If we had a penny for every time we were asked this question by interested delegates…we’d have even more shoes!
But in all seriousness, it’s such a valid question and it’s easy to understand especially if your current job does not require you take even a remote interest in fashion or personal style.
What we mean by that is, you may be working in an environment where you have to get dressed every day and it allows you to experiment with different trends and styles. Perhaps you are like Nisha who, even though she had a totally corporate career and was working in an office, would spend her spare time shopping in stores and developing her own personal style. It was actually getting dressed for her non-fashion job and standing out from the crowd that got her noticed and even led to her getting her very first client even though her role couldn’t have been less fashion focussed.
But imagine if your job doesn’t require you to have any focus on fashion or style and you wear a uniform every day? Perhaps the only time you need to think about what you wear is on your downtime and evenings out? This is what we see so often at the academy because these men/women have had their creative side dumbed down for so long that they are usually the delegates that shine brightly as they have so much to give.
That brings us nicely onto our next interesting observation and that is that the majority of our most successful stylists have come from a non-creative background. We see NHS workers, Police workers, Carers, Stay and home Mums and retired professionals absolutely smash it at running their own styling business. One of the main reasons for this is because their target customer base are men/women who were just like them and in real need of styling help so they have complete empathy with their client. Just like Nisha knew exactly what it was like to need the right corporate look to dress for the office, if you are reading this thinking ‘I could never be a great stylist as I just don’t operate in the world of fashion’ we are here to tell you, you couldn’t be more wrong as you know the client who needs the most help.
Let us re-visit what we said were the three key skills that it takes to be a great stylist. The first is a love of shopping whether online or in store. The second is being a people’s person and that as we know is a transferrable skill for so many jobs out there. The third and probably the most important is being self-motivated which is going to make or break your business as only you can get your clients once you’ve gone through your training.
If you are reading this thinking you may have what it takes to be a great stylist, then know that hundreds of women (and some men!) have been in your shoes before coming to Style ME Training and you can read their journeys here.
If you have any questions then get in touch and we’d love to answer your questions.