EY: My Hair Story
The “My Hair Story” video disrupted the status quo when it comes to diversity events hosted by companies as big as Ernst & Young. It was raw, honest and provided a platform for black women and men to share their hair experiences within the workplace. Hosted by the NYC office Black Professional Network and Women’s Professional Network, in less than 6 minutes 6 black women and 2 black males shared a glimpse of their hair story in Corporate America that reached a global audience. It started dialogue, challenged corporate leaders to recognize their unconscious biases and celebrated the variety of hairstyles within black culture.
The video highlights the emotional and physical tax that black women and men face in order to fit into Corporate America. A lady in the video mentioned that after her manager found out how long it takes her to do her hair he mentioned, “we must not be giving you enough work.” It is these types of comments from co-workers, classmates, professors, family and even mentors that make the experience of wearing your hair in it’s natural state traumatizing.
The video was only one aspect of “My Hair Story,” it was also accompanied by an event. Hosted in Ernst & Young’s NYC office, the event included a panel discussion with the following special guests:
Jane Carter, Founder of Jane Carter Solutions
Tracy Dumas, Professor at The Ohio State University and Co-Author of The Hair Dilemma
Brande Victorian, Managing Editor of MadamNiore
Several articles were shared via LinkedIn after posting including the following:
Click the pictures below to see feedback and reactions from the video posted on LinkedIn.
As a member of the Black Professional Network (BPN) Steering Committee at her previous employer, Ernst & Young LLP, Mariah lead the “My Hair Story” initiative from ideation to execution. The thoughts and opinions in this article are Mariah’s and not EY. Rights to the video content belong to Ernst & Young.