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Episode 173: Beyond the Clothes: Strategic Style for Career Success
•Tiffany Howard
Audio Player
00:00
00:00 | 21:32
Executive presence begins internally with confidence and energy that radiates outward, complemented by a strategic wardrobe that aligns with professional aspirations and commands respect without words.
• Executive presence begins before your clothes, starting with internal confidence
• Your presence speaks before you do—people decide socioeconomic class and status in seconds
• Alignment matters—your presentation should reinforce your professional ambitions
• Create a signature look that builds trust and recognition
• Develop a wardrobe formula with elevated basics and intentional details
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 their timeless style. Welcome back to another episode of the Everyday Icon Style Podcast. I'm your host, as always, tiffany, and today I wanna talk to you about something deeper than just your clothes, and it's about crafting a presence that commands respect. The wardrobe formula for executive presence. It just isn't about trends or designer labels. Actually, it has nothing to do with that at all. Actually, it's about strategy and how you can use your executive presence to get you farther, into where you eventually want to go in your career. And it also means how you present yourself in a way that signals confidence, credibility and authority. You know the no like and trust factor. So today I want to take us beyond the clothes and dive into the mindset, intentionality and essential elements that truly define executive presence. So let's get started.
Speaker 1:
So, number one executive presence. It begins before your clothes. True presence is not built from the outside in. It starts internally, meaning we have to do the internal work before we can actually build the outside, which is the clothing, because your clothing, it is going to support your presence, but it cannot create it. Your presence and your essence comes from within and no matter what you have on, it will always shine through. So how do we begin to do this? You have to keep this in mind. One, your presence speaks before you do so. People always decide in less than five seconds or less and it's on a subconscious level, and they're able to tell your socioeconomical class, your educational status, your job status, just by how you look. And before they notice your outfit, they're going to notice your energy, your posture and your confidence first, because that is what they're really judging you on, and the clothes are sort of like I wouldn't say an afterthought, but it's how you carry yourself in these clothes. So you could have on an amazing outfit, but if you haven't done the internal work and if your posture and your energy and your confidence is off, you're going to look off and people may pass you by for opportunities and different things of that nature. So you want to make sure that your presence speaks before you do.
Speaker 1:
Next, the formula is alignment, and how we mean alignment is your presentation should align with your professional aspirations, should align with your professional aspirations. So your clothing should reinforce who you are and where you are going. You know the old saying dress for the job you want, not for the job you have. And as I'm getting more into my career, and as you begin to see, and as I've seen over the years, and as you begin to see, and as I've seen over the years, this is very much true. It's a complete and total package. So even though if you say I want to be an executive assistant, well, in order to do that, your presentation has to align with those professional aspirations, because executive assistants are literally the front facing for their executive and they are more than just a gatekeeper. They do their strategic alignments and they work really hand in hand with this individual. So you have to be able to present yourself in such a way that it aligns with what it is you actually want to do.
Speaker 1:
Next, it's commanding respect without saying a word. Now, if we can get this down, we'll be on fire. So how this works is it's about conviction in your movements, your eye contact and the way you hold space in a room and the wardrobe that you have in your closet, because I'm not just going to say an outfit, but I'm talking about your whole, entire wardrobe. It's going to enhance it, but it does not replace it. So even if your clothing, your wardrobe, aligns with your goals and your aspirations, but it all goes back to if you haven't done the inside work internally, you're pretty much literally have a closet full of clothes with nothing to wear, if that makes sense. So you want to remember that. You want to work on your eye contact. When you meet someone and you shake their hand and you give them a firm handshake and you look them directly in the eyes and you're not looking over here or over there. Now, if you do sometimes feel uncomfortable looking people directly in the eye, look above them. Find a point in the room. Look above them. Find a point in the room.
Speaker 1:
I know when I was in church all the time, my mom used to sit in the pews and she would always tell us to keep our heads up and we would hear her mouth it, or she would use her motions to show that. And one thing she always said was, if you can't look out at the crowd when you're singing, just look at the clock at the back of the sanctuary and as long as you look up there, your head's held high and it shows and gives you that extra confidence that you would need. So, number two, we have a psychology of your signature look. Now, with this, your wardrobe as a whole not just an outfit, but your whole, entire wardrobe should work for you and never against you. And with a signature look, it isn't about having an outfit. It's about creating a consistency that builds trust and recognition. So all of this goes back to, of course, being the know like and trust factor. All of this goes back to, of course, being the know like and trust factor. So how do we begin to create this look that we have, that is ours, and what does it provide and how does it aid us in this? It provides clarity and consistency because it creates authority. Now, the most powerful figures in business, if you begin to really pay attention to them, and they do not have to be dressed in suits think of Steve Jobs, for an example. They have a distinct, recognizable look that they can wash, rinse and repeat all the time, and it simplifies their decision making and reinforces your brand.
Speaker 1:
Remember, when we are getting up here in our careers, we don't have time to think. We want to take things off of the table so we can focus on what's important. Not saying that the wardrobe isn't important, but it should be one less thing. That you have to get up in the morning and think about what the hell am I going to wear today and you spend 10 to 15 minutes trying to figure that out. That becomes wasted time and, as we all know, time is money. So we want to simplify and create a wardrobe that, no matter close your eyes, pull out some pieces everything goes together effortlessly. That is what we want to do. It also should be sending a message, and you want to ask yourself what is my style message sending? Now, whether it's intentional or not, our clothing tells people how to treat us, and are you projecting authority, approachability or uncertainty Just in our clothing? So we want to make sure what type of message we want our clothes to send.
