Ponytail Presence

My feet don't touch the floor in the chairs. My legs actually swing freely, even with heels on my feet. I look around the table and realize I am the youngest person there by more than 15 years. I wonder if anyone else notices the age gap. As I speak, I hear my voice and cringe. I sound like a kid. No wonder they're looking at me like that. I imagine they see an eight year old girl with pigtails giving a presentation in the boardroom.

Shhhhh, little girl.

I hear the song from Sesame Street playing in my head.

Which one of these is not like the other...

I clear my throat and continue my presentation. The baracuda interrupts with a question. I give an answer which the baracuda sees as unacceptable and rolls her eyes. In my head, I toss daggers at her but in reality, I smile politely and ask if there are any other questions. There are not. We move on to the next slide in the Powerpoint presentation and someone questions a few figures. I'm aware the questions are landmines and I proceed with caution. My answers seem to be sufficient for the person asking and I exhale a little.

Whew.

I finish my presentation and am asked to follow up on a few items, which I commit to doing. As I'm leaving, the baracuda pulls me aside.

"If you're ever going to move up in this company, you need to ditch the ponytail."

Critique my presentation. Give me feedback on my data. Let me know you think my style needs work. But don't ever give me hair advice while you sport that lovely circa-1988, hommage to Debbie Gibson hairdo.

"Um, ok. "

Five years and countless presentations later, my hair is pulled up in a ponytail today.

Oh, and the ponytail and I got a big, fat promotion today.

And for those of you wondering, the baracuda left three years ago...and she took her bad hair with her.