[Lesson 2] Owning who you are

Hi! Welcome back to Thriving as Fashion Creative.

I believe the foundation of every beautiful and successful business is owning who you are, so this lesson is all about embracing YOU.

Are you ready?

A meaningful + fulfilling + thriving business is rooted in its owner.

What’s meaningful to others, may have not meaning for you at all.

What gives joy to others, may not bring the same joy + happiness + fulfillment to you.

What works for others, may not work for you.

You are different, you have tons of wonderful things to offer to the world in a unique way, and so does your business.

I receive tons and tons of emails on a daily basis talking about confidence. People lacks confidence in their work, in their strengths, and their business too. Some of them haven’t even taken the leap and started their business because of the fear of being rejected + fail.

They tell me ‘if only I could illustrate like Insle,’ ‘if only I could be like Isabel Marant,’ ‘if only my business could be like Anna Bond’s.’ They keep referring to other people’s talents + strengths + lives and forget about their own unique talents + strengths + life.

Trying to be someone else is hurting your business, people like different + unique + authentic businesses, and they notice at first sight when a business is trying to emulate other + when an artist is trying to be someone else. Needless to say, they don’t like it.

But, it’s also hurting YOU, it’s making you doubt yourself, and it’s making you think you aren’t good or unique or special enough. And for me, that’s even worse. That’s sucking the joy of doing what you love, it’s taking away the meaning + fulfillment of being a fashion creative, and it’s also robbing you your confidence as a creative and business owner.

So, it’s time to do something about it.

It’s time to dust off every single thing that makes you YOU, every little something that makes you unique, and every single quirk + personality trait + feature that makes you authentic.

And it’s time to put YOU into your business equation, and into your style formula because they’re waiting for you to make them the best they can be.

You in your business

Sometimes, what we see as weaknesses in ourselves are really strengths.

For example, I used to be ashamed of telling people I’m self-taught in fashion, I used to tell them I studied industrial design at the first chance I had because I felt people would take me more seriously. And I used to think that clients wanted to work with people coming from prestigious and pricey fashion schools.But the truth is they don’t care about it; they care about the talent, the skills, and what you can do for them.

And what I thought was a weakness became one strength because being self-taught demonstrates my will to make things happen, my resourcefulness, and my dedication to my client’s projects.

The same way, I used to cringe every time people asked me where do you come from? Where do you live? I used to think clients only wanted people from the USA or Europe, but they don’t care about it either. Actually, some of my clients were happy I lived in Mexico because it gave them an excuse to come to meet me, and then go to Puerto Vallarta.

Another example, and this is regarding Fashion Step-by-Step, is that I used to think that to be taken as a professional + helpful, I had to speak in a quote in quote professional way, which let aside my personality and my need to encourage people. So, all the content that I created was meant to be purely instructional, and it featured someone I’m not (a mix between Robocop + a military).

Then, when I started to embrace who I am, and my natural need to encourage and motivate, lots and lots of emails started to come telling ‘thank you, I needed this,’ ‘thanks so much for this, I loved it!’, ‘I love your energy and how you always inspire us.’

The moment I stopped freaking about being seen as a total professional + I began being who I am, people started to pay attention.

So, embracing who you are, and owning what makes you YOU, actually brings more dream clients to your business, people who is in love with your work and who likes you, persons who are happy to share and buy your products and services.

No more feeling icky because you’re trying to be someone else with no results of any kind. No more being ignored because you’re trying to emulate someone else’s business. And no more having a meh kind of business.

How do you put YOU into your business?

Well, there are different aspects of YOU that you can use to build the flesh + bones of your business and your authentic style. These aspects are:

• Your personality.
• Your Talents, Skills, and Passions.
• Your Story.
• Your Memories.
• Your Dreams.
• Values and Beliefs.
• How you Perceive Life, Emotions, and your Industry.

All of these aspects are important, and all of them can be added to your business equation in one way or another. The same way, all of these aspects can be poured into your authentic style.

For example:

• Your personality + your story + values and beliefs are all great ingredients of your branding.
• Your personality + talents + skills + memories + dreams can all be turned into visual elements of your authentic style.
• Your talents + skills + passions + values + how you perceive the industry can all be used to create your irresistible offerings.
• And your personality + strengths + passions will play a big role in what kind of content and marketing you want to create and publish.

So, what we’re going to do in this module is diving deep into what makes you YOU, what makes you different, and each and every one of the aspects that compose your whole being.

It’s important that you go as deep as possible to start building your business and your inspired life layer by layer. It’s not enough to just fill up the worksheets without giving them any thought, even less if you skip the exercises. Every activity and every question are important, and all of them will lead you to come up with the beautiful vision that makes your heart go so fast that you can feel it’s about to explode.

 

Okay, let’s get started with the first exercise.

Take your worksheets or your notebook, and along the week reflect on each of the aspects of YOU. Write what comes to your mind, and then go deeper, layer by layer, and jot down what you feel, what you think, everything.

• Your personality. How would you describe yourself? How do people describe you? What would be one thing that sums up who you are? What are the little things that spruce up your personality, weird or quirky treats? How do you interact with the world + life + people? How do you process information? How do you make decisions? How do you cope with emotions? What do you love secretly?

• Your Talents, Skills, and Passions. What are the things that you are good at without effort? What are the things you most love doing? What are the things you get more compliments about? What are the skills you feel more proud of? What are the things you can’t stop thinking + talking about? What’s always present in your mind?

• Your Story. What has brought you to this point of your life? What have been turning points in your life? Why do you do what you do? Why do you want what you want? What’s the deep why behind everything you do, your decisions, and the great big vision you have for yourself and your work?

• Your Memories. What are your most treasured, fun, and cherished stories and memories? What has changed you? What has touched your heart? What has made you who you are? What are your most incredible stories?

• Your Dreams. What makes you go out of bed every morning? What’s the big vision you have for your life? What are the most exciting dreams you have?

• Values and Beliefs. What do you think is most important in life and work? What do you value the most in life + people + work? What you believe to be true? What do you take for granted?

• How you Perceive Life, Emotions, and your Industry. How do you see life? How do you experience emotions? What do you think about your industry? Do you have any different point of view about life or your work?

Once you’re done with one aspect, reflect on ways you’d like to represent it through your business. Brainstorm and write everything that comes to you. Then let it sit for a couple of days, and revise it again. See if you need to add more layers or more ideas on how to implement that aspect of YOU in your business.

Go one aspect after one aspect until you’re finished. And when all aspects are completed, revise all together again. You’ll see that every time you sit to reflect and write about you, you want to add something else – it’s like you’ve opened a treasure chest that keeps giving you surprise after surprise.

Remember, all the work you’re doing right here will be used in the following modules, so it’s key that you have them done before moving forward.

This is just the beginning

Now that you committed to creating the inspired life + business of your dreams, it’s your job to be always self-aware. Aware of what you need. Aware of what you want. Aware of what to add + change + remove + improve according to what you want and need.

A business and a life that are meaningful + fulfilling + thriving don’t happen overnight, you got to put your hands to work, and you got to know yourself, so every single move that you make is aligned with who you are and where you want to be.

Now hop on the community and share with us your ah-ha moments, your questions + doubts, and how you want to embrace yourself through your business.

LESSON 1

LESSON 3