$1M Personal Stylist Shares How Your Style Affects Your Business Success

Do you ever wake up in the morning going, oh my gosh, I don't know what to wear or you feel like, I am so tired of my style. But you just keep buying the same thing over and over, year after year. I know what that's like. It's time for a change. Let's upgrade your style, your look right here, right now on Ally and you'd welcome to Ally and you the Business Success and Lifestyle show. My name is Allison Maslin. I'm a business growth mentor and Every week since 2011 we have been coming on here in spite of inspiring business owners like you to break through to the next level. And interviewing some amazing business owners, champions, authors. Because my mission is to help you to level up your business to scale up your business. Today I have an incredible guest. We are going to totally transform the way you show up in your business every day. Before I do that, I want to remind you that my brand new book Scale or Fail was just released. It has continued to be number one on business entrepreneurship every single day on Amazon since its release. So exciting. Just found out it is a Wall street best selling book. So. Wall Street Journal best selling book actually. And so if you haven't grabbed this book yet, I'm so excited to get into your hands because within these pages is really going to give you the solutions you need, the steps you need to multiply your impact, multiply your wealth and really have fun again in your business. So go to scaleorfail.com because we are still in launch mode. Even if you're listening to this some months down, we have some great bonus gifts that you get with the book like a quick start guide and a two hour training that goes with the book. If you can't tell. I'm kind of excited about it. So anyway, but let's go ahead and jump into our episode today. So Christine Bartanian, I'm so excited to introduce you to her. And I have had the honor of working with Christine for the past couple years in Pinnacle Global Network, our private mentoring and mastermind. And she is a powerhouse business owner and, and she's the founder of Jade for All Seasons, a fashion styling company based in Newport Beach, California. She is a personal style expert who styles women and men now head to toe with their wardrobe. Her styling philosophy and techniques are aimed to style her clients according to who they are. Okay, so this is, I love this, who they are as people to their individual and personal style. And so she really connects with that. We'll learn all about that. She shows clients how to express themselves through the art of dress up. Christine has styled everything from company photo shoots to the Grammys. In addition to personal styling, she also leads classes to teach women how to cultivate their own modern, personal style. I'm so glad you're here.

I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you for having me.

Yeah. And I mean, just look at her. Doesn't she look like a personal fashion style expert? And so this is so cool because a lot of people don't know this about you, but you've come from a background totally opposite, right, as an engineer and an attorney to now fashion style expert. So tell us how you got into doing this work.

Well, it's true, I had a start that was very unconventional. My career started out as a civil engineer. I got my undergraduate degree in that. But my dream was always to be an architect. I was an artist at heart. That is just who I am. Those are my natural gifts. But when it came time for me to go to architecture school, after I'd completed my civil engineering degree, my dad said, go to law school. I think you'd be such a great lawyer. So I said, okay, why not? So I went to law school. I practiced as an attorney for about five years, and then I decided to stay with my kids, be a stay home mom for 10 years. And that's really when my passion as a personal style expert was born. Because as a stay home mom, I was surrounded so many women who were also stay at home moms who served everybody in their lives, their children, their families, their communities, the schools that their kids went to and worked inside and out of the house. So they had these careers outside of the house, and they also worked inside of their house. And I thought. And then they kind of got stuck in a rut and they stopped taking care of themselves. I was on a mission at that point to say, no, you can have it all and you can take care of yourself. And that's how I decided to start serving them. They served all these other people, and I wanted to serve them by designing their outfits.

I think that's so true. I think as women, we tend to be the caretakers, even as business owners. And I know a lot of business owners, and this is something I had to learn to do too, because we can put ourselves last.

That's absolutely right.

And if you make yourself feel good and you're taking care of yourself and.

Everybody wins, I truly believe that as well. I think our children, our husbands, our families, all want to see us feel happy. And when you get dressed up, you feel Confident and you feel beautiful and you feel happy.

Yeah, I so agree. I like to get dressed up. I know we live in San Diego, and people just want to wear flip flops here. And I'm always, like, overdressed. I don't care. I don't care. So when you think of someone's personal style, what does that entail?

