How important are appearances? Britney Spears has taken quite a lot of bashing in the last week since appearing in the interview with Matt Lauer, and rightfully so. Her gum chewing, choice of attire and emotional display added to our opinion of her, good or bad.

How often do our customers make assumptions about us because of our dress or mannerisms? A friend of mine, Veronica Euell, owns Euell Consulting, a company that focuses on "Size - the other diversity." She works to open the minds of employers and co-workers to discrimination against people of size. Did you know that people of size earn as much as 12% less than their thinner counterparts?

Appearances matter more than they should. How often does the person who "looks the part" receive the juicy assignment when those who really do quality work are over looked because they aren't wearing Prada?

Will we ever be truly blind to what people look like on the outside and focus on what they can bring to the table in terms of skills, knowledge and experience?