StylishShe

I recently received this request from by blog:

Keyvan: I’m a fashion design student and for our next assignment we have to interview an artist, designer, stylist or someone who runs a website like yours. just wondering would you be interested to be interviewed by my regarding that?

My answer: Of course!

Keyvan:That’s awesome!

Here are the questions:

1- tell me about your self?

2- about the team at StylishShe?

3-how you came up with the StylishShe website idea?

4-how do you see the fashion world at the moment and how do you think fashion would become in future?

5-tell me about when you were invited to participated in the New York University women in business conference?

6- there’s a section on your website called image consulting. tell me about it?

7- is it hard to be a personal shopper or stylist?

8- where do you see StylishShe.com in coming years?

9- and at the end what advice do you want to give to people want to get into the fashion and styling industry?

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Below are my answers:

1- tell me about your self?

Tricia Mahoney – Marketing maven, business entrepreneur, advocate and mentor for women in business, Tricia is the founder and SHEeo of StylishShe. Tricia is all about style, fashion, image and beauty! She loves everything about it. Style is her love and her life.

So how did it all begin? Funny enough her career began in high-tech marketing, working at powerhouses such as TFA/Leo Burnett and CMGI. During the climb and height of the high-tech/Internet explosion, Tricia was exposed to powerful clients and was a driving force behind exciting large-scale initiatives. This experience was priceless both personally and professionally. After the stock-market adjustment and post September 11th, she realized that there was more to life than 16-hour days and knew it was time to re-prioritize her life and lifestyle and really focus on what was true in her heart – FASHION.

In 2001, StylishShe began as a fashion jewelry home event based business. But Tricia wanted more. She then created an exclusive fashion show/boutique shopping event series, The Unique Boutique. The series began as small venue and grew to a standing room only, multi-vendor, fashion show and shopping experience. During this time Tricia also founded a women’s entrepreneur group, The Andover Entrepreneurs. This group included non-completing, women business owners that shared the same demographic. This group focused on brainstorming, growing each other’s businesses and joint marketing initiatives. Both The Unique Boutique and The Andover Entrepreneurs were strong additions to the StylishShe offering. And StylishShe was getting noticed! This was the time that StylishShe was featured in a number of broadcast news stories; newspaper, magazine and online articles; and Tricia was asked to speak at New York University and Boston University. This success encouraged the launch of StylishShe Wedding Jewelry, an exclusive line of jewelry for brides and their attendants. And finally StylishShe Image Consulting which includes all of Tricia’s passions and is her true love because it brings it all together – closet cleaning and organization, personal shopping, wardrobe styling, wardrobe organization.

Which brings us to today. Tricia is an Image Consultant, Marketer and Writer. Through her Image Consulting services Tricia helps women of all shapes, sizes and ages with all their image and style needs. As a marketer and writer Tricia puts her ideas, thoughts, knowledge and expertise to good use and shares that with her clients and followers via the StylishShe blog & website, Facebook, twitter, style articles, guest blogs and soon…her book.

2- about the team at StylishShe?

Marile Borden – Marile’s greatest accomplishments in style are seen on the printed page. A veteran graphic designer, art director, and sometimes copywriter, Marile has successfully run her own marketing communications firm – Metal Creative Services– since 2001. When she’s not busy chasing down ad deadlines, creating lead gen campaigns, or designing the latest StylishShe collateral, she’s busy chasing down her son, Jack and daughter, Lia.

Amy Ekross – With a flair for marketing and finding the sassiest of shoes, Amy has a passion for style from head to toe. She kicked off her marketing career 11 years ago strategizing for companies in high-tech, financial services, and retail. When she’s not busy launching a new product, she’s checking out the latest restaurant or sipping delicious wines with her husband Brad.

Kelly Mangum – Lover of chunky silver jewelry and stylish stilettos, this search marketer is up for the challenge of balancing beautiful web designs with search friendly tweaks. Her specialty is originating targeted email and web traffic through online search, partnerships and electronic marketing. Previously Kelly has held marketing positions on both the client and agency side. Her career started out at an event marketing agency and from there Kelly moved on to various marketing roles at high-tech, hospitality software, and franchise companies. When Kelly isn’t busy consulting companies on how to grow their business online, she is running road races and chasing her son Jake, baby girl Declan, and ‘young at heart’ husband Chris, around.

Shauna Callaghan – Work At Home Mom of 3 & an Experienced Blog Designer, Shauna’s style is her gift for creativity. She started her blog design business in January of 2008 after leaving her career in higher education. She loves being a part of the blogging community. When she’s not designing blogs she spends most of her “extra time” with her husband and kids, enjoying time with friends, running other websites such as BurbMom.net and Business2Blogger.com.

3-how you came up with the StylishShe website idea?

I started the website about 10 years ago and at that time StylishShe was solely a home event based jewelry company so the website was focused on the jewelry lines and the structure of the events. In 2008 I launched the blog, Image Consulting and writing. This is when the site and my writing went from a brochure like entity to a dialog from me to my customers.

4-how do you see the fashion world at the moment and how do you think fashion would become in future?

The fashion would at the moment is on hold. Over the past few years styles and trends have remained fairly unaltered. Trends have not been bold or radical as the economy can’t support that kind of buying. I can see this with my image consulting clients. Over the past year, my work has changed from personal shopping to reworking their existing wardrobes. In addition the image consulting business has slowed down.

5-tell me about when you were invited to participated in the New York University women in business conference?

The SWIB Conference is designed to motivate, inspire, and educate on timely and important topics.

