Remember Your Transferable Skills & Experience Are Relevant
Colour & image is relevant to women in business
I haven’t been talking much about my colour and style work lately as I’ve been busy setting up the FAB Network. I’m not giving up my specialist area- I’m far too good at it to stop – lol. In fact, I’m adding bolt-ons to the FAB membership to help my members with their personal style/brand identity if they want to elevate their personal brand and how they look and feel. Here’s a bit of my back story so you can see how it all links up.
It’s easy to forget how much skill and experience you have when you are starting something new
When I very first started my business as a colour and image consultant, I wasn’t actually acknowledging the fact that ALL of my prior skills, knowledge and experience, had got me to where I was and were even relevant. I was seriously undercharging for my services. As if I was some kind of an apprentice!
Anyway, it was a learning curve. Once I’d put myself out there in the world of business, I gained clarity about how my unique skills set, acquired over 30+ years, were actually my unique selling point!
Personal style & image confidence
Rather than considering myself an apprentice I recognised myself as a master of my craft.
Here’s why…
A levels in Art, Textiles, Dressmaking
C & G Level 3 Award in Cosmetic Make Up
BA Hons in Textiles & Fashion Design
PGCE in Further Education & Training
Studio experience designing for many High St brands
Years of teaching across a diverse range of programmes
Area Manager Cosmetics Business
Self-employment experience
Manager of an education department
Professional Colour, Style & Image Training
ALL of this stuff, plus ongoing professional development, that I prioritise on a weekly basis, means that I, do indeed, know my onions! And I’m able to bring them all together, to help you find your personal style and image confidence.
Refining your style saves you time and money
I've been involved with colour, make up, textiles and fashion since the early 80's...thankfully I've kept up with the times and won't make you wear shoulder pads or dress like Bananarama though! My skills, knowledge and experience have been honed over 30+ years...but more than that I'm compassionate and approachable.
I am not the fashion police and I'm not into giving someone a makeover so they look nice for that day but can't replicate it for everyday life - I like to teach my tips and tricks around colour and style so you look good and feel fab every day.
I am not really interested in who wore what at the Oscars.
I don't watch Love Island or Towie and know who the "celebrities" are, nor am I interested in what they are wearing.
I don't buy magazines or follow the latest "must have" trends, nor do I regurgitate it in "how to wear this season's pleated skirt" type articles to share with my followers.
I don't do "makeovers" and show before and after photos of my clients.
I don't make my clients wear colours or clothes that they don't like or feel comfortable in.
I do...help my clients define and refine their personal style/image so they feel fabulous and are truly expressing their identity; confident in the knowledge that they are still themselves but an upgraded version.
We go deeper than just what's on the outside.
My approach is a mix of coaching, mentoring and teaching. I'm intuitive and perceptive and use those skills to determine what is required and when. My consultations have been described as therapy sessions by some clients.
It's important to me that I teach you and empower you to define and refine your style so you save time and money in the long run.
Make up to fashion, to prozac then passion
I'm often asked how I came to do the work I do – here’s the potted version of how I got here.
Ten or so years ago I'd have been wearing a black leather belt with a long metal chain and a large bunch of keys attached. I worked in a prison!
This hadn't ever been a burning ambition.
From an early age I wanted to be a special effects make-up artist. I was a creative child, always drawing or making something.
I studied make up at evening classes but realised, due to a lifelong dodgy hip, standing all day wouldn't work.
I turn to the more sedentary path of textiles and fashion design. I graduated from Loughborough College of Art with a BA Hons in Textiles and Fashion. I then worked as a designer, creating printed fabric for the fashion industry and in the specialist area of the colour forecasting industry, predicting trends.
My design work was distributed in many High Street stores including Miss Selfridge, Oasis, Burtons, Dorothy Perkins, Marks & Spencer, BHS, Littlewoods, Monsoon and Next; as well as many American brands.
I then moved on to become a lecturer at art college, teaching others how to design - it was all about the colour and shapes for clothes. I absolutely loved this work and the long commute was fine.
Until I became a mum.
I didn't go back after maternity leave and ventured into the party plan world selling make up. I was good, I won lots of awards and met Sir Richard Branson several times as a result.
Fast forward 7 years, I get back into teaching...this is where the prison comes in.
I start off teaching art again but soon end up in management. No creativity involved except doodling during endless meetings. I die inside.
Life events lead me to realise I'm not living my truth...I need to make change.
I invest some savings into studying as an image consultant, which is all about style and colour and draws upon my extensive design and make up skills.
I create my perfect role which optimises my skills set and here I am in business – Lisa Newport Style.
So, there you have it! I'm bringing all that experience into everything I do in my work.
50+ women in a style rut
When you stand in front of your wardrobe frustrated because you have nothing to wear, often it’s not just about the clothes. So many women feel like they're in a rut, especially when they get to 50+; it might be their body shape has changed or they experience a major life event like losing a parent, redundancy, workplace trauma or divorce.
All stuff that can really knock your confidence, but by harnessing the power of colour and clothes you can alter so much about who you are, how you feel and how you show up in the world. You can absolutely be who you want to be and express yourself whatever your age, shape or size.
So, my passion now is to help other women reclaim their identity, boost their self-worth and confidence; no more making do and helping them believe that they’re worth it.
Project FAB! & FAB Network : female authentic ballsy
So, my passion now is to help other women reclaim their identity, boost their self-worth and confidence; no more making do and helping them believe that they’re worth it.
I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved. I’ve helped many women feel better, whether it’s just a quick makeover or a full-on life changing experience (yes, that’s been said more than once) or any stage in-between. It feels good. My business is still evolving which I’m sure will continue.
Everything happens for a reason; it just might not be clear at the time.
It's my absolute mission to help ordinary women feel so much better than ordinary and to bring the secrets of personal styling to the masses so we can all be that flamingo amongst the flock of pigeons.
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