The Everyday Icon Style Podcast

Episode 171: The Career Advantages of Personal Style Overhaul

• Tiffany Howard

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This episode explores the essential connection between personal style and career success, urging listeners to recognize the often-overlooked benefits of investing in their wardrobes. The discussions reveal how neglecting to invest in style can lead to missed career opportunities, decreased confidence, and financial waste, while also outlining actionable steps to enhance one's professional wardrobe.
• The hidden costs of neglecting personal style
• How style affects confidence and self-perception
• The financial implications of buying low-quality clothing
• Wardrobe as a form of self-care and empowerment
• Actionable tips for investing in a professional wardrobe
Download the free Elevate Your Wardrobe in a Weekend Guide https://bit.ly/3CusnCv to help jumpstart your journey on finding and developing your personal, corporate style.


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Speaker 1:

Ignite your style with the Everyday Icon Style Podcast. I'm Tiffany, your style navigator and confidant, here to lead women in corporate America on the quest to discover. Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Everyday Style Icon Podcast. I'm your host, tiffany, your dedicated style coach, helping you elevate your wardrobe and redefine your professional style. And today I want to talk to you about what you're losing by not investing in your style. I believe that it is an afterthought and it is something we think about when we get to a certain level in our career, whatever level that may be. But what if I told you it's actually one of the smartest decisions that you could actually make is investing in understanding the power that your wardrobe actually has with helping you in your actual career. So let's just get started.

Speaker 1:

So what I want to talk to you about is the hidden cost of neglecting your style. Now, most of us me included at some point in time I believed that style isn't worth my time or my money, because you know I'm smart, I know what I'm doing. But have you ever considered what it's costing you not to invest in your wardrobe? And here are some hidden consequences, and I never thought about this, of course, until now, and hindsight is 20-20. But sometimes we feel that just our accolades and our degrees and our skill sets help us, and they do, but so does how we look and so does our style, and mixing them together is a beautiful combination. So let's talk about why neglecting your style is costing you so one missed opportunities. So if you have an appearance that can open doors to promotions, connections and career growth because without it you might be overlooked People look at you first.

Speaker 1:

They don't know what you are capable of until they see and meet you. And what is the first thing that they see? They see you, they see your style, they see what you wear, they view your appearance first. So if they can't see you in a certain way visually, then what makes you think that they're going to say, oh, I want that person over there? We'll use an executive assistant, for example. They are the right-hand person of the CEO or any executive that they work with. They are sort of like their shield. And if that executive cannot see that potential executive assistant in their space, not just because of the accolades, but also because of how they look visually, because your style can command attention, it shows your authority, because you do have to have a level of authority and confidence. So you want to keep all of that in mind. With missed opportunities just for jobs, yes, they may have your resume if you're at a job interview, but the job, the resume and their visual when they see you both of those have to match.

Speaker 1:

Decreased confidence is another one, and we always touch on. Confidence is probably at the core of all of these. So when your clothes don't align with your aspirations, it can chip away at your self-esteem, because then what you're saying is oh well, you know, I don't, I don't feel like I'm ready for this because I don't look like that or I should look like that, or it decreases your confidence. Your clothes are your armor. It's sort of like putting on the armor of God. Right, how you put that on and you pray to have that every day. It's the same thing with clothes. It's your armor. It gives you that confidence that you need to tackle the day every day. So when you go and you're closed on a line with who you are and this is where you go and you try to look and see, okay, so what does a manager in this field look like? What does an executive assistant look like in this area, or what does a person in the area that I want to work in look like? If you look at them and you see that's going to give you inspiration, but you're still going to tailor it to your personal authenticity of that. And when you begin to look at your clothes as that, you will begin to shop different and create a style a little bit different. And this is where it goes back to what makes you feel good when you wear your clothes. Your clothes should always make you feel good and confident. Even if you're having a bad day, your clothes will give you just that extra kick that you need to help get you through.

Speaker 1:

Next and lastly, probably one of my favorites and I'm very guilty of this wasted money. We are constantly buying cheap, trendy items that that don't last and it adds up over time and leaves you feeling unsatisfied. So you got to go buy something else and you go buy something else and you got to go buy something else, and that's stressful and tiring and exhausting. But instead, why not begin to buy at levels? At stores there are different level price points. I get it, but instead of buying cheap clothes, go and look for quality clothes that guess what. We don't have to buy all the time. Unless they get dirty, they're ripped if we outgrow them.

