Nicky Lowe [00:00:06]:
Hi. It’s Nicky Lowe, and welcome to the Wisdom for Working Mums podcast show. I’m your host. And for nearly two decades now, I’ve been an executive coach and leadership development consultant. And on this show, I share evidence based insights from my coaching, leadership, and psychological expertise and inspiring interviews that help women like you to combine your work, life, and motherhood in a more successful and sustainable way. Join me and my special guests as we delve into leadership and lifestyle topics for women, empowering you to thrive one conversation at a time. I’m so happy that you’re here and let’s get on with today’s episode. When I first became a mum, I expected the sleepless nights and the chaos of new routines, but one thing I hadn’t anticipated struggling with so much was my wardrobe.

Nicky Lowe [00:01:00]:
In those early postpartum months, my style was about practicality, you know, breastfeeding friendly clothes, stretchy, comfortable. But when I returned to work I realized something had shifted. The clothes that used to help me feel confident and capable suddenly felt so out of step with who I was becoming, and I had no idea what would feel right instead. So for a while, I felt like I was stuck in a wardrobe wilderness. Nothing quite fits, not just on my body, but in my identity. I wanted to show up as the woman I was growing into, a leader, a mother, someone who felt comfortable at the boardroom table and the school gate, but my clothes weren’t helping me to do that. Then I found Helen Reynolds, and honestly, working with her was life changing, and I don’t say that lightly. Helen Reynolds is a sought after image consultant who specializes working with women who need their outfit choices to be easy, super flattering and comfortable.

Nicky Lowe [00:02:08]:
Helen teaches her clients how to spot the right clothes from the right brands so that getting dressed every day becomes quick and stress free. She teaches her clients that they can have more fun mixing and matching their clothes when they understand what truly suits them. This results in more outfits from fewer pieces and an increase in self confidence. Helen’s approach helps women build more outfits from fewer pieces and in doing so, they not only reclaim their style, but also their confidence. And what I learned from working with Helen has not only revolutionized my relationship with my wardrobe, but also my identity as a leader, as a woman, as a mother too. So in this episode, I’m gonna share the superpower that is Helen with you. So in this episode, Helen and I dive into the deep power of personal style, what it really means to dress for the life you’re living right now. We explore how to build a wardrobe that reflects your values, your ambitions, and the leader within.

Nicky Lowe [00:03:11]:
I won’t keep you any longer. Let’s welcome Helen. So welcome, Helen. Welcome back on the podcast. There’s very few guests that kind of come on multiple times, so you are honored because I think this is a subject and you are somebody that you you know I think really highly of you. So it is great to have you back.

Helen Reynolds [00:03:29]:
Thank you. That’s amazing. I feel very honored.

Nicky Lowe [00:03:33]:
And obviously, we’re going to be diving into style today. And as I explained in the introduction, you’ve had such an impact on me, not only professionally and how I show up, but on my on my kind of personal life as well and how I feel in myself. I think this is a subject that really needs to be highlighted more because it can almost feel a bit, you know, oh, we shouldn’t really care what we look like. You know, we you know, we’re trying to and a lot of what I’m trying to do with my daughter who’s coming at seven is reject that idea of we’ve gotta look a particular way or, you know, all the cultural stuff. And yet there’s still so much importance around this that I really wanted us to dive into today. And I know you’re the perfect person to talk about this.

Helen Reynolds [00:04:18]:
Wonderful. I can’t wait.

Nicky Lowe [00:04:20]:
So, obviously, people can go back and listen to the previous podcast to get your history and and how you came to do what you do. Let’s dive straight into this whole piece around style. So how would you describe what you do and and why it is so important?

