This As They Told It essay is based on a conversation with Cierra Desmaratti, a 27-year-old actuarial analyst living in Miami. It has been edited for length and clarity. As an actuarial analyst, I have felt a lot of pressure to be considered competent. I am a very feminine person and have struggled to find
This As They Told It essay is based on a conversation with Cierra Desmaratti, a 27-year-old actuarial analyst living in Miami. It has been edited for length and clarity.
As an actuarial analyst, I have felt a lot of pressure to be considered competent. I am a very feminine person and have struggled to find a way to express my feminine sense of style without undermining the seriousness with which people take me.
When I worked at Deloitte in Chicago, I wore neutral pants and colors every day, trying to find acceptance through conformity.
Moving to a place as colorful and expressive as Miami has inspired me to embrace my femininity and find ways to present myself at work with confidence and authenticity. I spend my days wearing dresses and heels, and I even spend $800 every three months to get my hair done.
Some people might say it’s extra, but beauty matters in the business world in the sense that we are judged first by our appearance. It’s important to look clean and professional, but it’s also important for me to feel like myself.
I love wearing dresses and doing professional makeup for events.
Desmaratti uses his style to build his professional network. Cierra Desmaratti
I’m a girly girl. I like to spend money on my appearance, buy new dresses and do my hair. The Miami environment has given me the courage to express my professional identity, be seen, and hopefully attract people who resonate with me.
Most of my budget goes to hair, dresses and makeup. In fact, I took a makeup class to learn how to improve my natural everyday makeup look, and I also enjoy and invest in having my makeup done professionally before my networking events.
On average, I spend between $150 and $400 a month on clothes, makeup, and accessories.
I host professional networking events for my group, The Rising Visionaries, once a month, which means the cost of maintaining my beauty and personal brand image is higher than when I started at Deloitte.
I think the way I dress now makes me more relatable.
My current analyst job is remote, so my calls are online, but for the networking events I host, I dress very differently than I used to at my previous job in Chicago. Nowadays I like to wear pretty dresses and heels, whereas before I wore a white sweater and pants.
I haven’t felt any negativity since dressing this way. In fact, I think I’ve become more relatable. I want people to see me for who I am and attract aligned people and opportunities.
I’m sure there are some traditional analysts who see my LinkedIn posts about fashion and are confused about why and how I’m so interested in fashion and actuarial science, but I want to show that you can be a woman who embraces beauty, authenticity, and femininity and still be competent.
My hair used to affect my confidence at work.
Growing up, I always wanted long, beautiful hair, but I didn’t always take the best care of my natural 4C curly hair texture. He also didn’t have the finances to do it.
When I worked at Deloitte, I found it difficult to balance caring for my high-maintenance natural hair with work, and I ended up with a lot of breakage. That affected my confidence at work.
Now that I’m finally in a position to achieve the look I want, I go all out. Every two or three months, I take a plane back home and meet my hairstylist for my three and a half hour appointment.
They sew me in, which requires her to wash and blow out my hair, braid it, sew in extensions, put a closure on it, and style it. If I want to add color, she colors the extensions beforehand.
As a black woman, my hair is a big part of my identity.
My hair is my crown. It’s a big part of my identity. I now feel powerful and confident when I show my face in rooms or online. My long hair makes me feel feminine, regal and like a powerful boss.
Whether we like it or not, the first thing people see about us is our appearance, and for me, my hair is a very important part of what frames my face.
Even though my extensions are expensive, I want high-quality human hair that looks like it came out of my own head. I have never felt more like myself at work and in life, and it’s worth it.
Do you have a story to share about how you’ve invested in your workplace appearance? If so, please contact the reporter at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com.