Your appearance is often the first thing others notice about you. Dressing professionally and how you carry yourself can help form a positive impression of you in the workplace.
60% of the human brain’s judgment about someone is made in the first seven seconds, and it comes from their wardrobe choices. This is especially important for interviews and when meeting upper-level managers who make hiring and promotion decisions.
Porschia will be talking about how your appearance and wardrobe matter in your career along with Morgan Wider. Morgan is a wardrobe stylist and a speaker. She advises executives, entrepreneurs, and college students on how to build wardrobes that convey confidence and competence.
What you’ll learn:
- How your personal image helps in your career
- Overcoming challenges surrounding your image
- How to develop an executive presence
Quotes:
“People can’t hear your message if you look a mess.” – Morgan Wider
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
Episode Transcript
Porschia: [00:00:00] Today, we are talking about Image 101, Develop an Executive Presence with Morgan Wider. As a wardrobe stylist and speaker, Morgan Wider advises executives, entrepreneurs, and college students on how to build wardrobes that convey confidence, And competence. Morgan has worked with companies such as Google, Walmart, Mercedes Benz and Porsche to highlight how an improved image increases performance.
Before launching her business, Morgan spent 10 years working at the corporate headquarters of The Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Carter’s. She grew several businesses with her knowledge of merchandising, apparel production, pricing strategy, and international [00:01:00] development. Morgan is the author of the best selling book, The Worthy Wardrobe, Your Guide to Style, Shopping, and Soul.
Her podcast, The Worthy Reveal, is available on all streaming platforms. And by sharing her knowledge about the retail industry, And her passion for fashion, Morgan helps her clients feel more powerful in all areas of their lives. Hi, Morgan. How are you?
Morgan: Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be
Porschia: here. You go.
I we’re excited to have you. Uh, people ask me about their image and, uh, their presence. All of the time.
Morgan: Hey, let’s get into it. Yes.
Porschia: Great conversation. You have a wonderful bio. I’m sure we all want to just dig in. Uh, but you know, before we start talking about image 101 and really developing that executive presence, we [00:02:00] want to learn a little bit more about you.
So tell me about seven year old Morgan.
Morgan: Seven year old Morgan was drawing dresses in a sketchbook. Um, I always loved clothes. My mother, I, I was an, I am an only child and my weekends instead of Little League was going shopping with my mother and TJ Maxxers. Like we would go explore the city shopping. And I always had a passion for clothing.
As a kid, I was the only Black girl in most of my classes in Minnesota. I was the tallest girl, the curviest girl, so I didn’t have the confidence to wear clothes like my mother would buy me. And I was a little bit of a tomboy. My mother would buy me these frilly dresses and socks, and I hated to wear them, but I was still drawn to The concept of gowns and fashion.
And I love that. And I, I didn’t know how to express it and we can kind of get to how it got to where I was, but I remember vividly most field trips on the school bus, I had a [00:03:00] sketchbook and I was drawing these, these dresses and gowns. Wow.
Porschia: Wow. I love that. Uh, drawing gowns in Minnesota. That is so cool.
I’m sure, you know, all about the coats and all of the like winter fashion and all that great stuff. I love a sweater
Morgan: and a coat. I do.
Porschia: So, um, tell us about your first job, Morgan.
Morgan: So my first job was actually at the headquarters of The Gap and as in corporate merchandising. And that happened though. Thought I wanted to be a law student, law school student, was an econ major undergrad, did not feel like taking the LSAT after four brutal years of economics.
The gap was recruiting on campus. Um, and I applied, I like to shout, I know a little bit about numbers and here we are. And so I was blessed to start my career at the Gap in a rotational program that taught me about merchandising, the number side of planning and then [00:04:00] production. And that launched my 10 years in corporate retail, where I was part of the decision making of what color is the blouse that we’re going to put on the front of the store?
Or what’s the price point of that blouse? Um, how many color options are we going to have when we’re going to mark down the blouse? What time of year does it come in? All of those things that go into your shopping experience, I help facilitate at those brands. Wow. That
Porschia: is very impressive, Morgan. And also for the first job.
I mean, um, I’m sure you got to get a lot of great experience, you know, from a large corporate level that I would guess, you know, really comes into play when you work with clients today.
Morgan: A little bit. I think, um, Now is it I left corporate retail with the mindset of I want to help everyday women know what I know about clothes and how to shop.
