Monday Motivation: Updating Your Look

Monday Motivation, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs Female Business Owners

“I need to see your driver’s license,” the person the checkout counter said. “Really, I’m 57 years old, are you sure you need it for this purchase?” I replied.  As I dug through the cards in my wallet, I saw my favorite driver’s license headshot, the one from the early 2000s, when I was the thinnest, I’ve ever been with shoulder length curly dark brown hair, my favorite style. I smiled at the photo remembering my younger self, than pulled out the one with my steroid bloated face with uncomfortable wig on taken because the DMV made me replace my license in the middle of an illness.

“Do I look okay in this photo,” I asked the blank faced DMV employee just trying to get to the next person in line? “Sure,” she said. I remember thinking I must look good since she said so. To this day, when I pull out the license, I dislike the image and always give an explanation about it since most times now as a bald woman, I only have a pink hat on my head and no hair, eyebrows, or eyelashes. “This is me but I have a wig on,” I am compelled to say every time I show it. Strange, I know.

These memories are bubbling up today because I have two photo shoots this week – I know – watch out Heidi Klum. One for the cover of a popular Central New York magazine were I’m the feature story about my 26-year commitment to women entrepreneurs, lessons on living with alopecia, and my new life goal of trying every sport once in my lifetime.

The second photo shoot is one I scheduled a couple months ago because my old professional headshots of having a full head of thick brown hair isn’t me anymore. As much as I wish, I could use those old photos for my consistent PR efforts to speak and lead, I can’t; I’ve outlived them. I didn’t need the DMV to tell me I needed to move on from my younger, healthier, more glorious-looking self. If we could all hold on to our favorite photos and images of ourselves forever, I think we would.

So, today’s Monday Motivational post is for anyone that can’t let go of their youthful headshots, former images and logos, or past time ideals of themselves, to be your own DMV personnel and get a move on into the next century of your professional life with images that reflect you and your company’s current mission, services, products, or customers. We can’t hang on to the past forever, no matter how hard we want to, we must embrace change – in whatever form that takes – and realize we’ll look back someday on this day and say, “I looked pretty darn good then, why was I so doubtful?”