by Solange Lopes | Dec 31, 2013 | Career |
In response to our reader Udeme’s comment about natural hairstyles for corporate sisters out there, we wanted to show a few of our favorite natural hairstyles for work (please also check out our post on the CURLS line). So here is a roundup of our best natural hairstyles for work (and sometimes even play) for 2013:
Wash-and-go
The Wash-and-Go: This is the easiest natural hairstyle by far, and if done well, can result in a beautiful, frizz-free style that can last for up to a week! Actually, to ensure that the style lasts, we like to add gel to the hair individual section by section. Our favorite gel is the Goddess Curls from the Curls line (available at Target for $7.99).
The Twist Out: This is the more sophisticated version of the wash-and-go, which involves braiding your hair in individual twists. While this may require a little more work than the wash-and-go, it also may look more “put-together” and less voluminous than its counterpart. Although I admit that I am too lazy to twist my hair out most of the time, I also have to say that when I actually take the time to do it, the result is pretty, practical and also can last me up to a a week! For some, it may require some practice to get the perfect twist-out, but in the end, it’s well worth it!
Loose curly ponytail – Photo: Hairstylesweekly.com
The Curly Ponytail: We love this version of the elegant ponytail! It’s classy and sassy all at once, and still allows for a great natural hairstyle. It’s also a great protective style, when the weather gets rainy or snowy outside, or when we just run out of styling options. For a sleek look, we recommend slicking your edges down with Curls’ passion fruit control paste (available at Target for $7.99).
The TWA – Photo: madamenoire.com
The TWA (or teeny weeny afro): For those who are transitioning to natural hair, have just had their “big chop”, or just decide to sport this short do because they can, it’s a great option for the most confident among corporate sisters. It’s definitely a distinctive look that will set you apart in a positive way, and will make your features and personality stand out. For an elegant and sophisticated look at work, keep your cut well maintained, accessorize with delicate yet pretty earrings, and statement necklaces. This cut will also allow you to showcase your face, so if you enjoy beautiful, yet tasteful, make-up, now is the time to get your brushes out! CEO of Xerox Ursula Burns (whom we featured on an earlier post) sports this natural style with such grace and authority that we just may give it a try this year…
Natural hairstyle – Photo: mahoganycurls.com
The Elegant Low Bun: Last but not least, the low bun is the ultimate, most protective and somewhat easy styling option for natural sisters. In the boardroom, meeting room, or at the work holiday party, the low bun stands out with its simplicity and classic elegance. It can be accessorized with nice clips or barrettes for an evening out, or just left alone for a serious yet sophisticated appearance. And needless to say, when you have about 5 minutes and a half to dedicate to your hair before that big Monday morning staff meeting, all you need is a couple of pins and elastics, and voila!
Do you have any suggestions of natural hairstyles for corporate sisters? Please post a comment, or email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 30, 2013 | Career
Photo: dreamstime.com
For us corporate sisters and minority women in a sometimes hostile and challenging corporate environment, and despite our most valiant efforts at keeping positive and unbiased, it is hard to get away from the race factor in the workplace. From noticing how very few of us there are out there in the corporate jungle, to struggling to decipher or simply face signs of sexism, racism, or both, there is no denying that, in the corporate game, the “race card” is hard to avoid. “Playing the race card” is commonly described as the exploitation of racist or anti-racist attitudes by accusing others of racism. And we’re not talking about this popular, common, negatively connoted “race card”….What we’re talking about is the other Race card, the somber, dark reality of negative bias faced by minority women in addition to the traditional gender inequality.
While some of us wonder if it’s all in our heads, or why we keep hitting a dark glass wall despite our best efforts, others tend to internalize the resulting professional struggles, failures and setbacks as a sign of our own inadequacy. As Dr. Cornell West put it so well, race matters, in the corporate landscape as in everywhere else. And despite not believing in New Year’s resolutions (check out our article on why you should not make New Year’s resolutions), one decision we have made this year in our small group of corporate sisters here is to dig out the “race card”, the other one…And it’s not what you may think it is…
While the intent is not to play an ineffective and demeaning game for all parties involved, it is necessary, as we look at our careers and professional paths, to have the courage to dig out all the racial realities, connotations and implications associated with these. As we devise career strategies, plan for opportunities, and prepare for professional success, we also need to consider the invariable variable, the “elephant in the room” that is seldom talked about: the Race factor!
