Octavia Goredema is a career coach and author who has distinguished herself as a go-to source for underrepresented professionals looking to advance their careers.

She's coached leaders at renowned companies including Google, Nike, American Airlines and Dow Jones. Her insights have been featured in CNN, Forbes and The Los Angeles Times, and she has co-hosted and produced "HBR Now," Harvard Business Review's weekly show on leadership.

But early in her career, Goredema often faced a form of discrimination that many other Black women also experience.

"Prior to becoming a career coach and author, there were occasions where I've had to handle unsolicited comments or suggestions about my hair in the workplace," said Goredema, who has worn her hair in braids for many years. "Unconscious racial basis isn't always vocalized. It can be subtle, which doesn't diminish the impact."

Black women are 30 percent more likely than other women to receive a formal grooming policy and to be sent home due to their hairstyle in the workplace, according to a 2019 study by personal care company Dove.

In 2019, Dove partnered with social justice organizations National Urban League, Color of Change and Western Center on Law and Poverty to launch the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Coalition.

This alliance aims to create a more equitable and inclusive experience for Black people through the advancement of the CROWN Act—a law that prohibits discrimination based on hair...

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