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How Personal Style and Branding Transform Your Presence · The One Small Change Podcast

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Welcome to the One Small change. I am thrilled that you are with me
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today on this journey of exploration and transformation. And
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I'm Your host, Yvonne McCoy and I bring almost 30 years of
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entrepreneurial experience and a passion for discovering growth
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through the power of seemingly small change. And every week
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I try to bring somebody interesting to you to share their story and
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their insights so that you can grow your business. And they're going to
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share with you a smaller, unexpected, expected or insignificant
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decisions that sparked a remarkable transformation and
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growth in either their personal or their professional life. And today
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I am happy for you to meet Jackie Wheeler.
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Jackie, thank you for taking time to be with us.
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Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to get to know know
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all of you and to get to know you well. So let's start
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with what do you do? And then we'll find out what it was that what
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happened that makes you do it so well.
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Okay. So I own Jackie Style image and
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branding agency and it is a personal style
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branding agency where I help my women
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in the spotlight show up in rooms on
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signature and on brand. And so why
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is that important? Well, it's important.
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Well, signature brand has a
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importance of like showing up with that opportunity
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to have that non verbal message that is
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consistent to and what you want to say. And we have so much
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opportunity that we don't get to have our messages heard.
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But this is that opportunity when you have your signature brand to
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own the message and to show up in that message that you want the world
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to see in here. And I think one of the things that people
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ignore is that people make a decision
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about you in a very short amount of time, seven
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seconds. And if you are
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bland, if you're one of the bland people,
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you're not going to stand out and they're just, there's just too much
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noise and clutter. And that doesn't mean that you have to go shouting from
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the rooftop all the time. But there's a certain
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consistency. I think when you're consistent it
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helps to build trust faster. Yes. Do you know? Yes, I
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agree. I, I, I just say with my clients if you, you know, if you
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decide you're going to only post once a month,
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which I don't think is enough, do it
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once a month so that the people that are looking for you are going to
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find it. Don't say I'm going to post three times a month and then not
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do anything. Post one time, build up so that you can say,
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okay, now I'm ready to do two and Be consistent with two.
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So there are lots of opportunities. Well, let's find out. First,
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how did you get into branding? Well,
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I got into personal style and image consulting.
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My poor mother birthed a fashionista. And
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a very early age I was telling her yes and no on what I was
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going to wear or not wear and telling her what to wear and
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styling my friends through junior high and high school.
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And right as I had graduated high school, I had met.
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I had an opportunity, I was very brave and called this
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lady in a. A magazine and like
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a. A city magazine. It's one that's just like, local. And
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it said image consultant. And I was like, what is that?
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And, and I bravely just picked up the phone and said,
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hey, I want to know more about what you do and what that is.
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And she told me about it. And it, like, created this
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moment of like, all the things that I
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knew and I do naturally and I was able, just
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doing, but didn't have any words or have the right words or
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right concepts to like, say, this is what it is. She gave
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me that, that, that clicked, like, oh,
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image consultant. That's what I want to do. I want to go to school for
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fashion, and I want to show up and be an image consultant. And that
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one moment of me being brave and calling
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her really changed, really changed the
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trajectory because I thought I was going to become a buyer and own
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a store that had a clothing store because I love clothes so much and love
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fashion so much. I. I have to tell you how happy.
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I'm always happy when people find
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what it is that they want to do, particularly if they find it when they're
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young. Do you know? I, you know, because there's so.
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There's so many expectations about us of what we're going to do. And, you
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know, one of the things I tell entrepreneurs all the time is don't expect your
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kids to want to take over your business. Right. I mean, that is
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like a disaster waiting to happen. You know, if they're not showing
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any interest, they probably don't have any skills for it either.
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So I, Right.
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I have, I'm a boy. I have a boy household. And none of. They are
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not into. They're like, we do not want anything to do with what you're
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doing, Mom. Yeah. Okay. So I think that
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I'm going to take myself as an example. I probably
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have the worst fashion in the world. Oh, no.
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So, so, you know, part of it is that
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at one point I weighed 440 pounds. I lost almost
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200. I kept off 150.
