A short opinion piece by Cameron Herold arguing that workplace policies should allow visible tattoos. He recommends modernizing dress codes (proposes “Tattoo Tuesday”), encourages employees to openly display tattoos and share them on social media, and links this stance to a broader, relaxed view of professional attire (e.g., criticizing ties and promoting a ‘first-date’ dress-code rule).
Chapters
All right, so this may be a little bit controversial, but when haven't I been controversial, right? I pretty much just say what's on my mind. And I guess those who matter don't mind. And those who mind don't matter. So here are my thoughts on tattoos at work. And I would go so far as to say that this is for for every business. So I was just speaking with the CEO that I coach and I've been working with them for about six, 16 months. He's just hired another 18 to 20 people and he just lost a key employee because of what I'm going to suggest you all do as your policy. So starting today for his company, I'm pretty sure it's going to be announced today. He's going to change his policy based on my recommendation that it's now Tattoo Tuesday because it's 2021 and he used to have a policy that you couldn't wear tattoos to work and if they were greater than like one square inch, you had to cover them. And I'm like, dude, are you kidding? Like first off, I don't have a tattoo, but that's really dated. You know, I was at yoga this morning, 6am yoga, and of the 12 people there, I'd say 10 of them had tattoos. And I'm in the really high net worth area of Scottsdale right now and like, tattoos are normal. So Even though I'm 55 and I don't have one yet, maybe I will. Yeah, people should be allowed to wear tattoos at work every day and you shouldn't have to cover them. And we're used to it, we've seen it, we are okay with it. And you know, IBM banned the tie back in 1990 or 1989. They stopped requiring people to wear a tie. I think stop requiring people to cover up their tattoos as well. Get over ourselves. This is not our dad's company that we're running anymore. This is not our grandparents era that we're in anymore. We've all seen enough tattoos now that we don't even blink. And so stop telling people that they have to cover them. I think it's stupid. And if you want to have tattoos, show them. So what I suggested to him was Tattoo Tuesday now is they're going to ask people to display their tattoos, like wear shorts, wear sleeveless tops, whatever. Let's actually share them on social media, let's proudly display them. And, and he's in a specific industry. I'm not going to reveal the industry yet, but because of his product or service it's kind of unique. If any of his clients have a product on their body tattooed, he's also going to give them some free services as well. So anyway, loud and proud. Display your tattoos, man. Show us what you got. Totally cool with it. I think it is completely dated and completely silly that people are trying to cover it up for work. I think it's dumb. So there's my thoughts. Show them. We're kind of past the dress code now. In terms of dress code. I've always said it's a first date dress code, right? If you're not going to wear it on a first date, don't wear it to work. And then hire people that have, you know, reasonably normal first dates. You know, you don't want to have the ripped, tattered jeans or, you know, grimy old sweatpants coming to work. That's fine. And even if you're working over zoom and you're working remotely, show your tattoos, wear normal clothes. Have fun while you're doing what you're doing and making people feel stupid. By the way, I also think that anybody who's wearing a tie looks ridiculous. You're no longer showing that you're important. You're actually showing that you're impotent. It's ridiculous. We all know this whole dress for Success era that you had to wear a tie to make yourself look important, but the reality is you're not looking important. We're trying to figure out who the real you is, people behind the tie. So let's take off the tie, let's show the tattoos, let's have some fun. And remember, we're all just walking each other home as well. None of us are getting out of this one alive. So let's have some fun along the journey.
