Erin Geiger: 0:10

Hey everybody, welcome to the latest episode of Clover. This time around, we have Basha Richard. Oh my gosh, thank you for taking the time. Welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. I love it. So, I'm so excited about your background. It's like a personal passion of mine. So, I'm like, so excited to talk to you. Can you kind of give us the play by play of like how you got to be where you are today, so sort of like your origin story, if you will.

Unknown: 0:40

I'm originally from Poland, and so I always wanted to be in America. I was like my big dream, and I met my husband, who's Canadian. I was playing violin, that's my background. I have a violin performance degree, that's what I thought I'm gonna do. And we moved to Canada, from there we moved actually to Austin, where you're from, and then from Austin we moved to Los Angeles, because I wanted to play for movie scores, that was like something that I'm like, if I'm not going to play in a symphony, I'm going to play still in the symphony, but it's just going to be different repertoire, right, and then I was basically told that my sound does not fit what we are looking for, surprise, surprise, right? Kind of like, felt like, okay, I work, I play violin since I was six. It's so difficult to get into any symphony because, like, the openings are not like in any corporations, you could have a one symphony, they have 10 million people in Los Angeles, so you have to wait. I'm going to be very brutally honest, somebody retires or dies, that's that's literally what happens. And then, so I was not waiting until like 400 you know, 400 applications for one opening, because that's literally what happens. And then we might not even hire somebody, so I was like, what else can I do, and at that time, my, my husband was actually a lighting designer for Rob Thomas at the time, and one of the guitar players was like, I, we have this big recording, we're doing American Musical Awards, have nothing to wear, can we just go and do some shopping, so we actually, he knew that I absolutely love shopping. It's like my cardio. I love it. And then, so we went to the store. He's like, "Why didn't you just do that? Why don't you just like become a stylist? I'm like, "What is even what, like, what is a stylist? What does it even mean? And then, mind you, that was 2005 I think. So, like, back in the day, where you know, there was not such a, like, it was not so popular. Yes, there was magazines, obviously, Vogue, Elle, you name it. And then editors were working in house and doing all the styling, all those different things, but lotus independent stylists was.. I don't think they even existed. Ends up being, they did. And then my friend, who used to work at People magazine put me in touch with an agency that represented actually stylists, makeup artists, hairstylists, independent, so freelancing, and that's how I end up as an intern on a photo shoot with Jeremy Piven, who was not the nicest person I'm gonna say, but that was like my first experience with a big movie star at that time. He was like entourage was huge, right? That HBO show, so he was huge. And then we are shooting him, people with cables, with, you know, the photographer, he's yelling at everybody, photographers yelling back, you know, people at magazine are like, "What the hell is going on? And I'm, and then me, like, the first day on set, I'm like, "Oh my gosh, what am I got myself into? And I was like, "This is kind of cool. How do I do it? Like, I want to be the one yelled at. I'm like,"And like, this is kind of like.. there's just a lot of going on. And then I'm like, this is kind of like I sitting in a symphony that was cool, like just playing, but this is just like there's an action that's going on. So that's how everything started from there. I had to build my portfolio and put it together, kind of have like this body of work to show like what I can do, and then actually a year later, the same agency that put me in touch with a with a stylist beside me as a lead stylist, and from there I started to do a lot of jobs, and I was starting to work with a lot of Disney. My first big client was Selena Gomez, and I worked with her for like almost 10 years, and those other other clients came in, and I was end up on like cover working for covers, or like Cosmopolitan, and then Rolling Stones, and Elle, and all those different things with those big names, you know, doing campaigns for like Adidas, OPI C. Years target, like it was just big jobs, and then in 1014 I had my first child, and then at that time I'm starting to feel like I'm exhausted by this hustle and bustle fittings at 10pm wake up at 5am running to seam stress, right, you know, last minute pickup shoes, something that didn't fit, zipper broke, photographer is mad, the client is never happy, they give you no budget, they expect Lamborghini, when they give you budget for like four, then they just want all those different things, being so unrealistic, I had amazing clients, but it just could not like live my life like this, and then I also felt like I'm doing all this red carpet, another just for another event, like what is the like the what is really the outcome out of this of like beautiful pictures, and yes, building brands for for clients, that's great, but I just wanted to have a little bit of simpler life and actually feel like what I'm doing has a little bit bigger impact, and that's what happens. That's when I land, actually, with the first client online, and she just got a new job, and then she was getting, she got a leadership job, and she was literally like, I'm crying every day in my closet because I, I need to dress for this conference, and like, what do I even do, and I know how important it is, how I present myself, that was during Covid, so like Lily, that was like the first meeting in person, because she was all online, and then we dressed, and then literally at that conference, her boss, her boss asked her to step in for him at the conference in, in Boston, when she had to do, like, the big presentation, and she was like, I swear to you, there's no way this guy makes decisions like this without, like, he saw me, he knew who's going to be the best person, even though there are more senior people, because I had the package, I just had the whole thing. I was also dressed well for what it was. Was I overdressed? No. Was I sloppy? No. I was just dressed well. And the boss is like this is someone who is already accomplished, who I trust, who has the credibility, who can represent the company, but she also looks the part, and that's how was my client's first mind. And from there, I just started to work with women in leadership, entrepreneurship, women who are CEOs, leaders, CFO, CEOs, you name it. I had to learn all that because I didn't know that before directors from, I mean, everybody from like academia to sales to technology women who are working in a men-dominated industry, the women who are more in an environment that are a little bit more laid back, and then so that's how everything started when I started to, you know, build brands and wardrobe for women who are so smart and so amazing, what they do, they also want to look the part,