So yes, it definitely my merchandising [00:05:00] background helps me helps me more pragmatic about what shopping decisions. A person with a limited budget should make. I knew I wanted to work with everyday people when I launched my own business and went out on my own. I didn’t want to do the celebrities, the, the TV shows, the movies.
For me, my career was in Old Navy, Banana Republic, Gap, Carter’s, Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Ware. Everyday people shop. So that’s where I learned my love of clothes and learning the decisions that people make when they’re buying for clothes and how can I help you make smarter ones?
Porschia: Yeah, that is so interesting, Morgan.
And one thing about your background that I’ve heard from some of our clients. Um, is that you were in that rotational program, the RMP program. Yes. Yeah. And so some of the, the larger corporations have these rotational programs. They might be focused on leadership or other areas of the business or functional units.
Like you mentioned Morgan and people usually get a lot of great experience, um, from those [00:06:00] programs. So, uh, yeah,
Portia,
Morgan: that was actually the selling point for why I took the job at the gap. My mom ran a rotational program for an insurance company. And she said, Morgan, even if you don’t end up wanting to work in, in, uh, in retail, this will be a good learning experience for you.
And that started the 10 years in corporate retail.
Porschia: That’s great. That’s great. I think it’s great advice from your mom. Um, so I guess to kind of think about that time before you started your business, just tell us about some highlights. Or, you know, pivotal moments in your career.
Morgan: Retail is a challenging industry. Retail is a, as a, in general, a very numbers based business. And oftentimes some companies are not always people focused. So I often felt like I was struggling to get good managers or like get the development as a person that I [00:07:00] needed. I. Was one of the pitfalls of me being a young professional was I thought that only doing the work mattered when there’s all those other soft skills and networking and exposure that I didn’t rely on.
Or didn’t, I maybe didn’t really participate in I thought doing my job and going home was enough, but some of the highlights of my career I think and I. Show so much gratitude to the gap because I actually, they are now one of my clients on the other side of things. They empowered kids, 23 year olds, 24 year olds to manage large businesses at the time.
My first real job out of that rotational program was the old Navy men’s polo knit business. And that was at the time, like a 50 million business, right? I had a boss, but I’m making decisions and, and owning how this assortment and how men who walk into the, or people who are buying men’s polos experience the brand.
Yeah. And I truly love that. I think another thing that I love doing and merchandising the [00:08:00] highlight, per se, of my role was I got to think pragmatically with logic and numbers, but then I got to play with the design team about, Hey, do we like this shade of orange? Or do you like this shade of orange? And do we, um, what floral print do we like?
All of those kinds of nuances. I got to play on my creative side, back to the seven year old girls who was designing gowns, getting to play with that, but then apply. The econ degree that I’ve received to, to make those sound business decisions.
Porschia: Wow. Wow. I love it. And one thing that you’ve said, Morgan, that I really want to zero in on, um, because I’ve talked to clients about this a lot is how you mentioned, you know, you thought just.
It’s going to work and doing your job at doing a good job, I’m sure, because I know you’re very dedicated. It was going to be enough, right? To progress in your career. And I’m sure you’ve seen this with a lot of your clients, um, is that it’s not, and that’s Part of the reason why I started this podcast, uh, to be completely [00:09:00] honest with you, people were coming to me asking me to mentor them or just for even more information, because to your point, those soft skills and, you know, just knowing some of the tips that we’re going to talk about, you know, with you today about image or, you know, networking or, you know, communication, all of these other areas.
Uh, really play into your career success over just, Hey, do you do a good job? And do you get, you know, high, high marks on your performance reviews? One of
Morgan: the most transformative experiences at my first job at the gap, that was a blessing. In some ways, a curse was, as I mentioned, the first real job was on the old Navy men’s team.
At the time, the men’s team and merchandising was an all men’s team, which is very rare in retail. Usually. Merchandising decisions are made by women. So this was a, it was like a frat house. And I was the black female, seriously, I’m the youngest. I’m a black female on this frat boy [00:10:00] team. Like to the point where like all the other merchandising teams would work through lunch and work really hard.
And the girls were super cute. And these guys are wearing like t shirts jeans. And we were actually. Go sit at a round table in the cafeteria every day with lunch and sometimes play ping pong in a conference room office. So that’s like, that is a frat mentality that I was in. It made me a great merchant because as a woman, I had to defend my point and actually research my target customer.