So personal style is sort of multifaceted. It's not just one thing. It's definitely how you dress and how you express yourself through dressing up, and it's how you create a signature style for yourself. And when I say signature style, I mean something that's uniquely you. The clothes that you wear and the outfits that you put together that really say this. I can tell that's Christine or I can tell that's Allison. You know, those things that make you uniquely you. But it's also about the way we live our home life, our work life, our careers, and how all that informs the way we express ourselves and the way we carry ourselves. And particularly if you're an entrepreneur, your brand, you know, your colors in your brand. If you are an entrepreneur that needs to be dressed up casually in your work, then you can't build a wardrobe that all suits for that person. So it really is about the multifaceted style of that particular individual.

It's so true. Because in the day and age we are in the personal brand space, there really is, like, no separation from business brand, personal brand. How you carry yourself through your life, especially with social media, and how, you know, that's capturing all the different facets of your life.

Yeah, absolutely. You have to express your brand in everything that you do, everything that you touch or enter. Anybody you interact with has to kind of see that come through. And that's personal style.

Yeah, I love that. So tell me a little bit. Actually, let's back up before we talk about that. When women. What are some of the issues that you feel women struggle with when they. When you work with them? Because it's. It becomes very personal. I'm sure there's a lot of confidence issues.

Yeah.

And, you know, we can just like. For me, my husband likes to shop for me, and he's actually got really good taste, which is unique because it wasn't always that way. And guys I've dated in the past, and sometimes he'll get stuff for me, and I'll open it, I'll go, what is he thinking? I would never wear that. And then I put it on, and I love it. And I think we get stuck in a rut. Too.

Yeah. So you bring up a couple really good points. I think one of us is that we get used to wearing a certain thing and it kind of becomes our uniform. Right. We forget about thinking outside of the box and taking one particular dress that we're used to wearing a certain way and flat. Another thing that I feel holds women back to really building a great, dynamic wardrobe for themselves is that they feel like it's a little bit superficial. It's a little bit frivolous to do that. And that's part of my mission, is to really help them feel like there's nothing superficial about that. Because when you work on your outside style, your wardrobe, you're actually really working on your inside style. That's your confidence, the way you show up, the fact that it makes you want to see your old high school friends and run into them at the market when you're dressed up. You really want to take on the world when you're dressed up.

Well, I think so, too. And I do believe that if you're trying to elevate your career in your business, you're going to attract how you show up. And, you know, I grew up in the fashion business. My dad had a chain of women's clothing stores. And that was a really cool thing because I got to really learn about fashion early on, although it created a little bit of an addiction. But not too bad. Yeah, not too bad. But I do think that I feel like fashion is art.

It absolutely is.

It really is. How you. It's like your language of how you're showing up every day.

Absolutely. I completely agree. And that's why it is so important, because people. Well, like, for instance, a potential client doesn't judge you by your genius when they first meet you. They have no idea what your genius is. They judge you by the way you show up.

Yes.

So if that first impression is not a great one, they never get past that. It takes a long time to get there.

They say that people make an opinion of you within the first seven seconds. Seven seconds. And obviously, you've got to back it up with whatever is your personality and so forth. But it's true. It's just what we do. And so I think that the work you do is really, really important. So what is some of the process when you're developing a style for someone? What's the process you take them through?

So one of the most important things when I'm working with somebody is such a sensitive relationship. You know, it's really hard for women, particularly to let other women know Their insecurities. So it takes a little bit of time of getting to know each other. So the first thing we do is we have a deep dive session. That's an opportunity not only for me to gather really important information about my client or my potential client, but for them to get to know me, for them to ask me questions, for them to test me, if you will. Then they start getting comfortable, and then that's where our trust starts getting built up. And so during that deep dive session where I'm learning about technical things like size and likes and dislikes, I'm also learning about their hobbies, their lifestyle, how they live, what their careers are, because all those things are going to inform their signature style that we're going to get to. Right. It's not a one size fits all, and it's not a cookie cutter approach. I have to pay attention to that individual. So it's very customized, very personal. And then I cur everything based on what I've learned from them. And then I present it to them and they pick and choose what they want. And then they end up with this great wardrobe that represents who they are, is all them that they feel proud to wear and look great in.

