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Woman's cheeky PSA to swap sports metaphors for makeup lingo at work has other women applauding

"The deal's not over before we apply the setting spray" needs to be said in offices immediately.

@arikraemerhq/TikTok

Can we please normalize this??

Anyone who’s worked in an office setting knows that corporate lingo and sports jargon go hand-in-hand. In fact, the two are intertwined within history, but that’s another story. But while there’s nothing wrong with “knocking it out of the park” or “being a team player,” what if workplace language took a more feminine turn?

This was the thought experiment that began after Ari Kraemer, a 32-year-old sales and marketing professional from Minnesota, began quite literally flipping the workplace script by injecting makeup and beauty metaphors into the conversation. Honestly, it’s something Elle Woods would be so proud of.

In Kraemer's first video, posted in May, she says things like, "I know we want to move forward with this, but are we adding the foundation before the primer here?" and, "I'm seeing buying signals here too, but the deal's not over until we add our setting spray," which beauty aficionados will immediately understand.

@arikraemerhq We’re gonna need a full beat to win this pitch
♬ original sound - Ari Kraemer

If you need a translation, Kraemer is basically suggesting that someone is getting ahead of themselves in the first statement, and that the “deal” isn’t over until a final, cementing action is taken in the second. So maybe like, “You’re stepping up to the plate without a bat” and, “The game’s not over until the clock reaches 0:00”? I don’t know…I’m not a sports person!

Kraemer’s silly-but-smart video quickly went viral and got such positive feedback.

"Great analysis of how gendered language is," one person shared.

Another said, “As someone who works at Ulta corporate, I’m using all of these.”

Similarly, another added, “I work in cosmetic science. I’m going to legit start using these at work.”

And of course, people were inspired to contribute their own suggestions.

"We're aiming for a natural glow, not a full beat."

"I think we're veering on blush blindness with this. Let's scale back."

“Great initial idea, needs a blending shade.”

“You’re trying to add lashes before the glue is tacky.”

"The client wants Charlotte Tilbury quality on an NYX budget."

Following her viral success, Kraemer has posted quite a few more of these bad boys. Including one below where we really get to see makeup and sports metaphors go head-to-head…ultimately coalescing in the most wholesome way.

And to think, this all started after going to a work summit where the speaker constantly used sports metaphors, leaving Kraemer and a female colleague feeling isolated. "It kept distracting from his point," she said in an interview with BuzzFeed. "My female colleague and I joked about it, and I thought, Why not flip the script? Why do we always default to sports and war when talking about business?"

In a subsequent interview with Newsweek, she added that, "Traditional sports metaphors feel overused, and they exclude those of us who do not follow sports.” She believes her videos “resonated because so many women want to show up in ways that reflect their authentic experience.”

@arikraemerhq Replying to @anna f curtis • skincare stuff more requests from the comments and a few originals #corporatehumor #womeninbusiness #worklife ♬ original sound - Ari Kraemer

And for those who would like to infuse a bit more beauty gab into the workplace to give it a true glow-up, Kraemer even wrote a book, titled Touching Up, compiling some of her most beloved makeup-inspired phrases. The book, of course, is an unapologetic hot pink. Again, so Elle Woods-coded. Love to see it.

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6 too-real comics show what happens when work gets too heavy

Finding a good balance between working and relaxing can be difficult, but it doesn't have to be.

Image courtesy of College Humor

A reason to be late... tasty treats.


Everyone gets antsy about their jobs sometimes.

Maybe you notice you're less motivated than usual. Maybe you acknowledge that you're no longer going the extra mile, and you're not quite sure why. Maybe professionalism is a term you've long since forgotten.

For many of us, the struggle can be so, so real. That's why Willie Muse wrote these all-too-relatable comics for College Humor, illustrated by Karina Farek.

These six funny comics perfectly illustrate what a typical first day at your job looks like versus the 101st day:

1. Who doesn't look at at least one viral video a day?

music, work, employee rights, jobs

To tune or not to tune.

Image courtesy of College Humor

2. You suddenly find the time to fit in a breakfast sandwich.

breakfast, fast food, time

How do you miss out on a breakfast quickly served?

Image courtesy of College Humor

3. You go from wanting your boss's approval to hating his or her guts.

boss, employee, friendship, community

Getting to know your coworkers...

Image courtesy of College Humor

4. All the details that were once so important become nuisances.

job requirements, nuisances, work vacation

An evolution in responsibility and ethics?