Speaker 1:
Next, we have dressing for the role you own. Now, when you're a high-level professional, we don't just dress for the job we want. We dress to reflect the role they already embody. So if you want to be a enter into the luxury real estate game, you have to embody that and you have to begin to dress like that, because if you do not, no one is going to see you as such and you have to see yourself in that role way before anybody else does. And remember, I'm not saying that this is like. You have to do this right away. This is something that I believe it's a marathon and it's not a sprint, and you want to begin to do this and incorporate this as you're building your career and as you're going through the ebbs and flows of your career. This should become something that is consistent and concise every single time.
Speaker 1:
Now, lastly, let's talk about the wardrobe formula that actually works, and I'm going to give you a breakdown of practical approach that you can make to curating a wardrobe that supports your executive presence, and this is sort of like the fun part. So what exactly do you need? Elevated basics with intentional details. Elevated basics with intentional details so we can say, you know, a well-tailored blazer, structured dresses or a monochrome power look that creates effortless impact. I want you to begin to think about starting with those first. So we might want to call this I usually call it your corporate capsule wardrobe, but maybe we can call it your elevated basics capsule wardrobe and these pieces are literally your foundation of your wardrobe, to where you will be able to mix and match them with anything and everything, and even with the pieces amongst themselves, so you will always have something to wear, and I think it's a great way to start with just building your wardrobe.
Speaker 1:
Strategic color choices Neutrals command authority, but a signature color adds personality and memorability. So neutral colors that would probably be like the basics of your wardrobe and the color palette Because I always feel that we need to have a color palette. For me and I'll use me in the example I do am embodying more neutral colors, but if you add a signature color, it will give it your whole look a punch. So what color is that? Is it red? Is it purple? Is it green? Is it sapphire? Whatever color that is, you want to be able to add it in. And the great thing about having a neutral color palette colors go with anything that you could actually embody in that. Here's the thing. When you're dealing with neutral colors, though, and you can go to Pinterest and look at this and I have been doing this as well If you really want to have an elevated luxury, look, find the neutral colors that say that. So you're looking at your camels and your creams and your browns and your blacks and your whites. The one thing that I do love about neutral colors is that they're easy to mix and match with everything. So colors, color palettes, great places to start.
Speaker 1:
Here is just a fun thing that we sometimes forget and that's refined accessories as signature elements. So if you don't do color well, sometimes like I don't. So if you don't do color well, sometimes like I don't understand but high quality accessories like your watches, handbags, earrings, necklaces, arm candy stacks all of that is part of the accessory and you can have fun with that. You can have nice chunky necklaces or bracelets on your arm. You can have really nice watches. Even when it comes to watches and I'm starting to slowly get into them I think I want one or two more. I've even read that if you as women, if we even get like a nice man's watch, it could always be a great signature look because it's not done very often. So different things like that and experimenting with them and I think for me, that is also what I'm doing as well. I'm having a lot of fun and buying, you know, jewelry to try and test out and see what it is. So if you like jewelry, or even if you don't know where to start, necessarily start there, because you can never go wrong and you will always have fun with jewelry.
Speaker 1:
And, last but not least, when the wardrobe formulas that work. You want to create a formula, not just outfits. The formula means knowing what works for you and repeating it with confidence. The formula means knowing what works for you and repeating it with confidence. So we're going to wash rinse and repeat it every single time.
Speaker 1:
Here is a formula that I go by that is probably tried and true. If you don't have one and that is no matter what you wear on the top, if you change out the bottoms, it will always match and go. So what I mean by that is, if you have on a blouse or a t-shirt, if you put on a pair of dress slacks, if you put a pair of jeans, if you put on a skirt, all three of those bottoms will go. It will give it different looks and it'll give you a different look, but all of that goes together. That is a very simple formula that you can start with, but you do want to create your own, because what we're doing in essence with your wardrobe is we are creating a mix and match wardrobe to where all you go in with your eyes closed, pull something out and be gone and out the door.
Speaker 1:
That is what and how creating a formula, as opposed to outfits, because outfits, you can't wear. Outfits everywhere. It's like, oh, this outfit is cute to go out to dinner, but you can't wear it to work. You want to be able to take that same formula no matter what you wear to work, you can wear to dinner, and vice versa. So, to go back and to summarize one, we always want to begin with executive presence and making sure that we do the inside work, because it starts before the close. Next we have the psychology of a signature look and last, the wardrobe formula that will work for you. So, with all that, executive presence isn't about dressing up, it's about showing up, and there is a difference. And your wardrobe is a tool that will help support your energy, your confidence and leadership for you to the table and, if all else fails, just have the courage to make the first step, to do one thing to refine your look.
Speaker 1:
This week and that is my challenge for you this week I want you to figure out what elements of your wardrobe make you feel powerful, that make you feel good and that you light up when you put it on. Is there anything that needs an upgrade? Is there anything that you need to possibly get rid of? Strategy that enhances your presence? I invite you to book a corporate wardrobe strategy and VIP closet edit day with me, and the link for to book your closet clarity session will be in the description box of this episode below. So what exactly are we going to be doing in this corporate strategy closet edit VIP day? I'm glad you asked. In this VIP day, we will, of course, do a closet edit and we will go through and we will begin to create and build your actual corporate capsule wardrobe to get you started.
Speaker 1:
A lot of times when people talk about you know, working with a stylist or a coach, it can be overwhelming. I just want to take a piece of it to get you started on your way, and that is usually the hardest part. So, if you are interested, I invite you to click the link in the description box to schedule your closet clarity session today. To schedule your closet clarity session today. So, as always, I hope you enjoyed today's episode and be sure to subscribe to the Everyday Icon podcast and follow me on Instagram for more insights. And until next time, always remember stay healthy, stay safe and I will talk to you guys.
Speaker 1:
No-transcript. I have the perfect resource for you. Of course, you know I always got you covered. 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.