Erin Geiger: 8:10

yeah, and they understand the gravity of that, you know, and that impact, so, so many questions, but going back to when you kind of shifted, and you're like, okay, I guess I'm gonna do this stylist thing, like, how, how did you make that leap? Because there's a lot of people listening who want to make that leap, or, but they feel like, well, who am I to do that, or I don't know enough about that. And so, talk to us if you could just kind of go back to that time when you're like, I guess I'm gonna be a stylist to figure this out, and then you're on these sets of people yelling and all that. Things like, how did you navigate all of that?

Unknown: 8:49

I had no idea what I was doing. I'm not gonna even lie that I knew. I had no clue. I was really good at shopping. Did I have my own style? No, I did not. Did I know what looks good? Yes, I did, but I still have to learn that, and then what I actually look at this from a perspective now, from like that was 15 years ago, or even more than that. I wish I was an assistant with a stylist for much longer than I was, because I actually did it for like maybe a year, a year and a half, and then outside of actually learning what people like to wear, their body, how should I dress them, occasion everything. What I was doing, it was just basically frying spaghetti on a war wall and hoping it's gonna stick, and I was learning from my own mistakes, for and I was just basically learning on a job, doing a job on a job. Yes, I like my first music video when I was hired. I've never done a music video in my entire life before, like I had no clue, like how is that even working, like I knew. What I needed to dress my client in, where to get it, how she's supposed to look, like that type of things, but the whole mechanism of doing it, meeting with a client, dealing with a client, how do I even talk to them, back and forth, just doing like, even like, because I had to do my own budgeting, I had to do, all the receipts, like all this, just the whole thing about the job was that I learned on a job, and was this the best? No, I always say it's better to shadow somebody to learn all those different things, because when you get thrown in a deep water, a lot of times, I mean, there's a lot of people who's going to help you know they want, and then you have to figure it out. I just basically figure it out, but it was not the, like, from a perspective. Now I'm looking at this, I wish I really shadow as, like, a work as an assistant for much longer, and you know, I knew how to put outfits together, but that's not enough to do what I had to do, creating relationship with brands, with publicist, and knowing how to talk to a client, knowing how to convince them of certain things, you know, relationship being between people, like all those nuances, and juggling couple jobs all at once as well. So that was something that I had no idea how to do. And then just like doing the shopping and things, yeah, that was, you know, I was really good at shopping, but there was more to that. We have to build a brand, you have to dress somebody specifically for specific occasions, for specific specific audience, and have that more looking at this as a person, more as a package, How do I help her with the goals that she wants, and then, so, the beginning, I was sort of like, oh, wear that dress, it's, it looks good on you, and then later on, as I was working with more of those celebrities, I'm like, okay, I see what's going on now, so yeah, the beginning was extremely chaotic, just to say the least.

Erin Geiger: 12:26

Yeah, but it's like you saw an opportunity and you took it, because you could have easily said, I don't know how to do that, why would I do that, you know? And I'm just going to go over here, but there was something in you that drove you to be like, okay, I'll figure it out, and then it's not like you had tons of like content on YouTube to look at or research. No,

Unknown: 12:47

there was not.. no, that you know, the funny thing is, now the older we get, obviously the more we're like, I'm not gonna take this on because I, you know, I don't have a credibility to follow this or I don't have experience to do this, but when you're 25 year old, you're like, oh, sure, I'm gonna go and do it, no problem, no, and you just go and do it somehow, you know, just being like I was, I had no experience, but I just did it, I actually hired a really good assistant who was, who did it many, many times, and she kind of like showed me a little bit, like, how everything in a, you know, it works, but when it comes to, like, putting outfits together, you know, it's really good about it. It's just everything else was just sort of like I had to learn on a job,

Erin Geiger: 13:33

yeah, like the business and a relationship side, and everything, yeah, yeah. And did you, when you first started, were you just doing that full time, or did you kind of have to have other jobs as well to kind of like pay the bills?

