The Everyday Icon Style Podcast

Episode 174: Closet Confession: I've Been Hiding My Style Expertise

• Tiffany Howard

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In this episode, I’m calling out the truth: I’ve been playing small—and that ends today. If you’re an executive assistant or administrative professional hiding behind perfection, fear of visibility, or waiting for the “right time” to step into your next level, this episode is for you. I’m sharing what changes when you claim your expert energy, own your style, and finally show up as the powerful woman you are. It's time to stop shrinking and start leading with confidence and executive presence.


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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 their timeless style. Today, on the podcast is going to be different. There is no introduction. Hey, my name is Tiffany, but today I wanna have a conversation with you and be honest with you about something, and that is is that I have been playing it small for a very long time, and it's not because I don't have like the tools, because I have all the tools. It's not even because I don't know what I'm doing, because I could probably edit a closet better than anybody out here, and it's not, but it's because I am afraid of being seen.

Speaker 1:

I am afraid of being rejected, and hopefully I can get through this entire episode without crying. And that comes from a place to where I have been bullied as a kid. I always um, I'm always in the corner or even in the midst of a conversation. Even though I know I have something good to say, people don't listen to what I have to say and, most importantly, over the past few months, I have been discarded and tossed to the side from someone that I thought I loved, that I did love, but thought that they loved me and decided to treat me in such a way that has left me just heartbroken and trying to pick the pieces back up. So it's more than just me hiding behind, say, strategies, or over planning or even just the getting ready part. It's more about just how you've been all of your life and everything that happens in your life can trickle over to what you were actually meant here, put here to do. And for me, many years ago, god put it on my heart and he just said I want you to help women look and feel their best. And ever since then I have been over planning. I have been scared to really put myself out there, because I dabble in, you know, youtube and Instagram, and never really caught on to anything. Because I was scared. I am afraid to be seen, because at times when I do voice my opinion, I am shut down or people don't listen or they feel that they dismiss what I have to say. So anything that you allow in your personal life will definitely trickle over into your entrepreneurial life, into your career, which then stops you from showing up boldly as the expert that we know that we are.

Speaker 1:

And maybe you out there listeners, maybe you are tired of doing that too, and maybe you're playing it small because you don't want to make people uncomfortable. And I think a lot of times we may not think that we make people uncomfortable, but we do. I think we think if you are quiet, if you don't make a peep or make a sound or make a noise or show up in the way that you want to, that you aren't seen as being. You aren't making someone uncomfortable because they see something in you that makes them uncomfortable, and sometimes it's that, or it can be because you don't want to make yourself uncomfortable. I think sometimes it's a combination of the two. So if this is you, I want you to keep listening and I want you to just sit and reflect and just think about this from your point of view and your perspective, and you may have some aha moments, and if I ramble on during this episode, I apologize in advance. So let's start with the truth Now.

Speaker 1:

When it comes to me being a style expert, I know that I can transform your wardrobe. I know that the issue that you're having is not getting more clothes, that it's your closet and that is a place where we don't want to go and clean out because it's a lot and you have to deal with stuff. I know that. I know how to help, whether in corporate America, whether you're executive assistant, whether you're an administrative assistant, whether you're a CEO, whether you're a director, I know how we can go overlooked and how we need to be unforgettable. And it's not a maybe, but it's definitely a fact.

Speaker 1:

I look back even on my career. I have probably been. I know I've been passed over a whole lot because I did not speak up. I had to play small to think that I had. That was the only way I could fit in and get where I needed to be. But in reality that's not real. It keeps you stuck. And over the years, as I've stayed in this place and I have done some big, bold moves every once in a while, one of the biggest things I ever did was move to Charlotte with no job no, nothing about 13 years ago.

Speaker 1:

And then life happens and then it's easy to fall back into that super comfort, super safe zone and sometimes it's also because people don't understand us. And then, when you know what you're supposed to do and know that you do it well, you shy away from it because of what you've been taught or what you've been told over and over again. But instead, today I am claiming my expertise fully and I've been talking about it quietly and calling it, you know, a side hustle, and that's fine. I really don't even have a problem with that. But I've been saying safe and not saying what it is that I want to say and what needs to be said, and that my perspective is probably completely different than any of your style coaches, any of your personal stylists out there.

Speaker 1:

I know that and sometimes thinking, if I just do the right podcast episode or if I do the right YouTube video, then maybe people would, on a whim, just be like oh hey, can you help me with this? But here's the thing I have never made the offer or extended an offer for anyone to even say I want to work with you. They don't know me because they don't know my perspective. Work with you. They don't know me because they don't know my perspective. And who's to say that? There are people out there waiting for me to fully show up, but I haven't because I am dealing with my own stuff, and that is okay, because I also think that during this truth, time is that I'll be able to work through my stuff if I take the first step of not playing small at all and the one thing that I know is is that they can't find me or work with me if I don't say, hey, how are you? That has never been my thing.

