In a world where the traditional boundaries of workplace attire are evolving, the conventional norms that once dictated formality are being redefined. Navigating the balance between comfort and professionalism can be quite confusing. As remote work becomes the new normal and fashion trends weave their way into the fabric of our professional lives, the question emerges: How can we seamlessly marry the art of dressing stylishly with the unwavering commitment to maintaining a professional image?

Nicole Russo founded Let’s Get You in 2017 and has since styled hundreds of people, sat at NYFW, and contributed to, or has been featured in Fast Company, Bustle, TodayxTmrw, and Martha Stewart Weddings. She has been a private stylist and personal shopper for over a decade, with fashion industry detours at J.Crew, Theory, and was a senior personal shopper at NET-A-PORTER for almost 5 years, where she helped the world’s most successful women dress impeccably. “We are on a mission to give people the style skills and fashion resources to see themselves and live their lives differently. We help high achievers create personalized, stylish wardrobes quickly, so they can dress confidently and have extra time for the more important stuff (like being a superb CEO or attentive parent).”

In this episode, Nicole shares an insightful journey to uncover the harmonious blend of professionalism and personal style. Gain valuable ideas into curating a wardrobe that embraces the dynamic workplace environment while showcasing your authentic personal flair. Prepare to reshape your professional story and uncover the empowering connection between fashion, confidence, and integrity.

What you will learn from this episode:

  • Discover the art of dressing stylishly while maintaining a professional look at work
  • Learn how to curate a professional wardrobe that perfectly complements your personal style while upholding your integrity
  • Find out how leaders can support their teams when it comes to styling themselves for work

“There are a lot of opportunities to dress more sophisticated or more modern without compromising your integrity or your professionalism.”

– Nicole Russo

Valuable Free Resource: 

Topics Covered:

02:43 – The problem her clients have when they reach out for help: They’re usually overwhelmed.

03:51 – Biggest mistake her clients make before asking for help: Waiting so long.

04:16 – What the process looks like: discovery stage and the closet editing

07:13 – Does she offer in-person or virtual services on fashion styling?

10:49 – How your body posture affects your confidence

15:25 – What the ‘red sneaker effect’ is all about and balancing being work-dress appropriate and being non-conventional

21:55 – The best way to dress up when working remotely and showing up virtually

23:37 – How leaders can support their teams when it comes to style preferences

25:57 – Why dressing up for success matters and is relevant

Key Takeaways:

“We hold on to so much stuff that doesn’t serve us in many different facets, but particularly in our closets. Our closets are not only a metaphor for our lives, there’s just usually a lot of junk that is in the way.” – Nicole Russo

“When you do work virtually, I may not be there touching the pieces with you, but this is where the education comes into play with our approach as well, is that you learn tactics and tools to change the way that you look at editing your closet, getting dressed. So it’s really simple and easy to decide, do I keep it, do I not?” – Nicole Russo

“Studies found that you can convey a very positive message that conveys status, confidence, power, by going a little bit against the dress code grain.” – Nicole Russo

“I believe that everybody can really feel incredible every day when they look at themselves and they walk down whatever street they are going to.” – Nicole Russo

Ways to Connect with Nicole Russo:

Ways to Connect with Sarah E. Brown:

 

Full Episode Transcript:

Nicole Russo 00:00

It’s when you start to actually realize that this is actually possible for you, and the excitement of like, something new and beautiful and all those limitations that you didn’t think were possible. All those stories about, I can’t pull this off. I can never find pants that fit. Or I am not young enough to wear this. Or, I’m too short. All these things you told yourself just dissolve away. And you start to see that it is there for you. There’s this whole giant world that you didn’t know existed, and that’s when the transformation comes.

Sarah E. Brown 00:47

Hello everyone. Welcome to the KTS Success Factor Podcast for Women where we talk about challenges senior female leaders face in being happy and successful at work. I’m your host, Dr. Sarah E. Brown.