In the era of “leaning in” and women empowerment, as Sheryl Sandberg confidently ushers all women to sit at the corporate table so that “there are more women in leadership roles giving a strong and powerful voice to [women’s] needs and concerns”, minority women (fortunately and unfortunately) get lumped into an ideal that negates reality. The reality that at Corporate America’s table, the gender equality game is still missing a card: the “Race card.” Without confronting the meaning and implications of race in the corporate space, and without a real, hard look at how we can challenge this “race card”, gender equality has only meaning for a select few. And if equality is not equal, it’s not really equality, is it now?
The “Race card” (the other one) is a tricky one, a difficult reality to confront and even more challenging to address. Yet without it, the corporate game is but deceptive and misleading, especially for us. Good or bad, the realities that this “Race card” reminds us of are the same realities we need to understand, confront and make others face, for a better tomorrow. And while it’s not a card that should be played maliciously, it is one that should be openly laid on the table for all to see, challenge and ultimately correct…
Will you be digging out the other race card this year?
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 24, 2013 | Career
Clarisonic Mia 2 – Photo: clarisonic.com
Now for all of us corporate beauties out there, ’tis the season to look, well…beautiful! And since, despite all the wonderful make-up innovations, break-through serums and creams out there, and even beauty apps out there, beauty still comes from within, we have to find ways to cultivate what our mamas gave us…One of those is beautiful and healthy skin at any age! Glowing skin will make your make-up look even more flawless, and give you the radiance that will brighten the most drab of winter days…That’s why we wanted to share the now classic, yet still outstanding Clarisonic Mia 2!
This little face brush will not only scrub your pores clean of impurities, debris and leftover make-up much better than your hands, but will also improve the condition of your skin over time. I can personally testify to it. I started using the Clarisonic Mia 2 about a month ago, and can already see the difference! Cleaner, more radiant and glowing skin…and the added benefit of wearing less make-up, if any (now when you’re up against the clock every morning, you know this is a huge plus)…
Currently priced at $150 on the Clarisonic website (where you can take advantage of the free shipping and returns), it is a bit of a splurge…or an investment in your health and good looks (wink wink)… Plus it is guaranteed for an entire year, so whatever happens, you can always get a new one…
Seen a great product out there you’d like us to share? Please post a comment, or email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 20, 2013 | Career |
Photo: theblackceos.com
‘Tis the season to celebrate Christmas, and many of our other human values like joy, peace, gratitude and…. diversity? Nope… As busy a time as the holidays are, especially in the office, everyone is much too preoccupied by their own agendas, and fitting their own overcrowded lives into what I like to call the “Christmas box”. It’s this mix of traditional religious, personal, and societal beliefs and expectations that make everything, or everyone else not connected to these beliefs and expectations, basically… an outsider.
