As a tall skinny girl I was always used to being labeled, and when I started modelling, labels were something I just had to deal with. I knew that every girl I met would label me as arrogant and superficial.
“How could my past I used to be proud of become something I wished nobody knew about?”
To be honest, it never really bothered me because I knew that once they get to know me they would realize that I am quite the opposite. When I started my first “real” job at a publishing house I knew that people would label me, but I never thought it would affect me in a way that would make me cry.
One day my female boss came up to me and said: “The women here are mean and they will treat you differently because you used to be a model. I think you will have to prove yourself even more because they will be extra hard on you.” With that said, she walked away; that was it. My heart dropped and I felt like somebody just punched me in the face. I walked over to my friend and immediately started crying. How could my past I used to be proud of become something I wished nobody knew about?
‘I have to use their judgment as a motivation and prove them wrong; show them that I am hard working, funny and nice’
There are basically two ways to deal with being labeled. You can hide your past, hide who you are and people will stop judging you, or you can be yourself, start to accept that you might have to prove yourself more than others and get motivated by it. After the conversation I came to realize that I have to use their judgment as a motivation and prove them wrong; show them that I am hard working, funny and nice. And yes, I still wear trendy clothes because I like them! The people I work with sometimes think I look like the mean co-worker from “The Devil Wears Prada”, but I am really more an Andy kind of girl!
Just because you are scared of people judging you, you shouldn’t feel like you have to hide something that you should embrace. People will always find a reason to judge you whether you’re too skinny, too curvy, too trendy or not trendy enough. So whether it’s in the workplace or at home, just be yourself and know that Career Girls come in all shapes, sizes and professions!
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