My guest today is Nicole Russo. She founded Let’s Get You in 2017 and has since styled hundreds of people, sat at New York Fashion Week and contributed to, or has been featured in Fast Company, Bustle, Today by Tomorrow, and Martha Stewart Weddings. She’s been a private stylist and personal shopper for over a decade with fashion industry detours at J. Crew, Theory, and she was also a personal shopper at Net-A-Porter for almost five years. She has helped the world’s most successful women dress impeccably. Let’s Get You is on a mission to give people the style skills and fashion resources they need to see themselves and their lives differently. They help high achievers create personalized, stylish wardrobes quickly so they can dress confidently and have extra time for the more important stuff, like maybe being a superb CEO or an attentive parent. You can follow Nicole on Instagram or learn more about her at her website. Let’s Get You, and those URLs and addresses will be in the show notes. Welcome, Nicole.

Nicole Russo 02:26

Hi, I am so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

Sarah E. Brown 02:30

Oh, it’s great. This is going to be a kind of a different topic for this podcast, so this should be interesting. So tell me what the biggest problem is that women have when they seek you out.

Nicole Russo 02:43

Well, they’re usually overwhelmed. They’re overwhelmed by shopping. They’re overwhelmed by their lives and they’re seeking change. And no matter how much they’ve tried, they can’t get to the place that they want to be and they want it done quickly. So they come to me with these basket of reasons that they haven’t been able to solve their style problem or their shopping problem or their fits problem. And we solve it for them very quickly. My clients, the women in particular, are they’re smart, successful, they’ve achieved so much in their lives, but this has been either always an Achilles heel or they’ve transitioned into a new phase of life, an era of a new decade. They’re now parents or something has allowed them to really feel lost in their style. So it’s really about like finding themselves again and making this no longer be a challenge, but a tool and a resource for their success.

Sarah E. Brown 03:51

And what is the biggest mistake they make before working with you?

Nicole Russo 03:56

Ooh, good question. Waiting so long.

Sarah E. Brown 04:00

That’s often an answer I hear. Yeah. So tell me how you go about working with them. What would an experience be like if I were to call you up and say, I’m overwhelmed, I’m not sure I’m dressing my part, what would you do?

Nicole Russo 04:16

Well, understanding the client and what’s held them back from achieving this and what their goals are is one of the most important parts. I mean, being a good listener is a skill and something that I believe really sets me and my silent team apart in that I’m unraveling, like what these struggles are and who your vision for yourself is. You know, if you are like many women multi-dimensional, you may have a really dynamic career. You may be a leader in an industry or, but you may also be a, like you may be a mother or have family challenges. These dimensional roles cause us to sometimes not really know how to make and create a cohesive wardrobe. So, I always try to understand what the client is by asking the right questions and clarifying like, who are they? What do they want to be and what holds you back so we can overcome it and get them the results they want very quickly.

Sarah E. Brown 05:19

Okay. So that’s how you would start with them, was really in that dialogue and getting to know them. Then what do you do? Do you tell them what to go look for or do you go find it for them? Or how does it work after that?

Nicole Russo 05:33

So, the experience is meant to be a holistic in that it’s really done for you while bringing you along with the journey. So, you feel supported in building your competency to do this more independently when you’re outside of being styled. So, once you entered that first stage we just discussed, which I call the discovery stage, there’s a series of exercises and support things that we do in order to unearth your own sense of like identity, so you can overcome some of those struggles independent of what I solve for you. And then we get into like the closet editing, closet editing, to me, is the number one step to everyone to creating a cohesive, effective, transformative wardrobe. We hold on to so much stuff that doesn’t serve us in many different facets, but in particularly in our closets. Our closets are not only a metaphor for our lives, there’s just usually a lot of junk that is in the way. Like you can’t see what you own if you have too much of it. And we declutter, we organize, we become clear on what’s working, what doesn’t, what has worked and how can we make more of what has worked in the past. And that sort of is meant to be like sort of a decluttering process, but unlike an organizer, it’s really focused on reaching that style goal that she has and making sure that we’re inventorying pieces that are going to help you get there.

Sarah E. Brown 07:06

Just a question. So, can it be done remotely or do you have to be in person to do it?