Helen Reynolds [00:04:37]:
What I do so when I tell people I’m an image consultant or a personal style consultant, sometimes women will take a step back from me and look me up and down, and that’s but that’s unfortunately the years and years of judgment and what we should be doing or how we should look and all of those all of that nonsense that we’re trying to get past. But actually, what I would say I actually do for women is I make them feel amazing, and feel like they fit their skin, they fit their personality, they fit who they are today. Because life’s a journey. And we change our bodies change, don’t they? We gain weight, we lose weight, different parts of our bodies move, seem to grow at different rates to other parts of our bodies at certain times in our lives. I work with a lot of postmenopausal women or perimenopausal women. And, and who we are changes, you know, the work we do, the lifestyle we lead, everything changes all the time. And so what I care about more than how anyone looks actually, and the clothes that they wear is how they feel. But the way I make them feel fabulous and confident and comfortable in their own skin is using clothes and teaching them how to recognize which outfits are gonna make them feel look in the mirror and go, Yep.

Helen Reynolds [00:05:50]:
That’s me today. Off I go confidently, and which ones they might think they should or want to wear. But there’s no point trying because when you put them on, you’re gonna feel really crap about yourself. So leave those for somebody else. Yeah.

Nicky Lowe [00:06:03]:
And I think I have reached a stage in my life where that is so true and so aligned. Because I think in my kind of teens and twenties, you’d see stuff that other people weren’t wearing and go, oh, that’s what I should be wearing, and therefore you would wear, I suppose, what the trend was or what the I don’t I don’t know if we had them back in the day, but the influences, it would have been the celebrities, wouldn’t it, were wearing. And that kinda dictated what I would wear. And I think having worked with you, what you’ve really taught me is that that doesn’t work. It won’t work.

Helen Reynolds [00:06:37]:
And it can make it can be really quite damaging. Maybe when you were really young, you can get away with trying a trend that isn’t right for you because we’re young and maybe we’ll carry less, whatever. But as you get older, if you and this for me, this was in my 20s. Actually, if you try and wear something that everybody else is wearing, let’s say barrel leg jeans right now, right, they were a huge thing, you put them on, and you expect to look a certain way because of the model or the picture or the friend that you’ve seen. And you put them on and you feel dreadful. And that can be quite dangerous mentally because you think, well, what’s wrong with my body that I don’t look the way I should look in a barrel like jeans.

Nicky Lowe [00:07:15]:
And I think that’s a really important part that I wanted us to to kinda highlight in this is that the emotional load of actually what we wear. And I think as women, we carry so much emotional load anyway about what are the you know, taking care of others and all that stuff that the emotional load of what to wear. And I think before we did this podcast interview, I shared with you a post that I’d seen on LinkedIn. And this woman had basically giving her internal dialogue of going for I think she was going for a performance review at work, and it was like, I wanna look professional, but I don’t wanna look so professional that I look like I’m trying too hard. I wanna appear relaxed, but I don’t wanna appear complacent. But actually straight from work, I’ve gotta go and pick up the kids, but I’ve gotta get on the tube and I need shoes that I can walk comfortably on the tube, but then I’ve gotta walk past a dark alley and I need to have clothes that I feel like safe if I was to be approached in an inappropriate way. And it was this inner dialogue, and I was like, oh my god. I can relate to so much in that.

Nicky Lowe [00:08:19]:
And how exhausting?

Helen Reynolds [00:08:21]:
How exhausting, how expensive if you are trying to cover off all of those things buying loads of different things that then don’t feel right, so they get shoved in the cupboard, and the next thing comes out. And honestly, this is where knowing your style is life changing. Because you wouldn’t that dialogue wouldn’t there might be a little bit of dialogue about who am I today? And how do I want to show up? But actually, who you are today won’t be that different to who you were yesterday, or last week or last month, like your style is your style. And when you know what your style is, it’s almost I hate to use this word, but it’s almost what’s your uniform, particularly let’s say for work. What do I wear to work? Not not what everybody else is doing, but what’s my go to for work? And knowing that the way you’re dressing is appropriate and right for you first, but then it will work to show the world to you. Basically, your clothes are your packaging. So who, you know, who am I and how do I wanna show up? And that mostly of course, of course, we go smarter sometimes, and we go more casual sometimes. But when you know what your your thread running through it is almost, you know what your go to outfits are, and then you stop that dialogue.

