I've been following the greying of YLF very closely, and I've told the "Una story" to at least a half dozen friends and family members. This whole idea of embracing the grey is so inspiring, and to me it's also very personal. My mother went grey very early and very dramatically. She had a Jackie O kind of hairstyle: very thick, coarse black hair, and as far back as elementary school I can remember her with a dramatic skunk stripe of silvery grey. It was amazing.

Sadly, I got my father's hair: fine, soft, brown. It is going grey in the weakest way possible. Strand by pathetic strand. So I can't emulate mama or Una.

But here's the thing. I am 51, and I am continuing to color my hair. I get several shades of brown painted in every couple of months, so there is variation in the color, and a few greys peek through, but I am not going grey -- at least, not yet. For one thing, coloring gives my hair the heft it does not naturally have. For another, I have short hair (and always will). I think going grey when you have longer hair can be interesting and cool, and going grey when you have cropped hair can (emphasize can) look old.

But the big thing is, my appearance is a big part of my professional brand. As a facilitator, I am literally "on show." (I moderate focus groups while clients sit in an adjacent room and watch.) How I look is important. And the age I convey is also important. (Is anyone gnashing their teeth yet? Hate what I am saying? Go ahead, comment below. I can take it.) As I have gotten older, I have become acutely aware of needing to remain relevant to clients -- and some of them are really young, and some of their target customers are really young.

A couple of weeks ago, I moderated groups for a fashion brand where among both the consumers and the clients, many were in their 20s, and no one was over the age of 35. I held my own as far as the work went, but I lamented my fashion choices for days: I did not dress the part that night. And if I had been grey, it would have been much, much harder to seem relevant.

I'm totally at peace with my decision -- in fact, I never even considered going grey. But I'm interested in your thoughts ... especially since there is a growing grey brigade around here. Is anyone else choosing NOT to go grey?