What Does A Big Chop Have To Do With Your Career Success? Maybe Everything.

Take inspiring examples like that of Joy Reid, award-winning journalist and author who, earlier this year, was fired from MSNBC where she was host of The ReidOut after serving in the role for five years, tackling real conversations around race, equity, culture, and the U.S. systems minorities are constantly navigating.

Throughout the show’s time—as many of us do in the workplace—Joy Reid wore her hair in a plethora of styles, from tapered curly 'dos, to chin-length waves, to braided extensions. This was all while being the first Black woman to anchor a primetime cable news show, winning awards, and raking in top ratings at the onset.

The fallout of her MSNBC departure was public, and Joy unapologetically shared, via a recorded Zoom call, that she'd “been through every emotion, from anger, rage, disappointment, hurt.” Since then, according to a recent interview, she’s fully leaned into the short blond natural she’d debuted on MSNBC last year, and still proudly rocks it while hosting The Joy Reid Show podcast, which launched this June. “I finally did it, and I love it, and it’s so fun,” she said in the interview. “I think we’ve been so kind of tormented about our hair as Black women, and our hair has always been political. It used to be illegal for us to wear braids—or not illegal, but people could fire you for wearing braids.”

“I definitely had the anxiety of, how is this going to go over? You know, go over with my audience. And so we think about it all,” she continued, adding that she feels free.

There’s a specific kind of emotional alchemy that happens when Black women cut their hair, especially in a career transition.

Whether it’s walking away from a toxic workplace, stepping into entrepreneurship, or pivoting into a more purpose-aligned path, the big chop becomes a visible, visceral declaration: I am not who I was when I started this job. Hell, I’m not defined by a job—period.

Joy joins many other powerful Black women who have shown the world that short hair can be both evolutionary and revolutionary in one’s personal and professional life. Halle Berry, Toni Braxton, Rihanna, Yvonne Orji, Solange, Grace Jones, Keke Palmer—they all took bold, very public steps that redefine what self-care, healing and thriving can look like. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley publicly shared her challenges with alopecia in 2020 and has since continued to proudly embrace her bald head as part of her in-office style.

These women didn’t need a haircut to shine—the talent was already there. But let’s be real: Grace, Halle, and Toni’s iconic short haircuts didn’t just turn heads, they turned their careers up a notch. The crown wasn’t the source, but it was a spotlight. A fresh cut can’t make you—but it sure can let the world know you’ve arrived.

I recently went back to short and natural after a stretch of wearing wigs and extensions and losing clients left and right due to diversity budget cuts. I’ve had to make a major pivot in my career, and it’s hard enough rewriting resumes, tweaking proposals, rebounding from constant rejection, and piecing my mental health back together after constantly second-guessing why I don’t just give up and do something cyber-based and strange for a lil’ change.

The last thing I need right now—in this economy and wacky job market—is high-maintenance hair. Happily, it’s just curls, water, gel, and go—a sharp, short TWA that keeps me grounded and makes me pop. No stress, all presence.

So, if you’re on the professional edge (literally and figuratively), wondering why you’re stuck in a wacky Twilight Zone episode in your career, think about letting that hair go.

It’s true: A big chop is no magic wand to cure all your job search or career advancement woes. And it by no means will reverse the troubling socioeconomic and political conditions we’re living in right now. The dilemmas many of us are facing are harsh, terrifying and exhausting. Yes.

But if you’re constantly hitting career walls and you’re at your wits end, maybe your scalp deserves a bit of sunlight. In 2025, the big chop isn’t a breakdown—it’s a supporting character in your career breakthrough. And it’s reminding us—Black women— that we can reintroduce ourselves at any length. No warning. No permission. Just vibes, clippers, and clarity.

Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.