Image courtesy of College Humor

5. Your (lack of) motivation can take you from hero to zero — quick!

motivation, work-life-balance, career

When an opportunity evolves into a responsibility.

Image courtesy of College Humor

6. And you most certainly DO NOT want to end up like this.

advice, labor, qualifications

Getting on the right side of fear.

Image courtesy of College Humor

Let's be real: These comics are funny, but they also aren't ideal.

In a perfect world, we'd all have jobs that still look and feel like Day 1 on Day 101. And one of the only ways to get there is to intentionally strive for a life that's full of work-life balance. We really do have the power to not let things play out like this.

What can we do?

At a most basic level, we can make sure we're getting enough sleep, eating well, and doing at least a little exercise. We also shouldn't underestimate the benefits of detaching from computer screens and smartphones every once in a while. Plus, we can also minimize our stress levels by not multitasking and instead concentrating on one task at time.

The most overlooked advice for maintaining a healthy work-life balance is to actually take time off.

Disconnect from your daily work routine. Make a conscious effort to recharge.

Perhaps if we dedicate more time to enjoying life outside of work, there's more of a chance that we'll be on Day 1 for months, feeling grateful for our jobs rather than impatiently waiting for the clock to strike 5. Let's get to it!


This article originally appeared on 10.25.16

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2 years in, and she hasn't gotten a raise. This open letter will tell you why.

An open letter to managers of women everywhere.

Dear manager,

We need to talk about her. You probably know who. That analyst, designer, writer, engineer who has been at the organization for just a year or two and is already doing the work of someone several levels above her current pay band.

Or maybe she’s not even on your radar because she’s the dependable one who always delivers on time and under budget without any drama.

Despite this woman’s outstanding contributions, you haven’t promoted her or given her a raise. It’s not fair, and you know it.

Maybe you think she has to wait her turn or brush up on her soft skills and work better with others or that she simply needs more experience. But all of those things also applied to the many talented men who have rapidly advanced through the ranks of your organization.

Image via iStock.

They had somehow not been beholden to the same constraints of "promotions are given every three years" or "but what if so-and-so gets upset that they didn’t get a raise too?"

You’ve talked a big talk about mentoring and development opportunities, but when push comes to shove, you give her the less glamorous work, the "maybe next time" speech, the completed plan decided in a separate meeting without her because it was just easier and perhaps you think she won’t make as much of a fuss about it.

Maybe you even think you’re getting away with it because she says "fine" and does a great job anyway. But do you really think that there’s no resentment in that moment? No disappointment that’s stacked on top of other disappointments that she quietly suffers? Not to mention the occasional leer, dick joke, and unwanted touching she deals with as just the day-to-day life of a woman who is killing it in a company run by men?

She’s no fool. She’s taking classes outside of work, maybe with company support but often paid out of her own pocket. She’s got side projects where she’s developing new skills and learning how to lead because outside the company walls, there’s no one who can hold her back.

Image via iStock.

She’s got a network, and she knows what her friends at other companies make, and she has thought about what she might do if her paycheck were 20%, 30%, or 50% bigger.

It’s not too late. You can still turn this around. But you’ll have to move fast.

Back up her decisions, especially when they are right but politically uncomfortable. Get her in front of senior leadership and show off her work. Give her a real challenge and the authority and space to operate. Show her how she can do better next time when she makes a mistake instead of just being annoyed. And pay her what she’s worth with a title to match. After all, she’s grown more in the last six months than some of your team have grown in the last six years.

Do these things, and she’ll respect you and keep doing a great job. Her dedication and ingenuity will pay off in dividends for your product, your team, and your performance indicators  — making you look like a star in front of your boss and your clients.

Fail to do these things, and she will leave, probably after a big project wraps up because even in the end, she’s still responsible.

She’ll take a better role at a new organization, where she hopes to have a manager who will appreciate what she brings to the table — or maybe start her own company.

Image via iStock.

You’ll then have to write a job description, realize she was doing three people’s jobs, and spend six months interviewing candidates, hoping to find someone as good as she was only to discover that no one will accept a job at the salary you were paying her. And even after you finally hire her replacement(s), you’ll still have to spend months getting them up to speed so that they, cross your fingers, might do as good a job as she did.

But all that hasn’t happened yet. You still have time to make it right. So make it right.

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