Do people look at you and think…

This is a very personal one for me today, it comes from a conversation I had with a friend who has only known me since I’ve been running Spinning Plates and has therefore only known this version of me which is a very very different Danielle from the corporate one I was before.

We were chatting about perception, he works in quite a manual (but technical) role and visits customers in their homes to install things, he’s got quite a northern accent and I know that he’s had instances in the past where people have assumed he is a certain way because of the way he speaks or looks or the job he does. He was telling me a story on that particular day which led him to ask me the question “do people assume you’re a certain way because of what you do?”

I had to think for a minute. People often see the word ‘assistant’ or ‘secretary’ and make certain assumptions but for me that’s never been the case. I have an open, friendly personality and I love meeting people so I know (I’ve been told) that that comes across when I meet people. I’ve never worried that I’ve been underestimated because of my job title.

However, it did make me think back to when I was in my corporate career and assumptions that were made then. I remember being discounted in meetings of a technical nature because I was female and I refused to dress down, I remember having people call me ‘heartless’ or ‘icy’ because my job was a guardian role where saying no was an everyday occurrence, I remember being told I was scary just because I was good at what I did, I remember one horrible incident where someone complained about me because I dressed inappropriately (I didn’t by the way, I just refused to hide my shape, my style or my personality). I know I was overlooked, talked down to or marginalised at times in my career but there were also times when it worked to my advantage (I was great at negotiating when people underestimated me!) and there were hundreds of people I came across who knew how good I was, that what I said what important, that I had opinions and ideas.

I know that towards the end I became a more watered-down version of myself because of everything I had experienced, and I didn’t like that. When I left that world, I made a conscious effort to find myself again and I’ve never regretted that for a single moment – my business thrives because of me and who I am. People may still make assumptions about me, but I no longer care – I know who I am and I know what I do and I’m incredibly proud of those things.

Finding your voice, your personality, your ‘real you’ is what makes you great so don’t ever be afraid to go looking.