I'm 32 But Everyone Thinks I'm 16 - So I Digitally Added a Beard to My LinkedIn Photo

Andrew Chenon 2 months ago

I'm 32 But Everyone Thinks I'm 16 - So I Digitally Added a Beard to My LinkedIn Photo

"Can I speak to someone in charge?"

"That's me. I'm the VP of Engineering."

"No, I mean someone... older? More experienced?"

This conversation happened last Tuesday. I'm 32 years old, have 10 years of industry experience, and run a team of 40 engineers. But I look like I should be asking for hall passes, not making hiring decisions.

The baby face curse is real. And after the 847th time someone mistook me for the intern, I did something desperate: I added a beard to my professional photos using AI.

The results were... complicated.

The Baby Face Chronicles

Let me set the scene. I graduated MIT at 22. Looked 14. Got my first engineering job because they thought I was a child prodigy. Wasn't. Just looked young.

The Hall of Shame:

Age 25: Escorted out of a bar I owned (equity stake)
Age 27: Asked for student ID at a company I founded
Age 29: Mistaken for "take your kid to work day" participant (I WAS the senior director)
Age 31: Carded at my own wedding reception
Age 32: Called "kiddo" by a developer I was interviewing

The genetics lottery gave me:

Smooth, hairless face
Round cheeks
No visible aging since 2012
The ability to look perpetually 16

Great for avoiding age discrimination lawsuits. Terrible for being taken seriously.

The Breaking Point

I was presenting our Q4 strategy to potential investors. $50 million on the table. Prepared for weeks.

First question: "This is impressive work. Did you help your dad put this together?"

My dad's been dead for five years.

I got the meeting cut short, went home, and googled "how to look older instantly."

The Failed Experiments

Before AI, I tried everything:

Attempt 1: Growing Actual Facial Hair

Week 1: Excited peach fuzz Week 4: Sad whiskers Week 12: What my girlfriend called "mange" Result: Looked like a teenager trying to buy beer

Attempt 2: Fashion Hacks

Wore suits everywhere (looked like kid playing dress-up)
Bought "mature" glasses (looked like Harry Potter)
Styled hair back (exposed more baby face)
Tried a hat phase (we don't talk about the hat phase)

Attempt 3: Fake Facial Hair

Ordered realistic beard from theater supply store. Lasted 20 minutes before someone asked if I was in a play. Never again.

The AI Discovery

Late night scrolling, found an article about AI adding realistic facial hair to photos. Skeptical but desperate.

Uploaded my LinkedIn photo to an AI beard addition tool.

The AI offered options:

Stubble (professional but rugged)
Short beard (serious but approachable)
Full beard (distinguished professor vibe)
Goatee (tech entrepreneur classic)

Chose "professional stubble." Hit generate.

The result made me look... my actual age.

The Great LinkedIn Experiment

Changed my LinkedIn photo to the bearded version. Didn't announce it. Just quietly swapped it.

Week 1 Results:

40% increase in connection requests
All from C-level executives
Zero "are you still in school?" messages
Three headhunters reaching out

Week 2:

Featured in an industry article
Quoted as "seasoned veteran"
Invited to speak at conference
Someone called me "sir" unironically

Week 3:

Promoted to SVP
"You've really matured lately" (I added pixels, not years)
Asked to mentor others
Finally taken seriously in meetings

The beard was fake. The respect was real.

The Identity Crisis

Here's where it got weird. I started getting imposter syndrome... about my face.

Questions I asked my therapist:

Is this catfishing?
Am I lying about who I am?
What happens when people meet me in person?
Why does hair on my face = competence?

Her answer: "You're highlighting who you are inside. The beard just helps others see it."

Still felt weird.

The In-Person Meeting Disaster

Big client presentation. They'd only seen my LinkedIn.

Walked into the room clean-shaven (because reality).

Their faces: "Where's Andrew Chen?" Me: "I'm Andrew Chen." Them: "The senior VP?" Me: "Yes, that's... me."

Awkward silence. Then someone laughed.

"You're the LinkedIn beard guy! I saw the article."

What article?

The Viral Moment I Didn't Plan

Turns out, someone had posted a side-by-side on Twitter:

Left: My actual baby face
Right: My bearded LinkedIn photo
Caption: "This guy added a fake beard to get taken seriously in tech"

3.4 million views. I woke up famous for being fake.

The Comment Section Battlefield

The internet had opinions:

Team Support (35%)

"I'm 40 and look 25. I feel this."
"Sad that we need this but I get it."
"Ageism works both ways."

Team Outrage (40%)

"This is fraud!"
"Just earn respect through work!"
"Toxic masculinity at its finest."

Team Humor (25%)

"Can the AI add abs to my beach photos?"
"Does it work for baldness asking for a friend"
"I need the opposite filter please"

The Unexpected Alliance

Other baby-faced professionals reached out:

Emily, 35, looks 18: "I added bangs and glasses. Went from 'the cute one' to 'the smart one' overnight."

David, 40, looks 22: "I wear a wedding ring I bought myself. People take married men seriously."

Sarah, 38, looks 19: "I grayed my hair digitally in photos. Suddenly I'm 'wise' instead of 'junior.'"

We formed a support group: "Forever Young, Forever Fighting for Credibility."

The Science of Facial Hair Bias

I went deep into the research:

Studies Show:

Bearded men perceived as 32% more authoritative
Facial hair associated with maturity, wisdom, dominance
Baby faces associated with honesty but not competence
68% of executives have visible facial hair

The Psychology:

Facial hair = sexual maturity = general competence (flawed logic)
Smooth face = youth = inexperience (also flawed)
We judge books by covers we can't even articulate

The Double Standard:

Men with baby faces: Not taken seriously
Women with baby faces: Face different discrimination
Both unfair
Neither solvable with just a beard

The AI Beard Technology Deep Dive

For the technically curious:

How It Actually Works:

Step 1: Facial Mapping AI identifies 68 facial landmarks with sub-millimeter precision.