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But typically when people tell me that they love what I'm wearing,
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it's because somebody else bought it because it's got color and pattern
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and stuff. I'm. I'm very much a solid kind of
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person, you know, And I would think that
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there is some resistance to that. Do you know that.
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That getting out of your own way and seeing yourself differently. I mean, when
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I lost that weight, I kept buying the exact
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same outfit, but in a smaller size. I did not realize that
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I was actually smaller because I looked exactly the same.
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To me, right inside your mind's
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eye, you looked exactly the same. Yeah. So what are some of
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the things that, you know, some of the things that we can do to project
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our brand and, and our style and some of the things
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that people resist? Let's put it to
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you that way. Okay. Oftentimes when
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once someone's made a decision to come and work with me,
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they're. They've already had like someone
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mention something or if thing has happened or
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they were invited to do something and they weren't on point
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and then realized that they need a little bit of extra help or they're
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just exhausted and don't want to make those decisions anymore and need somebody to show
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them how to create that for them in their wardrobe.
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And so my process is to help really.
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I want every one of my clients to show up as authentically
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as possible. So if you're telling me that you feel your best and
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amazing and in solids, then I'm going to figure out how
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to put you in your best colors, making sure that it
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fits your body really great, that it fits your
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personality really, really well. But the other thing that I do,
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which is that brand piece, is what are those three words
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that you want someone to say,
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hear, or think when you walk into the room or after you've
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left? Like, how do you want to show what is that non verbal
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message that you want for your brand
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when you walk into that room? And then we look at what that
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looks like and how we can tweak it, how we
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can elevate it, how we can, like, what's
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inspiring behind that and how that works best for you,
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for your authentic self. We've never talked, but in my work
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monthly workshop, I do a thing where it's like, what are the
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three words you want to be remembered by? Yes.
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100Th birthday and. And. Oh,
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and. And that is what helped me to lose weight. It was like
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I knew that my life wasn't the way that I wanted it and I said,
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what was missing? And it was like I had no energy. I mean, just going
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up and down the stairs. I went down once a day and came up once
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a day. And I said, I want to be energetic. When, when I, when was
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I the most en. Energetic? And it was when my, like I was in college.
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And so I called up one of my college friends and I said, what if
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you had to use one word to describe me, what would it be? And she
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said, adventuresome. You were the most adventuresome person I'd
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ever known. You would pick up and go with the drop of a hat. And
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I was like, oh my God, I have no adventure in my life. I have
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no spontaneity. And then I asked my husband and
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I said, what would be the word that you would have used to describe me?
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And he said, you were the most intriguing woman I'd ever met.
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Oh, good words. So as I
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was losing weight, when I got ready to eat stuff that was not
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quite what I should be eating, I'd go, is this what an energetic,
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adventuresome, intriguing woman would eat? Is this gonna
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fuel me the way I wanted to? And so for business, I
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traded out the intriguing for curio. You know, being curious.
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Yes. And so I use that
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when I'm posting, I use that when I'm talking about things.
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And that's why I say to people, you can start right now
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to start making an impact on your brand and the way that you come across.
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And the thing that I love since I started doing that is when people
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call to have a call with me, they say, I love your
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energy. Which means that the people who don't love my energy
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have self selected out. So I could use the three
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words as well. I love that and
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intriguing man. I kind of feel like I need to put that one in my
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little how I want to be shown up. You need to have
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that body head connection, like yeah, yeah,
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make it, feel. It all over the place.
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So the other thing is, I think one
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of the mistakes that people make is
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that they lead with, you know, I, I, I have
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this degree, I'm certified in this. I do this, I do this, I do this.
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And honestly, they don't care
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because if they can't get the vibe from you, you know, the connection
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from you, they don't care how educated or how, how much
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expertise you have. And so where does that, in
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terms of the way you dress and you know, that kind of thing
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come in? Well, if you, let's say that you
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want to, we'll use the word educated
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or you know, if that's something that's important to you and you want to be
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like, you know, I am educated in this. What does that look like
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for me? You know, like, what I see inside my head for what
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educated might look like may not be the same thing as what educated looks
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like for you. So in that process, we talk about, like,
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how does that look when you think of somebody who is educated?
