I recently hosted my book launch party. It went really well, there was a mix of clients, friends and business buddies in the room, all there to help me celebrate my achievement of becoming a published author. 

 

With the help of hubby and my lovely wing woman for the day, Sheryl, we decorated the stage area of the room with pink shimmery backdrop curtains and had props to recreate the vibe of the book cover including my ruby slippers and flamingo (of course). I even got to re-use some of the handmade table decorations from our wedding! Plus, flamingo and colourful confetti dots. We managed to turn a pub function room into a Project FAB! party room. 

As you can imagine there were lots of colourful outfits in the room as quite a few of the guests have been “Lisa’d” as working with me seems to have been christened. It was quite delightful to see so many empowered women feeling ‘comfydent’ (comfortable and confident) in their own skin. 

 

Four of these women (my awesome ambassadors) stood up on stage to say a few words about their journey. Their heart-warming stories had the audience with leaky eyes at points. They each had a different tale to tell but the golden thread through each story was that of increased confidence and sense of showing up as their true selves. I felt incredibly proud and privileged to be part of the transformational work they have all engaged in. 

The whole event was professionally pulled together by Pam (my earth angel pioneer not guinea pig – you’ll need to watch the video to get that bit) as master of ceremonies. Also, my pink powerhouse of a coach, Taz said a few words before I went on stage. I ended up sharing some of my back story, what led me to do this work, and explaining why I am so passionate about what I do. Finally, before signing books, I gave a quick demo of how to put a capsule wardrobe together. I didn’t have time to play the interactive game as I’d originally intended so will maybe do that for the SWISH on the 5th Feb 2022 instead. 

 

Massive thank you to TRACEY of Whitefoot Photography for the action shots 

 

What really struck me as I reflect on the evening, and my Project FAB community on the whole, is the feeling of sisterhood. Women empowering women is such a wonderful thing and I feel blessed to be in that kind of environment with my work these days. Having experienced the exact opposite of that in some work situations, I will never take that feeling for granted. 

I have spent time feeling upset, stressed, confused and dreading going to work because of the venomous behaviour shown towards me by female colleagues in the past. They were really horrible and would go out of their way to make things difficult, sabotaging things that needed to be done. They would use diversionary techniques, dodging issues, acting oblivious or playing dumb, withholding information. They were very clever about it; it was all done under the radar in an insidious manner so there was nothing tangible I could complain about. 

 

I was left feeling distressed and not sleeping, it affected my life out of work too. With hindsight I was a victim of bullying which I didn’t recognise at the time because of the way it was perpetrated. I don’t believe I was the first person to suffer like this because of them either. 

 

What I know now for sure is that happy people don’t go around intentionally hurting other people. I feel sorry for anyone who spends a lot of time and energy creating ways to make things awkward and uncomfortable for others – how unhappy must they be in their lives to behave like this? 

So many women feel like they’re in a rut, and lose their confidence for whatever reason, especially when they get to 40 or 50 years old. It might be menopause knocking, divorce, redundancy or workplace trauma. 

 

It’s my mission now to provide a safe space for other women to explore and experiment with finding their own look to give them comfydence. 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. 

 

Looking back, I can now see how I allowed circumstances and events to impact on my feelings of self-worth. Because of this I’ve had boyfriends who didn’t deserve me, put up with bosses and colleagues who treated me badly and worn clothes just because they fit me. 

 

I spent a lot of time being the statue more often than the pigeon instead of the flamingo I was born to be. Statues are not colourful, and they are stuck in one place and get shit on. Pigeons are grey with a bit of colour around their neck but nothing too adventurous; they blend into the crowd. Whereas the flamingo is bold, colourful and proud, and stands out from the crowd. I allowed myself to make do and put up with stuff. Not anymore! 

 

Now it’s my passion to help other women reclaim their identity and boost their self-worth and confidence; no more making do. The book launch party was a total celebration of my mission and my work. It felt so good to have created that event and brought people together – it was living proof of the value my work brings both to my life and to those of my clients. If you want to watch the video of the event you can find it in my free group on Facebook – Style Sisterhood. 

 

If you still haven’t got your book yet you can order a signed copy here or if you want to try before you buy sign up to the preview instalments list here.