To dye or not to dye, that is the question

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Different for women?
Others disagree — especially when it comes to women.

Risdahl, an entrepreneur and TV and radio producer in Laramie, Wyo., first colored her hair after founding an Internet firm in the early ’90s and realizing gray didn’t fit the image of a young, hip company. While keeping her gray for long periods since then, she dyed her hair brown again recently for an appearance on camera.

Some might question the need to switch back and forth, but she heard enough private comments as a consultant on a hiring team to convince her anti-gray discrimination is for real in business.

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“Women who are gray are considered 'tired' or 'old' or ... 'She’s not going to fit in,'" Risdahl said. Gray-haired men, on the other hand, are seen as “seasoned,” “experienced” or “distinguished,” she said.

“It’s so subtle in a sense, because no one ever talks about it. I just think that we look at the gray hairs as making women lesser.”

Kathy Kolbe, a Phoenix-based public speaker and consultant to corporations on human instincts, is one of the comparatively few gray-haired women in business. After alternating between dyed and not, she declares herself now “permanently gray” after concluding it is an advantage in more ways than one.

She noticed she got lots of offers of help on her business travels when gray peeked through — from hoisting bags into overhead bins on airplanes to other assistance — and “pretty much nobody offered help” when it was hidden.

“So I let the whole head go gray and, voila, doors magically opened,” said Kolbe, 65.

She senses the “look of wisdom” also has a positive impact on both employees and clients.

Addressing gray-hair whispers boldly, Scott Kane named his Deerfield, Ill.-based executive coaching and networking firm Gray Hair Management when he founded it in 2000. The move came with the dot-com era starting to unravel and after his son’s boss told him, “There are a lot of young companies out there that need some gray hair.”

Kane, 59, now touts what a senior manager or “grayhair” can offer — knowledge and experience — regardless of actual hair color. His own hair: blond-gray.

“Sometimes my clients come to me and say, 'You think I should be dyeing my hair black?”’ he said. “We say, you need to do what you makes you comfortable, but we don’t think it’s going to make an impact on your ability to sell yourself as a provider.”

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