Last week, I got an email from a client that really touched me and reminded me just how non-frivolous taking time to think about your image and style is when looking to take your life to the next level.
This is part of the email I got from my client:
I was promoted at work with a great new position, received a raise, a decent bonus and as a senior person in my company told me “your star is ascending.” The best decision I made in 2011 was to hire Bridgette Raes Style Group to take my inner confidence and expose it externally. I look like the person I am. I am forever thankful for all that you have done for me. Personally, I have also enjoyed all my moments with you. Your impact is with me every day… I feel great looking great. People do notice.”
Getting an email like this is the reason I love doing my job. If it was just about playing dress up with clients and getting to act all “fabulous fashionista” I would have gotten bored with my what I do a long time ago…especially considering I hate the word fashionista. It’s seeing the clients I work with ascend to the next level in their lives, overcome obstacles and face challenges head on that is really exciting. To then be credited with part of the reason why their success happened is really, really…really humbling.
When I met this client who sent me the email above, she dressed perfectly fine. She looked like most women you see on the street, not breaking any fashion rules, not getting laughed at for her outfit choices and she certainly wasn’t a style nightmare. However, the problem was that she wasn’t memorable either…she was an acceptably dressed nobody. As her career was evolving in new and exciting ways, she had no idea how to dress for these new opportunities that equalled the level of success she was embracing. Instead of trying to figure it out herself, she was smart enough to call me. Sure, one may wonder if the promotion and success would have happened on its own, if I didn’t intervene. After all, she’s clearly smart, intelligent and capable no matter what she wears. Well, who’s to say what would have happened? Yet, I believe that, if it did happen, it probably would have taken a lot longer and lot more effort on her part to accomplish what she did.
You see, most don’t realize the huge impact that what we wear and how we style ourselves on our success. What winds up happening when we don’t address this huge form of communication we possess (our image and style), the effort one needs to put forth in order to overcompensate is enormous.
Think about the goals you want to accomplish and think about whether of not your style is aligned with those goals. The reason you may feel like Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a mountain could be staring at you right in your closet.
