Feeling that we sometimes need to be all things to all people at work can be tough. But for women of color, the added stress of representing one's entire race can feel overwhelming.As Ursula Mejia-Melgar stood before a conference room full of colleagues one morning, her mind suddenly went blank. The marketing manager at General Mills in Minneapolis was in the middle of an important presentation and wanted to explain a crucial point about customizing recipes for consumers. But Ursula, a Latina, couldn't think of the right words in English, so she quickly tried to talk her way around it. She soon became flustered, feeling her stress level—and embarrassment—rise with each puzzled look from her coworkers. "I'm fairly eloquent in Spanish, but I can't always communicate what I'm trying to say in English," she admits. Eventually, she got back on track and finished her presentation perfectly. It wasn't the first time Ursula felt lost in translation, nor was it the only time her ethnicity has caused her to stress out at work. In the six years since she emigrated from Mexico City, Ursula, 32, mom to 1-year-old Sofia, has established herself as a high-earning and highly respected manager at General Mills. She capably handles the tight deadlines and the working lunches. It's the "stereotype threat"—performance-crippling fear of being judged based on cultural stereotypes—that often proves a heavy burden. Being an outsider, a Mexican woman in a mostly white business world, "is always in the back of my head," she says. "I wonder, Am I not being heard because of who I am and how I am speaking? Am I being overlooked?" Like Ursula, many professional women of color often feel they're not only representing their gender, they're also representing African Americans, Asians, Latinas and Native Americans. And with that comes a specific type of stress that's triggered by both the stereotypes they may encounter and their own powerful internal expectations for themselves: to fit in and to be the best.Grappling with these racial stressors can sometimes harm health and limit or disrupt careers. The good news is that many multicultural women can find relief right in the workplace. Our progressive Best Companies for Multicultural Women are helping their employees ease their unique brand of stress. Realizing that women of color are the fastest-growing segment of the workforce, and that supporting these employees builds loyalty and helps the bottom line, some companies actively support them by offering proven options like affinity groups, mentoring and counseling, as well as newer offerings like meditation sessions, free on-site fitness centers and awareness/sensitivity training for all employees. "The rewards of a supportive workplace culture are circular," says clinical psychologist Georita Marie Frierson, PhD, executive director of diversity programs and research initiatives at the Cooper Institute, a nonprofit preventive medicine research and education center in Dallas. "Showing that you're committed to your employees' health and well-being, and that you care about them as people as well as workers, keeps morale high and reinforces their commitment to the company."THE COLOR OF STRESSOf course, stress isn't always a bad thing. In fact, some people actually thrive when they're under the gun. It's only when pressure overwhelms that it becomes a problem for women of color in corporate America. That's because multicultural women face a "triple jeopardy"—gender, race and (lack of) resources, according to Dr. Frierson. African-American, Asian, Latina, Pacific-Islander and Native-American women are "a minority within a minority in the business world," she says.Indeed, women of color report that they often feel specific pressures and expectations related to their race or ethnicity as they navigate their careers in the nation's cubicles and corner offices. Work longer, harder and better than your white colleagues. Play down your gender, race, ethnicity and accent—particularly if you're "the only one" in your company or at your level. In fact, 47 percent of women of color say they feel under pressure to work long hours to get ahead, and more than a third believe they must minimize their race or ethnicity to be successful at work, according to the Center for Women Policy Studies. And perhaps most damaging of all, adds Dr. Frierson, is that many professional multicultural women always wonder: Did I get that job or promotion (or not) because I'm a woman of color? Consider Lela Coffey, 35, an African-American associate marketing director for Procter & Gamble's North American Tampax brand in Cincinnati and a mom of two. For her, the drive to be thebest—at work and at home—comes from within. Adopted as an infant by a white couple in Iowa, Lela grew up believing she had to "show everyone" that she, an African American, could excel. As a child, that meant going for straight A's. As a professional, it means working harder to reach her potential. And as a mother, it means making sure her kids aren't being shortchanged by her decision to work. Rather than a typical to-do list, Lela keeps a "to-be" list: Be a great mom. Be a great employee. Be good to myself.  Talk about increased pressure. "It's always having to go above and beyond," she says, calling it "an African-American thing." P&G's mentorship program and diversity training are two antidotes that she says help alleviate her stress, as does remembering her company's simple motto: "We cannot succeed without a diverse workforce." Ann Cato, 39, of Pea Ridge, AR, also has a strong drive to succeed. Hers, she believes, comes from having lived through an impoverished childhood. But for this Navajo, the vice president of corporate people division administration for Wal-Mart Stores, ambition not only causes stress but also triggers a switch she can't easily turn off even after she's left the office. Workday stress often leads to nights spent thinking about decisions made at work—from emails sent to expenditures approved. "Those are the days I come home and it's cereal for dinner," says the mother of four. "There are bigger pressures on women of color. We're carrying the burden of our people."Whether it's anxiety or a short temper, forgetfulness or social isolation, stress manifests itself differently in everyone, notes Carol J. Scott, MD, a Baltimore-based stress relief coach for female corporate leaders and a board-certified emergency room physician. For instance, when Ursula is spoken to extremely slowly, as if she doesn't understand English, she feels