It wasn’t a natural, I’m not my target customer. I had to learn and research, but. It also in some ways hindered me because I wanted to look and I felt like I needed to look and act like the boys, so I didn’t really invest in my image. I did not wear any type of makeup or anything like that because I felt like if I looked too feminine, they wouldn’t take me seriously.
Huge mistake. Please don’t do that. Be your most authentic self and invest in yourself because I wasn’t looked at seriously probably as a next senior level because I was trying to act and look like one of the boys.
Porschia: Great [00:11:00] point. Great point, Morgan. So what motivated you to start your own business?
Morgan: Meditation. I had been 10 years in corporate retail, was, to be candid, my last job, burnt out, exhausted, was in a relatively toxic culture space. Started, I found a church in Atlanta that I loved, started reading all of the spiritual material, started spending time in the mornings. Trying to Zen myself out before I would go into the office.
And at the time I was like, there’s gotta be another way of life. And I, I mean, I had chest pains. I was, I didn’t know that the, I didn’t know that the pain on my chest was not normal until I had gone on vacation and was going back to the office on my way out of my front door, the chest pain returned. And I was like, Oh, this is what this is.
Um, so once I started, Changing my awareness of how I want it to live my life. I then was like, there’s gotta be another way. And I [00:12:00] started researching. I didn’t know what image consulting was at this point. I’m 32 had never even heard of what image consultant was to this day. I don’t know how I found this woman on the internet.
I found, um, a trainer, a former FIT instructor flew to New York for two weeks, studied, train. And then about four months later, I was like, I’m out. I didn’t know what I was going into. I just knew I couldn’t stay in the current situation as the person that I was at the time.
Porschia: Thank you for your vulnerability and sharing that.
Um, I, I actually had my own story with. Having, you know, some health issues and a health scare is kind of how I was motivated to start my business as well. So I can definitely identify with that. And, you know, just want to acknowledge you for listening to that voice. Um, I don’t know if you hear this from your clients.
But for a lot of our clients that are career focused or, you know, entrepreneurs, sometimes they hear that [00:13:00] voice, they hear that message, and then they just kind of push it away and push it to the side, um, you know, for weeks, months, or years. Um, so, you know, I want to acknowledge your bravery for kind of looking into that.
Morgan: The late, or not late, excuse me, the great Oprah Winfrey says, you know, like, life tries to speak to you, like, whether at first it’s a whisper, then it’s a tap on the shoulder, and then it’s like the brick wall that comes slamming down on you, so you get to choose when you listen, hopefully you may want to, you may want to listen when it’s just a whisper and not the brick wall, because I transcriptIT.
No time is ever wasted and no experience is ever wasted, but I think the message is like being unhappy does not have to be your norm. Living with the chest pain does not have to be your norm. You, I think we sometimes lose our sense of agency or lose our sense of choice and we get CoachingBadminton. com It’s caught up in the security quote unquote of a paycheck or benefits or all those things, but people lose their jobs every day.
Like you walking away [00:14:00] from a job that you think is secure doesn’t necessarily guarantee it’s going to be secure. Can I tell you this? This is not a very appropriate story, but I’ll be very candid. We’re going to be vulnerable here. At the time, my last job before I walked away from corporate America, I was international merchandising.
I was helping build, uh, franchises of the Carter’s and Oshkosh product overseas. And I was young, single. I was the only single person on my team that had been talked to me moving to China or India to help build up these franchises. And I was literally, I never thought of me an entrepreneur. My parents didn’t think so.
So when this awakening came, everybody was shocked. I’m like, I gotta go. Walk into my SVPs office. He’s shocked. And he’s saying, how much am I paying you? You’re going to really leave. What are you doing? I’m like, I don’t know, but I just got to go. It’s I can’t believe you leave this great company that I’m like, well, here I go.
A year later, I had the opportunity to come back to that same building, not the same company with the same building for a, um, a workshop. And of course I dress super fabulous and whatever. [00:15:00] And I actually run into that SVP in the lobby. He had been let go.
So. There’s that, right? Like, there’s the, what we think of and what we put our security on of other people, other jobs. Isn’t necessarily the safest place to do it. Sometimes betting on yourself and betting on the universe or whomever you believe in entrepreneurship is an act of faith in the largest sense.