Yeah. And you're so good at it. I've seen the work that you do. I appreciate that with your clients. And it is truly, truly transformational. I remember at Pinnacle, Barbara Merrick.

Yes.

Who you've worked with, who is one of our clients. And this is a woman has runs a big business and she shared her biggest feeling of accomplishment was how she feels in her closet now. And, you know, I think it's such a personal thing, but I do know that when you feel good about yourself and you feel organized around that, it does impact every area of your life.

Well, so that's the part that makes me feel so. Such the reward in what I do. Because it's not only about the outside. Right. It's not only about the outside style. It's how you make people feel when they've gotten that dialed in. It elevates your emotional vibration. You want to take on the world, you want to be successful, you want to get new clients. So the work that we do on the outside is so deep. It is so deep. And as a result, you end up, you know, creating these, these, these emotions are confidence. They are. I want to succeed. I want to do better. I want to get another client.

Yeah. Take on the world.

Take on the world.

Exactly. So can you share some stories of, you know, some before and after?

Yeah, I, I Always say, for Jade, it's Jade for all seasons. It's all about my client's stories, because there are so many powerful ones. And one that particularly comes to mind is my client Chris, who came to me, and she said, listen, I have battled cancer for two years. I feel weak. I've lost a lot of weight. I don't feel good about myself, and I really want you to work with me. And we worked together, and we built her an amazing new wardrobe. And it was surprising. I'm getting chills thinking about it, because she offered a testimonial for me. And in her testimonial, without being prompted, she said, christine helped me feel great about myself. She gave me confidence. I now show up as somebody who's confident and beautiful, not as the woman who had cancer. That's an amazing story. And, you know, there's so many like that, but something that's a little bit more relatable. I had a client who was an entrepreneur, and we are fellow entrepreneurs. I know what her journey is. And she was very frustrated that people weren't taking her seriously. She couldn't close and convert deals. And I just kind of told her, can I just work with you for a little while, and let's see if that makes a difference. And we did. And the week. The same week, she started putting all that stuff into action. She said, christine, everybody giving me compliments. And she showed up more confident. And I know that converted clients for her because people were not judging her. They were judging her by the way she was showing up, and it wasn't aligned with her genius. So you had to get those even.

Yeah. You know, it's interesting because sometimes I'll meet people and they'll tell me their brand, but the way they're showing up is not matching their brand. And it's just. It's a feeling you get. There's a disconnect.

Right.

And when you meet someone and there's a disconnect, there's something inside that just says, no, I can't move forward because I'm confused.

Right.

You know, so I can really see that that would make a huge impact for people with sales, you know? Now here's one that I need help on because I'm, you know, I'm rushing around all the time, and I am not a morning person, as we've talked about. Okay, so thank God he brings me coffee in the morning. And I have gotten better at trying to get some things together at night, but sometimes I'm just tired. So what are some things that you can do for people that, you know, it's like they gotta rush out in the morning and need to make it quick. Because sometimes you can stand in front of your closet and there's clothes there, but you're like, I can't find anything to wear.

Right. I mean, that's a common complaint. You know, I think the statistics are that we make 35,000 decisions in a day. So why spend 5,000 of those on kind of figuring out what to wear and then leave the carnage behind of all the piles of clothes on your.

Back closet this morning? Ridiculous.

One of the pieces of advice I think is really easy to implement is really, I really believe strongly that you need to get rid of all the things in your closet that aren't serving you the stuff that is ill fitting or doesn't really work for you anymore because that's just clutter.

Yeah.

And it's like stuck energy. And then once you release that all, it feels like a weight's been lifted off of you. And then you can see clearly the stuff that really makes you feel great. So that's one thing that could be easily implemented by anybody. Right.

For sure. I'm sure. It's like you keep hanging on to that one dress that you one day are going to wear that you never ever do.

We can all relate to that. Yeah. And another thing is really investing in basics. So I have a checklist of 40 basics everybody must have. Now, I know we talk about signature style, how that has to be very personal, but basics are those pieces that everybody must have. And I'll kind of give a little analogy. If vowels are the letters that hold the words together in the Alphabet, your basics are the glue that hold your pull your outfits together. So you need to have the base. So build those basics. Like the little white T shirt that fits well, a little black dress, a great fitting, jeans. And there's so many other. Yeah.