Helen Reynolds [00:09:31]:
There’ll still be the issue of what shoes shall I wear? You know, I still struggle with that sometimes. Because they all might look great, but what can I walk all day in? And sometimes it really does require a second pair of shoes and trainers in the bag or whatever. But it’s so much easier. And this this guesswork disappears because it your question is, is this me? It’s not even a question because you’re eventually, your wardrobe is you. You know, this takes time. But when you know what you’re looking for, that’s your uniform. That’s what you wear.

Nicky Lowe [00:10:00]:
And I think this is your absolute zone of genius, Helen, and and it was the bit that I hadn’t even considered. And I know that sounds like really, I don’t know if naive, but I’d considered style as what was in the magazines. And I’d considered my style as perhaps my colors, which I’d never had done and I never even understood. And I think the absolute and, you know, we’ve talked about this many a time, but the light bulb moment I had when I was down at your offices and you were doing my style, and I was like, oh my god. So can you explain what you mean by style and and what constitutes somebody’s style?

Helen Reynolds [00:10:44]:
You’re so right, and I’m so deep in my work that I sometimes forget that this is different. But so, you know, so many people talk about color and, you know, you can’t open Instagram or anything these days without having you being offered to have your colors done by a bot. And so people think, yeah, that’s my style. If I get my colors right, then I’m going to look and feel fabulous. But actually, you could be wearing exactly the right colors that make your face glow, make you look young, younger, fresher, all those lovely things. But if the shape isn’t right, you’re still might feel frumpy or just self conscious of how you look. And then if you try to wear a style so a style, for example, could be that you suit a really classic style, which would be clean lines, more neutral colors, really quality pieces that mix and match to make a really elegant, sophisticated look. Your style could be really bold and dramatic, which would be bolder colors or unusual use of color, like clashing colors, bold prints, unusual cuts that would be dramatic.

Helen Reynolds [00:11:40]:
You might be, what I call the girly or a very super feminine style. Some people call it romantic. So you suit a lace trim, a little puff sleeve, a small floral print, something a little bit more delicate, perhaps, or you might have a true style that’s natural. And that’s just a really casual style. So it’s linens and cottons in the summer, it’s being undone. It doesn’t always match with your career, and that can be where people really need my help to match their style with what they have to wear, what’s appropriate. But what we do is we work out what your colors are, obviously, your body shape is, and therefore the lines of the clothes and the cuts of the clothes that are going to fit you, but also feel comfortable and make you feel the way you want to feel in your body. Then we look at your style, which is how much of each of those classic, dramatic, girly, natural, what’s your true style? And I end up giving people percentages so they know how much of each they can take in one outfit before it becomes too much.

Helen Reynolds [00:12:38]:
And they can also identify what’s missing. If they put an outfit on and look in a mirror and it doesn’t feel quite right, they can run through this checklist of art because I’ve forgotten to put this into this outfit. And sometimes it’s just a piece of jewelry or one other little small thing that needs to change that suddenly lights up the whole outfit. And And then we look at something else as well, which is your scale, which is the size of print, size of jewelry, size of strap like, thickness of strap on a top or even on a swimsuit that goes with how you are. So there’s a lot to it. And there’s no wonder most women don’t get it, you know, they don’t know it for themselves until they actually decide to learn it.

Nicky Lowe [00:13:17]:
And I remember coming in going, I’m definitely a classic. Like, do you remember us having that conversation? I was like, I am absolutely classic through and through. I reckon. You’re the colors. Yeah. 80% classic, I reckon. And you were like, I remember my my head was like, I don’t get this. You’re telling me.

Nicky Lowe [00:13:37]:
But when you explained it to me and when I started to follow kind of my style, I was like, oh my god. How would I not realize this? So it’s almost like once you know, it’s so intuitive. As you say, it’s just you. It’s just your style. But until you know that, I I would never have guessed. And so I think that’s where I say it’s your zone of genius because you can see it and you get it, but it’s almost it’s it’s almost like I think people who can see auras, like, they can see your aura. I’m like, how do you see them? Where are they? And I think you’re the same with style. It’s like, you see it.

