Body Mods in Sales ๐Ÿ‘€

I was once upon a time, a professional body piercer for many years.
I take out all of my facial piercings for calls/interviews/meetings but I still have some light tattoos on my ears apart from the noticeable holes.ย 
I am curious how many/if any of y'all are modified in some form as well?
I also have not had my appearance negatively impact my performance within a company/closing a deal.
I have, however, had companies turn my away during the interview process in the past.

Tattoos and piercings?

Attached poll
*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.
๐Ÿ™ Corporate Experiences
๐Ÿฑ Off-Topic
๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚ Poll
19
SaaSam
Politicker
7
Account Executive
I don't have any. I change my mind too much to make any kind of permanent decision.

I totally get the allure though, at least with tattoos. Some of the tattoos my friends have are awesome.

As far as body mods affecting your career, it'll pretty much always affect someone's initial impression of you. Sometimes negatively sometimes positively.

Humans are first and foremost visual creatures. The first sense that is triggered for us is almost always sight. So, that's where we begin to form opinions. Those opinions change but they practically always start at sight.

If we were dogs, we'd begin forming our opinions about someone first based on smell. Interviewers would judge you more based on your choice of cologne, detergent, shampoo, or body wash than they would your choice of hairstyle or piercings. Kind of a neat thing to think about for me actually.

Come to think of it, smell makes way more sense as a way of judging someone than sight. So much more can be determined about someone by subtle differences in the way they smell than by how they look. Probably why dogs typically make great judges of character.

ADHD sidetrack over.
Link
Executive
2
Regional Sales Rep
As a fellow attention deficient individual; I appreciate your sidetrack
braintank
Politicker
6
Enterprise Account Executive
I have a tattoo but it's covered during normal course of business. I've worked with plenty of people who have tattoos, piercings, bold hair colors, etc.
Link
Executive
3
Regional Sales Rep
One day I do want to get my throat done, and I will forever be โ€œturtleneck guyโ€
sketchysales
Politicker
3
Sales Manager
if you tattoo actual turtle images to your neck you will have my eternal respect.
Link
Executive
2
Regional Sales Rep
My commitment to jokes truly knows no bounds, donโ€™t tempt me
sketchysales
Politicker
2
Sales Manager
๐Ÿ‘€
NoSuperhero
Politicker
2
BDR LEAD
I'm the same, I have like 3 joke tattoos on my hahaha, they are great.
Link
Executive
0
Regional Sales Rep
Me: โ€œwhen I am already the jokeโ€
CuriousFox
WR Officer
5
๐ŸฆŠ
I have a piercing or two. Can't commit to tattoos.
Link
Executive
5
Regional Sales Rep
As someone with alot; I have some ragrets lol
CuriousFox
WR Officer
4
๐ŸฆŠ
I like you.
Link
Executive
1
Regional Sales Rep
Ditto! ๐Ÿ˜
NoSuperhero
Politicker
1
BDR LEAD
X2
LordOfWar
Tycoon
5
Blow it up
Ink, not a lot, but some and it is hidden with a long sleeve shirt.

More and more I'm thinking it doesn't matter and if some boomer doesn't like it then we shouldn't give them the privilege of buying from us.
Link
Executive
2
Regional Sales Rep
Heyoooooooo, wouldnโ€™t it be nice
LordOfWar
Tycoon
3
Blow it up
Don't let your dreams be dreams....
jefe
Arsonist
4
๐Ÿ
Tattoo on my shoulder blade and cartilage piercing on one ear.

Had one boss question my old boss about it, but that was fucking ridiculous. The guy was a toxic dinosaur, should've paid attention to the red flag and avoided a brutal workplace.
Link
Executive
2
Regional Sales Rep
Mine was when the CEO requested that I changed my LinkedIn picture to not show any of my tattoos and piercings.
He also was an intern before he was a CEO but thatโ€™s a story for another time lol..
jefe
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ
I can see a little merit for that one, depending on audience, but it's still some bullshit.

