Latest / She Speaks to Scale / 26. How To Use Style As A Strategy For Speaking Success, With Kay Korsh
Transcript
- Sarah Collins: Hello and welcome to She Speaks the Scale with me, Sarah Collins. the podcast that empowers women in business to own their voice, be heard and create impact, one communication insight at a time. a former senior television producer for ITV and ITN. It's my mission to bring the communication skills we need to thrive in today's world of business to the generation of women who simply weren't taught them. Whether it's scaling your authority and stepping into thought leadership, scaling your impact on camera on stage and beyond, or scaling your revenue through speaking opportunities, this podcast will help you use your voice to be heard so you're trusted and remembered when it matters most. Before we begin, if a speaking opportunity came your way tomorrow, would you pass on it, say yes through the nerves or confidently agree? Understanding your speaker identity is the first step to being able to scale and I have a quiz to help you do just It takes two minutes to complete and we'll tell you where you are now and your potential next steps on your speaking journey. I'll drop the link in the show notes. My guest today is Kate Horsch, who is a style strategist. She has spent 20 years dressing celebrities, working with luxury brands and helping professional speakers and business leaders use their style to secure more business opportunities. Let's dive into the conversation. Hi Kay, thank you so much for joining me today. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Thank you so much for having me, Sarah. Sarah Collins: No problem at all. I'm really, really looking forward to this conversation because I'm curious myself and I know that the listeners will be really curious about the subject that you're talking about today. So I start every guest episode by asking, can you share the moment when you realized your voice truly mattered? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: well, you're making me being a bit vulnerable, but I think for for many years, like before I started this business, I didn't really feel like my voice mattered. and when I started actually I didn't even know that things like experts existed. So I just started this business kind of thinking okay, I'm gonna help people. make their look more elevated working on their wardrobe. And someone told me, let's work and making into an expert. for you having online presence and I was like, no, no, no, I can't I can't have my pictures taken. I can't speak on camera. And my deep belief was that who needs my opinion? Like who is interested in my thoughts? They're not original, whatever. Everything has been said before. I think this was my belief that, you know, everything has been said before. What can I add to this world, which would be interesting. But as I started working on this, because I do tend to dive in deep with everything and being quite courageous, I think, with stuff. So even if I'm afraid of something, I keep working at it and just doing it anyway And I noticed that when I started sharing my thoughts, people actually found it really interesting. it definitely didn't happen overnight. this was kind of building blocks of confidence which grew when I constantly had confirmation that when I spoke in front of people, whether it was in real life or where maybe I shared a newsletter or a post, and I got lots of comments of people genuinely being interested and commenting, well, this first of all had an impact or at least just sparked a conversation. Over time my self-belief changed. I don't know that this was alone answer, but that's definitely true for me because I do think about it regularly. Sarah Collins: So let me ask then, do you see yourself as an expert now? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Definitely. Sarah Collins: Yeah, I've had exactly the same journey as you actually, Kay, which is really interesting to hear. Equally, it wasn't until I started my business that I started stepping into that real expert era, I guess. But I think a lot of listeners potentially listening to this podcast are perhaps, slightly further back in their journey and they're having those thoughts that you just said. So things Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Mm. Sarah Collins: like, who needs to hear my opinion? You everything has been said before. Who's going to listen to me? Was it just the time or was there a shift in your mindset? What do you think it really was that made you step into that next level? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: I think being authentic and that courage, so just keep going and even if you are scared, just carrying on and I think it's the reps. So more you do something, first of all, that definitely brings in the confidence, but also being authentic that will help you share because everybody has their views on the world and it doesn't actually with a lot of what I'm sharing is not always coming from just about the image perspective and my, tunneled expertise, but it's just my thoughts on the world and kind of my connecting those thoughts then to the image. so I think yes, it's the combination of being authentic and keep going and being courageous. Sarah Collins: I completely agree with that. Completely agree. So let's rewind a little bit there because we spoke about you launching your business, but actually you grew up in Ukraine. And I'm wondering how did you use your voice as you were growing up? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: so I think it that's not really connected with Ukraine. It's more connected with growing up for anybody as a child and how they feel in society. I was not a neutral person. I always had opinions on things, but I didn't always know maybe how to express them or how to stand my grounds if they were not met positively. so I was always interested in fashion. I don't know where that came in because no one in my family is creative. but from a very young age when I was you know dressing up dolls, I always knew I wanted to do something within the fashion industry. but yeah obviously that in terms of Me growing up in Soviet Ukraine, there wasn't much going on about fashion. and I moved to the UK eventually and I did actually have a career in Ukraine before moving to the UK. I worked in the film industry and TV. so I had quite a bit of experience when I moved to the UK. Sarah Collins: And then how did you translate that passion then into a career? Because prior to your business, you have worked with celebrities across the board and it sounds like a really exciting, incredible career to date. