Jon Feingersh Photography Inc / Getty Images By Donnetta Monk ·Updated February 24, 2026 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

During my first year in corporate, I was taken aback when my coworker made an off-hand comment. He mentioned that my many different hair>CROWN research study revealed that Black women’s hair is two-and-a-half times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional. And, for many of us, that’s not just a statistic, it’s our reality. 

As we celebrate Black History Month, ESSENCE is highlighting five Black women who are breaking glass ceilings and rewriting the narrative in the corporate space. These professionals share how they navigate hair routines, workplace perception, and identity in today’s corporate landscape.

The Blue Print 

Black women have always silently balanced (battled) corporate perceptions of their natural hair. In the early 80s and 90s, there were no protections like the CROWN act to guard against workplace discrimination for young professionals like Patricia Wilson. Advancing in your career meant assimilating to euro centric standards. 

“Before we had to really assimilate to our [white] counterparts, wearing naturalsrc=”https://media.essence.com/vxcjywbwpa/uploads/2026/02/Patricia-Wilson-Photo-Option.jpg” alt=”Black Women Are Rewriting The Corporate Natural Hair Narrative” width=”400″ height=”689″ />

Patricia Wilson’s Tip on Embracing Natural Hair Color: Wilson decided to stop coloring her hair due to its health concerns and began embracing her natural, silver curls. 

The New Executives on Letting The Work Speak For Itself 

Today, Black women are rocking boho braids, sisterlocks, fluffy twists and countless other naturalsrc=”https://media.essence.com/vxcjywbwpa/uploads/2026/02/KeAnna-Jackson.heic” alt=”Black Women Are Rewriting The Corporate Natural Hair Narrative” width=”400″ />

KeAnna Jackson’s Corporate Hair Routine: Jackson is going back to the basics by cutting out high tension hair src=”https://media.essence.com/vxcjywbwpa/uploads/2026/02/Alexis-Johnson-Headshot-scaled.jpeg” alt=”Black Women Are Rewriting The Corporate Natural Hair Narrative” width=”400″ height=”266″ />

Alexis Johnson’s Go-To Hair>studies show that two-thirds of Black women reported that they changed their hair for a job interview, next gen rising stars are leaving that in the past. They are wearing their natural hair in the early stages of the hiring process and showing up authentically themselves. 

“Recently, I was asked “Do you really wear your natural hair to interviews?” And I said, “Yes. What else am I going to do?” says Kaelyn Lowe, Site Communications Lead at Pfizer. “Even if you start with braids or a sew-in, at some point people are going to see your natural hair. Maybe your stylist cancels. Maybe you change yourdecoding=”async” src=”https://media.essence.com/vxcjywbwpa/uploads/2026/02/Kaelyn-Lowe-scaled.jpg” alt=”Black Women Are Rewriting The Corporate Natural Hair Narrative” width=”400″ height=”600″ />

Kaelyn Lowe’s Go To Product: Lowe swears by Design Essentials Almond & Avocado Curl Enhancing Mousse for a bouncy crunchless curl. 

Noelle Allen’s Perfect Work Hair rel=”tag”>black in corporate america natural hair natural hair discrimination

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Author: Akili King

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