Well, even like this. So I've never been a blouse person.

Yeah.

But recently I got a couple white blouses and I love them because they go with so many things.

Right, right.

You know, and then when they're in the cleaners or I'm like, where's the dang blouse? So. Yeah. And I've never been one that have had the basics, but I find myself being drawn more to that.

Yeah, yeah.

So I think that's. That's important. So besides being an amazing entrepreneur, you're a mom of four, which is incredible.

Thank you.

So how has that affected you? Well, first of all, there's the balancing all at it all. And because I have one daughter and that was crazy balancing just with her. But also, how do you feel like that's helped you working with other moms?

Yeah, you know, it really has helped me tremendously because I understand the woman's journey. I've been there, I've been a stay home mom. I've been in the corporate world and I now am a business owner. So I understand what they go through. I understand they're overtired, they're overextended, they do everything for everybody. They serve everyone. So it gives me so much reward to be the one serving them and be their resource. And the fact that I understand their journey really helps them resonate with me and kind of build that trust. That's so important when you're in their closet and in their private life in that way.

Yeah, that's got to be super rewarding.

Yeah, it really is. When I have a client that tells me I changed her life after battling cancer, I mean, that's a big life milestone, that I can actually impact her that way. I mean, that's what we all want to do, right? We want to create this movement, be influencers. And that is just such a rewarding way to influence somebody.

Yeah, that's fantastic. Now you have a signature program. I do. So can you share with us? Because some of you out there, and I know you also work with people virtually.

I do.

So you don't have to be in San Diego or in. In. You're in Los Angeles. Orange County.

Yeah, Orange County.

You don't have to be from anywhere. You can work with Christine and she can virtually set it up that she can even get it. You get into their closet?

Absolutely.

So this is cool. And my gosh, what a gift that would be. So how does that work?

The Dream Closet program? So my signature program is called the Dream Closet program. And what that is, again, it's all these layers and modules, but it's easy and effortless. And I guide my clients go through it step by step. And the first thing we do is really get rid of the stuff that's not serving you. Get rid of all that stuck energy, the stuff that's just sitting there and really is considered clutter. Once we get through all that, the next module is building your basics, really putting in that those 40 basics that everybody has to have. Then I show you how to play dress up. We put outfits together, I photograph everything, because ultimately I leave you with the magic sauce. And that's a lookbook that has all your outfits, cataloged in one place. So in the morning, you don't have to worry about taking a lot of time to get dressed. You just go to the page on the blouse that you want to wear, and it shows you five ways to wear it.

That's so great because, you know, when you're in a rush, it's hard to get creative. When you're tired, usually it's the last thing that you're doing Right.

And that's not all, because that's a technical thing that we do.

Okay.

But then we have to personalize the closet space. We have to create the signature style closet. So if you are a woman who is spiritual, then we build in a little prayer corner. If you knit, then we build in a little area where you can store all your knitting equipment. If you are an artist, then we hang one of your pieces of art in a little nook in the closet. And that totally gives it like a signature piece that is nobody else's. It's just yours.

Yeah. That's great. Well, I'm, you know, in. The closet's always been a favorite place of mine, and I have a dream closet now. It's something that I work towards. But even in the home before this, where I lived for like 10 years, it was a pretty small closet. And I was often found on the floor in there. Just. I don't know, it's gotta have this house. Whereas Alice is just sitting in the floor in the closet. There's something about the energy. It's a sanctuary, especially if you make it your own. That is really cool. And so you're working with men now. So let's talk about that a little bit, because I think that. I think that that's a really cool thing. Look, men have to be carrying their style for their career, for attracting, you know, significant other as well.

Absolutely. And so that. That was like, my clients asked for this. So I serve women. That is my mission. And my clients, I'd work with them and they'd say, well, can you work with my husband? I'm like, why? I don't style men. And then I realized that there was such a need for it, and it was a need to serve the women. So they needed somebody take care of that.

Yeah. They're like, please, please do it. Please help my husband.

And that's how it was born.