Embracing a historical perspective, the goal of the conference is to highlight the achievements of phenomenal women who have forged their own paths, pursued their passions, and ultimately, fulfilled their dreams. There are many ways to achieve success and we would like to emphasize that the path to success is a journey that every woman must define for herself.

“The Evolution of Women in the Workforce-Realizing Your Potential and Fulfilling Your Dreams” – the focus of the 2004 Conference:

Transforming Your Interests into Career Opportunities: Wouldn’t it be nice to love what you do every day at work? This panel will explore various strategies for turning your passions and interests into viable career or business opportunities, whether in the context of a corporate environment, or in a more entrepreneurial venture. The panel will include women entrepreneurs, executives, and members of the non-profit community who will discuss how they have translated their personal interests into dynamic and successful career paths. The panel will offer inspiration and insight into the different avenues for pursuing a career that incorporates the things about which you are most passionate.

6- there’s a section on your website called image consulting. tell me about it?

Image Consulting is a fancy word for styling and personal shopping. It includes:

Closet Assessment – Cleaning out your closet can be a daunting task. What to keep? What to throw? What to tailor? Tricia makes it simple. Together you will sort through the mountains of clothing and accessories and determine what works for your body and lifestyle. The guesswork is eliminated. Tricia assesses each piece by fit, cut, length and color and it doesn’t stop there, lifestyle is a huge part of the mix. What you do, where you live, and how much you socialize are all part of the process. For example: if you are an at home mom with a closet full of suits from your past career…they go. Or if you are a high-powered executive, mom of young kids with an extremely active social calendar, you need it all, from suits and mom chic to fun and fabulous out-on-the-town options. And Tricia can get you there with ease. It is also about working with what you have. Taking what you have in your closet and reworking it to fit and look better, just makes sense. But for many this is challenging. Tricia has the eye and the sense to know what pieces can be modified and exactly what needs to be done to them to look better. Sending items to the tailor is a lot cheaper than having to buy all new ones. Tricia is fiscally responsible and does everything in her power to use what you have and buy only what you need.

Wardrobe Organization – Tricia will come to you and go through your closet. Weed out the items that don’t fit – your body or your lifestyle – are out of date or just plain wrong! Tricia loves to organize and no closet it too bad for her to handle. She will organize your closet by categorizing pieces first by item then by color. In the end you will have a clean, organized closet with items that fit and flatter – both your body and your lifestyle.

Style Shopping List – You make a grocery list, right? So why wouldn’t you have a fashion shopping list? But this is not just the list of items you need, but more importantly it’s the list of items that are off limits. Yes off limits! We all have them, they are the items you purchase out of comfort and ease – and you have too many of them. We all do it. When we go shopping we seek out and buy items that look good and are easy, like shoes or handbags, right? Well why wouldn’t we, they fit all the time! So that is why we have the off-limits pieces on the list, because you need to get out of your safe zone and seek out those pieces you truly need! And I am going to guess that the pieces you need and the hardest to find, right? Defining what you need is critical before heading out to the stores.

Oh and ladies – let me just tell you – the reason you don’t have what you need in your closet is THE reason you stand in front of your closet saying “I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!” You don’t because you buy what you don’t need and never get the pieces that you need to complete looks and finish outfits!

Personal Shopping – Ok, shopping is difficult. The right styles, the right cuts, the right colors…let’s face it getting it “right” is hard. Shopping with Tricia is fun, easy, and best of all, successful. She will translate what is in style to what works on you. Defining your ‘style personality’ and translating that into the pieces that compliment both your body and your lifestyle. Her objective thinking, fresh perspective, and eye for the fabulous just get the job done. Oh and the best part of it all, she works within your budget – small or large.

Wardrobe Styling – Ok, we have all seen the celebrity reality shows like Kimora Lee Simmons, Life in the Fab Lane on E! or MTV Cribs, right? And during the shows you see the utterly amazing closets of the stars and how they have all of their pieces and outfits cataloged into albums for ease and reference? Well Tricia can do that for you!

Just think how easy it will be to get dressed when all of your outfits are cataloged to your preference. It can be as simple as the outfits emailed to you or completely uploaded, organized, and cataloged. Now if that’s not enough, Tricia can take it one step further and custom create a wardrobe look book (photo album) – hard or digital copy, just like your vacation albums. This album will be custom created and will include all of outfits with detailed text descriptions. Can you imagine going into your closet opening your wardrobe album, flipping through its pages, selecting your outfit of choice and then reading the full description which details all of its elements. All you do is pull the elements from the closet and get dressed! YEA! I know, cool hugh?

Packing for Travel – India, Paris, Bermuda or Wichita, it doesn’t matter. If you’re going on a trip and need help packing – Tricia is your go to girl. She has packed clients for trips all over the globe. She maps out your trip and works with you to define your clothing needs based on your agenda and activities. You will be armed with a full detailed spreadsheet of all outfits as well as cataloged online album as future reference. Packing is finally easy!

7- is it hard to be a personal shopper or stylist?

The actual personal shopping/styling is not hard – it actually comes very easy to me, BUT getting the clients is. I am not a great sales person and that for me is the biggest challenge.

8- where do you see StylishShe.com in coming years?

StylishShe has always been connected to fashion, style and image. For me and the brand it is about the collision of style and writing. My focus will continue to work with clients on their image needs but to also continue moving forward (me and my literary agent) to secure a publisher for my books.

9- and at the end what advice do you want to give to people want to get into the fashion and styling industry?

Follow your heart and peruse your dream!

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This was fun to be on the other side of the interview! It is a lot less work this way!!!!!

Enjoy.

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