Woman shows up to work wearing 'horrible wigs' after employer bans her pink hair

Expressing yourself never goes out of style. However, there are some areas where our style doesn't resonate well with people. Many workplaces have rules about clothing, hair, tattoos, piercings, and so on. While most can be followed, some require a huge investment of time and money to change. What do we do in such cases? What approach can we take? @emuhleeebee proposed a hilarious, foolproof plan that does more than simply “follow the rules.”

29-year-old Emily Benschoter has posted a series of videos on TikTok and has gone viral for her innovative way of presenting herself at work. Newsweek conducted an interview with Benschoter (@emuhleeebee) in which she mentioned that she encountered a problem after getting a service job in the hospitality industry. The company had a strict policy that only allowed naturally colored hair. Benschoter, on the other hand, had dark and rich pink hair that was bursting with vibrancy. She mentioned that she got the job without an in-person interview, which explains that her manager had no idea about her hair before hiring her.

However, Benschoter felt she should mention it before her first shift when her manager said it was a total no-go. Faced with the dilemma of having to choose between her job and her hair, she said: “Dyeing my hair for a job that I do 40 hours a week was not an option. I am a person who can express myself and I feel very confident with pink hair, so I came up with a solution to keep the job and my hair.” Her solution? Wigs. Benschoter found it unnecessarily ridiculous to have to hide her personality for a job, so she went all out.

While any other woman would choose the best wig that looks the most natural and fits best, Benschoter mixed things up. She started buying hilarious wigs and wearing them to work, a different one every day. These included bob cuts, punk rock styles, spiky looks, and anything bizarre you can imagine. It goes without saying that Benschoter rocked every one of these looks. Her glamorous confidence even made her go viral, and soon she started sharing the lightheartedness of the situation on TikTok.

The text overlay on one of her videos reads, “If you have pink hair but the company doesn't approve, wear wigs.” The video shows her wearing a blonde wig, sitting in her seat and posing expressively with the wig. She even mentioned in the caption that each wig has a different name. @hicccups said, “Please tell me you're holding the wig the second you get off work just so they know.” @tauxxic commented, “Malicious indulgence.”

In another video, she responded to a commenter who asked her to create a wishlist so her fans could buy her interesting wigs. She shared the various crazy wigs that several commenters left on the list. These included the “founding father” wig, a bald wig, a “peg” wig, and more. Commenters and benschoters alike seem to be excited at the thought of these hilarious wigs. @soupypoos said, “I'm going to need a wig giveaway where you try them on.” @cherrielastrange commented, “Wait, you'll get in trouble for pink hair, but not for these wigs.” @sjmead3 said, “I live for this show, please don't stop.”

Benschoter listened to her fans' comments and wasn't satisfied with that. She said in the interview: “I like my pink hair the most, it's my innermost core. That's why I now deliberately choose crazy wigs that are quite funny.” She regularly posts videos of herself with new wigs and inspiring names, which are more than enough to make customers, colleagues and certainly all internet users gasp with laughter.

You can follow @emuhleebee on TikTok for more lifestyle content.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on September 22, 2023. It has since been updated.