companies that once encouraged employees to “come as you are” and bring your full, authentic self to work are now shutting down initiatives, part of an ongoing cycle of trading on our identities when it’s convenient and profitable. Those calls for authenticity were never honest and are actually harmful.
Jodi-Ann Burey, writer and critic known for her TED talk “The Myth of Bringing Your Full, Authentic Self to Work,” delves into the dangers of disclosure in environments that aren’t built for our well-being. With insights from pop culture , academic research, and interviews with other professionals of color, Burey argues that we can do better than shallow ploys for representation.
Our physical and emotional health are at risk, and too much is sacrificed―for ourselves and for collective progress―when our full potential is blocked by racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism. Authentic is a powerful reckoning―and now is the time to reclaim our agency. Even at work.
Praise for Authentic
“In both poetic and straightforward prose, bolstered by years of experience and research, Jodi-Ann bears her mind, heart, and body to us in Authentic, vulnerably and fearlessly. This book gathers some of those stories I have long been hearing about—from my own life, from my family and friends, from my peers and readers—about how much we struggle and sever our real selves to fit into institutions that are not built for us. It flooded me with memories of what many of us have survived and had me shaking my head at what we’ve forgotten… all while healing and arming me with even more audacity and purpose.”
— Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming
“While weaving her own autobiography with stories of others who have struggled in organizations, Burey exposes how talk of ‘authenticity’ can hide the workings of oppressive systems and how such systems suppress talent, initiative and creativity and damage the health of individuals, both physically and psychologically. This books helps readers to recognize the problems created by the suppression of difference and what individuals and organizations can do to truly foster authenticity.”
— David Mura, author of The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives
“Jodi-Ann Burey brings ardent commitment, iconoclastic creativity, irrepressible humor, and a questing, uncompromising intelligence to the conversation about the workplace, racism, and authenticity. She's a voice we'll be turning to again and again to lead us into a deeper understanding of our work and ourselves.”
— Claire Dederer, author of Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma
“In Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work, Jodi-Ann Burey is a conduit, a companion, and a storyteller who uses her own personal explorations as beacons to guide us toward the fullest version of our collective selves regardless of who we are expected to be outside of the scope of our own lived experiences. In these explorations she is not offering hope. She offers kinship built upon the central idea that acknowledges our full, authentic selves still exist despite having to be buried. In this open and honest reflection, Burey places in our hands the tools to excavate these selves and bring their fullness to the surface.”
— Athena Dixon, author of The Loneliness Files
“You will laugh, weep tears of relief from no longer feeling like you were alone in your experience that one time at the office party, and gasp at the body of research and testimonials in this book that prove what you always suspected to be true. You will want to send in your resignation or then return to work with a roadmap for healing and thriving ‘beyond the institutional gaze.’ This book is for us. You know who you are.”
— Sonora Jha, author of The Laughter
“Jodi-Ann Burey’s Authentic made me shudder in recognition and laugh in relief. Reading her intimate, deeply researched critique of workplace myths feels like being given permission in the most generous sense; a reminder that none of us are alone, even in a culture that wants us to believe we are. Thank goodness for Burey, who says—with so much warmth, wit, and wisdom—what many of us have been unable to say. I wasn’t ready for how much I needed this book. I am ready for how much the world does.”
– Tajja Isen, author of Some of My Best Friends
“In Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work, Jodi-Ann Burey explains why it is so hard to survive institutions and gives us many insights in how we can do so. She shows how institutions use authenticity rather like diversity, as a way of appearing to change without changing, so that workers, especially people of colour, end up having to do even more. Speaking directly to her readers in a voice that is both distinctive and deepened by dialogue with others, this book calls for us to take time, to hold ourselves back from institutions so we have more of ourselves to give to our projects and our people. I encourage everyone committed to social justice to take the time to read this book slowly and carefully: it is just what we need right now, to find the courage to keep pushing for change, knowing we are not alone. “
— Sara Ahmed, author of Living a Feminist Life
”No matter what work you do in the world, you will see yourself in Authentic, a tour de force debut that reconceptualizes what authenticity means in a labor market that forces employees to be the sole guardians of their own mental and physical well-being. With biting wit, Burey shares substantive research and intimate stories – her own and those of other workers – to illuminate greater truths about modern-day work culture for Black women and other marginalized communities. Authentic should be required reading for anyone hoping to navigate the American workplace while preserving the self.”
— Laura Warrell, author of Sweet, Soft, Plenty of Rhythm
“Jodi-Ann Burey holds nothing back in this cathartic book. It's honest in a way that's healing and cuts through the modern noise about well-being and authenticity to say something insightful and helpful. This book is a good read, but it's also a deeply healing experience.”
— Celeste Headlee, author of Do Nothing