WATCH: MSNBC Tells a Trans Businesswoman of Color's Success Story

Cable news star, scholar, and author Melissa Harris-Perry shared more than just the tragic story of an Ohio transgender teenager with her MSNBC viewers this week. Following a brief update on the funeral and memorial services for Leelah Alcorn, Harris-Perry introduced a segnent on a woman she called "one of our foot soldiers" in the fight for acceptance.

Angelica Ross found herself fired from job after job after transitioning and was told her only choice as a woman of color was to become a showgirl or a sex worker. She didn't agree, and she resigned from her job last June to start her own company. Now she is CEO of TransTech Social Enterprises, a creative design firm with an apprenticeship program that empowers trans people with technological skills. "I believe in the vision that I've had for so long," Ross says in the MSNBC report. Watch below.