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Discussion on: Why I wear purple lipstick and code skirts

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ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II

You can live your life on "shoulds" ...but the outcomes are likely to not be great if you don't also acknowledge reality.

First impressions will always be a thing. That said, assuming your first-impression isn't so off-putting that you don't get the opportunity to perform, you can leave an indelible mark. Sometimes, such a mark can make it easier for those who come later to not have to worry so much about "can I present myself as myself and still feel comfortable".

Overall, it just depends on the price you're willing to pay or even just risk.

Especially in my 20s, I played it close to the edge of acceptability. Fortunately, while some customers owned up to being skeptical of the big, inked, technocolor-haired dude in the cenobite-painted motorcycle jacket walking into their building, they also took it as a statement of self-confidence. One customer at a large financial-services firm even told me, "I figure that, looking like that, you either reeeeeally knew your stuff or I'd be kicking you off-site at the end of the day".

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that__anna profile image
Anna

Haha that's a nice way of presenting yourself then. I hadn't given it much thought.