Podcast Ep 17
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Style and Strategy Podcast, where personal brand meets leadership and style. I'm Sonya, a personal brand and style coach who's been exactly where you are juggling career and business success. Personal growth and finding a style that truly fits. After decades in corporate leadership, I've learned that showing up isn't just about what you do, it's about how you align who you are and how the world sees you.
This season, I'm bringing you practical strategies, bold insights, and honest conversations to help you amplify your presence, unlock your next level, and lead with clarity and confidence. Let's dive in. Welcome back to the Style and Strategy Podcast. I'm your host, Sonya, and thank you so much for joining me for another episode. So today I really wanna talk about [00:01:00] something that comes up quite often, ~especially for those of you who are really starting to think about.~ Especially for those of you who are really starting to think about a more intentional presence,
it's really that idea that once you find the right outfit, one that feels good, photographs well, and maybe even gets a few compliments. The problem is solved, you think? Thank goodness I have now cracked the code. I'm ready. I'm visible, but I've got some news for you. Here's what I, I really wanna say very clearly, A great outfit doesn't always fix a deeper issue.
It just really delays it because if your presence isn't consistent, if your wardrobe doesn't really reflect the leadership identity that you really want, then even the [00:02:00] most amazing look will feel like a mask. So hear me out. Here is how it tends to play out. You get dressed for a really big moment. Maybe it's a panel, it could be a leadership retreat, ~uh,~ a pitch you put together, something that feels incredible and works for the moment, and it might even feel powerful, but instead of you focusing on your message, your voice, your value, your mental bandwidth.
Gets consumed by the outfit because you are wondering through the time of wearing that outfit, does this even feel like me? Will I be able to move in this?
Does he say what I really wanted to say up on stage? And what that tells me is. The outfit might work for you during the event or, or that [00:03:00] moment, but it's really not working for you, and that's why it feels good at that point in time in the mirror. And still you've got those doubts popping up every now and again.
So let me take this a little bit deeper.
Because this isn't about just shopping, it's about strategy, and it's about confidence. So McKinsey research has shown that women leaders who cultivate strong personal brands are 50% more likely to attract leadership opportunities. So if we put this in a broader context, so it could be leadership opportunities, being promotions, things like that, but it also can impact how you feel and how you operate.
When it comes to self-leadership as well, because confidence doesn't just come from looking put together,~ it actually also comes from the inclu. ~[00:04:00] It actually also comes from this internal clarity matched with your external expressions, so what I call your visual brand over time. And for those. Women who've worked with me through my program Activate, they know that confidence isn't just a feeling.
It's really a signal that your whole body is giving you when everything starts to align.
So when you have a style system that actually supports your identity and not just the occasion, you don't need to rely purely on that adrenaline kicking in or the aesthetic to show up.
And so what I really wanna get across today is the real cost of relying on these one-off wins for those outfits for those single moments is because you keep actually circling [00:05:00] through outfits trying to land something that feels like you on brand and right. You start to believe that confidence is outfit dependent, and then you start to ~believe, you start to~ burn mental energy before you even get in the room.
And I hear time and time again that I've got great pieces, pieces, but it doesn't feel like me. I feel like I'm dressing for the event, but not me anymore. I don't wanna have to worry about my outfit. I just wanna feel good and I wanna focus on what I'm there to do. If any of that feels familiar, then you may have just been solving for the wrong problem, and what you need isn't more inspiration.
It's actually integration. And that's why within my program activate, we start with identity [00:06:00] mapping. It's never about the clothes first and identity mapping comes from within. It's really getting to understand who that, who you are, what you stand for, what's important to you. What does that future state look like?
How do we actually visualize that and put into practice, how do we spend time getting to know what your brand was designed to be, to look like before the outside influences of the world? And that's where we use human design and then bringing it all together. Really understanding ~what is your subconscious style that I know?~ what is your subconscious style that I know is in there, but we just need to pull it out. So it's not just about mood boards, because your leadership presence isn't just built from Pinterest, it's built from the inside out. So when you really understand the traits that you wanna be known for, the way [00:07:00] that you naturally lead.
The style elements that actually reflect your real world and lifestyle for not only positioning, but every day. Then not only does shopping become easier, finding that outfit for that really important event become easier, ~you start to recognize the person.~ You start to recognize yourself in the mirror again, not someone else in a mask, and you stop outsourcing your confidence to purely clothes.
That is when you know you've experienced a shift. So if you're listening to this thinking, Hmm, I've been relying on the occasional great outfit and I wanna build something that really lasts. I wanna have the skills to know how to actually do that and not constantly have to rely on watching inspiration to get [00:08:00] there.
Here's what I'd say.
Start to ask yourself the question, am I actually building a style system? That supports how I lead, how I wanna be seen as leading. That reinforces that. Or am I still waiting for the right outfit,
that right pair of pants, whatever that might be, to solve the discomfort. So if you are ready to move past the one-off wins and into something more structured, more sustainable, and more aligned with where you are actually going, then You're going to want to find out more about Activate because that is where the work happens.~ Uh,~
Thanks for tuning in this week. I hope you've left you with some food for thought and ~uh,~ If you really enjoyed this episode, leave me a comment, let me know. Or if there's something you'd love to hear more about, drop me a comment and let me know that as well. Have a great week. See [00:09:00] you soon.
