Episode 5: Part 2 of 3: 3 Things that DO NOT Make You a Good Personal Stylist
So, you wanna become a personal stylist? Join us on this three part series as we break down what it’s REALLY like to run a business, things they don’t tell you, and what you’ll need to do to succeed.
Part 2 of 3 in the “Sooo, you wanna be a personal stylist…?” series
If one more person says to me - Oooh, you must really like shopping to be a personal stylist…. I don’t even know what I’ll do because guess what? I actually HATE shopping. And shopping is really not even what I do as a stylist.
Hear that? Shopping is not what I do as a personal stylist.
Now at this point, especially if you’re dreaming of become one or just starting out as a stylist you may be confused. But if you’ve been with me for a minute, or you’ve been working as a stylist for a few years now, then you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Yes, shopping is a part of being a stylist, but it is, truthfully, one of the very LAST parts that we do in this business.
So, today I’m gonna bust the myth that if you like shopping you’ll make a good personal stylist, along with three others in this 3 part series of “so you wanna be a stylist….”
MYTH #1: You’ve got amazing style - you’d make a great personal stylist!
First off- being able to dress your body in no way means you’ll be able to dress someone ELSE’s body.
Your style that you’ve honed and think is so great, doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to create a style that represents someone ELSE’s personality, lifestyle, and budget in an elevated way.
Your love of fashion means NOTHING to your clients. Fun fact: your clients will not even care about fashion. They just want you to make getting dressed easy for them.
And you wearing the latest fashions doesn’t mean you can do that.
It also doesn’t mean you can’t. A lot of stylists DO have a great sense of personal style - but more often than not, it’s been honed over time and they know what works for them based on body type and preferences. I personally used to have horrible style! I learned what style was, how my body was shaped, and what I liked on me over time. This in turn was reflected in the work I am able to do with clients and why I believe that personal style can be taught.
MYTH #2: You LOVE shopping - personal styling would be the perfect job for you!
Wronnnnnng. Let me be the first one to burst your bubble on this. When you’re shopping for clients you are o na timer. You are on the clock. You are getting paid. This isn’t leisurely window shopping time. You are in, and you are out.
If you can’t speed shop, you are going to lose a lot of money.
And guess what? Shopping for people is the LEAST favorite part of my job! There are SO many options out there, so many brands, it makes MY brain hurt (no wonder clients also hate it).
Now, obviously yes, you can love shopping and be a stylist, but just bc you like shopping, doesn’t mean you’ll love it as your job.
MYTH #3: You’re really good at cleaning out and organizing things - you should do that for people’s closets and wardrobes!
Please, for the love of all that is holy… There is a BIG difference between someone who come sin and cleans out your closet from a space and organizational standpoint and someone who can come in and clean out your closet from a style perspective - someone who can see potential in items and encourage you to try it out differently than you’ve done before.
Just because you’re good at organizing, doesn’t mean you’ve got the style know how to help a client transform their wardrobe.
So what DO you need to have in order to be a good personal stylist?
Mad organization, administrative and time-oriented skills
A solid grasp of the different body types + what looks good and bad on each
Good taste (personal and for others that ha been honed over the years) and a willingness to explore outfit options at the risk of them not working out
Time for… listener Qs!
This comes from India who reached out via email.
“I became a personal shopper at Saks…[left- Had the goal of starting a personal shopping company, but have moved. She says: “I’ve purchased a website domain, plan to build out a blog, and use social media to leverage potential clients. But, still have this slight level of uncertainty, and feel that I need some guidance.”
My immediate response, said with love and support, is that India - you’re doing it backwards.
The reason you have some level of uncertainty, maybe stems from where you are in the process - you’ve gone all the way to step 12, without doing steps 1-11.
And that is starting with really fleshing out: your why, your ideal client, your niche, your services, what you’ll charge, how your services will be set up. All of THAT needs to be done before you get to the website.
Now, you may have a loose idea on what these pieces are, BUT i’d like to challenge you. When I work with stylists, I find that they only go to level 3 in IDing their ideal client when they need to be digging deeper and going to level 4. Many clients come to me with one off service structure and see the light bulb go off when they switch to a process based service plan.
These foundational pieces are what need to be in place for you to feel more confident - to justify what you’re doing. THAT will then drive your social media plan - because if you’re talking to everyone, then you’re talking to no one.
That’s a wrap
Alright, that’s it for this week, you can find me on Instagram at @chicstripes and all podcast things at www.chicstripes.com/podcast.