Raissa B. Nebie - Founder & CEO of Spoondate
This is a question that many naturals in the job market struggle with all the time. Traditionally in the corporate world, natural hairstyles have been frowned upon. Other areas such as retail, and the service industry have been a lot more accepting. During my very brief stint in the corporate world (9 months as an advertising account executive), I was rocking my natural hair. It was shorn super low...almost peach fuzz status. This was back in the early 2000's. I didn't get any push back from my bosses or human resources. They could plainly see my hair when they hired me, and it didn't seem to be a problem. At that time, there were so few women wearing natural hair, I don't even think it was on their radar. Currently, I work in the fashion and entertainment industries. Anything pretty much goes, so I don't have to worry about people's opinions of my hair preventing me from getting work. I think with all the resources available to today's naturals, it is possible to style our hair in ways that are seen as "neat" and "professional". And from what I see online, many women are taking advantage, and styling their hair beautifully. It has been a long road for the black community to accept natural hair...and the journey continues. It will also be a long journey for corporate America to accept natural hair but as more and more people make the decision to go natural, corporate America's acceptance will continue to grow. After all, you can't force a girl to relax and or weave up her hair if she's not inclined to do so. -YB
Ursula Burns - CEO of XEROX
Veronica O. Davis - CEO of NspireGreen, LLC
Melanie L. Campbell - CEO of The National Coalition of Black Civic Participation.
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