This week, I did the unthinkable. I went from being a fun-loving, stereotypical “ditzy blond” to an intelligent and sophisticated brunette. (Okay, at least that’s the end result I am hoping for).
I have naturally blond hair and I’ve never considered changing it until this week. As I mentioned in a previous post, I just changed careers. So I thought the dye-job would be timely.
I had dinner with some of my friends for the first time after the drastic change. One of them kept saying, “but Traci…it’s just not you anymore…you were my favorite goofy blond”. Gee thanks.
It made me wonder. Are there other “not-so-drastic” changes I could make to be taken more seriously?
I dress pretty conservatively already. I always wear simple pajama bottoms and a plain t-shirt at home. (That’s my idea of conservative, anyway). When I go out, I usually wear jeans, sneakers and fleece sweatshirt. My hair is usually in a ponytail or a messy bun.
Whenever I am picking up my daughter from preschool, meeting new people at church or hanging out at the coffee shop, no one ever asks me what I do for a living. I am dying to tell them all about my blogs and the great writing job I have.
Interestingly, I was attending a funeral one afternoon so I was dressed in my only “professional” outfit. My daughter’s preschool teacher asked me if I was headed to work. Ironically, it was the only day that week that I wasn’t working and probably the first time someone seemed to assume that I was employed.
What if I dressed the part once in awhile? Would people assume that I was a career-minded professional? I am not real sure how a writer dresses, but I do know how a business woman dresses and I certainly don’t fit the part.
I changed my hair color to be taken seriously and it is time I start considering changing other aspects of my “look” as well. I love what I do. I love being a professional business woman. I’d love to network with other professional business women whether they work from home or not.
My goal this month is to dress more professionally when I am running errands and going to events. I’ll let you know if the changes have made a difference in terms of how seriously people take me and my home-based business.
Do you dress the part of a professional business woman even though you work from home? How has it helped with networking? Tell us about it in the comments section.
Related Reading:
Do You Still Dress and Coiffe Even Though You Work From Home?