about the episode
What does it mean to “dress your message” in business? Join Toi Sweeney, author of Secrets of a Well Dressed Brand, to find out! Toi is a kick-ass female entrepreneur who has an amazing sense of style. Not only that, but she was a speaker at the RISE Conference, she’s been featured on Forbes, and has been a guest on several other podcasts (including Rachel Hollis’ show).
Join Toi and me as we explore what it means to dress your business message as a female entrepreneur in this episode.
Business background
As you know by now, no one entrepreneur’s path is linear or perfect or even close. Usually, the entrepreneurial path is fraught with twists, turns, dips, loop-de-loops and a few shark-infested moats thrown in here and there for good measure. Toi’s business background is no different!
In fact, Toi Sweeney spent 16 years at QVC and decided to leave that behind to pursue a career in corporate fashion. Yep, that meant Toi had to start from scratch and be the newbie after 16 years of experience in the retail fashion world. Not easy!
Toi also went back to school, then transitioned into freelancing before she finally ended up being promoted.
Turning business failures into fuel
Despite the twists and turns, Toi hung in there and kept on going. She partially credits her persistence to gaining confidence in herself and also learning to trust herself and her intuition–even when she was going against the ‘norms.’
Even more, she used her failures or set backs as her fuel. As Toi says:
“Find the strength to reach for something when there’s nothing left.”
Pretty powerful words that also explain how she has been able to be so successful.
What does it mean to dress your message?
Toi and I had a great conversation about what exactly it means to dress your message in business.
Success is something that starts from the inside, yes. But, sometimes you can dress yourself outwardly according to what you aspire to be internally. So for example, if you want to be more confident you can dress yourself in a way that makes you feel outwardly confident; confidence will eventually follow. Toi calls this ‘putting on your power.’
What do you need to be successful?
Dressing confidently can help you gain actual confidence, sure. But did you know that you already have everything you need to be successful?
It’s so true! It’s just that society, culture, expectations (the list goes on) have all chipped away at most of us, pushing us to conform to the ‘norms.’
Yet again, Toi has some brilliant advice for her fellow female entrepreneurs here:
“Shut ‘Miss Mediocrity’ up so you can grow into all you’re meant to be. You decide who you want to be!”
if you’re unsure of your message…
Don’t fret if you’re not really sure what business message you’re going after. Toi advises you to think about the styles you tend to gravitate toward to boost your confidence or whatever quality you feel like you’re lacking. This is a signal to you so pay attention to it!
Toi also recommends re-evaluating who you are about every three years. Take inventory of your likes and your dislikes. Ask yourself: What do I want? Where am I right now and where do I want to be? Then, dress accordingly.
Wardrobe as a business strategy
Did you know that a person is three times more likely to remember the color you’re wearing versus what you have on? Use that to your advantage in business!
Make your style part of your business strategy. This is a tip from Toi that she discussed with the Rachel Hollis. And guess what? Rachel included that in her latest book so you know this has merit.
That’s how you dress your business message. I hope you enjoy the show, because I sure as hell did!
Links mentioned in the show:
Toi’s book on iTunes
Toi’s website and social media handles
Well Dressed Brand TV