Speaker 1:

Whether it's for me, if I get too big for clothes, get too small for clothes, that's when you need to replace them. Things that you can always wear, things that are always mix and match and versatile that's the type of wardrobe that we're looking for. This way, we don't have to go and always waste money because clothes are expensive y'all, don't matter where you go. I don't care if you go to Macy's, I don't care if you go to Zara, I don't care if you go to Nordstrom's, I don't care if you go to Neiman's. Clothes are just expensive all the way around.

Speaker 1:

But if we become mindful of what we're building, we will also become mindful of where we shop and how we shop. And I think that's the thing of changing our mindset of how we shop as opposed to where we shop, but most importantly as to how we shop and view clothes. Because here's one thing that I've learned on my journey that style is more than clothing. It's actually a tool, or, as we like to call your armor, that can work for you or work against you, and we always want it to work for us and in our favor. So number two, the professional impact of a well curated wardrobe and I use sometimes curated loosely, but it's going to be curated to your taste and your liking, not social media, medias and not societies. So your wardrobe is a silent communicator and I bet you didn't know that, and it speaks volumes about your attention to detail, professionalism and confidence. To detail, professionalism and confidence. So when you invest in style, you're making a statement about your value.

Speaker 1:

Pause, probably a little aha moment. You're probably wondering why. Well, here's why and here's how your executive presence Dressing well it enhances your credibility and authority, helping you command respect in any room. Example have you walked into a room and you've seen people that are less comparable than you for doing a job we all have? We see it every single day. But do you know what they have that you don't that their communicator, their wardrobe, their silent communicator, speaks for them and what it's speaking is I'm confident, I'm credible and I have authority. That is what it conveys. They do not have to. They may not have the accolades, they may not have the credentials that you have, but what they have is wardrobe that they are very good at making that first impression, showing up as credible and commanding the respect in the room just by what they have on. That is why I said, as I said in the beginning your appearance, your visual and your resume. If you put them both together, baby, you have a winning combination. Winning Period. Let's move on Next.

Speaker 1:

Stronger first impressions. People form opinion in seconds actually seven seconds or less, probably less than that. So your wardrobe and your outfit can either reinforce or undermine your expertise. We wanted to enforce your expertise because what they're going to say is the resume and the visual don't match up. What's up here. We always want it to match up. We always want it to match up because we always want to reinforce that we know our stuff and something as simple as just dressing and I know we sometimes don't put the focus on that as much, but we need to and we need to use it together. Again, powerful combination. That's what we're making and because it's going to be authentic to who you are, your first impression is going to be so strong. Your first impression is going to be so strong they might actually start breaking down doors and saying, hey, you know, we were looking for somebody to do X, y and Z or oh my gosh, can you come speak here. You know we have this project. That's what I'm just rambling at that point. But you get the idea of what it is I'm trying to say with stronger first impressions, career advancement.

Speaker 1:

I think we underestimate this, this, and I sometimes wonder for my own personal self if I would have took the time back then to maybe dress better, would my career be farther than what it is? Maybe, maybe not, we'll never know. But now I know that my look can position me as a leader and pave the way for new opportunities. Even in my role now as an administrative assistant, I know that I can go in and I even sometimes think people think or see me probably as more important or don't know what I do. But I think sometimes they think I'm like, really important. And I'm not saying administrative assistants and executive assistants aren't important, because, honey baby, we are extremely important. We keep the wheels turning in the business. We keep the wheels turning and we allow our bosses work in their zone of genius because they're allowing us to work in their zone of genius, because they're allowing us to work in our zone of genius. So we are important.

Speaker 1:

But sometimes I probably think people think I'm like a manager or something I don't, I don't know, but I am a manager in a sense. We are managers in a sense when we come to that because we're managing calendars and things like that, and but we want it to open it up for new opportunities for us down the road. So for me that would be an executive assistant, right? So I still have to kind of you know position myself and think about that, moving down as I'm building and creating out my wardrobe as well, just for the career advancement aspect of it, because somebody might tap you on the shoulder and say, hey, you know, we're looking for a new director of human resources or manager of human resources and we thought you would be a perfect fit. Let's go have a conversation. That wasn't even on your radar, hell, you didn't even know the position was available or open. But people watch you and people watch us and we do have to be mindful of that. And how we look is a part of that. Remember, it's your visual portion of it.