Unknown: 13:48

Well, so when I moved to Los Angeles, my husband is working full time, and I told him, like, hey, this is what I want to do, and he's like, just do it, take as long as you want to. I was very, very lucky. I'm not gonna say that was very privileged things to have to have a husband who was supporting you and everything I was doing, but it really took me a pretty fast to get to where I didn't have to have another job, like I probably took like a year and a half, and then I was already like making pretty decent money to where I like, if this whole thing failed a part, right, that would have to probably find something else, but I was lucky to where actually I was already like starting to to make a decent money, where it was like, okay, thanks so much for helping me, because now it, I kind of like, you know, it, because of that, it definitely, it happened much faster than if I had, like, you know, a full-time job, like, there will be pretty much impossible to do

Erin Geiger: 14:55

it, yeah, I'm sure, especially with the schedule you're saying, yeah, fittings at night, Ryan, again. Yes, yeah, it's like impossible to do something else, and so when you look at pricing, how did you figure that out, right? So you're like, okay, within a year and a half I was good financially to kind of stand on my own with it. A lot of people who got out on their own, they're like, I don't know what to charge,

Unknown: 15:20

like what do I do, and so, like, kind of what research did you do in your area? Like, what steps did you take to be like, okay, I'm gonna charge x, y, and z. So, back in the day, when I was still with celebrities, that was easy, because my agent would negotiate the rate, and then whatever, that it was just very, very like it was just the common rate, and sometimes I would work for free because magazines were not paid anybody, so you take a job or not take a job, and when you work with a client, you had established rate, which was basically what was just common across the board, and sometimes there were jobs where the client was coming in and they're like, okay, this is our day rate and this is how many days you're going to work on a job, and then you basically take the job or not take the job. Now, when I moved to my clients, my personal clients, yeah, this is where I also have to like do the research and see what's out there, and then how do I want to position myself and who I'm working with, because I didn't want it to be positioned as someone who's obviously working with women who just starting, or like college students, so I had to position myself and my services and what I charge based on what I bring to the table, based on the outcome, but also what obviously is reasonable within that industry, and when within what people in my industry are basically

Erin Geiger: 16:53

got it. Okay, now that makes sense. When you look at women that you're working with, so what's the difference between working with a woman in leadership, like a Selena Gomez, versus a woman in leadership who's, you know, building her career, whether it be corporate or startup, or whatever, kind of compare those two.

Unknown: 17:18

Ah, it's interesting, because you know, I had very good relationship with Selena, in a way that it was very similar, because it was just really between both of us. A lot of times, when you work with celebrities, there's going to be a lot of people involved in your business, whether they have a lot of things to say and we know what we are talking about, or not, so you're gonna have publicist management, sometimes assistant, sometimes mother, like someone is working with Selena, she was 16 years old, so her mom was always around, she just basically told me, I'm horrible at fashion, don't even ask me, so she was just like one of the best, I would say my client's mom that I experienced, like she was just the best, but a lot of times that does not happen, so I had many other clients where many other people were involved in the trajectory of how we're going to build a brand for that particular client. When I work with my clients one on one, it's just both of us, right? So it's just like they trust me, my opinion, and that's probably like the biggest difference. They trust from what I have to say and my opinion based on that look, and how can we make it better with celebrities? It's a little bit different, because a lot of people, there are so many people who are involved with her life who I would say may not or may not necessarily know what we are talking about. A lot of times, it's like, why can we wear this color as opposed to that color, just because they want a better picture when a pink, because that's going to be easier to place them in a magazine. So, what the way they are looking at the things, it's from a different perspective than I look at the things, because I'm thinking this just looks better on her, as opposed to this one. And then, with my private clients, this trust is also already built before we even work, because they would not hire me if they didn't have that trust, and there's no other people like I never had the clients whose husband is involved or anything like that. Thank God, I will be like, oh my gosh, why do you? Because every time I work with celebrities, like, why do you hire me if you don't care for my opinion, or my opinion does not, is, is doesn't have a weight to it,

Erin Geiger: 19:51

right?

Unknown: 19:51

You know better, and I understand they're looking at things from a different perspective, but like, let's like regroup, um. I'm, but with my one on one clients, this is like it's between us, and we really go back and forth, and why this is better, why this is not better, and eventually everything comes down to that person, because she's going to wear it, so whether I like it or not, it always always listen to them, I always like try to almost like become them, I'm like, this is so you, I totally see you in this. Don't force it if you love it so much. We're just going to take it to the next level, so the trust part, and then also they really care for my opinion. Maybe that's the beginning,

Erin Geiger: 20:39

and I would think that how comfortable they are leads to the confidence, right? So to your point of like, I listen to them, you're like, you don't force them, well, you need to wear this, but then they're so uncomfortable in their own skin with it that it doesn't really serve the purpose, right?