Speaker 1:

And learning how to take and balance my quietness and my observation-ness and my introverted self and use it in a way that people will still see me and it will allow me to show up as me still boldly, without necessarily not being myself. So what type of shift and what does this actually look like for me? So today, I am not a stylist, I am not a coach, I am none of those things. Tiffany is the go-to expert for high-level corporate professionals who are ready to elevate their presence, command rooms, build careers that match their ambition. That means, in layman's terms I am here to help you get your closet together, lay the foundation that you will be able to build upon so that when you show up, so that when you show up, you show up as the best version of yourself every single day when you get up and you go to work. Because the one thing that I know is that style is more than clothes and your style does not even begin on the outside. It starts on the inside and it's a strategy. It's about branding and it's about leadership without saying a word, so you can show up in a space and take up space and take up room without having to say a single solitary word.

Speaker 1:

Now, that is how I want to show up and I want you to show up that way as well, and I'm tired If one thing over. Show up and be who I am, because others think that it is not what I should be or what I should grow to be, but my growth is something that is probably too big for them and something that they don't understand, and that is also OK. So, moving forward, even though it will be difficult and I'm not going to lie, I will probably backslide a couple of times, but I need you to catch me when I backslide, but I need you to catch me when I backslide, that I am going to start to show up and I want you to see me, whether it's on camera, on my YouTube channel, on Instagram, on my podcast, leading and sharing my perspective in a way that I have not ever shared it before, in probably ways that you have never even heard it before, and if you are feeling the same way in your life, I want you to begin and able to claim, when you are ready, that you are also going to show up fully as yourself. Up fully as yourself and be bold, and being able to walk into a room anywhere and just show up and all you have to do is stand there and your presence is enough. So I want to make an invitation, and maybe I should have said this first. So, if you've been playing small, I want this episode to be a wake-up call, not just for me, but for you as well. I no longer want you to wait until the timing is perfect, and that is what I've always been doing Either the time is being perfect or waiting for somebody else to say okay, tiffany, that's great.

Speaker 1:

I don't want us to hide behind strategy. I don't want us to hide behind another degree. I don't want us to hide behind planning or overly goal planning. I just or saying I just need one more thing before I go for it. I want to remind you of something you are the thing, I am the thing. So I want you to ask yourself what would it look like if I actually believed that I was an expert, no matter what that expert is. What does that look like? What would change if you stopped hiding? And this is our permission to stop playing small? And not because you have it all figured out, because we don't I'm 50 and I still don't have it all figured out but because we're done holding back and because we have been called to do greater than what we have been doing. We have been called to rooms and places that are ready for us and waiting for us, but we have to first show up and I know it sounds crazy, but just not even getting out of our own way, but just making those first steps. So what are the next steps for you? If this hit you in a way that's never hit you before, when somebody always talks about playing small, and if this is exactly what you needed to hear and not what you wanted to hear?

Speaker 1:

I want you to do two things for me. I want you to go to the description box of this episode and I want you to DM me the word ready in on my Instagram and that's it. I don't need a long message, just the word ready and I'll know exactly what it means, and all of that will be down there. Just the word ready and I'll know exactly what it means, and all of that will be down there. I then will send you. Once you hit the word ready, I will send you another invitation and that will be a link to schedule your consultation. Call with me for my closet edit and resale strategy VIP day, and I will definitely be going through all of the additional information as we go on over the next few weeks.

Speaker 1:

So you might get a little episode in between this one and the next one few weeks, so you might get a little episode in between this one and the next one, because this is going to be your first step to looking like the powerful woman that you already are inside. We don't need to do anything else, but just let that person go. And, as my cousin was telling me earlier this week, we have been making glimmers and little pops of light, but we need to shine big and bright and make huge, monstrous waves, and I want to be able to help you build your wardrobe that matches your next level that we are all about to go to moving forward. So just go to Instagram, dm me the word ready or I'll even do this. I will even put a scheduling link in the description box as well. So whenever you're ready, you can do the word ready, or you can click the link in the description box as well. So whenever you're ready, you can do the word ready, or you can click the link in the description box below, and I will also put the scheduling link there for your consultation call.

Speaker 1:

We are no longer going to play small. We are not going to be silent, and this will be the start of a transformation that I think a lot of us have been waiting for. The fact that I just made an offer is huge for me. I have never done that before and hopefully, over time it becomes easier. So I want to thank you just for listening and being here, and I hope that you got something out of it today, even if it's just something for you to sit and think about or journal about. Save this episode and, when you need it, from time to time, go back and listen to it, because you may need it every now and again, and I want us to now show up and take those steps for us to be seen fully and be bold from this moment on. So I will see you guys in the next episode.