Nicky Lowe [00:14:13]:
And I’m like, why why can’t I see it? And then when you see it, you’re like, oh, there

Helen Reynolds [00:14:17]:
it is. See it. You can’t only see it.

Nicky Lowe [00:14:20]:
Yeah. But this, what impact do you see on women when you see when they’re wearing their style? What what what do you notice and what have you seen?

Helen Reynolds [00:14:30]:
When they’re wearing their style, so many things happen, like they become more of who they are. So I think, and I think most people listening to this might resonate, but when you’re not wearing clothes that are quite right, you feel off, you can feel off, and you can be uncomfortable. So, you know, squeezing yourself into a skirt, that’s actually a little bit too tight, and you can’t breathe properly. And you’re sitting in a meeting and you’re trying to focus on what’s being said, and, you know, offer your thoughts and opinions, but really, you’re just thinking, Oh, I can’t wait to undo this skirt. But you know, it’s too tight. Or if you’re wearing so what used to happen to me before I knew my style is I try and wear lovely feminine, pretty, you know, to me now I know fussy pieces that made me feel masculine, and I didn’t really know it. But I would be trying to be really pretty, and I wouldn’t feel it. So I wouldn’t relax into who I am because I’d be constantly the back of my head thinking I don’t think I’ve got the right the right thing on today.

Helen Reynolds [00:15:29]:
I wonder what everybody else thinks. Also, people fuss if you’re wearing something that needs fussing, if it doesn’t fit the lines of your body, you’ll sit there and you’re constantly you can’t see me because this is an audio but covering up your cleavage or ruffling up, just adjusting your output because it’s not right. What I want my clients to be able but what I want everybody to be able to do is put your clothes on, leave the house, and not think about them again, because it’s never going to be the most important thing in your day. But if you get it right, the rest of your day goes so much more smoothly. It’s confidence. It’s being comfortable. It’s saving money or not wasting money on loads of clothes that you don’t need to have cluttering up your wardrobe because they’re not right for you. Anyway, I’ve seen people get promotions.

Helen Reynolds [00:16:15]:
I’ve one of my clients, Marion, she was invited to join the board of directors. And one of the comments about it was that she’d then noticed her up level in style, that she was dressing as if before she got up. I’ve seen people starting to date again, who’ve been, you know, suddenly single and not felt confident to go out dating, but suddenly they feel amazing in their clothes, and they can see how fabulous they are. And they get out there again, it can affect so many different areas of your life that you would never imagine, just because you feel the way you’ve always wanted to feel.

Nicky Lowe [00:16:52]:
Yeah. And I would say the going back also to that piece about the emotional load and the emotional labor of the time and energy spent trying to figure out what I’m gonna wear. Wear. The the only time I’ve I have done that recently is I’ve got a friend’s birthday party coming up this weekend, and she she’s doing it, like, this big home party, and they’re doing it festival style. And she said, come dressed festival style. And I’m like, oh, yeah. That’s not in my wardrobe. And that’s the only time.

Nicky Lowe [00:17:22]:
But every other you know, I’ll I’ll be doing podcast or I’ll be doing keynote speeches on stage or I’ll be going into large corporate organizations or I’m working with personal clients. And I I don’t spend a huge amount of time anymore thinking that through. I’ve got my key capsule wardrobe that you’ve helped me create. I know that all the pieces fit, and I kind of know which ones would fit those slightly different nuances around the environments. I’ve got yeah. And you’ve you’ve cleared out so much crap out of my wardrobe that I’d hold on to, and you were just like, no. That’s not gonna work. Well, no.

Nicky Lowe [00:17:55]:
That’s just looking tatty. You might like it, but that’s not that’s no longer good enough for for who you are, and I think that’s made such an impact to me even around things like I’d always struggled with jewelry. I don’t wear a huge amount of jewelry, and the jewelry that I wear, I’m quite particular about. And you, like, you taught me about what belts will work, what earrings will work, and why in terms of my style and the proportions and the colors. And I could go, oh, I can just clear out all that crap in my jewelry box that I’ve held on to for years thinking I might wear it at some point and now realize why I’m not wearing it.