a turmoil that isn't easy to shake. She admits that she also gets tripped up by what she calls "white male working styles"—heavy on email, light on personal relationships. As a Latina, her preferred approach is more face-to-face.While you can't control stress triggers, you can control how you react to them, experts say. And having a support system—such as the specialized programs offered by smart companies—is key. "It's important for women of color to find social support that can empathize with their particular stresses and challenges," says Dr. Scott.SOLUTIONS THAT WORKCompanies are focusing their support by expanding established diversity programs, such as mentoring, sponsorship and affinity groups, and introducing new stress management solutions that delve into the heart and soul of women of color. These strategies aren't just good for employees, they help businesses, too. Employee stress and its accompanying problems—absenteeism, diminished productivity and high turnover, as well as physical and mental health problems and the insurance fees that pay for them—cost U.S. businesses more than $300 billion a year, according to the American Institute of Stress, a nonprofit research organization in Yonkers, NY.General Mills has zeroed in on the importance of innovative stress management programs for its employees of color. Its menu of offerings includes health coaching in partnership with the Mayo Clinic in nearby Rochester, MN, a free fitness center, weekly meditation sessions and professional counseling via the telephone. Other sources of stress relief include health fairs and in-house nurses and physicians. "We have a very diverse population here, so it's important that we offer many different kinds of approaches," points out Julia Halberg, MD, General Mills' global health director.Within Wal-Mart's Bentonville, AR, home office, there are seven on-site affinity groups (the giant retailer is researching plans to start similar groups throughout the country), as well as free professional counseling available through Resources for Living, an Austin, TX-based employee assistance program. Most counseling is provided over the telephone, which is a big help to the many Wal-Mart associates who live and work in rural areas that often lack nearby qualified mental health professionals, says Terry Cox, an account executive at Resources for Living. "The goal is to provide relief and a positive experience to the person on the other end of the phone," says Cox. And it seems to be working: In a 2002 employee survey, nearly half of the Wal-Mart employees who used the counseling service (41 percent) said that if it hadn't been available, they would not have sought help at all. Procter & Gamble's catalog of employee assistance program and work/life offerings was also designed broadly rather than for a specific racial or ethnic group. However, counselors are trained to address issues specific to minority women. "We understand that women of color face some unique challenges that can contribute to increased levels of stress," says Tom Spedding, global manager of employee assistance and work/life programs at P&G. He points out that recognition of the fact that traditional approaches don't always work with multicultural women is increasing. "More often than not, our EAP and work/life clients do not initially mention stress as a reason for seeking help," he says. However, during intake, when clients are asked to describe their main issues, the subject of stress inevitably surfaces. "A major focus of our service is to help our clients develop ways to reduce stress and/or cultivate better coping mechanisms," adds Spedding. Success, he says, comes from helping clients focus on their reactions and responses to stress and other ailments rather than on someone else's behaviors or the external environment.THE MIND/BODY LINKThe helping hand that companies like General Mills, Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble and many other of our Best Companies for Multicultural Women extend to their women-of-color employees does more than help them relax, rejuvenate and refocus. It also allows them to steer clear of health problems commonly linked to stress. Stress isn't just in your head, it's in your body, too. It has been directly linked to headaches, gastrointestinal problems and cardiovascular disease—an important connection to be aware of since heart disease continues to be the No. 1 killer of women in the United States.When you're under stress, your adrenaline rushes, your heart races and your blood pressure rises. If your fight-or-flight hormones take hold too often and for too long, serious health conditions can result, especially for women of color, cautions Dr. Scott. Consider these startling statistics from the Office of Research on Women's Health: African-American and Hispanic women have the highest rates of diabetes; high blood pressure, a major contributor to heart disease, is 40 percent deadlier for African-Americans than it is for whites; and more than a third of black women have hypertension—the highest rate of all women in the United States. Stress may also underlie obesity and diabetes—ills that affect African-American, Native-American and Hispanic women in soaring numbers.For Ann Cato, a family history of diabetes, cancer and heart attacks led her to participate in Tribal Voices, Wal-Mart's Native-American resource group of about 80 people from nearly as many different tribes and nations, which meets monthly. "There aren't that many of us Native Americans around," she says, pointing out that the nearest reservation to her is in Oklahoma. The meetings, Ann continues, are an important way to talk about issues common to Native Americans, such as isolation. The support and connection she finds there are enormous de-stressors.Ursula Mejia-Melgar is also extremely grateful to her company for its commitment to helping women-of-color employees cope with pressure. Before she took advantage of General Mills' Hispanic Network, on-site day care, fitness center and an on-site tutorial called "Getting Things Done," stress was "the never-ending story of my life," she says. These days, she doesn't internalize things that bother her as much as she used to. And when Ursula can't find the right word in English, she reminds herself that one slip-up won't jeopardize her credibility or her career. It's just a fleeting moment. After all, she says with a chuckle, if the tables were turned, and her colleagues had to make a presentation in Mexico, "they wouldn't be able to say a word."