Yeah. Ye. Yeah. My husband's got good style. I think he's got actually really good style. And he used to. And we've been together 13 years now. In the early, he used to kind of take It a little personally, if I would say, honey, you know, that doesn't really go as much as you're wearing it, you know, now he really appreciates it, you know, But I do think it makes a big difference. And then they feel good about themselves too.

Yeah. Well, you know, men like the women in their lives or somebody other than themselves and tell them and give them the confidence that they look great, you know, so it really does help them.

And I think it's better, really that it comes from you because then there's none of that personal stuff in between. Yeah, right.

Yeah.

So it's like having a business mentor that's not your significant other.

Exactly, exactly. Somebody outside that gives you an objective opinion.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah. Now you're giving away a special gift. And this is really cool. This is the top 10 wardrobe basics every entrepreneur needs. And it's super, super colorful. And this is going to be at our library. You just go to alisonmaslin.com library and you will be able to download this. Why don't you tell everybody what this is?

Yeah.

So this, this is the top 10 wardrobe basics every entrepreneur needs. And it's super, super colorful. And this is going to be at our library. Just go to alisonmaslin.com library and you will be able to download this. Why don't you tell everybody what this is?

Yes. So this is the 10 easy pieces every entrepreneur should have in their closet. So this is like the basic minimum. But the great thing about them is they're mix and matchable. So you can actually mix them and combine them to get May20 outfits. There are only 10 pieces, but there are 10 powerful pieces. And so the best thing to do with this is to print it out and go to your closet and see what pieces you actually own and kind of earmark them. And the pieces that you don't own, you should curate them and enjoy playing dress up with them and building new offices.

Yeah, I love this. I am going to take this home and I'm going to go through and see what I have. And I don't have. I definitely don't have this skirt. I gotta get that. Okay, so. Well, this has been so awesome. And so for people to reach out to you, how do they find you?

Well, I have a website and that's jadeforallseasons.com I'm reachable by email at christineadeforallseasons.com and of course, my phone number is 949-9900. And I love it when I get texts from my clients because as a personal stylist. You want to hear from them on your phone. You don't want to get emails from them. So I love it when people reach out to me via text or try and contact me by phone. It's always the personal way to do it.

Awesome. Well, this is really exciting. So. And I think this is a great idea for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries. So if you're sitting there thinking, wow, this would be a great gift for my significant other, man or woman, they should reach out to you. Really unique gift, right? This has been so awesome. Thank you, Christine.

Thank you for having me. Had a great time.

I'm really glad she was here. And look at the style that she had. You can't see the shoes, but they're really, really pretty. All right, so I hope you've enjoyed this episode of Allie and you'd remember that you can find us on most platforms that are out there running podcasts these days. And you can go to subscribetoally.com make sure that you subscribe to the show because you will get it a notification every single week. You won't miss an episode. And on itunes, you can see the video version, you can see the audio podcast version, depending on what you like. We're also on Facebook every Single Wednesday at 4:00 clock Pacific Pacific. And again, don't forget to check out my brand new book, scale or fail atscale or fail dot com. All right, until next time, get out there and elevate yourself because you are worth it. Bye, everybody.

Scaling a business is not for the faint of heart. Playing it safe causes 34 million American business owners to avoid risk entirely and suffer from smallness. I understand what you're feeling. No matter how hard you work, no matter what you sacrifice, you just can't seem to get to that elusive next level. That's because what got you here is not going to get you there. Scaling is not about working harder. It's not that one right strategy. It's the whole picture. It's you. It's your big, beautiful vision. It's your team, it's your drive. It's how you show up. It's time to take a leap off.

The trapeze so you can soar high in your business.

But you're holding on too tightly and killing your growth. If you're truly ready to leap, it will not be easy. If you want easy, there's always your comfort zone. Are you prepared to fly? You're well beyond the startup phase in your company. You've created a decent level of success. Your tenacity, your spirit have gotten you here. But my gut tells me you were not put on this earth to play small and stay inside the box. There is something about the ability to direct your own fate. That drive for freedom, expression of creativity, building your legacy that pushes your entrepreneurial.

Buttons, and that wild spirit.

If you are fully ready to bust out, step into your power. Own it as the leader and visionary that you are. It's time to get your arms around the method that will finally get you there. You are not meant to be small, you are meant to shine. If you are truly all in, then let the adventure begin.