Beauty & Brains in the Workplace

I recently attended an event hosted by the media entity, Little Pink Book, focused on empowering women in the workplace. It was filled with accomplished women who had both beauty, and brains. Everywhere was a sponsor of the event and tasked with activating social media. We created “Little Pink Book” branded socially shareable signs that said, “Beauty and Brains” and “I’m Wise.” We had intended to use them as props to encourage social media sharing. What came next was a huge surprise…

Here I am, at an event about woman empowerment, wandering around with these clever signs among brilliant and successful women and several women declined to be photographed. Not because they didn’t want their picture taken. Instead, they were petrified of what their coworkers would think if they saw a picture of them holding a sign that said “Beauty and Brains.” One woman asked me, “Where is this going?” When I answered, “Twitter,” she gave a nervous chuckle and said, “No thanks, last thing I need is something like this floating around the office.” Why are women so worried about what their coworkers will think? Are they concerned that they will be perceived as arrogant? What’s wrong with having beauty, brains and wisdom? I was truly baffled at their nervous laughs and looks of concern.

Confession: I have not been in the working world that long. I graduated from college only 2 years ago. Just the other day, as I celebrated my 6-month anniversary with Everywhere, I boasted on Facebook that I have never felt more accomplished. I am a beauty with brains, and I am most definitely not afraid to show it. As a millennial, I was always taught that it was important for women to not only empower themselves, but each other along the way. We shouldn’t worry about owning our accomplishments and celebrating them, should we?

My boss has a system of self-bragging that she encourages here at Everywhere. We’re all given personal notebooks to keep track of the feats we accomplish. I sometimes struggle with celebrating the small things – but you know what? Those small things really add up! My book consists of moments ranging from responding to an email in record time with a solution and little words of praise shared from coworkers about the work I’ve completed. My biggest accomplishment to date was facilitating a Twitter chat with Supermodel Emme for our client, Macy’s that was trending for an hour. It’s nice to look back on these moments and remember that I am a part of such an empowered team. It’s crazy to me that other women out there are hesitant to celebrate their brains, beauty and embrace their well-earned wisdom!

So how do we fix this? I know, for me, I am going to post my “Beauty and Brains” picture with pride and encourage my colleagues to do so, as well! Just as Gandhi says, “You have to be the change you wish to see in the world!”