Helen Reynolds [00:18:32]:
It’s such a relief, isn’t it? When you when you’re working from a smaller wardrobe, I’m not pretending my wardrobe’s small, but for a lot of women that have all of this clutter, it when you’re working from less stuff, it’s so much easier to see what you’ve got and and be it’s so freeing. Just going back to wondering what to wear for something. I have a a style club, a membership, and we have this exercise that I think your, listeners might like to try for themselves, where every so often we’ll do this activity that I call, something like, what do I call it? What would I wear to dot dot dot. And we make a little list, and it’s different for all of us, as to things that could potentially crop up in our diaries this year. So it might be that, you know, there’s gonna be a wedding or a christening or a beach barbecue or an important interview or meeting or talk, and then we we try and create outfits from our existing collection for each of those things. So that if or funeral even, you know, you don’t know what we don’t want to be doing is rushing out every time something pops into the diary and buying another new outfit that may or may not be one that feels good. So it’s really getting to know what you’ve got, working with what you’ve got and going actually the feeling of saying so for most of us, we were able to say, actually, it doesn’t matter what crops up in my diary this year. I’ve got, I’ve got something that I can wear.

Helen Reynolds [00:19:47]:
Doesn’t mean I won’t buy something new, but I don’t have to. And that feels amazing except for the festival vibe. I think I’ve struggled with that as well.

Nicky Lowe [00:19:56]:
When I, when I’ve thought about it, there are absolutely pieces in my I’m definitely not going out and buying something new because I’m not really I love people that go to festivals and I, I, I kind of think that I might become one of those people, but the reality is I’m not. So I’m not gonna go out and invest in something that’s not gonna get used in that way. But I I love that. That’s such a great thing, isn’t it? It’s almost like anticipating the birthdays that are coming up across the year and and kind of keeping the stash of of of presents ready for that. Yeah.

Helen Reynolds [00:20:22]:
It’s the same sort of thing. And it’s the panic buying is the worst thing. So you waste so much money. And, usually, they’re not the right thing anyway, and then you regret it. So just knowing that you’ve got the right things feels so good.

Nicky Lowe [00:20:36]:
And what I you’ve helped me create that kind of capture wardrobe where I can cross kind of pollinate my wardrobe. It’s like, oh, that now goes with that. And, oh, I hadn’t thought about putting those together. And what I’ve also done, which I never thought I would do is when something really works, I bought it in different colors because I’m like, that just that dress. I mean, there’s there’s a couple of me and M dresses that you you remember us buying, and I just know that brand really works for me. And there’s a couple of style of dresses, and I’ve got it in different colors. I mean, it just it just really works. And again, it’s almost like the Steve Jobs thing, isn’t it? He just wore the same thing to work every day because it was just one less decision when he got so many decisions.

Nicky Lowe [00:21:16]:
And as leaders in our life, it is about doing that. It’s about actually how can I not underestimate the impact style has on our personal and professional leadership?

Helen Reynolds [00:21:24]:
I know, you know, Steve Jobs’ uniform is very limiting, but we do talk about I talk a lot about outfit formulas. So that is your uniform, going back to the word uniform and knowing you know, you might have three or four different outfit formulas. So an outfit formula is a repeatable way of dressing. So it might be, it might be as simple as a wide leg pair of trousers and a fitted top with a structured shoulder. So you might end up with two or three pairs of wide leg trousers, two or three structured shoulder tops, and that’s one of your outfit formulas. And then if you are out shopping and you see another structured shoulder top and you know they work for you, why wouldn’t you buy it? Because you know it’s part of your outfit formula. Rather than randomly dipping in and out of different looks and trends, if you know what your formulas are, it’s easier to understand why something deserves to come into your wardrobe.

Nicky Lowe [00:22:13]:
Yeah. I love that, why it deserves to come in. And you talk about dressing for how you feel versus how you want to feel. Can you tell me a little bit about what you mean by that?

