Jessica Leonard got a pleasant surprise when it came time to take professional modeling” target=”_blank”>headshots< with a blazer, her boss gave her the OK to display her intricate sleeve tattoos “loud and proud,” according to a genres LinkedIn post she shared.
The post, which features side-by-side headshot photos of Leonard with and sans blazer, has received more than 31,550 reactions on the career development website. It also sparked conversations from thousands of LinkedIn users who have different views on tattoos in the workplace.
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Leonard, 36, began working at Evolution Capital Partners – a Cleveland-based private equity firm, in September 2021.
Jessica Leonard got a pleasant surprise when it came time to take professional headshots for her new role at Evolution Capital Partners.
(Wetzler Studios)
When Leonard met with a photographer to update her professional headshots for her new role as partner, she asked her managing partner if she had permission to take a photo with her blazer on for the firm’s use and a photo without her blazer for personal use on LinkedIn. To Leonard’s surprise, Evolution Capital Partners was more than happy to use her fully-visible tattoo photo on the company website.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Leonard said, “I was honestly shocked. I had grown accustomed to wearing long sleeves in the heat of summer, to tugging on my suit coat sleeves in every meeting, to pulling my hair around my ear so no one would get a glimpse of the small tattoo behind my ear, to avoiding getting any leg or ankle tattoos for fear of never being able to wear a skirt again in a business setting. Very often, I simply felt that I needed to be careful about when I was being too freely me.”
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Tattoos have become more common in the U.S. as an increasing number of people seek out body ink to express themselves. Industry market research firm IBISWorld estimates that 46% of family-and-friends” target=”_blank”>Americans<
An open-to-the-public LinkedIn News poll from June 2021 sought feedback from users about tattoos in the workplace.
Out of the 24,439 poll respondents, 64% voted that they think tattoos are OK at work and are “normal at this point,” 10% voted that they think tattoos aren’t OK at work and “are unprofessional” and 26% voted that they’re on the fence about the topic and it would depend on whether the tattoos are visible.
When Jessica Leonard met with a photographer to update her professional headshots for her new role as partner, she asked her managing partner if she had permission to take a photo with her blazer on for the firm’s use and a photo without her blazer for personal use on LinkedIn.
(Jessica Leonard)
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“The pandemic ushered in an entirely new era of working with the dramatic rise in working from home,” LinkedIn Career Expert Drew McCaskill told Fox. “Through video conferencing, we got a window into our teammate’s homes and, oftentimes, the more personal aspects of their lives for the first time ever and this sparked a huge shift in what we think of as ‘professional,’ and personal style – things like tattoos, casual wear – has been a big part of that conversation.”
McCaskill continued, “It’s a great time to discuss what you want at work and that includes culture. There is no one-size-fits all for someone’s career journey, because everyone’s background, story, identity and goals are unique to them – the best thing to do is have a conversation with your manager and ask them openly.”