Speaker 1:

So, number three, why investing in style is also a form of self-care? Now, I never thought about this, but it can be. I think we always think that it's superficial, but in reality it's not and it's a way that we show self-respect and empowerment. So when we do begin to invest in our wardrobe, we're able to prioritize ourself and we're going to show that our confidence and success matter to us. We streamline our life because if we think about and be intentional about our wardrobe, it saves time and reduces decision fatigue, which is the biggest thing. We're not spending 20 minutes just sitting there looking at our closet or standing in our closet like, um, what am I going to wear? Because that's some a form of mess, is a form of fatigue Physical mess, closets, cabinets, pantry, all of that. That's a form of fatigue, whether we want to believe that or not, but that's another conversation for another day. It's a form of fatigue and we don't have time because we have decisions, careers and things and families and personal lives that we have to be more focused on and we have to begin to align our outer and inner selves. So when our clothing reflects who you are, you'll feel more authentic and self-assured. So you can never really begin to work on your outside visual until you work on the inside, because your inside, your outside, is a reflection of how you feel about yourself on the inside.

Speaker 1:

And, lastly, I'm going to give you now some actionable steps to help you with investing in your style. I want you to set a budget. I want you to decide how much you are willing to allocate towards quality pieces that align with your goals, even if that means you're buying a piece, a quarter, a piece a month. I want you to begin to become intentional with that and I want you to focus on key pieces. I want you to first focus on your corporate capsule wardrobe first. So your blazers, your trousers, your shoes, your jewelry that's what I want you to focus on first. I want you to focus on your foundation. I want you to focus on that first, because that is always going to be able to as you're building out and figuring out what the ultimate visual looks like. These will always be those pieces that are going to be your tried and true and they were always going to mix and match with whatever that actual your personal style is. So I just want you to start on that piece. We're not I'm not asking you to do a 30-piece capsule wardrobe. No, it should only be 15% of your entire wardrobe, just 15%. So I just want you to work on that 15%.

Speaker 1:

This will also lead into learning to shop smart, researching brands, finding new brands that align with your style and prioritize quality over quantity, get out of our comfort zones and begin to get out of the regular stores that we know. I know there are a lot of online stores that I've looked at. I think one is called AO that I found from a vlogger that I listen to, a lifestyle vlogger that I watch on YouTube. Great pieces that you can wear for your corporate wardrobe, pieces to build that portion of your wardrobe. Great pieces. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I think I might go and buy a few pieces from there just to try and see what they look like. So being able to experiment with that and getting outside of our normal. You know Macy's and Nordstrom's and Neiman's and the Zara's of the world those are all great stores but sometimes our style is no longer in those stores and we forget that.

Speaker 1:

We go in shopping and you're like why can't I find anything? And this happened to me recently. I walked into H&M and I was like, well, let me see what they have. Because I was in the mall and I was like, well, let me see what they have. I got. I didn't get halfway through the store and I turned around and I was like, um, this stuff looks cheap to me. I came home I told my boyfriend and he said it's because of where you're shopping now which I kind of knew that, because I'm shopping at Banana Republic and JCrew and those stores now my eye is changing and different. And I think if you get out of your comfort of where you normally buy and go to other stores, when you walk back into your old stores one it'll be like I don't even really need to shop here that much anymore. But it also opens your eyes to what is actually out there and to see this fits my style, this fits to where I'm trying and what I'm aiming for. This fits to where I'm trying and what I'm aiming for, and that is where the shopping comes into play. And, of course, work with a style coach me and I will be offering something very soon, in March, so stay tuned for that, because sometimes I get it You're unsure of even where to start or to begin.

Speaker 1:

So, with working with a style coach such as myself not even me, but any style coach that you find that fits what you're trying to do we are going to help guide you to create a wardrobe that suits you. I'm not going to style you, but I'm going to help, guide you to find the path to what your style is to be. Only you can unlock that. We can unlock it, but we are here to guide you and help you and give you the tools that you need so that you could do this over and over and over and over again. And we are always going to be there to, of course, hold your hand and walk you through it. And when you need help, we're always going to be there.

Speaker 1:

But helping you through this journey because that's what it is to give you guidance is what we are here to help you do, because it's more your wardrobe. At the end of the day, it's more than just any an expense on a spreadsheet. It's an investment in your future and all of our futures, because we have these ideas of what we want our futures to be. So let's build our wardrobes around that. So if you are ready to stop missing out and start investing in your style, I've had the perfect resource for you. Of course, you know I always got you covered.

Speaker 1:

I want you to download my free Elevate your Wardrobe in a Weekend Guide to help jumpstart your journey on finding and developing your personal, corporate style or personal style in general. Now this guide is packed with just actionable tips to help you build a wardrobe that reflects your professional ambitions. So be sure to click the link in the notes below to grab your copy and access it today, so that you can take the first step in elevating your style and your career. And, as always, thank you so much for tuning in to the Everyday Icon Style Podcast. I know this episode was a bit long, but hey, and I want you to remember that style isn't just about clothes. It's about your confidence, opportunities and, most importantly, your self-expression. And until next time, keep striving to be the everyday icon that I know you are.