Helen Reynolds [00:22:24]:
Yeah. This this works two ways, actually. So one way this is perhaps not what people really want to hear. But one way is if you wake up and you’re you feel tired, and you don’t feel very, maybe you got tickling your throat, you think I’m coming down with something, or or you’ve got period pains or whatever, you wake up and it’s a bad feeling day. And then you look at your diary and you realize that actually you could take the day off or take a really slow day, the kids are covered, whatever, then you might dress for how you feel by putting on your coziest cashmere jumper and your lovely fluffy slippers and grab a blanket and light a candle and make a cup of tea and indulge yourself. But that’s self love. That’s when you feel rubbish and you’re allowing yourself to rest. The way that probably people want to think about it, because that might be a bit negative, is when you wake up on that same day and you feel crap and you’ve got to be somewhere at 09:00 on form, sharp, and ready, that’s when you put on one of your fabulous outfit formulas, you put your lipstick on, you do your hair, and you act as if.

Helen Reynolds [00:23:28]:
And it really can everyone would have done this. We’ve you know, the when there’s a night out that you can’t really be bothered to go on, and you’re like, oh, I need to go and get ready. And I really could just do with a night in front of the TV. And you get your shower and do your hair, put lipstick on, and you and suddenly you’re ready to go, aren’t you? So you really as long as your outfits are right, you really can change. So you can either go with how you feel, dress how you feel, or you can totally change how you feel by acting as if. Because you I do believe we get our energy from our outfits in terms of not in any really spiritual way, but just in terms of how we feel in our bodies when we know we look good. And we’re not very good at saying that we know we look good. But when we know we look good, somebody will say, oh, you look fabulous today.

Helen Reynolds [00:24:14]:
And instead of going, oh, really? This is just an old thing I’ve picked up in the sale, you go, thank you. That’s really kind of you. Because you’re like, yeah, I know. Yeah. And

Nicky Lowe [00:24:25]:
please, please, can we all get better at doing that? Just kind of accepting it, yeah, and owning it. It’s very rare I do that these days is like downplay it, but I did catch myself a few months ago. Somebody said something, and I I think it was somebody I didn’t know particularly well, and I wanted to come across as really kind of nice and accommodating. And I kind of was like, oh, it was actually in the sale and it was, you know, it’s and I was like, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. I I’ve spent money with Helen Reynolds to look this good. Yeah.

Nicky Lowe [00:24:59]:
No. I love that. And you also talk about letting go in the shoulds, and I think we get so many shoulds in our kind of culture and society. Can you say a little bit more about that?

Helen Reynolds [00:25:09]:
Yeah. So shoulding is when we wear something because we think we should, so because of our size or because of our age or because of where we’re going and what people wear what we think people wear to this thing, this is appropriate. And again, that when we do that, we’re not dressing for ourselves, and you’re not gonna necessarily feel fabulous and relaxed in your outfit and be able to forget about your clothes. We really shouldn’t spend all day thinking about our clothes. We need to get on with our lives. So, I would say whenever you’re deciding what to wear, your first thought is what what do I feel good in? And then you adapt it for the smartness level or more casual, you know, sometimes more casual for some people, it’s actually more difficult and get some people are really happy being smart. That’s easy. But having to be dressed down for something feels really tricky.

Helen Reynolds [00:25:57]:
So it’s not shoulding in terms of anything other than what what should I wear because it will make me feel good and confident, it fits well, it’s comfortable. And how do I make it a bit smarter or a bit more casual for the occasion or appropriate for the occasion?

Nicky Lowe [00:26:09]:
Love that. I’m I’m starting working with a new client next week and it’s a big, big corporate brand. And I’ve asked about what’s the dress code. I’m delivering three days back to back. And I’m like, what’s the dress code? And they kind of give me an indication of the dress code, but they’ve given it me from a male perspective. And I’m like, okay. I need to be able to adjust this depending on what I see and and feel in the room. But, again, goes back to that.

Nicky Lowe [00:26:37]:
I’ve got it. Like, I’m what I’m not aware of is I’ve got a a few dresses that actually can be dressed down with trainers or slightly up with kind of flats. And I’m like, well, I’ll just take both, and I can read read the room. But the actual, oh my god. What am I gonna wear? Isn’t isn’t an issue.