And you'll have to post that story some time.
NoSuperhero
Politicker
2
BDR LEAD
The funny thing is my active manager right now told me last week that he doubted hiring me at first when we first met, the tattoos were too visible and he didn't know what type of person I'll be. After the first 5 mins, he knew he needed to hire me. LOL, the world works in mysterious ways.
jefe
Arsonist
1
๐Ÿ
That it does
Link
Executive
0
Regional Sales Rep
Itโ€™s a sad truth. I had a third round interview once upon a time with a technical recruitment coordinator who told me; โ€œyea, they asked me to interview you ALSO for some reasonโ€ฆ? Something about โ€˜would love to hear your thoughts on this guy?โ€™..I mean, you have the backgroundโ€ฆyou seem like a good fitโ€”โ€œ
Me; โ€œits the tattoos and piercingsโ€
Him: โ€œyea itโ€™s probably the tattoos and piercingsโ€
Me: โ€œi can tone it down, easy stuffโ€
Him: โ€œyea youโ€™ll probably want to tone it down if we get ya the position lolโ€

I didnโ€™t land that one but I decided to always go into my interviews as โ€œpassingโ€ as possible from that day forward lol
TennisandSales
Politicker
4
Head Of Sales
im generally naked from the waist down most days now

no one seems to care.
Link
Executive
3
Regional Sales Rep
Donโ€™t tell anyone, but underneath all these clothes, iโ€™m entirely naked too.
TennisandSales
Politicker
1
Head Of Sales
๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚
saasbaby
Politicker
2
SDR
I have a calf sleeve tattoo honoring my parents, ear tattoo on both sides, shoulder tattoo of Roman numberals for my anniversary, and a small wrist tattoo. I took out my piercings but I occasionally wear earrings. None have affected my career, thankfully.
Link
Executive
0
Regional Sales Rep
Rad!!
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
2
Officer of โ™ฅ๏ธ
Naked and afraid here
Link
Executive
0
Regional Sales Rep
๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
None here either, but I've noticed that great sales reps are great sales reps, regardless of physical characteristics.
Link
Executive
0
Regional Sales Rep
Lookatchu coming through with your wise words of wisdom and whatever, shucks
Filth
Politicker
2
Live Filthy or Die Clean
I'm bearded and scarred - was raised pretty anti mods, nothing against them personally, but the rents did a good job of making me critically think anything I would do to the temple and then dismiss it.

Scars are just as cool and expensive (if not more so) as ink and I don't have to think about what I want it to look like beforehand lol.
Link
Executive
1
Regional Sales Rep
Interesting you brought this up as scarification was one of the things I was getting good at before stepping away from the piercing world.
I actually did a small piece on someone recently โ€” I still got it ๐Ÿ˜
Filth
Politicker
2
Live Filthy or Die Clean
OOO like you can actually design things and execute with scars? shit I never thought about that. I was just referring to my "if you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough" lifestyle choices.

Shit sounds good as hell!
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
1
Bravado's Resident Asshole
I have a tattoo, but it's not anywhere that people can see without taking my shirt off.
bassinshaps
Politicker
1
Territory Sales Manager
Not a single piercing here. Although I have stuck myself with a fish hook past the barb a few more times than I would have liked. PS- if it happens to you, yank it out with 65lb braid or push it through. Not worth the wait in the ER.
Link
Executive
1
Regional Sales Rep
Useful tips I never knew I needed to know ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ
bassinshaps
Politicker
1
Territory Sales Manager
Hahaha waiting in an ER with a hook stuck to your thigh ainโ€™t it.
NoSuperhero
Politicker
1
BDR LEAD
30+ tattoos at the moment, I lost count after reaching the 30 mark. :D
Link
Executive
0
Regional Sales Rep
WHATโ€™S GOOD FAM
MeowMeow
Politicker
1
Senior Enterprise Account Executive
I wish I realized tattoos meant people would try and talk to me about tattoos. I would have never have gotten a single one.

Iโ€™m fairly covered and it makes interviewing an absolute nightmare now. I find the highest zip idiot looking polo, pretend my house is freezing, and make sure my note taking hand never appears in the camera. Itโ€™s a mess.

Itโ€™s kind of wild that companies are still afraid to hire people that look a bit different. Like ok Karen, your embroidered cardigan is an absolute abomination of style and sophistication but go off about how that flower tattoo has personally victimized you.
Link
Executive
1
Regional Sales Rep
Careful, I hear tattoos spread from skin to skin contact
BlueJays2591
Politicker
1
Federal Business Dev Director
I have two full sleeves. Prior military. Hasn't been an issue and rarely cover them up.
Pachacuti
Politicker
0
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
What you do with your body is your choice but there are still consequences to those choices. Most companies have an image they want to project. Facial tats and excessive/extreme piercings usually donโ€™t fall within the image they want to project.

But Iโ€™m sure you knew this when you got them, right?
7

Sales and Dieting

Question
14
16

Beards in Sales

Question
23
Are Beards Professional?
71% Yes
7% No
22% Depends - Comment Below
126 people voted
9

Please Help Remove The Word JUST From My Vocabulary - Intentional Sales Language

Advice
14