Is A Woman’s Perception Of Herself The Key To Her Success?
Why personal styling? Why does our entire organization revolve around women’s wardrobes? Specifically the wardrobes of women in leadership positions at the most successful companies in the world.
Many years ago, after a substantial personal styling career, I started to question the impact of the work I was doing. At that time, for a moment, I bought into the story that caring about how we look is superficial and only women who need to compensate for a lacking skill need to focus on how they look. Which you know is absolute crap.
I was on a flight home from styling a client in New York City and I had watched a class taught by the brilliant social researcher Brené Brown. In the middle of one of the lessons she starts to explain the side effects of shame- the hot face, sweaty armpits, quiet voice, needing to shrink, and of course negative self talk. She explains that it’s shame that keeps us from showing up and being brave.
Next, she shared a bit of information that forever transformed the executive personal styling work we do at Watson Style Group. Brene Brown shared that based on 17 years of research the number one, the shame trigger for women is appearance and body image.
Is this surprising? No. Is it profound? Yes.
For women, the number one thing that keeps us from showing up as the brave, competent, powerful person we are is how we look. Research shows, that as women how we feel about how we look holds the power to make us feel small, sweaty, and undeserving. The moment I heard this falls on my top ten list of the most exciting moments of my life.
This served as the data I needed to know that our desire to support women in leadership through their image was not only meaningful but arguably the area in which we could make the most impact.
With my new found devotion to personal styling we started looking at our clients from the perspective of how they feel as opposed to how they look. What’s the use of a great outfit unless it makes you feel like Wonder Woman. Nothing.
How you feel is everything. How you feel about yourself will be the force you need to do the big things, the brave things, and all the little things in between. Here’s the big kicker. You won’t automatically feel good about yourself because you have a great outfit on, you know that.
The reason why women choose to enlist the support of a professional to co-create an image and wardrobe they love is because it must be done with an objective and loving eye. You must allow us to see you as the very best version of you and allow us to expertly craft you outfits that highlight and support her. When you have a great outfit on that matches the best and bravest version of you then you automatically feel good about yourself!
Your vision of your best and bravest self becomes our vision of your best and bravest self and we promise to never see you as anything less. You see, this isn’t about clothing, shopping, or outfits it’s about getting expert support in an area of your life that has the actual power to transform your success. You can’t do this yourself- no one can. You’re not designed to. You’re designed to be supported by others. You’re designed to let go, be brave, and allow the vision you have for yourself come to life with ease.
I will leave you with a challenge to ask yourself the following questions:
What does my best and bravest self look like? How does she show up? How does she solve problems? How does she lead? And most importantly how does she feel?
Now it’s your turn! Share one word that describes your best and bravest self in the comments below! If you’d like to learn more about Watson Style Group simply comment below and we will connect with you to share more information.