Unknown: 20:55

No, that's that, we never do it, that's the, that's the main point, like, can't force anybody to wear something, and that's the point. Like, I, that's the first thing we always do. We cannot force you. We have to find what is your version. What is your version of that elevated person who maybe got promoted, right? And now you're in a different position. And how do you want to show up? It's not going to be further from what he used to wear, we just have to refine that, that part, and that we need to be clear. We have clarity on what does it look like, because I'm the last person to tell you to wear something, I can help you refine that, but you're gonna help me to understand who you are.

Erin Geiger: 21:39

Yeah, and you did a post recently about how you know how you portray yourself is important, you know, as far as like what you wear and you know how you how you look, and you got a little bit of backlash from some male commenters. Can you talk a little bit about that, because I just find it comical, but yeah,

Unknown: 22:02

you know that post went to 60,000 views, I think.

Erin Geiger: 22:09

Yeah,

Unknown: 22:09

I think LinkedIn loves videos these days, but interestingly, the same post on Instagram get a lot of women, like, like it's just very interesting on LinkedIn, I suddenly like it's shown to men, and men have a lot of things to say, and on Instagram is a completely different story, but men always have a lot of things to say about our position and how we should navigate our careers and what we should be paying attention or not, especially from somebody who's never been in our space, our shoes, and I get totally that there can be women out there who don't think that this is important, and I totally understand everyone has their own views on certain things, but to have a man come into my comments and write essays, and just literally like spewing their emotion emotions over something that it wasn't that message that's not for them in the first place. It's really comical. I'm just like, I'm looking, I'm reading this, I'm like, this is interesting. Thank you so much for giving me an idea of what I'm gonna post on Monday, that was literally me on Sunday sleeping. I'm like, now I know this is a really great post, let me just put it 10 minutes and I have a really nice because I know this is like comical, and it was just like after the other, especially the one who said that the best outfit is some kind of black blazer with a brown patches on your elbows. I'm like, that's exactly what women want to wear.

Erin Geiger: 23:48

You nailed it. I know, and I love the ones that were like, I'll hire someone, you know, regardless of what they look like or whatever, and I'm like, give me a break. Like, this actually does matter, you know. It's like, especially for women, it's like, and when you look like, if there's, you know, celebrities or women in politics, it's like that is what is discussed. What is she wearing? How is she wearing it, you know? And then you don't get that for the male counterparts, you know, really much, if at all.

Unknown: 24:22

You don't, but you'll be surprised how many men I are in my DMs asking. I'm sure fact that we don't talk about they - we're not talking about them. And then, yes, I wish we could live in a world where we don't talk about women about those type of things, but it's not even that, it's basically how how we visually portray things, and how you're walking through the airport, and you see a see a pilot who will be wearing a T-shirt and jeans, would you trust him to like fly a plane, like just visually, or. Lot of things like uniforms, we do create it creates some sort of trust, and somebody who is a little bit more polished and put together, and then really like elevated, especially if it's more consistency, it just visually creates a certain level of trust, and then especially when you're so credible, I don't know if you're credible, but before we have a chance to say hello, who you are, what you do, all those different things, but when you, you know, when you walk to a new environment where there's people and you suddenly see, like, I, that's at least that's how I work, I'm like, oh my gosh, who is that in white suit, like, who is this, like, I'm always like, you know, I'm like, like, I don't know, I'm slingbacks, my husband, like, who is this, who is this, and he always tells me, oh, she is like some kind of actress, like, women go to some kind of events with my husband, who's in the movie industry, I'm like, okay, I can tell, because the way she's dressed, like, you, I can see that there was a team of people who did it, and maybe she's some kind of actress I've never seen, or something, but then you can see also people who are like in executives at those parties as well. It's just very interesting, like, how can you see who sort of who is who based on what we are wearing? Yeah, yeah, maybe one day we're not going to talk about it right now. We do, and then men are in my DMs. They are, they don't want to say that they are, but they are. There are stylists out there for men as well, only for men who want to take it to the next level. And my clients, literally, my clients are telling me, I know from a group of, like, my team, who is, let's say, VP, and then I can tell that this is somebody who works with somebody, because you can see it, that this person, and he's a man, so the fact that we don't talk about it doesn't mean that this is not, this is not the fact.

Erin Geiger: 27:03

They're just not vilified, is a strong word, but they're just not taken apart in the public eye, exactly. Yeah, and how do you help a woman find their look, right? If they're like, I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what I'm comfortable in, and I don't, you know, how do you, how do you help them get identify it, so that where they, they're, they're comfortable with their, the image that they're portraying, and they feel like they're authoritative, and they have that confidence.