But what we think of security is not always the same as not truly secure. I can echo that,
Porschia: uh, until the cows come home. Yes, yes, and yes. And I think a lot of people, um, you know, during, you know, the pandemic and, you know, what we’ve been through with all the reorganizations and everything going on, a lot of people have experienced layoffs, um, you know, from large.
You know, companies and organizations. So you’re right. None, nothing is really, uh, [00:16:00] set, guaranteed, promised. Absolutely. Um, so Morgan, you, you started telling us a little bit about, you know, you learning about image consulting, but, um, for those who don’t know, what is an image consultant?
Morgan: Oh, I haven’t been asked that question.
I view, I wouldn’t speak for on the behalf of all the image consultants out there, but I view my role as helping clients or audiences create alignment between who they are, who they want to be, their professional goals, their personal goals. Um, their personality with them, their image so that people can perceive them in a way that is an alignment with where they want to go and who they are.
I love it. I love it.
Porschia: Um, so from your perspective, how can developing someone’s image be helpful in their career?
Morgan: Oh, man. [00:17:00] Okay, so I’m going to say your image is everything because this is my role, right? I’m going to, but going back to, and let’s just assume all things be equal and there’s studies after studies that talk about this, but you doing the hard work is not enough, which we went back to.
It’s also about how people perceive you. And if you are in my case, I was only perceived as the worker bee who did the job, but I wasn’t being perceived as a leader. And some of that was my communication style. And again, being around all of the boys. But I also didn’t dress or convey the image of leadership.
I think as human nature, we make first impressions based on image and how people look the brain makes 60% of the brain’s judgment about someone in the first seven seconds come from their wardrobe choices. So, your image and how you communicate who you are with your clothing choices your hair your makeup your nails.
It is so so critical and it’s so overlooked and I think. I work with a lot of professionals, especially [00:18:00] black and brown professional women where we’re taught that you have to be smart, or, and not pretty or pretty can be a distraction to your smartness and that was me I wanted to be one of the guys I wanted to know my business and that was it and I went I didn’t want.
You to be distracted by me as a woman or my prettiness or whatever, but in investing in your image is also investing in your career because you’re going to be perceived as a leader. It’s about showing if people. are expecting as a leader to be able to manage large scopes, you have to be able to manage yourself.
And so managing yourself means managing your image is your hair done, or your nails taken care of for gentlemen, or your suit pants fitting correctly, or your shoes shine, all of these things show the message of Making the effort and being able to manage yourself.
Porschia: You said a lot there again, people are going to need to listen to this episode over again, [00:19:00] uh, because you just had a lot of great nuggets there, um, to your point about women and also women of color, but I I’ve seen it with all women as well, as far as some of our clients.
And I was. I’ve talked to my husband about this and some other kind of male colleagues, uh, that I see, um, to your point about. Being the total package, right? And everyone looking at, you know, what they can see, you know, from your hair, your, uh, face, your makeup, you know, your clothing choices, all of that. I think for a lot of men, and this has just been my perception, um, Sometimes their appearance is not scrutinized as heavily, right?
They can walk in and, you know, kind of look a little disheveled, right? And then whatever he’s saying, it’s like, Oh my gosh, he’s a genius. But I think a lot of times if a woman walks in and she’s disheveled, a lot of people won’t even listen to what she has to say, because they’re like, Oh, wow. She can’t take care of [00:20:00] herself.
Right. To your point, she can’t manage how she’s looking and then. Like you mentioned, they don’t perceive you as a leader, um, or an authority or someone that they should pay attention to. Uh, what are your thoughts on that? Is that?
Morgan: That was me. That was, that was, I was wearing essentially the same things as the guys that I worked with and not being taken seriously.
Uh, I have one of my favorite lines to tell people is people can’t hear your message if you look a mess. And so, and it’s not fair as women, we have that quote unquote burden, but Do not not play in the game because you’re only disservicing yourself and that was me. I didn’t want to play into my image and I didn’t want to play into the game.
I want to be taken seriously for my work, but that only hurt myself. And I want to mention. Something kind of on topic. And I think it’s really important to talk about when I talk about investing your image, the reason that men [00:21:00] benefit from doing less with their image and not taking it as seriously is because professionalism as we’ve defined it is essentially how close can you be to maleness?
