The Personal Style Journey Train
I empower women to dress with confidence
‘What do you do?’ That awful question when you first meet someone. It used to be easy when I was a lecturer in art and design or the prison education manager – these days it’s not so easy.
My answer depends on who’s asking the question.
I might say:
I help women express their identity through colour and clothes, so they look good and feel fab.
Or
I empower women to dress with confidence, rise up and express their identity through colour and clothes.
Or provide a bit more detail.
I work with women who have a wardrobe full of clothes but feel like they’ve got nothing to wear. I show them how to choose colours and clothes that express their identity and suit their lifestyle. Ultimately, they look good, feel fabulous and more confident which helps them achieve their goals.
You could even get the ‘third person’ version if you wanted something a bit longer and in writing…
“Lisa works with women who have wardrobes full of clothes but feel like they have nothing to wear and helps them take the stress out if getting dressed.
She teaches them how to choose colours and clothes that not only express their identity but make them look good, feel fabulous and more confident which ultimately helps them achieve their goals.
As founder of the 4 step Drab to FAB! System she draws on her background in textiles and fashion design and experience as a lecturer to deliver consultations and online programs. No judgement or fashion police just compassion and fun combined with expertise to help you suss your style and be more you.”
I recall once telling my window cleaner that I helped women who feel a bit crap about how they look, to feel better and that felt very much like a ‘Ronseal’ answer. The truth is I’ve always found it hard to give a one word, job title, answer.
There's so much more to getting dressed than just putting clothes on every day
When I first started my business, I was worried about people perceiving what I did as shallow and superficial, and that it was all very much one dimensional about how you look. When actually, there’s so much to getting dressed than just putting clothes on every day.
It was my mission to provide support and guidance in a community that unites like-minded women. It was always going to be much more about how you feel; about the inside and out.
As such, I struggled for a long time about what to actually call myself. As in, what would you put as your profession or on a name badge type thing. I firstly played around with the very, master chef (i.e. poncey) term of ‘optimisation coach’. That soon went by the wayside. I then tried image consultant for size, but I didn’t feel like that described HOW I worked, it is however, a recognised profession when you have to fill insurance forms in.
Self-image consultant came after that but again, it didn’t quite hit the spot. I eventually settled with style coach because it more or less is the best way to describe what I actually do with people. It’s not about me telling you what you should and shouldn’t wear. I’m actually a mentor, inspiring and facilitating the empowerment of women to dress with confidence and rise up. – sadly, that’s a bit too long for a name badge.
Explore your true self and experiment
My work is about coaching my clients so that they make their own decisions based on what feels right for them. I will advise if required, but in an unpretentious way - no poncy terms like ‘a blue trouser’ or ‘a bold, red lip’ with me. I encourage my clients to explore their true selves and identity and to experiment with where they would like to venture in terms of their journey with style.
I call it a journey because there’s not necessarily a destination, there's no end point as with a quick fix makeover. It’s best to imagine it being a bit of a mystery tour journey, there are stations along the way where you might stay a while, take in the scenery, exploring the area but then at some point you're ready to ride on the train again. Everyone’s journey is different and some need more of a tour guide than others.
Exploring feelings that accompany change
The kind of women who work with me tend to be well-educated, intelligent women who are excellent at what they do but have a bit of a niggle about their overall personal style and image, usually feeling in a rut and ready to invest time and effort into making change happen. Many admit to, perhaps initially, feeling that working with someone on styling and personal image might be perceived as one dimensional but love that, because of how I work, it’s possible to take a deeper dive.
I’m proud to have created a safe space where it’s ok to explore the feelings that accompany change and acceptance, which often come before the confidence bit of self-expression and identity. I absolutely love it when I get clients who like to ask questions and open up dialogue around the deeper stuff, it's not all ‘ooh that looks lovely’ and then moving onto the next season’s fashion.
An enlightening, revolutionary and thought provoking journey
In fact it's more about compassion than fashion, we never really discuss trends or who wore what at the Oscars like you might expect on a style programme. We have some quite interesting discussions around the choices you make and why you wear what you do. I encourage my clients to journal around the process if they’re that way inclined.
We might explore your stories and attitudes around if whether, when you get dressed, you find it a creative process, or it's just a formality for example or how your money mindset has formed your ‘sale only’ and discount shopping mindset, or the fact that you had hand me downs from your sister means you won’t even consider second-hand shops. We might discuss and unpick your ‘rules’ about what you can’t ever wear because of what somebody said to you when you were a teenager etc. It can be quite an enlightening, revolutionary and thought-provoking journey.
My four-step system has been refined over the years and I’ve recently made the decision that I prefer to work with people for a minimum of six months so that there is time to implement the learning, ask questions and evolve. It’s about teaching them how and why things work for them but also it can be a thought-provoking journey, for women who might want a deeper, more meaningful look at their relationship with clothes.
Showing the real me, inside and out
Here are a couple of snippets from clients I’m currently working with.
‘It’s easy to think that clothes are simple and straightforward. Yet like most things in life dig a bit deeper and you start to uncover some really interesting stuff about yourself… a deeper and more playful journey begins now…I'm having fun and learning about me, the choices I made along the way and how it’s now a journey towards being and showing the real me, inside and out.’
‘...in discovering more about myself through my style I have definitely changed how I feel about myself and I have grown, and I am growing still. Taking that first step to work with Lisa has been a catalyst for lots of positive change!’
I offer group or 1:1 packages but if this deeper dive stuff is not for you there’s also my foundation level self-study video course that you can watch in your own time to get you started.
If you’d like a no obligation quick chat to find out which would be the best way forward for you then book an appointment by clicking here.
Tagged as: Confidence, Style
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