Nicole Russo 07:13

No, I have both in-person and virtual services, and I have been working with people virtually for about four years now. And what I feel is, when I went into working virtually, I recognized that having worked at Net- A-Porter, which is an e-commerce company, for almost five years, I had helped women globally uplevel, elevate and edit their closets. And so I had a keen sense of how to manage and create a system for clients. So, working virtually, they still had an extremely effective experience. And when you do work virtually, I may not be there touching the pieces with you, but this is where the education comes into play with our approach as well, is that you learn tactics and tools to change the way that you look at editing your closet, getting dressed. So, it’s really simple and easy to decide, do I keep it, do I not?

It’s an ongoing experience that you do as you get dressed daily. So, you’re always feeling confident in your choices about what’s staying and what’s going. Once we’ve done that, once I understand like, what was there, what isn’t there, we develop a shopping list and this is where it gets really fun because I really love watching people’s faces light up and like their minds be blown by seeing themselves differently, like seeing themselves in ways they never thought possible. And when I go out into the personal shopping phase of the experience, we handpick every piece. It’s all customized, it’s bespoke, it doesn’t matter what size you are, what age you are, what your personal aesthetic is. If you are more creative or more monochromatic, everything is tailored to you. If you’re a working mom or a retired single woman, we make sure that like what we’re doing is for you and we send you pieces that you then are able to try.

And either whether you’re virtual or in person, you have a, I like to say it’s kind of the climax of the whole styling experience because it’s when you start to actually realize that this is actually possible for you and the excitement of like something new and beautiful and all those limitations that you didn’t think were possible, all those stories about, I can’t pull this off, I can never find pants that fit, or I am not young enough to wear this, or I’m too short. All these things you told yourself just dissolve away. And you start to see that it is there for you. There’s this whole giant world that you didn’t know existed and that’s when the transformation comes. And so you choose the pieces you love, we make outfits, we have a fun little like shopping montage and you know, you leave with things that you wear until they’re thread bear and you know, has evolved your sense of style, but also feel very much like you.

Sarah E. Brown 10:41

Yeah, I was just going to say is that I realized when you said that, that I mispronounce the name of the company. It’s Net-A-Porter. Is that it?

Nicole Russo 10:48

That is correct, yes.

Sarah E. Brown 10:49

Okay. So you were alluding to the fact that when you get the right stuff in the closet, or more importantly when you get the right stuff on your body, it can have a transformative effect on you. And I want to explore that a little bit. I told you before we came on air to record a story, and I’ll repeat it for my listeners. When I was at Accenture, I had an executive coach who was working with me on, among other things, some confidence issues. And he told me before my next presentation that he wanted me to go to Victoria’s Secret and get the sexiest lingerie I could find. And he wanted me to wear it and to do this presentation. And as I told you, I thought he was a sexist pig. I was enraged that he would say this, and I fumed about it for days. And then I went to Victoria’s Secret and did exactly what he suggested that I do. And I wore it into that meeting, and it did make a difference. I did feel feminine, I did feel confident and, I don’t know why that worked, but I will tell you that it did make a difference in my ability among all of these men to feel confident and move forward. So why is that?

Advertisement 12:17

Hi, this is Sarah Brown again, the host of the KTS Success Factor Podcast for Women. I hope you are enjoying this episode and gaining some tips and inspiration on how you can be happier, more successful, and experience less stress at work. If you would like to learn more about how you can empower the women in your organization to do the same, simply click on the show notes to see how you can connect with me as an added bonus for my podcast guest. You’ll see how you can book 30 minutes with me to explore how you can implement a scalable self-coaching program for the woman in your organization. Simply visit, bookachatwithsarahebrown.com. Now, back to this informative episode,

Nicole Russo 13:15

Well, I’m not a scientist, but I can say that there’s a lot of scientists who’ve done some research to actually prove that point. And you know, some of the research shows that it has something to do with our lizard brain and sort of the way we’ve developed and our instant kind of connection to our fight or flight and the way that our cognitive thoughts can influence our brain functions. So that’s sort of in a nutshell. But I can cite some examples because I am secretly a little nerdy and I really like when I can have evidence to support some of my ideas. And despite seeing this effect on all of my clients and hundreds of people over the years there’s couple things in particular that I find are interesting. Like, for example, you spoke to confidence in particular and there was an Ohio State University study where they found that there was a direct correlation to your body posture affecting your level of confidence in your own thoughts.