And whiteness. And so what often then comes is women feel the need to wear a male inspired pantsuit, a boxy suit, black Navy. Um, we are trying to look like what leaders we’ve been told leadership looks like, which are usually old white men. and pantsuits. The gig is up. If you put on a pantsuit, they’re still going to know that you’re not a white man, right?
And I tell women all the time, you’re never going to out white man, a white man. So don’t even try. You’re, you’re a woman, you’re a woman of color. You may be, um, an LBGTQIA plus all of these things. So trying to. look like something that you’re not or dress the part of something that you’re not doesn’t do anybody any good because you’re still not them.
I’d rather you dress in a way that you feel amazing and confident in, whether it’s like the pink [00:22:00] dress I have in the background here, or whether it’s a really great. Um, if it’s a red suit, anything, as long as it’s appropriate, and we’ll get to that in a second, but being confident in who you are changes the narrative of what quote unquote professionalism looks like.
This is not me saying invest in your image and go buy a black suit. Absolutely not. It is invest in your image and to show up in a way that you feel good. I wasn’t feeling great in the t shirts and jeans that I wore in my first job. I was doing it. That was my version of what white male leadership looked like literally.
And I was just trying to model that had I owned my own uniqueness and power and femininity, I would have probably felt more competent to brush off those assholes sometimes when they questioned me because I was standing in my power and looking the part. Whoa,
Porschia: a lot of, I’m going to, to really focus on the people can’t hear your message.
If you look a mess, um, so true, whether it’s, [00:23:00] whether we deem it right or wrong, it’s definitely out there. Um, My next question, Morgan, I think is along the lines of, you know, where you were going, um, from your perspective, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve seen clients have with their image?
You’ve already given us some,
Morgan: the biggest challenge. I just had a client this morning, uh, CEO, she’s 52, uh, 52 year old woman. She wants to look like a CEO. She’s leaning in a She’s scared of the attention. So she’s scared of, Oh, people are going to be looking at me now. So she’s been wearing all black trying and boxy suits and trying to blend in.
But I was like, look, if you want to look like a CEO and be the leader of your team, then you have to become the face of your business. And so I think oftentimes, no matter what role you’re in, we, want to play small and not draw attention to ourselves. But again, the gig is up. People are going to still see you in the room.
So you [00:24:00] might as well give them something good to look at. Another common mistake that I see is a scarcity or lack of a lack of abundance mindset, or people are scared to invest in their wardrobe because they don’t think they’ll get the return on the investment per se, or they think that spending money on clothes is frivolous.
Instead, you have to look at this as investing in your wardrobe is is just like part of preparing for an interview. If you came in in a suit that was, didn’t fit you well, wasn’t dry clean, was wrinkled or was too tight or anything like that, you probably or maybe not get a second interview. So investing the time and finding a great suit in advance, taking it, get alterations, getting it dry, clean.
Those are. Monetary investments that end up paying off. They, you may not quote unquote see it. No one. Well, I’ve been told I got a second interview for a job because I wore this amazing yellow dress. Those things do pay off. And I think that those are the two kind of missed most common things of not wanting to be seen and [00:25:00] not looking at this as an investment that people make, especially in the earlier days of their career.
Porschia: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, so one more,
Morgan: one more. Trying to conform like I did, trying to look like everybody else. I hear that so many times with older women. I think this younger generation has a little bit more confidence and swag to not do that, but finding the balance of what’s appropriate for the culture that you’re going into, but still being yourself.
Yeah,
Porschia: I agree, Morgan. I remember, uh, a few years ago, the last time we were in person, I think you and I were talking about hair and natural hair. And I think that that kind of goes to your point about, you know, conformity and, and all of that, uh, and just feeling confident. So great point. Um, so Morgan executive presence is a hot topic today.
How do you define executive presence? [00:26:00]
Morgan: I define executive presence on workshops as being present to two things, present to who you are. So doing a lot of self evaluations. Who am I, what am I good at, what do I bring to the table, what are the areas that I need to work on, what are not my strengths, so being present to who you are, and the second thing is being present to your audience.
Again, what does your audience mean for me and my audience that can be your team, your boss, the clients that you’re serving, how can I make sure that I am meeting their needs in the way that I communicate the way that I show up in the work that I deliver. That’s how I have defined executive presence for myself.
When you master both of those, then you are exuding confidence as a leader. So,
Porschia: uh, do you think executive presence is only for executives?
