Working in some offices comes with a set of expectations on a person’s appearance. Often they require the employees to dress formally and have natural hair colors. It is expected for women to wear makeup but not too much, and to wear only minimal jewellery, otherwise they might be considered to be unprofessional and not taken seriously.
Visible tattoos are also often seen as an issue in a business environment. So if someone wants to get a tattoo and work in an office, they might need to cover the images on their body with clothes or get them in places that aren’t that visible.
However, in the past decade, businesses have been loosening their requirements: suits are becoming less of a popular attire, bright hair colors are more acceptable and tattoos are becoming less of a problem. As proven by Evolution Capital Partners, where a manager suggested his employee not hide the tattoos on her arms and just have them on show in the headshot picture.
More info: LinkedIn
This woman shared how her managing partner wasn't opposed to her getting a company photo with her tattoos exposed and actually encouraged it
Image credits: Jessica Hanzie Leonard, CPA, MBA
The employee’s name is Jessica Hanzie Leonard and she was getting her professional photo updated for her new role at the company that would be put on its website. The photographer was not only taking photos for the company’s website, but for LinkedIn too. Jessica was planning to wear a jacket to cover her tattoos as that is what people imagine to be professional.
She thought she would like to have some photos without the jacket so she could use them for her personal LinkedIn profile, but felt the need to ask her managing partner if he wouldn’t mind her taking it without a jacket and revealing her tattooed arms.
Image credits: Jessica Hanzie Leonard, CPA, MBA
Bored Panda reached out to Jessica and asked why she thinks people might consider tattoos unprofessional and that they make a person less trust-worthy. Jessica explains that people are just giving into stereotypes and created a certain image in their heads that isn't true, "While stereotypes of people with tattoos and tattoo culture seem to be loosening, I believe a lot of individuals, particularly in professional environments, have preconceived notions that people with tattoos have negative personality characteristics, and lower levels of intelligence, competence, and sociability."
Jessica is an accounting and investment executive who was used to hiding her tattoos for fear of being considered unprofessional and not being taken seriously
Image credits: Jessica Hanzie Leonard, CPA, MBA
She experienced such an attitude for herself so Jessica was really surprised when her managing partner not only didn’t mind, he actually encouraged the employee to show off the art on her body in all of the photos. She was so shocked and pleasantly surprised that she shared the story on her LinkedIn, showing how the photos turned out and it went quite viral.
The post has more than 31k likes and over 2.5k comments. People loved the managing partner’s attitude and that he didn’t think that an employee’s skills are less valuable when they have a different way of expressing themselves in their appearance.
The post got a lot of positive attention from other people online, but we were interested to know what was the reaction of Jessica's coworkers when they saw which photo was chosen for the company's website. She revealed to us, "My other coworkers are really pleased with this representation of our inclusive culture. We are also all fascinated that my post generated so much attention. I don’t believe any of us imagined my message would resonate with so many people, not just in the United States, but all over the world."
Image credits: Jessica Hanzie Leonard, CPA, MBA
That is why she was taking new company headshots with a jacket to hide her tattooed arms
Image credits: Jessica Hanzie Leonard, CPA, MBA
The founding partner of Evolution Capital Partners, Jeffrey Kadlic, spoke to Good Morning America and told them "It is the content of one's character that is most important to us. [...] We see Jess for who she is and embrace all of her because she shares our core values and is a tremendous talent. At the end of the day, that is all that really matters."
That was truly a refreshing attitude for Jessica as during her whole career, she felt that she needed to cover up and wear long sleeves even in the middle of a scorching summer, being careful not to reveal some small tattoos behind her ear and on her leg or ankle.
When she brought up that she would like some photos for personal use without the jacket, a colleague suggested to take all the photos like that
Image credits: Jessica Hanzie Leonard, CPA, MBA
Jessica was pleasantly surprised and shared her experience in a LinkedIn post which went viral
Image credits: Jessica Hanzie Leonard, CPA, MBA
It can really start to feel like you are not being allowed to be yourself and take notice of how you dress and what hairstyle you have instead of looking at the work you do and the results you bring in.
Jessica is happy that her new workplace is not like that. Even though the company she left didn’t openly say that she should not show her tattoos, they never openly told her that they are fine, like in Evolution Capital Partners, so she didn’t feel as free.
People loved the story and wished that more companies would have the same attitude
Especially when other people made comments to her as mentioned in the LinkedIn post: “I saw your new photo on LinkedIn showing your tattoos… I was a bit surprised. You’re not going to use that as your bio photo in proposals, though, right?” or people saying that they wouldn’t get tattoos even if they wanted them because their position wouldn’t allow them as others wouldn’t take them seriously.
The saddest part was that most of these comments were made by other women in leading positions that she looked up to as mentors.
People also expressed their dissatisfaction with how there is still so much pressure to look professional when it doesn't add to the knowledge and skills
They think that the pandemic might help with that and that more companies will loosen up the rules about appearance
However, the comments under the post were overwhelmingly positive. People loved the fact that there are companies who don’t give in to stereotypes and what they look for in an employee is skills and knowledge.
Many of the comments shared the same opinion that tattoos or different hair colors don’t determine the professional value of a person and actually makes them interesting and indicate more about who the professional is as a person.
Some pointed out that actually, those features make a person more interesting and tell more about their personality and not their skills
As there was so much engagement in the post with the likes and comments, we were wondering if there was anything that surprised Jessica and she told us that she didn't expect people to be sp brave in sharing their own stories "I was most surprised by the vulnerability people showed in sharing with me their own personal experiences with bias and judgment in the workplace. It was particularly moving to learn that people related this to so much more than tattoos. The broad theme has been how inspired professionals feel that we’re moving in the right direction on removing bias and judgment on the basis of many issues, including race, gender, hair color and length, makeup, weight, and so much more."
We would like to hear what you think about Jessica's post and do you think that more companies should get rid of the stigma surrounding tattoos and stop caring about how their employees present themselves as long as they are good at their jobs? Or do you think that looking professional, meaning no tattoos or extravagant makeup, clothes or hair should remain among a company's values? Let us know in the comments!