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Quick Lift: Executive Presence Through Style (4 Wardrobe Power Moves) · Loud & Lifted

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  Welcome to Loud and Lifted Quick Lift, the snack
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  size episode where we turn insight into action
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  before your latte even coals. I'm your host,
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  Betsy Hamm. Today, we're highlighting power moves
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  from image strategist Melanie Litman. So your
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  outfit reads leader before you even say a word.
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  She shares a practical playbook for women in
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  leadership to build an authentic magnetic executive
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  presence in real life and on camera by using
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  style as a strategic brand tool. Let's get into
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  it. Key takeaway number one, brand before closet.
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  Now, we have talked about this countless times,
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  starting with Linda's episode about the importance
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  of building your brand. And Linda challenged
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  us to ask our peers or our coworkers five words
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  to describe us. Well, Melanie continued down
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  this path where she said, pick three words that
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  you want to describe you as a leader, and then
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  you're going to start building your closet or
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  your look around that. And I love how she said
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  the first thing she does when she works with
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  women is discuss what their values are and what
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  they want to be known for, because your clothes
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  are sending a message. whether you like it or
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  not, and it's even before we realize it. She
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  mentioned a study that was just done by Princeton
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  that people make a first impression in one tenth
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  of a second. Now what's crazy is she mentioned
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  that years ago when she started doing image coaching,
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  it was 10 seconds. Which, you know, seems still
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  fairly quickly. But thanks to social media and
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  our desires who scroll and quickly make opinions,
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  that's come down to one tenth of a second. Someone's
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  making an opinion of you. By the way, you're
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  showing up. And the reality is, is that we have
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  to use our clothes as a tool to amplify the brand
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  that we want to be. And if we don't, someone's
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  going to create it for us. So she said, start
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  with this. You're going to think of those three
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  brand words that you want to describe you as
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  a leader and what you want to be known for. or
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  in the workplace. And then you're going to translate
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  each one of those into visible cues. So an example
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  would be, if you want to be decisive, you want
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  people to think that you're decisive when they
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  see you, then maybe it's crisp lines, structured
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  shoulders, minimal hardware. If you want to be
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  warm, maybe it's saturated jewel tones, soft
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  textures, curved necklines. Now, I know thinking
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  through this, you're like, how am I supposed
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  to know? And this is where it's great to get
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  help, whether somebody like Melanie or even shopping
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  at a local boutique. that feedback from somebody
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  who is an expert in this honestly I think is
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  a great opinion. So that was our first part of
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  this is defining those three brand words that
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  we want to be known for and then start translating
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  those to visible cues and then we're going to
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  go to our closet. So the takeaway for number
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  one here is brand first your personal brand and
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  closet second. The second key takeaway was color
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  creates connection. I love this one because I
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  have 100 % been guilty of this in the past. And
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  as I mentioned in the episode, our friend Margaret
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  of Three Little Birds called me out on this a
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  while ago. Wearing all black isn't really the
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  best professional move. And many of us do it.
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  I have certainly done it because we think it's
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  easy. We think it just sort of helps us blend
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  in. It doesn't really make anything stick out.
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  But Melanie made a great point. There's a reason
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  why there's black tie weddings. There's a reason
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  why judges wear black. Judges wear black because
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  they're supposed to not have an opinion. Black
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  tie weddings are because you're supposed to be
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  on your best behavior and kind of just fall into
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  the shadows versus being as part of the wedding
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  party. So black puts up walls and color creates
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  connection. And I think that's such a great point.
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  We all have to get, a lot of us have to get more
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  comfortable wearing color. So Melanie talked
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  about finding the colors that are right for you.
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  Of course, I think we all have that time where
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  we know a certain color looks good on us or if
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  we have it on, we'll get compliments of that
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  color looks good on you or you just, you can
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  tell when you see pictures. So choose that power
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  palette, two colors or more. Maybe it's a neutral
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  and some accent colors that you know you look
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  good in and you feel good in. And of course,
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  you can even test this on camera. Get your iPhone
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  out. Get your laptop out on a Zoom meeting and
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  just see as you're looking at yourself in those
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  colors what you feel. Does it make your eyes
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  pop? Does it look good with your hair? Or does
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  it drain you? And guess what? Block doesn't make
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  you look good as much as we all would love to
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  think that it does. So again, here is a huge
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  opportunity. If you need some help, ask a friend,
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  go to your local boutique. But it is something
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  that I think is very easy to do. And honestly,
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  most of us know what colors we look good in.
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  So let's embrace that. Key takeaway number three
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  is the Zoom. 10 second check -in. So we've all
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  been pretty virtual for a while. I feel like
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  in the last five years, I don't know how many
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  camera meetings I had before 2020, but I think
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  we all have learned through the years of what
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  works and what doesn't. And I think one of the
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  biggest takeaways that I have been on the other
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  end of is people showing up like they just rolled
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  out of bed and it's So unprofessional. And Melanie
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  talked about, you know, you don't have to sit
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  there and be, you know, in your blazer and dressed
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  up and perfume on and ready to go. But maybe
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  you do. Maybe that'll make you feel better. And
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  I know that if I'm totally bumming it out for
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  the day, that better mean I'm sitting here kind
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  of getting stuff that done, maybe being creative,
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  probably not jumping on any calls with anyone.