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: I think it's the same answer as before, it's courage and just moving forward and taking steps. Just working at it daily, you know, because it is a really difficult industry to break into. And I wouldn't say it was luck. It was literally just working hard and they always say if you send out whatever a hundred requests, maybe one of those will come back positive. Back in the day when I just moved to the UK I was writing physical letters. we were within emails times. but I wanted to make it more special. I was interning at magazines, which was quite difficult for me because actually I was a little bit older and other interns tended to be British but 10 years younger than me. So i it was frustrating. I did that for a bit and then I started just developing my own like I did the tutorials with photographers and just kind of yes, just building it bit by bit and contacting people. Sarah Collins: And can you share some of the highlights with us? Because I'm coming from a background where I work with lot of celebrities. there's certain things that stick in my mind and I bet there is for you as well. What were some of the highlights for that time of your life? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: I did love fashion shows, definitely because you kind of get a thrill. I'm not a type of person who loves going to live concerts, like music concerts and stuff like this. But I think it's a similar thrill when a team of people comes together and they produce like a major fashion show and then you are there, you kind of feel that energy. And it's similar with say speakers who deliver on stage. I think it's a very similar vibe. So you kind of get this infectious energy going on and lots of beautiful people. Obviously, it's like the most interesting people in the world who come together I feed off visuals obviously. so for me, first of all, to live in London or you know, when I used to travel to Paris as well, and just seeing the best dressed people and the most interesting. dress people in the world i it definitely excites me and gives me more creativity. Sarah Collins: That's wonderful. So what inspired you then to start your own business? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: COVID. Sarah Collins: Yeah. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Yeah, that was the the main thing I think to to start with because all of a sudden everything stopped and I don't like doing nothing so I thought okay I'll I'll try something else and I was fortunate enough within literally a couple of months of starting this I was introduced to Maria Franzoni, who is a big person within the speaking business. and we started working together and this is when I started developing my content specific to speakers and it really took off from there. So I found lots of creativity within doing this business, which I didn't expect I would. I love all things marketing and kind of personal branding, which were all new to me but kind of felt natural. so I love doing this. Sarah Collins: I can tell, it's brilliant. mean, don't you just feel so lucky that you found something that you absolutely love doing? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: so lucky there are so many people who are growing up and being in the teens and young adulthood who don't know what they want to do and I always knew what I wanted to do and I think this is such a big advantage to love what you do, for this not to be just your day job. Sarah Collins: Yeah, that's amazing. you call yourself a style strategist. So you explain what that means exactly? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: So it's not going to the shops with someone for a couple of hours and just hoping that they will be happy and joyful and I will understand what they want and they will understand what they want within that period of time. I always do deep work with everybody I work with, and so obviously you have your foundation where you work out the shapes and the colours which suit someone, but A lot of this work is connected with how do you want to be perceived? what are your values in your brand? What is your tone of voice? And how can you translate that through style? Because I think the studies show it's about 83% of our communication is non-verbal. I think don't quote me on this, but I think it's that. And your image is a huge part of that. so you might as well use this in your work and in your personal life. But basically I teach people how to use their image as a strategy in their business. Sarah Collins: That's amazing. I also talk a lot about first impressions and actually it's not just the body language, is it? It's how you are dressed and that's how people are potentially going to perceive you within those first few seconds. So it is really important. And can I just say, I have clocked that you're actually wearing one of my brand colors. So we have dressed very well together today. I'm in my, teal color, and then I always get confused actually with what color this is. What color would you say that you're wearing today? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Mustard yellow. Sarah Collins: Mustard yellow, yeah. I toy between mustard, is it okra? I never quite knew. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: okra yes, you can call it okra as well. But I also noticed that we have the same colour and we didn't prepare for this. Sarah Collins: Anyway, we've both got like, we didn't at all, we didn't at all, but we look very on brand. I'm really impressed with this. I'm gonna actually have to find out where you got that from. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: it's been a few years now, so probably it's not available anymore. But I can give you some tips how to find similar things. Sarah Collins: my! I definitely need that in my wardrobe, So we spoke about you being a style strategist. What led you, or what do you love in particular about working with people that are elevating their speaking skills? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: what I love is that they have very similar mindset to mine. So the majority of business owners, founders, speakers, they have a growth mindset, they are used to self-development, they're used to self-pace in their business, working, being organized in their business. And sure enough, a lot of us are not organized in the sense of you know, a lot of neurodivergent people Have their businesses. I think actually this is one of the advantages of being neurodivergent. You're kind of more creative in how you approach business. but that sense of self-development, self-pace, working on themselves, growth mindset. This is what makes my job easier, first of all, and also it makes people who I market to and who I work with. understand me really well so they immediately connect and it was actually really interesting because I was doing deep dive into my target persona recently and unique value proposition and all of those things and so part of this exercise was to interview my favorite clients right Sarah Collins: Yeah. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: and It was insane how similar they all were in their answers. Sarah Collins: Hmm. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: and I was like, okay, I must be doing something right because I attract the same type of person. Sarah Collins: I just think the style element. So my background with style, sorry, this is going off on a tangent a little bit, but I very early on in my business actually worked with someone on my colors because I found I wasn't dressing for how kind of I felt. that was one of the best investments I've ever made. And actually, it Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Mm, a hundred percent. Sarah Collins: really helped me with my brand colors. because Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Yes. Sarah Collins: you correct me if I'm wrong, but you should be wearing your brand colors, you say? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: so I always encourage people, if they can, to do the color analysis before they work on the branding, the website, the brand colours, because what might happen and what happens quite often is you you would choose brand colours based on maybe the colors you like or the colors you think your business should be. And then those colors don't work with your complexion. And then obviously all of our brands now are online. This is where people see us, right? It's on social media on our website and the book covers and all of that. And if you are next to the pictures of your brand colors and those colors don't suit you, subconsciously, that's not gonna work, even for people who don't understand colors. so I do work a lot with people while they are working on their branding at the same time. That's super Sarah Collins: and then. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: helpful. Sometimes when we work afterwards, there are things you can do. I would encourage to not get into that position or to potentially change your branding if it's possible, but you know there are some ways you can work around that. and I do actually work a lot with people where they find out their colours and then they change their brand colours afterwards. Sarah Collins: I find that whole thing fascinating. I know with what you do, you include a lot of human psychology. Does that become part of that? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Hundred percent. in terms of interests in life, I have two interests. It's psychology, like human behavior, human psychology, and style and fashion. So I basically in my business I've put those two together. So everything I talk about is through lens of psychology. Sarah Collins: And how does that relate in terms of somebody coming to you who perhaps, let's say, wants to speak on podcasts, wants to speak on stages? How do you bring that human psychology in? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Yeah, so I would ask questions like what is your tone of voice? Are you playful? Are you more serious? What do you want to convey through your outfit? Is it authority or maybe relatability? What is your natural tendency? how do you dress before we started working together? Is it playful or are you not interested in clothes? If you're not interested in clothes, we can create something simple for you, and then you don't have to work so hard, you don't have to think about it, you just repeat the same style formula. Or if you are creative, this can be very varied and you you can have a bigger wardrobe. what is your area of expertise? Is there a way you can translate your area of expertise into your outfit? I can give you a couple of examples, say Sarah Collins: Yes, Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: so someone is an AI speaker, right? so that actually hits two things, and I'll explain why. So, first of all, like what does an AI speaker look like? you probably don't want to look dated. You you need to make sure that you actually know current trends. I'm not talking about following all the trends, but you need to be aware because Knowledge is power. If you know what is happening, you can then choose whether you're using it or not. what kind of trends would work for you specifically? There's no single person in the world which can put on all of the trends and they will all work. But if knowing those trends, you can then pick and choose, right? To be honest with you, that would be important too. every speaker or every business owner because if you look dated people might assume that your ideas are dated too and that might not be conscious but it might be subconscious, right? or a different example, if you are an architect, Like let me just ask you this, like what do architects normally look like? just the first thoughts which come to mind. Sarah Collins: I was going say very well dressed, but that means nothing. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Well what does very well dressed mean to you? Sarah Collins: something like a trouser suit Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: I would probably say it's actually someone dressed in black. Quite often architects are stylish, but like it's a background, right? They don't wanna distract from what they are doing and showing and pitching, right? What do they like and what are they comfortable with? Because if they're not comfortable with what they're wearing, they're not gonna be able to be authentic and powerful, right? And then we're thinking, okay, what does your audience think before you start speaking? Always first think about yourself, your physical comfort, your emotional comfort, and then think about what are people going to think when they see you. Sarah Collins: Hmm, that is so interesting. And I clearly don't know many architects. Because Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Yeah. Sarah Collins: I feel I was way off the mark there. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: No, you won't the I if I was afraid that this wasn't gonna work I wouldn't have asked you. Sarah Collins: as you were speaking there, I'd never kind of put two and two together, but obviously, take the architect and maybe the types of speaking opportunities that they might be going for. It's going to be probably in a room full of people who are also in that field. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: actually regardless whether the audience is in that field or not, obviously that's what they can think about. Okay, what should I wear today? And I'm not suggesting you have like five different wardrobes depending on the audience. That's gonna Sarah Collins: Yeah. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: be very overwhelming. like one of my clients, Risa Reardon, she's very creative. she is a surgeon who has been through she's three times breast cancer survivor. So this is what she speaks about, that combination of actually being a surgeon as well. and her wardrobe is huge, it's very creative, she loves clothes, but we would think with her, okay, is she talking in front of a pharmaceuticals audience or is it a a festival somewhere you know in intense in the countryside and obviously the answer will be different about what she's going to wear. If the audience is creative, they can push it a bit more. If their audience is not creative and more conservative, and that applies if you are pitching in a board meeting, whatever, like who is gonna be in front of you? Sarah Collins: I know you speak a lot about dressing to enable you to come across as credible. And Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Mm. Sarah Collins: for somebody who's looking to elevate their speaking skills, that is very, very important. How would you say you dress to up level your credibility? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: So there are two things you can do to come across as credible. One is the fit, making sure that what you're wearing fits you well. It doesn't mean it has to be fitted as in like tight on your body. It means Sarah Collins: Mm-hmm. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: that it shouldn't have many unnecessary lines. looking sloppy immediately undermines your credibility. So something which fits you well means that the length of the trousers is correct, the length of the sleeves is correct, the length of the hem is correct, that things fit you on your hips and so on. And I always encourage people to have a seamstress or a tailor they can trust. and it's a necessity. It's a given. It's not a luxury to have a person like this. the second part of looking credible is looking up to date. So not looking dated again, because if you look dated it means you are not actually an expert. an expert is someone who knows about certain things, right? And you're communicating through nonverbal communication that you know what you're talking about. It's Sarah Collins: Yeah, Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: extremely important. Sarah Collins: that's really helpful. Thank you for sharing that. If someone's listening to this and they are very early on in their speaking journey, what's one thing that you could recommend they do to be on that journey to becoming Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Mm-hmm. Sarah Collins: a speaker? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: you don't need to buy a whole new wardrobe, you just need a Sarah Collins: Mm-hmm. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: couple of staple pieces which tie everything together. So the first thing doesn't matter where you are in your life and your business. I would encourage you to look at your current wardrobe and what you've got before you go off and buy something. And then Just invest into one outfit. This is what I do sometimes with people, and it's definitely enough to start you off. I call it like going over the hump. So you kind of I always see that moment where someone's face lits up when they start getting compliments, so You need something in your wardrobe to give you that confidence. if you don't have anything which works, you buy one outfit. If you have stuff which you feel it works, then just buying a couple of staples like a good quality t shirt or good pair of jeans or a good pair of trousers to tie the stuff which you already own together, right? To create that one outfit. Sarah Collins: That's really helpful, just as we wrap up the interview then, Kay, this has been so fascinating. If anyone listening would like to learn more about you, where should they go? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: I'm on LinkedIn, so if you just put in my name, it's Kosh K A Y and surname is K-O-R-S-H, you will find me there. I also have a freestyle masterclass for female speakers coming up. and it's on the fifth of October. and I'm gonna share a link to that with you, Sarah, so maybe you can put that into show notes and people can go and check it out. Sarah Collins: Absolutely, And Kate, just to wrap up the episode, I asked my guests if they could encourage listeners to speak with and then add a word or a phrase just to leave them with a little nugget of inspiration, what would you say? Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: I would say try to speak as if it's just one person in front of you who you are sharing your secret with. To create that kind of intimacy, I really love how Brene Brown speaks, and when I whenever I re-watch her chat talk and I I always lean in and try to break down like how does she do this and I think yeah I I love that kind of energy I love that kind of intimacy energy. Sarah Collins: Thank you so much, Kate. I've really, really enjoyed this. Kay Korsh | Speaker Stylist: Mi tu, thank you so much for having me. Sarah Collins: Take care. Thank you for listening to this episode of She Speaks to Scale. If you liked the episode or you think it will be useful for someone else, please follow and leave a review. Don't forget there's a link to my speaker identity quiz in the show notes. It takes just two minutes to find out where you are now on your speaking journey and what your next move should be. Remember to speak with intention, not hesitation and let your voice be heard.