Whether you happen to celebrate Kwanzaa, Yom Kippur, or any other holiday (or lack thereof) at all, you’re expected to have the “holiday spirit” in the traditional sense of the word. Very few managers actually ask their employees if they actually celebrate Christmas, or how they celebrate it for that matter, because it’s just assumed that they fit in the traditional “Christmas box”. Corporate functions and other office events around the holidays are centered around the same tradition of celebrations and gift-giving. We exchange gifts, talk about Santa, and complain about our impossible shopping schedules, without realizing at times that some of us do not subscribe to the same beliefs, lifestyles or traditions. Not to dampen anyone’s “holiday spirit”, as I myself do celebrate Christmas…Yet I have many sisters, friends and co-workers of various cultural backgrounds, with differing religious and personal beliefs, whose diversity outside of mine has made me reconsider my own, and learn to expand the meaning of it, especially at work. For example, my dear friend K. is Jewish, and starts her holiday celebration in September at Yom Kippur; for her, the “holiday spirit” means that she has pretend to subscribe to all the office cheer in order to fit in. My girl A. celebrates Kwanzaa every year(for those of you reading and wondering what Kwanzaa is, it’s a week-long celebration honoring African heritage in African-American culture observed from December 26 to January 1), and although she has been working in the same office for a few holidays now, her manager still doesn’t know what the holidays mean to her…
What we have to realize, as corporate sisters, managers, or otherwise participants in the corporate world, is that any minority point of view, belief or tradition, in or outside of the office, is an opportunity to acknowledge and also celebrate diversity. And as people, minorities or otherwise, it is our responsibility, and also our privilege, to step outside of our own “Christmas boxes”, or any other box we’ve cozied ourselves in, and expand our horizons. Because after all, if we don’t train ourselves to see diversity (when it’s staring at us in the face day in and day out), we won’t be able to manage it, let alone succeed around it.
And really, if we really (I mean really) mean it when we say with such good cheer “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”, then we may want to consider how we are making this world, or our own cubicle corner for that matter, a better place. And that may just be a matter of helping someone else fit in, asking someone else how, if and what they are celebrating, and opening our corporate minds to allow new concepts, new people, and new ideas to fit in…Isn’t that what the holiday cheer is about?
Are you looking for ways to address diversity issues at work this holiday season?
by Solange Lopes | Dec 19, 2013 | Career |
‘Tis the season for letters to Santa, right? And although this endearing exercise is usually reserved for the honest thoughts and desires of innocent children, we thought we could also borrow some imaginary Santa’s ear for a while…or we could just wish out loud…
Dear Santa,
I know I haven’t written to you in a long time. And although the rumor out there is that you don’t really exist, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt this time. This Christmas, I don’t want any particular gift under the tree, not even my favorite shoes or purses. Or even extra vacation time or savings money. This year, I’m asking for answers, Santa. Answers to some questions that have been staring me in the face ever since I saw my own mama going to work and come back home all sad….Ever since I started growing up, got out of college and started on my own professional journey. Answers to simple questions like: “Why is it so hard for women, and minority women, to succeed professionally?”, or “Why is it that, as a woman, hard work, dedication and sheer commitment to one’s work is not quite enough?”, or better yet, “How have we managed as people to allow concepts like “gender gap”, “glass ceiling“, “sexism”, or “racism” to enter an educational and professional space that should be open to all?”
How can we keep leaning in, when we keep getting pushed out? And how come everywhere we turn, there are unending talks of female empowerment and closing the gender gap, yet still so many of us are dropping out of the corporate ranks to find this natural balance we keep yearning for? Oh, and about this work-life balance, could you please send us some kind of magic scale to fit our professional and personal lives in? So that success is not just reserved to a select few among us (who are still expected to produce new results while playing by old rules), but to many more of us? To many more women across the board, strong, powerful, diverse women, women who CAN change the world, one career at a time, one company at a time…
I hope you read this letter when you have some time. I understand that even you may not have all the answers, but if we could just get a sign or two that our voices are being heard, then we may be on our way to a world where my daughter will not have to choose between her family and her work….Where all of our daughters will not have to act like men to build professional success….Where we can all play by rules that are fair, equitable, and just for everyone….
And while I understand that you may not answer this letter just yet, maybe not for this Christmas at least, I will pass it on to my daughter so she can keep reminding you (although I have a feeling you won’t forget)….
The Corporate Sister
The Twist Out: This is the more sophisticated version of the wash-and-go, which involves braiding your hair in individual twists. While this may require a little more work than the wash-and-go, it also may look more “put-together” and less voluminous than its counterpart. Although I admit that I am too lazy to twist my hair out most of the time, I also have to say that when I actually take the time to do it, the result is pretty, practical and also can last me up to a a week! For some, it may require some practice to get the perfect twist-out, but in the end, it’s well worth it!