Unknown: 27:33

So I always say there's no one like one look that's going to really define this, because when we look at CEOs, women who are in those positions, and they are dressed really, really well. You're going to see distinctive differences in between how they do it, and so I always say we always have to bring back to esthetically what we like to wear. So, and I always, always give it my example, always take things that I'm wearing, and I almost like specifically take it apart to show the reasoning behind certain things that I let say I wear, and that look I just basically take it to the next level and define it, so I'm wearing button-up shirts. It's absolutely my favorite silhouette. It's one of those things that I love, but I'm not going to Macy's and buying like just the tight button-up shirt, that's something that it's cotton and it's not, it's just very basic and bland. I'm going to take something that I absolutely love to the next level, that's going to have a very nice structure, that the color is going to be pointy. I love this, that's going to be a little bit more fitted, more feminine silhouette, and going to have it more details, just a little bit of the print. So I'm going to define what those elements are about it, what really esthetically I like to wear, and then find those pieces and take it to the next level by how, by maybe how we put them together, and obviously how do we add extra elements like accessories to kind of make it a little bit more elevated, so we, it always comes down to esthetically what we like to wear, and so when you look at something, why do you like to wear it? I'm going to tell you in such details why I like to wear, so that's what really starts with, and we can take it, what you like, whatever you describe this in, we have to see this visually. How does it look like? Because we can say, oh, you know, I am like, I want to look elevated, put together, and feminine, and I'm like, there's so many like those words mean nothing unless we like see x. Examples of what it

Erin Geiger: 30:02

is, or do as it has anybody come to you with kind of like maybe an unrealistic view, you know, of like I want to look like so and so, and you're like that's not gonna happen, or like how do you, how do you bridge that?

Unknown: 30:15

I had one client back in December, January, and her style, she was in technology space, and her style was extremely edgy and sexy, and then she wanted to wear like bustier and wear like leather, and then, and then we had to take this, which it was just a little bit risky, and make it more, I would say, appropriate for what she was dressing for, to make it a little bit more, I would say polished and put together, but she had very strong point of view of what I, what I like, and so we can take any really esthetics and turn this into appropriate outfit for whatever we dress in, depending obviously who's going to be in a room, that's always and what we're dressing for.

Erin Geiger: 31:15

Yeah, okay, now that makes sense, and there's there's so much stress that women carry as they kind of climb up in their, you know, leadership roles. How does fashion and kind of identifying their style take away some of that stress, some of that decision making and fatigue? Like, how do you see it positively impacting your clients, whether they're the celebrity ones or the or the current current ones that you serve,

Unknown: 31:43

I think really to have a wardrobe built the right way, because a lot of times what happens is we buy out of necessity, but not building this more as a project to like work with a lot of women who like, oh, I just work on this big project, I'm finishing on Friday. I can get on a call, maybe we can finish, and we can get on a call next week, and then go for my closet. I'm like, fine, you have to do exactly like the project. The building, the wardrobe is like building a project, because the what is the goal? The goal, maybe before we go there, why there's a stress, because stress, what am I going to wear, and that all comes down to not having a wardrobe that's going to be perfect for what you are dressing for, so not what am I wearing, what am I dressing for, so what is that I'm doing? Oh, I'm getting on Zoom, I'm going to the office, I'm going to be traveling now, so we have to build the wardrobe based esthetically who we are, but we have to always keep in mind what we're dressing for, and when we have a build that wardrobe as a project, right, this with this and this for the office, but now this with jeans, or like even sweatpants for Zoom on Tuesday, and I can just also unlike even sweatpants, like I'm kind of joggers, I put sneakers on, put like a denim jacket, and I ran to school to pick up my child, so the wardrobe is functioning for what we are doing, but a lot of times what happens is, oh, I have a conference, let me run into Banana Republic on Tuesday after my meeting to grab something, hopefully they're gonna have something that I need, and then whatever I grab, I'm going to wear it with something that I can find in my closet. So it's just like reaction, it's like reactivity rather than planning everything, just like we plan on the no, like you plan your, like you plan for today, you have to plan for everything. You plan your slides for presentation, you plan the projects. So, we have to plan the wardrobe. It's pretty much the same thing. And that's where, okay, I have it for everything I need. This is good. This is good. This is good. I can wear this blazer with three different things. I can pick whatever I want. It's good because I have a wardrobe that's planned for what I'm doing, that's all of this.

Erin Geiger: 34:04

Yeah, and it sounds like you help not just for the big moments in life, but for the moments in between as well, right? To kind of carry, I would assume, to kind of carry that confidence, regardless, like you were saying, pick up a kid from school that you know that you look put together and polished at all times, so it's not just for the more glamorous parts of life, but for the everyday as well.

