I spend $800 on my hair every quarter and invest in dresses, heels, and makeup. They're all part of my professional confidence.

Cierra Desmaratti says she has struggled to embrace her feminine style while being taken seriously at work. Courtesy of Cierra Desmaratti Cierra Desmaratti says beauty matters in the corporate world as an actuarial analyst. She spends $800 on her hair every three months and gets her makeup professionally done for events. Moving to Miami helped her embrace her authentic style and feel more confident at work. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Cierra Desmaratti, a 27-year-old actuarial analyst based in Miami. It's been edited for length and clarity. As an actuarial analyst , I've felt a lot of pressure to be viewed as competent. I'm a very feminine person, and I've grappled with how to express my feminine sense of style without undermining how seriously people take me.