I know it has been months since I have posted but I’ve been
extremely busy. Two internships plus classes have taken up the equivalence of a
full-time job. On top of that, I’ve been sick. The beginning of the semester
started with an extremely nasty cold. I got better for maybe a week then I feel
into the pits of a mystery cold-flu combo illness of DOOM. It was not fun.
What was fun was what happened before the semester started.
Over the winter break I got the opportunity to study abroad. LONDON BABY! It was
an amazing experience. Basically we went over and had the opportunity to sit
down with business leaders from all over the field of communications and public
relations. Some of the companies we visited are the industry leaders in public
relations, marketing, and advertising. They have offices across the globe and
they are always doing groundbreaking work. It was unbelievably insightful.
I learned so much from each and every company I visited but
what struck me were the visible differences between the US and London. For
example, businesses in London set us up in really nice boardrooms and gave us
cookies and tea! Who doesn’t like cookies?!?!?! One of them even provided
lunch. Hospitality. I have never gotten that when visiting companies in the
United States. Not only that, but I noticed something a little more relevant to
this blog. Tattoos were out and about in many of the London companies I
visited.
It does depend on the company. One of them we visited is a
very straight-laced, polished, traditional work environment. We did not see
tattoos there. However, three companies
we visited really stuck out in that area. Interesting, these were the three
biggest, most successful, companies out of the lot of them. It was not just the
artists with tattoos! It was account managers and coordinators along with
receptionists and assistants.
I got the chance to talk to a member of one of the company’s
grad-schemes. For the purpose of this blog, I’m going to call her Amy. Amy is
finishing up her grad-scheme at one of the biggest PR/marketing firms in the
world. Once she completes it, she has a job set up there. She has tattoos and
not only that she shows them proudly. I asked if she was showing them because
we were an informal part of her day and she said no, “We do not hide them.”
Ever? “Ever! We don’t put effort into covering them up. As long as they aren’t
offensive, they don’t bother anyone.”
Interesting. That isn’t how it is in America (for the most
part). For the two companies I intern for they request no visible tattoos. One
is more of a stickler on that than the other considering one uses artists that
are completely sleeved up and the other is more of a corporate environment.
Still it was interesting. I made the assumption that when they had meetings
with clients, that is the time when they covered up. I was wrong again, “We
don’t put effort into covering them. When clients come in we dress up and that
might cover some just based on the attire. But no, we don’t focus on them.
There is a woman upstairs with tattoos, half her hair is yellow, the other half
is brown. She goes into meetings with clients. We don’t hide her. Here it’s
more about ideas and the person speaking for themselves. Tattoos don’t seem to
detract from the business because there is so much confidence in the people
here.”
When I shared that it was not like that in the United States
(from what I’ve seen) she was shocked. She even laughed and said, “I thought we
Brits were supposed to be the prudish ones!”
I am in no way saying that what she said was warranted. I
believe companies have every right to make policy on tattoos based on how they
feel it will help them succeed. It’s fair that way. I do find it interesting
what she said about letting the people represent themselves because the company
has that much confidence in them. It was a view I had never noticed. I also get
that the company has to think about clients. Different companies have different
views on them. They might not want someone with tattoos representing them.
Fair. It is the company’s choice. If they are paying for public relations or
marketing representation, they have every right to choose the image they want.
The success of the company Amy works out is even more fascinating
then. They are globally successful. They have the ability to turn down business
if they do so please! People are still going to flock to them for work. The
company just asks that the tattoos aren’t offensive.
Is this something to learn from our allies across the pond?
Is this something the United States is working towards in its own way? Are
tattoos just one of those topics that aren’t culturally accepted yet? How is it
that they are no big deal in one location but in the same industry (even the
same business!!!) in another location they could make or break whether or not
someone is hired?
I’m just a curious person. Thought it was noteworthy.