Unknown: 34:26

We want to have a wardrobe that's functioning, and then my joy, my clients have kids, they go to different functions, they sometimes even go to dinner. So, obviously, what we wear to work sometimes it works as well for the things that we do otherwise. If you might draw, if you would like three times a week on Zoom, you might have a very nice, not necessarily nice dress pants, because you're not going to wear two Zoom, although I have clients who wear heels on Zoom as well, because that's just what we want, but you want to have like a nice joggers or something that's a little bit more elevated. It, and kind of, kind of, you know, you feel good in them. It's just not like a sweatpants, but you can wear the same joggers and go to grab Starbucks and go pick up your child from school. So, like, it, we have to think a little bit more, like, you know, how do I elevate not only like that one blouse from Zoom, but, like, is the work workshop functioning for, like, my life now, because majority of us, I mean, a lot of us want to feel put together, even if you run to the store, right, just like you don't have to be glamorous, but you can wear a nice t-shirt that's kind of well fitted and beautiful fabric, it's a T-shirt, but you feel better about it, or you feel better in it when it's something that it just fits you better. It's a nicer quality. You throw a nice, you know, jacket on top. You wear a nice, I don't know, jeans that are fit you better than just like something from 10 years ago, and you like stuck in your skinny jeans era still,

Erin Geiger: 36:00

like those type of things, so yeah, yeah, no, that's so true. Like, it evolves, right? So it's not like, oh, this is my style and I'm done for the rest of my life. It's like, no,

Unknown: 36:10

it's gonna evolve, but it's always, you know, we're always sticking to who we are right now. If we have very clear, like, we have a clarity on this, how does it specifically look like we have to be able to verbalize this, but also be able to see it, so if I see an outfit, I can say this is so me, I totally see myself wearing this, it's so me, I love this, and I know why I love this, I love this because of this color, because of this print, because of what that outfit looks like, and I can totally see myself wearing this to like, to like, oh, I'm having podcast, and I'm gonna meet my client next week, like, so I'm thinking about that one outfit in so many things, but then I'm also taking that apart and thinking that blouse, oh, it's awesome, like when I go to do something else, like you think about your wardrobe outside of that one outfit, I can only wear it this way. No, I can break it apart and wear it so many different ways.

Erin Geiger: 37:13

Yeah, and I bet you have worked with people who they think something's not them and they look at it and they're like, I can't really see myself in that, but I'm sure you encourage them to give it a try, and then when they put it on, sometimes they're like surprised, like, whoa, this actually looks great.

Unknown: 37:31

No, because at the point where we are doing this, we already know what we like, what they don't like, and because they've done this, meaning they already did it, so they pick up something that they think that they should wear, because maybe somebody else was wearing, oh, this person wore it, looks so good on her, and you're wearing it, it's like it's so weird, like I don't look good in that, why I don't look good in something somebody else wore so well, so nice, it's because it's just not, it's not for you, it's beautiful, it's just not for you. And then we kind of try to find those different things to get outside of who they are, and what we have to do is to know what who we are, what we like to wear, the esthetically what we are, and take that look to the next level. So at some point, like, they, they already done that, and so I'm not forcing them in there, like, I never want to force anybody anything. I'm like, what about this? I don't like this. I'm like, why don't you like this? Oh, I don't like, because the blouse has a zipper, not the buttons, and we already know you don't like blouses with zippers, and it's a good thing, you eliminate things, that is a that is just a noise, because you know you don't need it, you don't like

Erin Geiger: 38:47

it. Okay, interesting. So that there's never anything that you introduce to them where you know it'll look good on them, and they're like, "No,

Unknown: 38:53

yes, I do. Oh, all the time, but I know their style, I know what they like, and I'm showing them. Do you see what you're wearing here. This is the better version of that. Oh, I see it now. Yeah, whatever we wear, I'm like, let's take it to the next level. I literally did this for like an hour and a half this morning with a client, because she was showing me her closet, her outfits. I'm like, okay, we're gonna replace this with this, we're gonna replace this with, they were taking this to the next level, and I'm like, this blouse, this blouse, this blouse, and they're like, I see what you're saying, and I see this is a much better version of that outfit, but it still stays esthetically with me.

