1980s Power Dressing

 Bright colors. Polka dots. Kitschy phrases. Flowers. Mixed prints.

These fun looks are not what you would normally imagine powerhouse women wearing when they entered the 1980s boardrooms dressed to impress. However, designer Jeremy Scott at Moschino offered a fresh spin on 1980s era power dressing for the modern woman in his Resort 2021 collection. 

Growth Mindset

Growth is a fundamental idea for every part of life, including our careers. What better way to start thinking about the idea of growth than to look at the flowers and plants in our gardens? 

For a plant, the journey begins with the seed. Though seeds vary in shapes and sizes, each seed holds the potential to burst forth new life. But the future of that seed depends on the right conditions. Without the right inputs and environment, the potential of what is possible for the seed never comes to fruition. We will never see the peonies bloom if the seed doesn’t first have soil, water and sunlight. 

  

For many of us, we have a desire to achieve goals and reach our own definition of success. The seed for our future self is present, but how do we get to the end goal we dream about? Scientists have found that mindset matters. Like plants, our brains need the right inputs to steer our life and allow us to grow into the potential we each possess. Mindset may be the most important input our brains need to help us boost growth and move forward. 

Curious what to wear while embracing a growth mindset? How about a little bit of couture with floral headdresses like those seen in "Garden of Delights" photos? Editorial photos were seen in Vogue December 2006. Styled by Grace Coddington and photographed by Steven Meisel. 

How Kate Middleton Created Her Professional Brand

 The 7 Ps of marketing is a framework used by companies and brands to sell products or services. Whether you’re shopping for a new shirt, planner or hair stylist, you often experience the story of the product or service as it’s being told through the 7 parts that make up the brand’s marketing. 

Just what are the 7 Ps? They are product, price, promotion, placement, packaging, positioning and people.

Not only are the 7 Ps used in commercials and social media advertising for that pair of shoes you’ve been eyeing, but they can also be used to shape your professional brand. Whether you’re working at a retail store, an engineering firm, a hospital or Buckingham Palace as a Duchess, you have a professional brand. 

Your brand is what allows others to gain insight into who you are and what you do. It’s an extension of your reputation and can be purposefully shaped to ensure that it is telling the best and most authentic story about you. 

Why does a professional brand matter? 

Because your story is what connects you to other people and can help ensure your career journey heads in the direction you want.

Kate Middleton, aka the Duchess of Cambridge, provides endless fashion inspiration for royal fans. However, there is more to her image than meets the eye. Though she is a titled member of the royal family, she, like all of us, has a professional brand. Kate's brand has evolved since her days at university with careful cultivation to make her the Duchess we know today. 

To better understand the 7 parts of branding and how to use them for your own brand, we’ll dive into the key aspects of Kate Middleton’s brand as Duchess of Cambridge. As you read through each of the Ps for Kate, think about what each P means in your own brand.

The Whisper of Change

“It’s hard to register differences in the status quo. Like trying to measure slight drops in temperature without a thermometer. But Ms. Sandberg was right about something. We had to lean in. It was the only way to hear the whispers.”

What whispers would we hear if only we leaned in? What do the roles of women, our interactions in the workplace and the steps we take each day for our careers say about us as a gender, a society and a culture? 

Career Lessons from Emily in Paris

Image via Netflix 

 "Emily in Paris" took Netflix viewers by storm as Emily galavanted around the City of Lights. The first season of the show offered a dose of glamour laced with giggles as Emily navigated the new city, French culture, relationships and working in a different country. 

Image via Refinery29 

 Beyond the amazing fashion and beautiful Parisian setting, the show offered plenty of real world career tips. Though you may not soon find yourself on the back of a Vespa with a cute Parisian while wearing couture, you can still take some of Emily’s work-ready advice. 

Spring Suit Roundup

Rodarte Spring 2021 

Suits for this spring and summer are anything but stuffy. As companies start inviting employees back into the office in greater numbers, it’ll be time for a wardrobe shift. Yoga pants aren’t going to cut it when it’s time to return to the office. 

Suits for the 2021 spring season showcased a variety of trends and styles. So one exciting thing about no longer working from home? The opportunity to try all different suits, ranging from sporty to flirty, buttoned-up to whimsical. 

5 TED Talks for Every Girl Boss

Ready to get inspired? Take a listen to these 5 TED Talks to learn more about everything from mindset and grit, to power poses and creativity. 

A S'well Business

Sleek. Beautiful. Functional. It’s the unexpected fashion accessory that changed an industry while also helping the environment. 

Seeing only wasteful plastic bottles and the clunkier options available for sports, S’well founder Sarah Kauss saw an opportunity to offer a chic and functional alternative. With $30,000 from her savings account and a can-do attitude. Sarah embarked on a journey in 2010 that would result in a brand with global reach by 2015. 

Going Forward

What’s good? The sight of a rainbow after the storm, the smell of cookies baking and the sound of a cat purring. The list of all that is good in life is endless, but would we be able to fully appreciate the good and beautiful if we didn’t already survive the bad and ugly?

 

Author Rachel Hollis invites us into the conversation in her latest book, “Didn’t See That Coming.” In it, she tackles this very question as she reveals lessons and routes to recovery for even the hardest of seasons. 

Botticelli Girl

"The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli, 1484-86, via Wikipedia (face of Venus detail above)

Graceful, ethereal, romantic, mysterious. The women of Sandro Botticelli’s paintings from the Italian Renaissance continue to awe and inspire art lovers and fashion designers. Centuries since women like Venus were depicted on the 15th century canvases, the paintings’ power to enthrall remains.