Morgan: Absolutely not. I think an executive presence term is very misleading. [00:27:00] Absolutely not. Um, one of my favorite books that I just quoted, another audience, and I’m gonna give a speaking engagement to, to read exec, it’s called Executive Presence by Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Porsche.
I’ll send you the link to link in the show notes. Yeah, it is an incredible book about the different components of what executive presence is and why everybody needs it. Whatever, whatever level you are in, you are still a leader. You are still selling something. You’re selling yourself, you’re selling your ideas, you’re selling a product.
You need to, again, manage yourself like an executive. I
Porschia: love that. I love that. Um, so how can someone develop an executive presence, right? If they’re listening and they’re like, Oh my gosh, you know, Morgan, I’m lost. How can, how can they develop that?
Morgan: I think it goes back to those two things of who you’re being present to, right?
So first part of being present to who you are, [00:28:00] looking at it from a couple of things of my communication style. How do I communicate? Do I need to get help on this? Do I need to get, let me get feedback from people on how I communicate or is my message being met by my audience? There’s of course the image, being aware of yourself, being aware of my body type, my budget, my, my end goals, my lifestyle.
Am I an engineer that’s on her feet all day? Or am I at an office all day? Like where am I working from home? Being very aware and present to what your wardrobe and your image looks like and getting feedback. I actually had a recent client who hired me because A trusted male coworker said, the reason you’re not getting promoted is because you don’t look like so and so and so and so, right?
So like being open to that harsh feedback and then doing something about it, all of those elements of who you are and even being present to your skill set. What are your things as you look at, for me, when I was a merchant, I knew that my numbers game wasn’t as good as my creative side. So I actually, one of the VPs at the time, God bless him.
Every Friday morning at [00:29:00] 7am, I was in his office and he tutored me and how to read the long sheet of numbers. Like what are the skills you have to develop to being very honest with yourself and getting feedback. And then again, getting feedback from your audience and getting clear on who do you want to serve and how do you want to serve them?
Do you want to work in direct sales? Do you want to work in business to business? And what is again, what is your team or whomever need from you?
Porschia: Yeah. I, I like the different components of executive presence that you mentioned. Um, I also talk a little bit about executive presence, uh, in, in two ways, one, you know, visually.
So one of the services. We offer on the agency side of our business is helping people with their resumes, um, cover letters, uh, linkedin makeovers is what we call them. And. A lot of times people are brilliant, but you’re not seeing that on their documents. So that’s one way that I use the term executive presence.
So I like how you mentioned communication. [00:30:00] Um, and then also, uh, in an interview, right? So I’m sure a lot of your clients also might want your assistance when they’re prepping for interviews. They’re looking for their next opportunity. I think, um, your great definition can kind of, uh, it breaks. So we’re going to expand to some of those areas
Morgan: too.
Yes. And dear God, if you hear nothing else from me in this podcast, do not wear a black suit to whatever interview you’re going on. Whoever is listening right now, I need you to find a way to stand out. And like I mentioned, the yellow dress is one that I wore a yellow dress when I was interviewing. And one of my then bosses said, I hired you because you had the confidence to wear a yellow dress to an interview.
Granted I was in retail, but I knew. It was still appropriate, but it stood out for the right reasons. So many HR recruiters I talked to tell me if I meet multiple people at a career fair and everybody has a black suit on, nobody’s memorable. Again, we remember, remember people, not just by their [00:31:00] resume, but then what do I see in person?
So absolutely find a way to communicate your personal brand and what makes you, you and unique. Online, but also in your wardrobe, whether it’s your hair, whether it’s a red pair of pumps, whether it’s a cool colored lipstick, whether it’s a brooch, a tie socks, pocket square, stand out, stand out, stand out.
Yeah,
Porschia: yeah. Um, one thing I, I think I heard someone talk about this. I can’t remember who, and I try to do it, especially when I’m, you know, Somewhere, maybe leading a webinar or, um, at a speaking event is to wear some color to your point. Um, and, uh, you know, if you’re on zoom, right, wear a colorful shirt,
Morgan: absolutely.
Or if you wear lipstick. Yes.
Porschia: Yes. So, um, Morgan, tell us more about your business, wider style,
Morgan: wider style is my image consulting business. I work with. [00:32:00] Companies on workshops on and giving executive presidents workshops and content around that. And then I also style people. So I come to people’s homes and clean up their closets and help them create outfits with their own.