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How are they showing up? And so that you don't have to say the words,
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here I am, I'm educated. You're putting that
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information, that vibe out without having to say
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a word. And so we, like, just really thinking about,
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like, what does that mean to me? Is educated mean
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wearing glasses? Does that mean I need to get my fake pair because I want
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that? Or, you know, that's not necessarily what I would recommend, because that's
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not very authentic. But this is an example. Right.
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How does that feel? How do you. How do you
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come across authentically in that? And it doesn't mean you have to be in
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the oxford suit. It doesn't mean you have to wear, you know, but it might.
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It might mean that for you. So, you know, is a bow tie mean,
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educated? Maybe to somebody? It
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depends. But more importantly, is coming authentically and
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caring about the person that's in front of you than
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wanting to give out your titles? That's my personal
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opinion. And. And I think, you know, like, for instance, one. You know, one
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of. One of the best pieces of advice I got was
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wearing red. Really makes me stand out when I'm.
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I'm doing zoom calls. And so I always wear red when I do my workshops.
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And, you know, part of what I. I say is, you don't need to be
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fixed. You just need to be found. And I have a slide that has all
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white balls except one red one. Right. So I go,
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see, you found me. I love it
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because I'm goofy. Right. I love that. Me too.
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So I'm looking at you. You've got on a purple top. You've got on purple
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glasses. Yep. And I'm assuming that you probably have a lot of different
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colored glasses. Yes. But
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this is my favorite one. And I actually only have one pair
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of glasses with fun
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toppers. Yes. Because it's easier.
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Yes. Well, you know, and so, you know, so for me,
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you know, my kids are always, mom, you should get different. I'm like, no, this
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is, like, too much work. I mean, I'm just going through this thing where I
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had cataract surgery, so I actually don't need glasses for Long
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distance. And I'm like. But I've always had glasses.
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I just, you know, so I, you know, I wear them anyway. I mean,
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I need a computer, but. But. But I think that there are lots of
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fun things that you can do
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that are part of you. So. I'm a jewelry person,
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so I always like to wear jewelry. I have
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a bracelet that I. I kind of have stopped wearing it, but I. I used
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to wear it for everything. It's like this huge, chunky bracelet.
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And, you know, that was like, me. I mean, I didn't leave the house
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without it. It was. If you saw me, I had this bracelet on, and people
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always talked about it. And the thing that was weird about the bracelet is that
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it was made during World War II for my mom.
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And. And a guy who was, like, really in love with her made this bracelet
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for her out of welding, you know, wires. And so, of course, when she
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married my dad, she stopped wearing it. And I was like. When I was in
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college, I was like, oh, I want this, right? And so that was kind of
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my signature piece for, like, forever. So you
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don't have to do big things, you know? And the more
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it is that you like it so that you want to do it,
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the more it really, I think, reflects. And I think that's the part
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that,
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you know, we're talking about being authentic, and I'm talking too much. I should let
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you talk a lot more. But. But
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can you do. Can you define that? Because I think people
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think it means something really mystical,
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okay. And not practical.
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So to some of the. Some of the things that you were just saying,
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for me, purple is a signature
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that you will always see me in some kind of purple. And in fact,
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I have my tips purpled right here. So if I'm wearing something else,
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I still have my purple. My glasses are purple. That is authentic
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to me. If I. If I'm pretty sure if I walked into the
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room and I had no purple on and my. Not my purple glasses somewhere,
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I think my friends would be like, what is wrong? Are you okay?
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And that's. That's when that authenticity comes, right?
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Is when the people that you are closest to know and love you.
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And you're out of line of your authenticity
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that they're concerned, right? A
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authenticity is being who you truly
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who you. Who you know you are deep down. And,
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you know, that's, you know, are you kind
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will show up kind, you know, you don't have to be or to be
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a big, you know, bully, blah, blah, blah, like, be kind, like
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My, one of my sons, he's very much a tender heart and
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I love that about him. And I've had to tell people, stop
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telling them he needs to be stronger or whatever, because who he is
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is a tender heart. He's tender hearted, he loves deeply.
