Gabrielle Union - survivor, activist, style icon and actress - is actually a fount of wisdom.

Her open attitude to discussing difficult topics such as her struggles with fertility, multiple miscarriages, her rape and subsequent PTSD are refreshing and inspiring.

Oh yeah, and her outfits are the bomb.

Now, in an interview with ELLE Canada, Union has spoken out about the moment she realised she no longer wanted to appear submissive in the work place.

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For years, she explained in the tell-all article, she spoke with what she calls, 'the special voice.' The article describes this as the one, 'where you speak with the inflection of a question and raise your eyebrows so you look less threatening.'

During negotiations she made an effort to seem less threatening, which is something most of us have done at some point or another.

However it came to a point where she could no longer carry on. The actress then detailed the moment during a meting in Los Angeles when the veneer slipped, and she could not longer play nice, like girls are taught to do.

'I was tired. My eye was twitching. They took too long to circle back to my opinion, and I lost it,' she continued, ' I spoke my truth, but I was sure I really blew it and lost that deal.'

Thankfully, the deal was not lost, and by the time her plane landed back home, they had agreed to her terms.

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The Bring It On star concluded, 'When I spoke in my most authentic voice, I got what I wanted—I got what I deserved,' she told the magazine.

'And I'm 45. I think I've been in this business 22 years using that dumb-ass voice that I thought was helping me, and I'm sure it did at certain times. But I wonder how my career could have been different if I had let that real voice out.'

Union's interactions with Hollywood execs are emblematic of what women around the world endure in the workplace and otherwise. Though she (self-admittedly) has the platform and financial security to challenge it, and we love her for it.

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Daisy Murray
Digital Fashion Editor

Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.