And that there was, they did a study in regards to telling people if they sit up straight in their chair, were they more likely to believe what they wrote down in terms of how they thought their competency was for a job interview they were going to apply for. And essentially the better posture people had, the more there was a direct correlation with their belief in themselves and their level of confidence. You know, there’s a few reasons why you, your lingerie may have done the trick, but one in particular may simply have been that like your awareness of it made you stand up straighter. It made you cognizant of your own power. There is a another really great study, if I can share one that really, this one excites me, as a stylist, actually it was a Harvard study and essentially it was about, we’ve been told you dress for success, like follow the rules, the workplace dress code, things like that.

But a bunch of Harvard psychologists did some studies and they found that actually you can convey a very positive message that conveys status, confidence, power by going a little bit against the dress code grain. And what that meant was is that some examples might be we’ve all seen the influx of how the tech industry completely changed the way we saw high status individuals and the way they should dress for work as an example. But those are obviously extremely successful people. You know, if you’re a billionaire who built one of the biggest companies in the world you could probably walk in anywhere and expect to be respected wearing whatever you want. But they found that you were perceived as having more status and more competency if you were against the grain outfit choice or selection was shown to be intentional.

So that would mean if you were say, an alternative shoe color or a shape of a suit that was just not conventional, something that was really demonstrated, I’m doing this on purpose and that made people trust and believe you more. And there was definitely a correlation to it coming off as powerful. And I love this, they called it the red sneaker effect. You can look into it if you’re interested, but I really, as a stylist, I really love it because it encourages people to sort of embrace sartorial flare without the risk of completely ostracizing your opportunity for leadership. And I also like it because it, they made a really good point of saying that it has to be deliberate. It has to appear as though you’re doing it with consciousness as opposed to when someone is at work and they make mistakes with dress code or they dress inappropriately for a setting that makes them appear incompetent as though they don’t fit in.

So, or maybe even they lose respect. This is something that we’re seeing now with such a tremendous generational gap in the workforce and sort of traditionally people adhering to workplace dress codes was very simple in the past and very clear. And now there’s a lot of gray area and it is affecting the way people judge and perceive their coworkers. So, circling back to your Victoria’s secret moment, maybe you just were the only one who knew, but maybe in a way you were having your own red sneaker effect

Sarah E. Brown 18:16

Red sneakers. Yeah. Well, I’m quite sure I’m the only one that knew because I don’t, I hope I’m the only one that knew, but I will tell you that it did make a difference. But you raised another point in those studies is dealing with the balance, like the red sneaker effect, dealing with the balance between what’s appropriate in the workplace and what is off the chart. So how do you go about striking that balance and still allowing for self-expression and being a little on the edge at the same time?

Nicole Russo 18:49

Well, I mean, you definitely need to consider your industry and your environment, right? Of course, certain industries are going to allow slightly more leniency towards self-expression versus others. And also your risk tolerance in where you are in your leadership. So naturally, if you are more in the beginning stages of setting impressions or developing work reputations, you may want to err on the side of straight and narrow until you really know your company culture and your team. But if you’re a leader, which I’m sure with your audience really is, is that you are, I have no doubt that you’re pretty confident in your standing in your position and your work capabilities and those around you’s perception of that. And the beauty of that is that it really does give you some more allowances to break a few rules.

And so I encourage that. So how do you do that one in a more literal sense? I would look at what are your typical uniforms? If everyone has their work uniform, whether they like it or not, they have their thing, their typical style. And I would look at your personal style if you have it, or things that you like that you would like to wear in the workforce to be more expressive and inject one element of it, whether that is a color, a fabric, something that feels a little off kilter, but, maybe a little more playful, maybe a little more creative. Just start with one thing. It could be something as simple as a blouse color, different style of shoe, maybe something a little more quirky in the heel block or the shoe block, or maybe there’s a print in something.

