Hello my fellow doctor and health professional black sisters. Actually, this question and conversation pertains to my black brothers and any profession for that matter. When I was in residency, I got box braids before I went on a vacation. Sistas, you know how we do🙌🏾 Anyway, of course I wore them for some time after vacation. They were a little long,maybe a bit past my shoulder but I always wore them back in a ponytail or bun. Well, one of my Head & Neck attendings told me that he didn’t think my braids were “professional”. After that, I rarely wore braids. Being in my medical field of specialty, there aren’t many AAs. I was always conscious about how I looked or wore my hair because oftentimes I was the only black person.

Now, I realize that I was conforming to what others thought was “appealing”, “pretty” and “professional”. So I wore a straight perm, flat iron, pressed hard hairstyle up until almost 1 year ago. In August 2017, with the help of @carmellamarie30, I decided to go natural and embrace my crown. This past year has been a journey of learning how to care for and grow my hair in a healthy way. So as I come up on my 1 year natural hair transition anniversary, I feel like I have stepped into a wonderful time in my life because I LOVE ME, don’t really care if others don’t like my natural hair (although I have received wonderful compliments from people I didn’t expect would like my hair—ummmm, my mom is another story but that’s another post😂), and I am unapologetically Black.

This picture was taken yesterday in my own private practice. I have never worn a head wrap to work but I did yesterday. I didn’t even think twice about it or think that it was “unprofessional”. My question? Do you think wearing braids or natural hair is “unprofessional” at work, have you experienced any negative feedback about your hair not being appropriate for work and please share, and would you wear a head wrap to work? I guess that is 3 questions😬 Sidebar: I know wearing your hair natural is a personal decision and this is not meant to knock anyone for embracing that perm tho🙌🏾 I welcome your thoughts also.

#teamnatural #wearingmycrown