Toxic Positivity By Lyndal Salmon

Hey Hey, It’s Lyndal here, dishing up my controversial hot pineapple pizza in the hope to spark an inner dialogue and create some feels. Let’s talk about and Toxic Work Environments.

We’ve all been there. Someone’s having a bad day and we say, “Just stay positive!” or “Be grateful for what you have!” or “The only way is up” (blah, blah, blah). Sound familiar? This is just a surface scratch on Toxic Positivity.

Another type of Toxic Positivity linked to workplaces can be the overachieving staff member. Firing off emails at 10pm and texting colleagues non-stop (yes, I’m fully guilty of this!!) totally disregarding the receiver’s personal time and space; potentially making them feel inadequate and lessthan… Then being praised for these actions.

What I want to talk about today is Toxic Positivity in the Creative World, more specifically The Hair Game.

Do we reward those that go above and beyond? Well, yeah, that’s what we are meant to do. Do we cheer on the people who invest all their time into their craft? Well, yeah, they obviously love what they do and are committed to their work.

But is this the best measure of what makes a champion? What about everyone else?

If you want to be creative, then you often do it “outside” work hours. If you want to develop your profile, you must commit to longer days and longer nights. If you want to strive for greatness, you must sacrifice other important parts of your life.

But hang on, what if I live in the outer suburbs and I don’t drive? What if I care for my elderly parents after work? What about my little children and or partners? And what happens to people with X,Y and Z that are disadvantaged in our industry? Are we missing a huge chunk of creative amazing people with our current mentality?

It’s a standard vibe that if you wanna be creative you do the work, you sacrifice weekends, you assist your ass off in the hope of developing your own skills. But what happens to those out there that can’t do that? How do we make space and opportunity for them? I suspect there are creatives out there with a passion for hair that maybe we don’t see.

Have we been rewarding selfishness and toxic work environments? Are these measures of creative greatness only elevating a particular type of person? Are we ensuring that creative opportunities are going to everyone who want them?

If this is all making you feel awkward, then I say lean in and start looking around! If we sit and feel awkward about these topics collectively, we may just come up with new and amazing ways to motivate, accelerate and mentor the industry.

What makes a champion in your eyes? Is that pathway accessible for everyone?

Xx Lyndal

PS. I wanna make it very clear... I don’t have answers to the above questions, and I don’t eat hot pineapple on pizza. But I figure, if enough people collectively start asking these types of questions, then maybe we can challenge the status quo. Maybe we can rejuvenate the hair industry with fresh minds and hands.