Step 2: Follicle Pattern Analysis Studies natural beard growth patterns based on:

Ethnicity (different hair densities)
Age (coverage changes over time)
Face shape (beards follow contours)

Step 3: Hair Strand Generation Each hair individually rendered:

Direction based on face topology
Color matched to skin/hair tone
Texture varies (not uniform)
Shadows for depth

Step 4: Integration Seamless blending:

Skin texture preservation
Natural edge transition
Lighting consistency
Perspective correction

Step 5: Realism Enhancement

Slight color variation between hairs
Natural gaps and patches
Age-appropriate density
Mustache-beard transition zones

The Styles I Tried

Experimented with different beard options:

The Stubble

Effect: +10 years, approachable
Context: Daily meetings, casual Friday
Response: "You look tired, are you okay?"

The Corporate Beard

Effect: +15 years, authoritative
Context: Board meetings, investor calls
Response: "When did you grow that?"

The Tech Guru

Effect: +20 years, visionary
Context: Conference speaking, thought leadership
Response: "This guy definitely meditates"

The Dad Beard

Effect: +25 years, trustworthy
Context: Client dinners, mentoring sessions
Response: "How old are your kids?"

The Ethical Dilemma

Had to confront the big questions:

Is This Different From:

Wearing makeup? (Enhancing features)
Professional lighting? (Choosing angles)
Tailored suits? (Creating silhouette)
Hair styling? (Shaping appearance)

All image management. But adding something that isn't there felt... different.

The Slippery Slope:

If beards are okay, what about:

Removing acne?
Whitening teeth?
Changing eye color?
Altering body shape?

Where's the line?

The Corporate Response

My company found out (thanks, viral Twitter).

HR meeting. Expected termination.

Instead:

"This raises interesting questions about appearance discrimination. We're adding it to our diversity training."

Promoted to SVP of Engineering the next month. With my real, beardless face.

The Plot Twist: Growing a Real Beard

Inspired by the fake one, decided to try again.

Month 1: Patchy disaster Month 2: Slightly less patchy Month 3: Actual beard-like substance Month 6: Real beard that looked exactly like the AI version

The AI had predicted my facial hair future.

The Before and After (Real Edition)

Before Beard (Real or Fake):

Interrupted in meetings: 12 times weekly
"Can I speak to someone senior?": 8 times monthly
Mistaken for intern: 3 times quarterly
Taken seriously immediately: Rarely

After Beard (Fake, then Real):

Interrupted in meetings: 2 times weekly
"Can I speak to someone senior?": 0 times monthly
Mistaken for intern: Never
Taken seriously immediately: Usually

The math is depressing but clear.

The Movement I Accidentally Started

#LinkedInBeard trended for a week:

10,000+ people posted real vs. edited photos
Exposed ageism, sexism, bias of all kinds
Companies started addressing appearance discrimination
LinkedIn added "profile photo ethics" guidelines

The Unexpected Benefits

Beyond credibility:

Dating Profile Experiments:

No beard: 12 matches/week
With beard: 47 matches/week
People are shallow (shocking)

Airport Security:

No beard: "Step aside for additional screening"
With beard: "Have a nice flight, sir"

Restaurant Reservations:

No beard: "Sorry, we're fully booked"
With beard: "Of course, Mr. Chen. Right this way."

The beard was a skeleton key to being treated like an adult.

The Women Who Called Me Out

Female colleagues had thoughts:

"We can't just add a beard and be taken seriously. We have to fight for every ounce of credibility while navigating impossible double standards. Check your privilege."

She was right. My fake beard was a hack. Their struggle was systemic.

Started using my "beard privilege" to amplify women's voices in meetings. It's the least I could do.

One Year Later: The Real Beard Era

Grew the actual beard. Kept it. Here's what changed:

Professional Life:

Respect came faster
Less energy spent proving myself
More focus on actual work
Promoted again (correlation? causation? both?)

Personal Life:

Get carded 40% less
Strangers assume I'm competent
Kids call me "the beard guy"
My face finally matches my age

Mental Health:

Less imposter syndrome
More confidence
Sad that hair mattered
Grateful it helped

The Advice I Give Now

If you're dealing with baby face discrimination:

Short Term:

Use AI tools strategically (know the ethics)
Own your age and experience verbally
Let your work speak first
Build allies who see beyond appearance

Long Term:

Grow real facial hair if possible
Change industries if necessary
Start your own company (be the decision maker)
Fight the system that made this necessary

Always:

Call out ageism when you see it
Advocate for appearance-blind evaluation
Support others facing discrimination
Remember: The problem isn't your face

The Final Irony

Last week, a 24-year-old joined my team. Baby face. Brilliant engineer.

First meeting, someone asked if he was shadowing.

I spoke up: "He's our new senior developer. Let's show him the respect his skills deserve, not the assumptions his face triggers."

The meeting shifted.

Later, he asked: "How'd you learn to handle that?"

Showed him my old LinkedIn photo. The bearded one.

"Sometimes you need a shield. But never forget you shouldn't need it."

He's growing a beard now. The cycle continues.

Curious how different you'd look with facial hair? Try the AI beard addition tool - not necessarily to use it professionally, but to understand how arbitrary our appearance biases are. Or just to see if you'd make a good lumberjack.

P.S. - I still keep the beardless LinkedIn photo saved. It reminds me that the 16-year-old face held the same brain, the same skills, the same value. The world just needed convincing. The beard was just the translator.