I mean, I would say just when you start with that one element, and it has to be something you feel really good in. Don’t try something new that’s kind of scary and not something you normally would feel confident in, in some other part of your life or in general, but give yourself the permission to try it. And I believe like any other muscle, you desensitize yourself to the potential risk, and you can easily gauge how that risk was taken. Do you receive compliments? Are you feeling confident in the meeting? Do you show, would you use strutting down fifth avenue on your way to work? Like, what is happening when you wear it? And sort of build from there. That would be a tactical one step that someone could do their next morning when they’re getting ready for work.

Sarah E. Brown 21:46

And what about with the trend towards more remote work today? What is it that we need to keep in context, at least from the waist up?

Nicole Russo 21:55

The rules still apply. You know, I actually think it’s even more important, the casualization of work wear and fashion in general that came from our COVID and work from home transition want to have created this relaxed nature and attitude around presenting yourself to your peers at work or when you are making a professional stance. And by not being too casual, by taking it more seriously, you will significantly differentiate yourself from those that will have not or will not and will never, because you are subtly sending a message about how much you care by how you show up visually. Because people aren’t going to, unlike when we are in person with someone where you’re able to feel the embodiment of who they are in a 3D world, people aren’t able to give you as many allowances in your humanness when they see you in a flat screen. And I really encourage people to hold themselves up to a certain standard as much as possible when they show up from the waist up on screen.

Sarah E. Brown 23:13

Got it. So when you think about the women that you’re working with, that women leaders who are leading other teams, what is it that you advise them to do with their teams, for example, so that they can share their wisdom with them or support them in developing their own style? What is it that women in leadership roles should be doing in this regard?

Nicole Russo 23:37

It’s kind of a two-part answer, but I’ll start with, people want to be able to bring themselves to work. And traditionally professional attire doesn’t really give much freedom for that. You as a leader can draw the line how you see as better fitting for your corporation, but by giving people grace and the allowances to show up as themselves to a certain degree and communicating those, that encouragement, inspiring them to maintain certain boundaries of professionalism that you’ve made very clear and you make very easy to understand. And then once people are outside of those things, be okay with a little bit of self-expression. People will, especially much younger generations, they’re going to appreciate that because it is going to give them this sense of, what’s the good word for like, they’re going to get this sense of like, that you respect them, that they’re individuals and that you appreciate that they want to show up that way at work.

And then they themselves, I always tell my female leaders that try a little harder, like stay modern, stay fresher, like, it’s really easy with every decade of life or every compounding responsibility to sort of stay stagnant and you know, to do what’s easy. But I like just be a little go out and dress more sharply, integrate some of the trends of where fashion is leaning. There are a lot of opportunities to dress more sophisticated or more modern without compromising your integrity or your professionalism or feeling like you’re trying too hard and you’re throwing on someone who would 20, you would something you would’ve worn 20 years ago. So yeah, I really just like try a little harder, make a little more effort to be cognizant of it.

Sarah E. Brown 25:46

Nicole, this has been very interesting, but what question have I not asked you that I should have so that women understand how important dressing for success is?

Nicole Russo 25:57

Oh, that’s a great question. When people say it doesn’t matter, it’s a lie they tell themselves to feel better that can’t actually do it. And I believe that about a lot of things, but I particularly believe this about caring enough to present your best self, caring enough to show up as your best self. And I strongly believe that everyone defines that. I don’t tell you what is attractive or best for how you should want to look, but if you are going to sit here and tell me that it doesn’t matter that it’s irrelevant, then I say that you’re too insecure to try because you don’t believe it’s available to you. And it is, I believe that everybody can really feel incredible every day when they look at themselves and they walk down whatever street they are going to.

Sarah E. Brown 26:51

And with that, I think we will end because that’s an inspiring challenge to all of us. Nicole, thank you so much for being with us today.

Nicole Russo 27:00

Thank you. This was the utmost pleasure.

Sarah E. Brown 27:03

Thanks for listening to the KTS Success Factor Podcast for Women. If you like what you are hearing, please go to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave a review. And if you would like more information on how we can help women in your organization to thrive, then go to www.sarahebrown.com. You can sign up for our newsletter, read show notes, and learn more about our podcast guests. Read my blog, browse through the books, or contact us for a chat. Goodbye for now.

Sarah E. Brown
Sarah E. Brown

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