Throughout college(Undergrad), my hair was natural and I wore it in braids or curly sew-in weaves, but mainly braids. My senior year, I decided to ditch the braids and relax my hair to prepare for interviews in Corporate America. I felt as if braids were not "professional" and my hair needed to be straightened in order to get a job.
Well a month after I relaxed my hair and went on my first interview, I landed a job with a pretty large company. I have now been with that company for 5.5 years and that journey is now coming to an end. Within those 5.5 years, I wore my hair straight, curly, in braids, twists, cornrows, just about anything and received tons of compliments from men and women.
So why is it now that I'm about to start a new job, I am constantly thinking about how co-workers will perceive my hair?
Let's face it, I am basically 40% natural and wear my hair primarily in twists. Although my twists are always neat and presentable I was starting to feel like they weren't "acceptable" to wear at this new company.
I had sudden bouts of insecurity. My plan was to wear my hair in a bun, like I did for my interviews, for the first couple of weeks to gauge the work environment then wear my twists.
But you know what? I threw those plans out the window. I am going to wear my hair just how I want and not how I think THEY want me to. Why not just be myself from day one?
My styles of choice should not be an issue. They hired me based on my credentials and personality. I stand by my previous thoughts in my,"
Black Hair in Corporate America", post. As long as my hair is neat, presentable and smells good, it's professional. That means I'm going to wear my twists, braid-outs, twist/braid-n-curls, single braids, whatever it may be.
And I'm going to wear it proud!
Honestly, hair should be the last thing I think about when starting a new job!!