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  But you need to show up for your Zoom or your
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  team's meeting, whatever those virtual meetings
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  are, just as you would in the office. You wouldn't
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  probably roll into your office with a hoodie.
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  and your hair on top of your head and just feeling
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  like you probably don't really give a shit about
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  the day. So don't do that on virtual meetings.
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  I'm telling you, I've been on the receiving end
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  of that as a boss of people on my team who showed
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  up like that. And it just gives you a feeling
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  that they don't care, they're not engaged, or
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  like they literally just rolled out of bed. So
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  take a little pause. Check out how you're showing
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  up virtually and even your surroundings. Light,
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  as you know, makes a big difference. So we've
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  all been doing virtual meetings long enough.
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  This shouldn't be new news, but I think sometimes
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  it's great to take a step back and just evaluate
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  how you're showing up and what you look like
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  when you're on camera. Next key takeaway was
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  building your style code. Now, again, this isn't.
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  go burn everything in your closet and start over.
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  This isn't about going out and buying all the
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  most expensive brands and having some major shopping
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  sprees. So do not take that as this. This is
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  going back to defining what your brand is and
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  what you want to represent and then building
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  a style code around that. And this is you. This
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  is your brand. This isn't even what the latest
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  fall trend is. And I love how when I asked her,
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  you know, how much do trends play into our closet
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  and she said they really shouldn't. Unless it's
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  something that you know really fits into your
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  style code and helps you represent that brand
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  that you want to be So her style code is pretty
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  simple It's again going back to those brand rule
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  words the ones that you just wrote and then doing
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  the fit rules You know kind of taking a look
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  at necklines hemlines silhouettes. What's flatters
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  you? What are you going to feel good in not what
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  you think? somebody else is looking for you to
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  show up on. And I get this, this is a hard one.
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  And I talked about on the episode when I first
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  started Hershey was really conservative. I mean,
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  it was, they literally said you couldn't wear
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  four inch heels and you couldn't wear big earrings.
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  I mean, it was, again, this was a while ago.
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  It was definitely this old school conservative
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  feel. Now, I know that has evolved, thankfully,
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  for those who are there. But you start to feel
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  like you have to conform. And I love that I said,
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  well, you know, if I feel like, oh, is my neckline
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  too low or is my skirt too short or whatever
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  it is? She said it probably isn't because at
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  least you are aware of that. Now, if you're not
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  questioning that, maybe you should take a step
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  back. Or again, this is a great time to phone
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  a friend and get feedback. But you have to build
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  style code that fits your brand, what you're
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  trying to achieve, and that you're going to feel
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  comfortable in. I know we've all been there where
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  you wear something that you're like, I don't
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  know if I should have actually worn this and
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  you leave the house and you're sitting in a meeting
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  and you're so uncomfortable. It just changes
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  your way of engaging. It changes your confidence
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  and it could be because something you feel isn't
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  flattering. It could be too tight. It could be
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  uncomfortable. Let's talk about how many times
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  I have worn shoes that were super cute. and not
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  comfortable by the end of the day, you are crawling
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  back to your office because you can't walk anymore.
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  So we're all guilty of that. I especially have
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  been very guilty of that with shoes through the
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  years. So find things that you feel confident
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  and comfortable in and are continuing to build
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  that brand. So the action item here is block
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  20 minutes this week and check those boxes. Have
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  your brand words, check the fit rules, look at
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  the color, back to the color piece and what are
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  the colors that you look good in. And then some
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  of those signature details, whether it's shoes
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  or textures or jewelry, we all kind of have our
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  thing that we like. So embrace that and create
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  those formulas that you have that when you need
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  to. go to a board meeting, you have your structured
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  blazer and your column of colors and maybe pointed
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  shoes. And if you're giving a keynote, the statement
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  jacket and the tailored pants, and if you're
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  on zoom, the jewel tone net and the clean neckline,
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  maybe some simple hoop earrings, whatever it
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  is, it's figuring out what is right for you.
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  So here's the thing that we all need to realize.
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  And I love that Melanie said this, the most important
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  person that we get dressed for is ourselves.
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  It's not for anyone else. It's for ourselves.
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  And I love that she said that. So it's going
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  through the process of figuring out what you
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  need to happen, what needs to happen throughout
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  the day, how you're going to show up and be that.
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  best version of yourself. How do you do it? Maybe
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  it is putting perfume on and wearing high heels
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  and whatever it is that you need is what you
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  need to do and go for it. So finding out what
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  that is and making a plan to get there is pretty
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  simple. And it's again, it's not buying a whole
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  new closet. Sorry. She said most women are 75
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  % there. It's just sorting through and making
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  a plan. And I love how she said many of us have
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  learned to kind of blend in to belong, especially
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  in male dominated industries. And that's armor,
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  not presence. So you can be powerful. And if
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  you want to be feminine, you can be feminine
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  on your terms. If this helped, send this to a
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  woman you're rooting for. And if you haven't
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  listened to Melanie's full episode, I strongly
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  encourage you to do so. As always, subscribe,
• 10:12
  leave a review and follow us on Instagram for
• 10:14
  a daily dose of support. and inspiration. Until
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  next time, stay loud, stay lifted, and be intentional
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  about the type of leader you want to be.