Helen Reynolds [00:26:55]:
And you could have gone out and bought three or five new outfits just in case just in case. Let’s see how this everybody’s wearing this at the moment. Let’s try this. And you don’t need to.

Nicky Lowe [00:27:04]:
Yeah. Yeah. Which, and that feels really good. And as we said right at the beginning, this can feel a bit like it’s too much focus on the aesthetic because it’s just about how we look. And it is so much more than that. As you said, it’s about how we how we feel. What have been the ripple effects that you’ve seen from kind of your work? Because as you say, you’ve got a huge community online, but you also work in person with people. What what what do you hear and and and see from your clients?

Helen Reynolds [00:27:31]:
What do I hear the most? I hear well, the thing I hear the most is I wish I’d done this ten years ago because it it it it should be something we all naturally get and or learn at school or something. We don’t, and we can spend years and years feeling not good enough or comparing ourselves and pay favorably to other people or just wasting too much time and money and energy on worrying about what to wear. It’s never gonna be the most important thing in your life. So let’s get make it easy, get it sorted. But I see the words that are sent to me in testimonials and feedback would be ease, would be speed. Like, we’re all busy and people are like, I can’t believe how quickly. There’s one lady, Sarah, who said she’d got in from, I can’t remember where, work probably, And she had something like a fourteen minute turnaround before the taxi came to take them out on a big night out. And she did it, you know, she got in, she knew exactly what her options were for feeling fabulous for the going out.

Helen Reynolds [00:28:24]:
So it’s all about ease and speed and not wasting money. Although, funnily enough, the not wasting money doesn’t come up as often as anything else because I think, although that happens, I think this feeling good, feeling We’re so hard on ourselves as women, and we can be, can’t we? Just to just to be able to look in the mirror and feel I call it feeling bouncy, like look in the mirror and go, Yep, here I am. This is me. Off I go. Someone says you look lovely. Thank you very much. You know, it’s, it’s a feeling that’s quite difficult to articulate. And it is a feeling it’s not at all how you look.

Helen Reynolds [00:29:00]:
Because we all have different tastes as well, don’t we? But what I love somebody else might not love, but I’m not going to try and persuade somebody to wear something that they don’t love. So I might say it’s your color, it’s your shape, it’s your style, and they go, Yeah, but I don’t love it. Fine. We’re not wearing that then. We’ve got to find what you, your taste is.

Nicky Lowe [00:29:19]:
Oh, so true. And I’m so passionate about this from this stepping into people’s authentic leadership. You know, a lot of the women that listen to this podcast are, you know, professional women, have got careers, and they’re progressing in their careers. And often, you know, as you talked about, just the time and energy now that we’re doing more, you know, I’m hearing it so much about there’s more demand to be back in the office, and we’ve gone from kind of working from home. And, obviously, office environments have changed. Office cultures have changed post pandemic. And just like, oh god. Now there’s this headache of not only have I gotta get myself out the door, get the kids wherever they need to get to, but I also need to show up in a presentable way.

Nicky Lowe [00:30:03]:
Maybe I’ve gotta get myself into London. I’ve gotta get on the tube or whatever it might be. And I think what I’ve heard really clearly from you is that piece around to feel good in that And investing just that little bit of time to feel good will make such a difference.

Helen Reynolds [00:30:27]:
Mhmm. And we should

Nicky Lowe [00:30:28]:
yeah. And it makes a difference in how we show up when we get to work. And it also makes a difference wherever we’ve gotta show up in our lives. And I for a few years after having my children, I was a bit like, oh, don’t you know, this is just I shouldn’t be focused on me. I should be focused on my kids. Like, just put it to one side. And I’d changed, and I hear what you’re saying about, I wish I’d done this years ago. I think, yes, I wish I’d done it years ago, and I still would have needed to do it, I think, again, post children.

Nicky Lowe [00:30:59]:
And it might be that I might need to do it, I don’t know, when I retire or whatever it might be about, oh, actually, this now version of me, what what I might know my key style, but I just might need a little bit of tweaking to to understand Yeah.

