Welcome to the launch Dresses and Blazers and my first official blog post! Dresses and Blazers is a blog devoted to equipping of professionals achieve success between the hours of 9 to 5. My name is Camille Hall, and as of today I am 27 years old. All that Dresses and Blazers is and will be is wrapped up in who I was, am, and am constantly evolving into. I’ve heard your twenties are the years of self-discovery, set-backs, and refinement. I couldn’t agree more. With the launch of this blog, I’m finally giving myself the permission to be my true self, free of all inhibitions and limitations set by my peers, past, background, and most importantly, myself. Cheers to year 27 and the fruition of a dream becoming reality!
Why I started Dresses and Blazers:
In the four and a half short years I’ve worked as a professional, I’ve achieved some success in the working world – or what most people call “Corporate America”. In the semester prior to graduation I landed a Wall Street internship at the number-one investment bank in the world, Goldman Sachs. Although this is a notable achievement for anyone, this was especially outstanding for someone of my background: an African American woman with a GPA in the low 3’s, attending a state school (AKA “non-target”), with no prior corporate internship experience. Even typing that seems like a hoax and I’m the one that actually lived it! Some people would call this a miracle, nothing short of an act of God. Others would refer to it as pure luck. I have a different opinion. If you’re interested, keep reading.
The success of my Wall Street internship materialized into a full time role at Barclay’s Investment Bank here in Houston, Texas. That eventually lead to an opportunity to work and travel as a Software Consultant and eventually a Pricing Analyst at one of the largest Retail Energy companies in the US. Most people look at my life and say “Welp, that’s just Camille being Camille. She’s just got it.” What they’re actually saying is “you’re a unicorn that doesn’t actually exist and therefore I don’t have to compare myself, or my success, to you”. My opinion? I am NOT a unicorn (obviously, I know). To some I am, but I don’t have to be. To view me or anyone else who’s achieved success as something as unrealistic as a unicorn severely undermines all the hard work, strategic movement, and pure grit it takes to achieve and experience the preliminary levels of success I have (I’m just getting started!). In essence I’m saying this: I’m normal, just like everyone else.
On Dresses and Blazers I will attempt to dispel the “unicorn” perspective and uncover the intricate details, strategies, and power moves taken along my journey. In other words, I’m gonna write, teach, and tell you what really went down and how you can make it work for you too.
I was also inspired about the lack of material in the cyber world (inspirational and practical) geared toward the success of working woman in the realm of the 9 to 5. There are an abundance of brands, blogs, and Instagram accounts devoted to the Girl Boss/CEO/Entrepreneur movement. There are very few however, that address the working woman . Specifically, the woman still working for someone else.
Okay. Why did you choose Dresses and Blazers as the name?
Although this blog is not strictly for women, it is geared toward, and written from a woman’s perspective. The picture of a corporate male at the top of his game is always wearing a suit. To me, an equivalent statement for the woman is a power dress, paired with a blazer. Women of course can wear pants suits, we do it all the time. My personal motto is, however, “In a world full of Suits, be a Dress.” (paired with a blazer 😉 ).
So what do you plan to address?
Dresses and Blazers is broken up into 5 core focuses. I believe each of these are necessary and purposeful to the mission of DAB.
- Career – Conquering Corporate: In all blogs tagged under the career category, you will read about various topics that encompasses the working world in effort to empower and equip you to implement and achieve success in your own life and career journey.
- Style – NineToFive/OutOfOffice: One of my favorite parts about working as a professional is what I call “corporate style” or “workplace wear”. I believe part of bringing your best self to work is looking and feeling your best. How you dress has the power to determine how you feel, how you carry yourself, and ultimately, how you work. My personal workplace style was made famous by the Amal Clooney’s, Jessica Pearson’s & Rachel Zane’s of the world (heyy Suit’s fans 😊 ). The OutOfOffice section will showcase my style when I’m not responding to e-mails, going to meetings, or stressing about the next deadline 😊.
- Skirts & Blouses – Undergrad Series: The foundations of my career path and journey were shaped and molded during a time when I was broke, confused, uninformed, and stressed – all attributes of the typical college student. This section of the blog is meant to be a guide and mentor to the pre-professionals.
- Lifestyle –Self Care and Travel: Although we spend a gang of our time at our jobs, I truly believe in the “work to live, not live to work” mantra. I believe in order to be at your best during the 9 to 5 hours, you must practice self-care and engage in fulfilling life experiences away from office.
What you can expect:
- Practicality – There’s no such thing as an overnight success. The methods, strategies, and counsel presented in this blog are meant to equip you to take the steps needed to achieve success for yourself. Your life will not change from reading a blog post. Your life will change when you implement what you’ve learned.
- Proven, actionable, strategies and tactics – Everything I write on has been tested and proven to work in my life, in the life of a peer, or mentor. I do not believe in promoting or teaching on subjects matters in which you lack actual experience.
- True stories from all my wild, educational, experiences – Experiences like that one time I cried in front of my boss, because I wanted to be on a project (stay tuned people). Or, that other time I had to tell my Italian co-worker it wasn’t okay to use the n-word, even if he wasn’t talking about me specifically. Again, stay tuned folks.
Thank you for visiting, reading, and being a part of this journey. I’m elated to have you involved in this community. This is just the beginning, and there is so much more to come. If you liked what you read, drop a comment below and share this post. Subscribe at the bottom of this page so you don’t miss a beat. I’m looking forward to engaging with you. Dresses and Blazers won’t be the same without you!
