My Top Five Values As A Stylist

Working with a Stylist can be quite a personal, at times almost intimate thing.  So there are certain qualities or values that will be really important for you to know about, in order for you to feel comfortable to work with the person you are considering for your style work.

So here are the top 5 values that I consider are really important for people to know about me, to help them feel that they can trust me and feel comfortable working me.

1. Trust

I know when I am working with someone that trust is a big deal for them.  My clients are going to be telling me some quite personal things so they need to be 100% sure they can completely trust me with that information.

Trust is important for any business and is a big factor in somebody deciding who is the right person for them to work with.  We all need to feel able to trust anybody that we intend to work with or pay money to for any product or service.

But I do feel it’s particularly important for any work where we are likely to be sharing very personal information.  We need to feel safe that that person is going to treat our information with respect and confidentiality.

One aspect of this is social media.  We all know businesses like to share their client stories on social media as it helps to build their credibility and let others know that they can do a great job. But my clients may not want anybody to know that they are working with a Personal Stylist. 

My client is putting herself in my hands, letting me dress her and that takes courage.  Over our time working together we will build a bond of trust so that my client believes in my advice and suggestions, and will give new things a go.  In return I aim to give her a fantastic experience that means she is able to go out with her head held high, knowing she always looks the part. 

Consequently, I have a clause in the contract between my clients and myself, saying that I will not share anything about them on social media without their express consent.  It’s just another way that I can help them to know they can completely trust me.

2. Non-Judgemental

I had a job a few years ago, where I was working with women who had had a really tough time in life, which had lead them into all sorts of different ways of coping, most of which were not very good for them.  In order to work well with them, and allow them to let me in enough to be able to help, they had to know that I did not judge them in any way for the things they were currently doing, or had done in the past.  

This was such a great lesson for me and really made me look at life with fresh eyes.  I realised that we had all done things in life that we perhaps weren’t proud of and certainly wouldn’t want to tell the whole world about.  So if I don’t want to be judged then I should equally not judge others…that was a great thing to learn and really grasp.

The life lesson was an extremely useful one in all sorts of ways but has set me up really well for the work I do now.

I am often talking to people about their body shape, their body confidence, and see people try on different clothes and outfits.  I would not be able to do that well if there was any hint of me judging them.  My clients need to know that I am for them, that I only want the best for them, and that I honour them no matter their shape, size, colour, style, or anything else they may feel conscious about.

So being non-judgemental is an incredibly important thing for me and for my clients to know that about me.

3. Honesty

Honesty is an important attribute for a lot of businesses, and being honest with our clients has always got to be the best policy.

For a Stylist, honesty takes on a slightly different meaning.

My clients want to know my honest opinion about how they look in their clothing.  It’s not like going shopping with your Mum or your best friend, who always want to tell you you look great!

It does not help anybody if I tell a client that she looks good in something when she doesn’t.  I have to be honest about it, and tell her the truth.

If something doesn’t suit her, I need to gently let her know that, and make sure she knows that we can find something that is much more flattering.

My favourite way to say this in a gentle way is to just say yes it’s OK, but I think we can do much better.

Sometimes I have to be slightly more blunt about it, and say no I’m sorry that just isn’t flattering you at all.  But, however I say it, I have to be truthful.

What I will always do though, is let them know that there will be something else that will look much better and be a whole lot more flattering.  They need to know I can find a better option for them, and then they feel OK about finding out that something doesn’t work for them.

4. Encouragement

Arguably THE most important thing I can do for my clients is to encourage them.

The thing that lights me up about my job is helping women feel more confident in themselves so they can go out into the world and smash all their dreams.

And there’s a very good reason why I am so passionate about it.  Years ago, I had very little self-confidence and my self-esteem was probably on the negative side of the scale!

The way I looked was a massive part of this.  I am an ex-anorexic and I had terrible body dysmorphia, so no matter what I looked like I always thought I looked terrible.  I remember going out one day for dinner with my husband.  There was a salad bar where you had to go up and help yourself, and I felt like every eye in the room was looking at me and judging me and thinking how awful I looked.

It took me a long time to get out of that state, but the thing that made the biggest difference to my recovery was going to see a Stylist who taught me the colours and styles of clothes that looked good on me and flattered my body shape and skin tone.

That’s why helping other women feel more confident in their appearance is so important to me.  And I understand the power of encouragement in lifting another woman’s confidence.  There is nothing better, especially for us women, that to be told we look good, or somebody likes some aspect of who we are or what we do.

If I can, with all integrity, be that person for another woman, then I am a very happy person.

And when I see the difference in my clients, after we have been working together for a while, in their confidence and the way they show up, just fills my heart.

5. Empathy

This is an incredibly important part of my work with my clients.

I need to understand and empathise with where my clients are when we start our work together and start from that point.

If somebody is feeling very low in their confidence levels, it is no good starting our work by asking them to get on video or stand up in a Networking meeting to speak

We have to start with where they are and build up from there.  This is such a wonderfully satisfying part of the job, because no matter where they are when we start working together, I know that I can help them move forward.

If moving forward for my client means going from staying hidden at home and not even putting a profile picture on their social media channels, and we can get them feeling confident enough to put one photo out there, then that is huge progress.

My clients start from all sorts of different places.  For a lot of people they have been getting out and doing their work or business, but just not feeling as confident as they would like to.  

My job is to find out where their starting point is, and to understand how much they can cope with moving along, at any one time.

This is where empathy is important in my business.  Understanding where somebody is currently and gently encouraging them to be able to take the next step towards their goals.

Having had somebody do that for me in the past, and really knowing how much of a difference it made to me, I feel puts me in a very good position to do the same now for my clients.

There are so many parts of my job that I love but gaining somebody’s trust enough for them to ask me to help them and encourage them towards their goals, has got to be right up there for me.

I absolutely love to see somebody grow and change before my eyes and become the person they were always destined to be. 

Now that’s something that’s worth getting up for in the morning.

If you would like to know more about how I could help you grow in confidence in your appearance, so that you can reach all of your dreams and goals, then book a call to chat here.  I’d love to get to know you and hear all about the things you’d like to achieve in life.

In the meantime, the first step to feeling more confident in your appearance, is knowing your body shape and how to dress to flatter it.  Download my FREE guide now and discover your body shape so you can always feels your best whenever you are visible, online or offline.

You can download the guide here.

Until next time…