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And, and that is a good thing. So. Right.
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And if you are naturally just strong and have
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resilience and those kind of things, it's okay to
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be strong and resilient, but. And then
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figure out a way how that's going to show up and how it's going to
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message. So clothing and style is just a way
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to show up authentically. It is not the only way.
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It's in our nonverbal language. It's. It's in our
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posture, it's in our smile, it's in our handshakes. And it's
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also in that vibe that you put off that your energy
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and the, and how you treat people. That's a part of
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authenticity too. And, and your messaging.
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And, and I hate to do this because I am enjoying this conversation
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immensely. Yeah, I'm gonna run out of time and get kicked out. Okay,
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so tell me about your gift and, and three things that people can do,
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you know, to, to put it to work. Okay, so
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I have a style freestyle guide that is for
17:36
you. It's at my website, thejackystyle.com
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backslash free gift. And it's.
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There's just some tips and tricks and things to think about as
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you're going through your personal style, trying to figure out where
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you're at. Any questions, just let me know. And
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three things that I want to take have you just take away from
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that is, you know, figure out what are your three words that
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you want to. How you want represent when you walk into a room. How, how
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you want to be remembered. That's a part of the brand, right? Brand is how
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you're remembered when you're not in a room. And then think
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of like, look at your closet. Is your closet
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representing that as you look at that? Look at the closet. And if it's
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not, the third thing is get rid of the stuff that doesn't
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speak to you authentically. Who. Speak to who you are authentically. Yeah.
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Yeah. And. And my quick tip
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is if you take, you know, this is one of those old classic things is
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like if you put on your turn all your hangers back. Yeah. And
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if after a while you haven't touched, you know, turn them back around, then get
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rid of them. And my sister helped me get over my hoarding
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and she Said when I give things away, it makes me feel
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rich. I like that.
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Which is a wonderful, wonderful sentiment. Okay, so
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when was the last time you did something new for the first time?
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I was trying to think about that because I'm constantly out and about and doing
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stuff. Oh, you know, we went to a new restaurant
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and it was one of those conveyor belt sushi places. And we just did that
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last week with my boys. And that was the first time that we'd ever done
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that. That I. I would like to do that. I
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would like to do that. All right, I got to put in the commercial and
19:24
we need to wrap up. So make sure that you subscribe,
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share and engage on social media about the
19:31
podcast. And the reason I'm doing it is this is my way
19:36
of giving back to the community, to introduce you to people
19:39
that know a lot of different things about a lot of different things
19:43
so that you can fuel your quest for growth and impact. And I hope that
19:46
you'll continue to join me with the one small change.
19:50
You know, see how these tiniest shifts can really yield
19:54
monumental trans transformations. And you should listen to
19:57
the first episode to see why I did this and also to hear
20:01
the quarterly Clarity chat that I do every quarter.
20:05
So what are your last words of wisdom?
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You are uniquely and. And specially made. You are
20:13
a special wonder. There is no one like you. So. So please do not
20:17
try to be anyone else but who you are authentically.
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Didn't someone say you can only be the best you that you are?
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Nobody else can be you. Nobody. Yeah, nobody else can be
20:29
you. You are the only you. You are the only you. So you
20:33
are the only you. Yeah. So I. I
20:37
would say remember that change is simple, but it's not always
20:40
easy. It requires courage, resilience, and a
20:44
willingness to step out of your comfort zone if you're not uncomfor,
20:48
are probably not growing. And if you are not growing, the
20:52
world is moving forward and you're going to be left behind.
20:56
You're going to stagnate. So I'm telling you, you know,
20:59
be uncomfortable and see it as a badge of courage. So I hope you will
21:03
continue to join me for the one small change as we
21:07
go on this journey together and come up with
21:11
some innovative possibilities and a bold vision for ourselves and our
21:14
business. And until then, stay very curious.
21:18
Jackie, thank you so much for. For your insights and spending time
21:21
with us. Thank you for having me.