I take them shopping. I work with clients literally all over the world virtually by having zoom sessions from their closets and talking about again, You. What is your personal brand? What are your desired goals? And let’s, what is your size? And let’s find a way to build a wardrobe that gets you where you want to go.
Those are the two biggest components. As you mentioned in my bio, I wrote a book that supports my message of worthiness and being seen and have the podcast. That’s great.
Porschia: That’s great. I, uh, loved your term of, uh, being authentically appropriate. So tell us about that and what is being authentically appropriate.
Morgan: That is when I was writing my book, it came, it came to me. Most time most generations. I’m 38 and we’ve been taught a [00:33:00] lot of us to assimilate into the culture that you’re going to be in. So how do you always look appropriate? How do you look appropriate for an interview? We’re often taught where the black suit to be appropriate.
But what’s missing often is the authenticity for some black and brown women. It could be, I felt like I had to relax my hair, straighten my hair to be appropriate or wear a menswear inspired suit. All of those things. I was losing. We lose our authenticity when we are trying to be appropriate, safe, appropriate.
So what is the balance between the two on the other side? If you are so authentic to who you are, you may not be appropriate for your audience. If you authentically feel like wearing sweatpants into the office, it may not be appropriate for your client or your demographic. And it could be depending on where you’re going and who you’re, if you work at a certain company, it could be, but that’s the goal is.
And I’ve created an online assessment that I use to work with my clients. That’s literally a 50 50 break between what is your audience need, what’s appropriate, what’s authenticity for you. Because if [00:34:00] one of those is out of whack, then your, your executive presence, your communication doesn’t, doesn’t land as well.
I love
Porschia: the fact that you have an assessment because
Morgan: I’m sure you do. You guys are probably the, you guys are the portal, all the assessments
Porschia: over there, right? Yeah. I love that though, because also when working with clients, you know, you, I’m sure you’ve had this and maybe this is why you created the assessment, but someone’s like, well, how do I know if I’m too far on this side and too far on that side?
And then, you know, um,
Morgan: So what I get the most of most women say, I just want to look put together. Yes. And that is like not, oh, it just drives me as put together. Can anything, and often, again, put together usually means professional, which usually means how close to whiteness and maleness can I look like.
That’s usually what put together means. But there’s a wide variety of how to express yourself in a business formal or business casual environment that still shows that you made the effort and, and show up in a great way. [00:35:00] Yeah.
Porschia: Yeah. I think that put together, it can be conforming sometimes. Absolutely.
Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. So, uh, we’ve, we’ve gotten a lot from that, Morgan, uh, we’re definitely going to provide a link to your website and your other social channels, uh, in our show notes, uh, so that people can find you online. Uh, but what is the best way for someone to get in touch with you?
Morgan: Best way, you can go to my website, morganwhiter.
com, and it’ll take you there to, to. Schedule some time with me in a chat if you want to talk about your company or talk about your own wardrobe and how we can maybe work together. I’m also pretty active on LinkedIn, so you can find me at Morgan Whiter on LinkedIn.
Porschia: Great, Morgan. So, one question that I really…
Want to ask all of our guests, um, how do you think executives or professionals can get a positive edge in their career?
Morgan: Their image, their wardrobe, [00:36:00] that is, that to me is the edge, like defining your personal style and your personal brand helps you help support anything and everything that you do.
Investing in that, like putting your own spin on how you show up every day can only hurt, help you can only just take your performance to the next level. Because even if you think about it, if a company wants to promote you, they are making you quote unquote a face of their business or their brand, right?
Like you represent the company, the culture. Even if you’re your own business owner, you are the face of your business. The face needs to look good. You gotta, you gotta look like you represent, like you are standing for a brand that you are standing for the brand and the brand can be proud of who you look like.
Own your image, five minute concealer face and a really great wardrobe.
Porschia: I love it. I love it. Defining your personal style and your personal brand with the [00:37:00] image, uh, Morgan, you have shared a lot of gems and I think some secrets with us today. I have actually, yes, yes, I’m glad I pulled it out of you, Morgan.
I’m sure that our listeners can use it to be more confident, uh, with their image, you know, throughout their careers. So, uh, we appreciate you being with us.
Morgan: Thank you for having me. This was such a fun conversation,
Porschia: Portia. Absolutely. Thank you, Morgan.