Erin Geiger: 39:37

Okay, that makes

Unknown: 39:37

sense of that. Yeah,

Erin Geiger: 39:39

okay. And let's talk budget, because some people might assume, like, I probably need a closet of Chanel to look good, you know, so talk a little bit about that, of like, you know, you don't necessarily need to,

Unknown: 39:53

you know, what the problem now is, this like a separate conversation in our. Another hour, because the problem is it's really what consumers are doing this way, that is the way we are shopping, that's really destroying a lot of us who wants to invest in good pieces, and we have a like a sticker shock, and because a lot of like back in the day when Zara came, right, and then suddenly you had like two, I don't know, it was like 2001 2002 suddenly Zora starting to pop in one here, then H M, and then there's new collections every week, new collections, new stuff, new this, new new prints, new colors, so people starting to get excited, I can get more stuff, I get new pieces every week, and we're starting to learn that we need to get more and more and cheaper and cheaper, and so a lot of brands starting to cut corners, because from two collections they went to four collections, and some brands, like big big ones like Zara, H M, you have what, Old Navy, you have all those, those big ones, they just keep doing this every week, new stuff, new stuff, new stuff, but there are brands that are back in the day, you would buy one blouse, two blouse, three blouses, that's what we would have, and they were much better quality, very much nicer fabrics, and there was a attention to details. And then, through all those times, everything's starting to get cheaper, and we would just throw it away, because that doesn't work anymore. But now, right, I'm working with those women, and they're like, why am I paying $800 for a blazer when there's a blazer for $100 The thing is that $800 for a blazer, yes, it's a sticker shock, and then do we have to pay that? No, but the reality is that's what happened probably years ago, right? In the Navy, in the 90s, when those clothes were a little bit more expensive, but we are better made, and as opposed to like going to Zara, and so essentially I always tell my clients they, you know, there are brands that are going to be that we're not even looking at or like been touching it, and then we're not going to go to Chanel, because that's just insanely ridiculous, right? That's just not necessary, but we're going to stay in this sort of like hovering between 200 to like 600 something's going to be 150 some things might be a little bit more expensive, but that's plus minus where are we going to be sticking? There's a lot of brands specifically for women who are like, you know, I want to look modern, I don't want to put together, I don't want to look like I'm so overly corporate, I don't want to be wearing the navy suit and look like I'm working in a bank, I want to be a little bit more elevated and feel put together and polished, but not so stiff and stuck in this kind of like uniform. So, there are brands like that, which is going to be a little bit more premium, but we have to think about if you're going to buy a blazer for $500 or $600 you're going to have that blazer for the next like six, seven years,

Erin Geiger: 43:21

right?

Unknown: 43:22

You have to think more of like that blazer from Zara. Yes, it's cheaper, but that blazer is not going to fit you well. That blazer is just not going to have the same quality of fabric, is not going to have the same structure, it's not going to have the same feel and look, as opposed to certain brands, not all, absolutely not, as in $500 on a blazer, doesn't mean every time you're gonna get amazing things, but they are the brands that will give you better quality for that medium price for $100 right? sometimes there are sales. Now we are getting into in June, so I think this is just more like a mental, okay, I'm gonna have less, but I'm gonna have better, that's going to suit me. And then you can always resell it, because those prints are always going to go much higher price, price tag.

Erin Geiger: 44:20

Yeah, no, I love that. And do you combine, like, you know, timeless pieces? Like, invest in these, because you're gonna use a blazer for the next decade, like you're gonna use these like black shoes, like, forever. But what if it's more of, like, a trendy look, you know? What do you.. what's your advice for that?

Unknown: 44:39

I don't. do we don't do trendy,

Erin Geiger: 44:42

like the

Unknown: 44:45

word trend does not exist in my vocabulary, and my clients could not care less about trends. So, the way I always tell to structure your, your closet and your wardrobe, you need to have like sort of two, two categories of. Clothing, the first one is going to be like foundation pieces, something like thinking about you building a house, you need to have a good foundation of that house before you start putting a couch and and paint your paint your wall, right? And those foundational pieces is going to look a little bit different for everyone, so you can have a black pants, you can have a nice structure blazer, not everyone needs the black pants, not everyone maybe needs navy blazer, like I don't have black pants, because I just don't wear it, so for me might be a little bit different. Everyone is going to be different, so think of those like neutrals, foundation pieces, something that you can easily build on top, and then we're going to add what's it called, elevated pieces, I call them, so prints, colors, textures. Think that's going to be gives a little bit of interest, but we still going to be very polished, that we can easily mix with those foundation pieces. And both categories should last you a long time, and should be able to mix and match, because you have those foundation things that pretty much going to go with each other, but also with everything else, and you have those elevated pieces that going to go with most of the foundation pieces, and you can just mix and match, and however you want, and both categories we're going to have a nice color, nice structure, just overall interesting beautiful pieces that going to last you a long time, but then you have variety of things that can basically mix and match, and everything is for our esthetics, what we like to wear. So, somebody might have, let's say, their basic foundation pieces. For me, it's like a leather skirt. I love leather skirt, and I can wear it with this blouse, but can wear any other blouse I have. It for somebody else is going to be just a pencil, simple pencil skirt. I have a client who loves pencil skirts, that's all she wants to wear. She has a black pencil skirt, and that's her foundation pieces that she can put on top of a lot of other things. So we build a new closet more from that perspective. Trends does not exist.

