style coaching update: generating action

Back in May, I announced I was launching style coaching services, and I wanted to give a little update on how it's going! First, literally how it's going—tactics and what it's like trying to set up a business. Second, what I'm working on and why—what's this all for?

I'm currently working with four amazing coaching trial clients. These women are getting the fully customized, individual style coaching package that I want to be my flagship service. They're also being my guinea pigs and giving me all kinds of amazing feedback on how it's going. We're meeting monthly and we're just diving in to some outfit logging exercises and learning what patterns and habits they have in their style! Sessions are the most important part—but they're actually a pretty small piece of what I am spending my time on.

Most of the hours I spend on style coaching right now are tactical, aka boring. This stuff is setting up a bank account, trying to figure out international invoicing and taxes, trying to get Facebook to stop locking me out of my old account so I can make a Business Page which I only want so I can Instagram auto-post—honestly!

I'm working on automatic scheduling, so clients can book directly. If you saw my Instagram story the other day you saw me being super not chill and excited about this auto-scheduling, because I also set up Discovery Calls. This is a totally free 30 minute call—that you can book directly!—where I can answer all your questions about what style coaching is, how it works, and what we can do together. I was being not-chill because I actually got one booked on the same day I set it up, which was... terrifying yet incredibly exciting!

I'm working out some new services, too, like a Strategy Call, a one-time, one-hour strategy call for someone wanting some immediate, not long-term wardrobe guidance. It's for digging in to specific questions about your style, shopping habits, outfit planning, tracking, or creating a travel packing plan, capsule wardrobe, etc.

The real difficult work is curriculum planning, writing, and prepping Instagram posts. Instagram is a weird aspect of business marketing that I am struggling to get right.

Writing marketing copy about style coaching has been an interesting experience. How much do you hate it when someone’s Instagram is suddenly all skeezy self-promotion all the time, or goes from great outfit inspiration to 24/7 discount codes? I want to talk about coaching in a way that feels genuine; I want to write “marketing copy” that feels like a conversation. I really don’t want to spam y’all, or make my feed feel like a constant sales pitch. But it has to work, too; if I want to make style coaching into a business, I have to self-promote!

And the cool thing is—when you get out there, it works. I posted on Instagram, I got an email, I got a discovery call set up. That doesn't mean I have a sustainable business yet, but it was a good reminder of the power of making connections. If people are resonating with what I'm writing and doing, I'm feeling inspired and connected and I want more of that.

I don't want to be an influencer; I don't want to do affiliate marketing, or constantly be making outfits. I want to share my genuine style journey, and I want to talk about what I believe in, and why I want to do style coaching. That boils down to two simple things:

1️⃣ I recognized the powerful shift in me when I felt like my best self in my clothes every day.

I used to spend so much time every morning trying to figure out how to make an outfit I didn't hate. I would rush to the mall after work just to get a new piece that might make me feel good. I agonized over dressing for events.

At some point I realized just how much of my energy was being sucked into this negative spiral. I like style, and clothes—but I wanted out. I wanted to be spending my time on style to understand myself, and to think critically and make choices that support the person I wanted to be, my dreams, my financial goals. I didn't want to be in a negative, guilty, body-image, jealousy spiral, or buying and throwing away cheap disposable clothes.

I started my own style journey because I wanted to feel better about it, to feel good about my shopping choices, to like the outfits I wore every day, to feel like the most me.

2️⃣ I want to use my enthusiasm to help you turn their thoughts and dreams about your style into reality.

Last year I worked with an amazing career coach, who helped me think about what I was good at, what rewarded me, and what inspired me. She had me write a personal mission statement, and one of the most powerful bits of it is this: "I use my enthusiasm and intuition to generate action and mutual respect."

What made me want to launch style coaching wasn’t clothes, or sustainability, or styling. It was the power of activating people to consider style in a way they never had before. Hearing a client say to me, “I never thought about it like that” is the absolute best thing I can hear.

I want to launch style coaching because I believe it’s possible for everyone to get there. I believe everyone should feel good in their clothes, feel confident in their style and shopping choices, feel like their values are reflected, and yes, express their own unique personality.

investing in your personal style is transforming your relationship to your clothes and your body. thinking critically. taking care of your nice things. learning to respect and appreciate your unique body. practicing sustainable and intentional consumption. raising your feminist consciousness. choosing joy. uncovering your singular style. experimenting. respecting your financial goals. cultivating productive and positive energy. letting it be easy. living embodied in your values. feeling like yourself in your clothes every day.