Helen Reynolds [00:31:12]:
That’s more about so basically your colors don’t, I believe your colors don’t change, but what you choose to wear from your color palette might change as you age, your body shape won’t change, but your body absolutely is likely to change in terms of your size. And your style percentages, your style personality can change a little bit, you’re never going to suddenly go from being 100% girly to 100% dramatic, but it can change a bit. But I think the change in lifestyle is what the problem is. And it’s like, okay, My lifestyle is different, so I’m not wearing those suits or whatever. What are my new outfit formulas? It’s still you. We’re not completely retransforming you over your life. We are looking at, well, what outfit formulas are right for you today then.

Nicky Lowe [00:31:57]:
So if somebody’s listening here going, this all sounds brilliant. Oh my god. I need some of this in my life. For somebody starting this journey, where would you point them to? Because I know you do you give so many free resources away. Where where could you direct them to?

Helen Reynolds [00:32:13]:
Can I direct them to two places? Of course you can. Yeah. So the first thing, if you’re interested in the style percentages parts, I’ve got a free style quiz that I think every woman should do. And this is what gets you starting to think about which of those styles that I’ve talked about today might be right for you. And so it’s basically 10 questions. It’s like a cosmo cosmo quiz back in the nineties, 10 questions, and then you’ll be directed to videos to watch and understand a bit more. So that’s really helpful. So perhaps we’ll link that, somewhere next week.

Nicky Lowe [00:32:47]:
Absolutely. I’ll put it in the show notes.

Helen Reynolds [00:32:48]:
I probably haven’t sent you that yet, but we can deal with that later. And then another great, a bit more in-depth that I think people will love is a free online masterclass, which is called how to dress with confidence and show up as the fabulous woman you are. And that’s where I teach what I go through with my private clients. I teach my methods, and I show you how you can discover and create your own version of style, one that works for you and your lifestyle and your body as it is today and helps you to feel unstoppable. And I run that three times a year. So depending on when people are listening to this, they can contact me and find out when the next one is. But right now, the next one is June and June. I always run a live a lunchtime version and an evening version to give people the best chance of turning up live.

Helen Reynolds [00:33:37]:
So we can link the, register. It’s free to register. We’ll we’ll link the registration link as well.

Nicky Lowe [00:33:43]:
Absolutely. And I would if anything that Helen has said has caught your attention, I would really encourage you to go and check out those resources because those little light bulb moments, I can’t tell you that the impact that they can have and, like, the ripple effects as we’ve talked about just in terms of time and energy, let alone that kind of feeling good as well. So if if there was just one thing that you would hope somebody listening to to our conversation today takes away, what would you want that to be, Helen?

Helen Reynolds [00:34:12]:
I’d want it to be that there’s nothing wrong with how you are. Like nothing needs to change about your body, who you are, what needs to change, maybe if you’re feeling stuck is how you dress and how you dress, not to be fashionable, not to be appropriate, but how to understand how to make you feel the best version of you. And as I said, we don’t it doesn’t come naturally to most of us, even me. I had to learn it, And that’s why I’ve ended up doing this work because it was so life changing for me, not constantly thinking, well, I need to lose half a stone. Like, we don’t. The way you are today is just perfect. You might just need to learn a different way of dressing to believe it.

Nicky Lowe [00:34:59]:
Mic drop. Oh, Helen, thank you. It is always a pleasure. You know, we love connecting and we’re we’re planning meeting up for lunch soon and all of that. So it’s just a joy to be able to share you with my listeners as

Helen Reynolds [00:35:15]:
well. Thank you so much, Nikki. I’ve loved our conversation.

Nicky Lowe [00:35:20]:
If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Wisdom for Working Moms, I’d love for you to share it on social media or with the amazing women in your life. I’d also love to connect with you, so head over to luminate-group.co.uk, where you’ll find ways to stay in touch. And if this episode resonated with you, one of the best ways to support the show is by subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes. Your review helps other women discover this resource, so together, we can lift each other up as we rise. So thanks for listening, until next time, take care.