Erin Geiger: 47:04

Yeah, I knew you're gonna say that as soon as I, because there are some things like you mentioned, like skinny jeans earlier, right? So, there are some things that they were trendy for a time, and that's what people were buying, and then they were now there. I mean, everything is cyclical, right? They'll come back in fashion in, like, you know, 15 years, but

Unknown: 47:25

yes, so there. So I'm going to answer this from a dip. Have to look at this from this perspective. So, trends is something what is going to stay with us for one season, and this is going to be very specific, for I don't know, it can be, for example, like I remember a couple years ago that was like those cargo pants, was like a dressy cargo pants with pockets, exactly, everybody had those cargo pants that was trend for one season, that's it, skinny jeans were in for a decade or decade a half, so that was something that esthetically we were moving into a different area of what, how the silhouettes overall for everybody is going to look like. So back in 2005 we were in skinny jeans, we were in very tight blazers, right, like super tight, and we're wearing skirts that were above the knees or even mini skirts, and the overall clothes were built differently. That today, today we have more oversized silhouettes, a lot of longer blazers. You're going to have longer skirts below the knee, you're going to have a straight leg down, or even wet wide legs. So the clothing are just esthetically looks differently, so this is not a trend. This is basically like what's changing. It's like when you look at fashion from 50s to 60s to 70s, you can totally like see what was in the 50s and what was not 60s, but that's not trends that just sort of like the source of of the I would say esthetically, what, what those clothes look like at that time.

Erin Geiger: 49:06

Yeah, it's more like a long-term evolution.

Unknown: 49:09

Yes. Thank you, that was very well put together. Yes,

Erin Geiger: 49:12

okay, I got it. Yeah, no, that makes sense. Um, okay. If people want to connect with you online, what is the best way for them

Unknown: 49:20

to do so, they can DM me on LinkedIn, they can DM me on Instagram, they can just get my free guide, it's all available on LinkedIn and on Instagram, that's probably the easiest way.

Erin Geiger: 49:38

Okay, we'll put those links on this in the show notes, for sure. And then one fun question that I ask everybody at the end, because I love music, is if you could listen to only one music artist for the rest of your life, who would it be?

Unknown: 49:51

Oh, Brahms. I'm not gonna be very popular.

Erin Geiger: 49:56

I love how you just knew, though. That's amazing. So, because.

Unknown: 50:00

Um, well, these days in my car it's Katzai, because I have an 11 year old, so it's like Katsai and Billy Eilish is in my car now on the way from school to school, but in what I would listen, I would probably listen to like Brahms symphonies, I know this is very unpopular, a popular answer. I'm just, I'm just still stuck to my, to my classical year. So, I will always stay with my classical music for the rest of my life. But in my car is definitely a think Jenny Musik, cat's eye, Billy Eilish. I don't know a lot of hip hop with like a lot of swearing these days, which my daughter loves, and she's counting how many swear words on her fingers she can hear. I'm like, oh my gosh, most popular mother either, and just allowing that, but

Erin Geiger: 50:58

no, I have my youngest is 14, and so I love hip hop myself, anyway. And so I'm like, just let it fly, because

Unknown: 51:08

she can hear it, but she cannot say it. She's not allowed to say, yeah,

Erin Geiger: 51:11

100% Yeah,

Unknown: 51:14

yeah, we're not saying this. We can hear it in a music, yeah, not the best, but

Erin Geiger: 51:18

yeah, we're not repeating it in our daily I love it. Well, this isn't so much fun. Thank you again for taking the time. I could talk to you for hours. It's just like, and then, yeah, and then with fashion, I could just, yeah, it's just fascinating to me. So, and have you, I gotta ask this, have you seen any of The Devil, where it's Prada films?

Unknown: 51:39

I did,

Erin Geiger: 51:41

okay,

Unknown: 51:42

I I went there for fashion, and I did not like the movie, just because, like, just the story that I'm.. I don't like.. I don't know, you just do one movie and you stick to it, but I love the fashion part, so I gave them for the fashion extra what Al Hathaway was wearing, like a lot of plaid blazers. I was like, where I was like looking online, where's this blood blazer from? I want flat blazer, just like literally me, but just the storytelling. I didn't, I didn't like the story. Other than that, I thought fashion was really good, yeah.

Erin Geiger: 52:21

Okay, well, that's high praise coming from someone in fashion, you know. At least they got the fashion part right.

Unknown: 52:26

Yes, I liked it. Yeah, I mean, anything to do with, like, you know, really like beautiful outfits, you appreciate this, just like an art. You're like, oh, this is so pretty, would I wear this? No, but somebody else looks so beautiful in this. So,

Erin Geiger: 52:39

yeah, I love it. Well, thank you again for the conversation. I really appreciate the time. I know you're super busy, so thank you.

Unknown: 52:47

My pleasure.