How to become a Personal Stylist

It feels on the verge of self-indulgent writing about my experience of becoming a Personal Stylist in London. However, I have celebrated my 1 year anniversary of being a fully self-employed stylist in London this week and I have had lots of people ask me to share my journey so I thought to mark the occasion as it feels like the right time to share my experience.

My biggest bit of advice to anyone who is training to become a stylist or in their first stages of setting up a business is to not compare your journey to anyone else. We are all experiencing different stages in life, we have different outgoings, responsibilities, opinions, and goals. It's just a road to scaring yourself off from achieving your dreams as a stylist. It also makes you feel rubbish so I strongly advise nipping that in the bud asap.

I also suggest never see anyone as competition. The role of a personal stylist is to lift others up and help people feel the very best version of themselves. As a stylist, your business needs to be an extension of you, your personality, beliefs, and of course style. People not only buy into your services but actually into you and who you are as a person. Plus there are enough people out there for us all to share! 

My styling journey to being fully self employed is perhaps slower and quite different from a typical stylist, and I think it's important to be honest and open about it. Again, we all start at different life stages and we also need to stay in our lane. I definitely began comparing myself to any working personal stylist out there and boy it really knocked me. Don't get me wrong I do find myself every now and again thinking ‘oh damn why didn't I think of that?’ or ‘how can I do that?’ But that's why it's so important to have a business plan with goals and business values to make sure to stick to them. Friends also help keep you on the straight and narrow! 

What was I doing before styling?

I trained as a print designer so I designed patterns on people's clothes. I loved the creativity but at uni I specialised in traditional screen printing and drawing and hated digital design which made me despise sitting at a computer all day designing.

After interning in London, I worked in Paris with a print company and met the founder of MONA SWIMS who was the first woman I ever met that ran their own business. She was so kind and chatty and one day she asked me if I had ever thought about a different career. I said being a stylist without really knowing what I was on about and by the end of the day she had hooked me up with someone who lives as a stylist in Ibiza and needed an assistant. I was 24 and like… get me to Ibiza! I am forever grateful to Carla and still buy her INSANE swimwear now. Make sure you check it out.

During my time assisting in Ibiza I realised that I loved being up on my feet and…. Clothes hahaha but there was something missing from each shoot and I realsied that as lush and glam as it all looked it was a human connection that I was craving. Ibiza was a magical place where I did a lot of growing up I think.

My boss introduced me to managing social media, email lists, time management, working with brands, and making connections with people. She also taught me how to keep going in tough situations. I also worked with an incredible wedding photographer out in Ibiza - Gypsy Westwood who was a savior to me and she's very talented so get in touch with her if you need a photographer in Ibiza. I managed her social media as well as a small boutique.

I quickly learned that I hate social media hahaha and sadly my original boss and I weren't on the same page very often but it taught me resilience and how I would never want to make anyone feel as upset, anxious, and scared of someone, so actually confirmed that kindness and how you treat others creates a huge impact and effects us all hugely. A big lesson in life. But my time assistant fashion shoots were a total blast. Plus I had a wicked tan and had some awesome nights out.

After Ibiza, I moved back to Devon and went back to my uni job of being a waitress to get the dollar in. I was very fortunate to get a part-time assistant designer job through a uni friend of mine and because of my social media skills that I pretended I loved, after a few months I managed to make it a full-time role. Nomads clothing really nurtured me, I was a bit bruised by my Ibiza role and their faith and trust in me helped me get great results for them and my design confidence grew. I learned all about how clothes are made, how boutiques are run, and also played a part in the sales team. I loved my time and the team at Nomads and I will cherish the place forever. BIG LOVE.

Whilst working there I discovered an adult learning place called The London College of Style and one day clicked on a Personal Styling course. My jaw dropped… It was a role that combined helping people, being out and about and clothes. I was in shock and knew I had to save up and do the course. I booked a week off work and was literally counting down the days.

In September 2017 I arrived at The London College of Style (LCS) head to toe in black (100%) because I thought black was all about fashion (for some it is and I'm not knocking it) Within 2 minutes of the director Wendy welcoming us, I knew I had found my calling. It was a real moment. I also remembered that at uni I had written my dissertation on the differences between fashion and style and why clothing means more to some than others. I also wrote about colour and how amazing it was… it was like a full circle and without even realsing it years previously I was already obsessed! 

My week at LCS changed my life, I knew I had to start my own Personal Styling business and I really believed it was for me. I have never felt so at home and I rekindle my love for london. I knew I had to get back to the city but I was terrified of leaving Nomads and of not having a clue about how to run a business. I also knew I needed to make enough to love in London… GULP.

On my return to Nomads I was working at a trade show and got talking to other brands. Bizarrely after that I actually got poached by a London company for a design role. I couldn't believe it. It was October and I knew I had to take the role. I wasn't going to start until Jan 2018 so in order to keep my styling knowledge up, anyone who came near me got their colours and shape done. I LOVED IT. I did all of Nomads too! I also went to as many friends' wardrobes and practiced cleansing them as well as taking friends shopping at the weekends. It was just awesome. I even helped some friends I had at the local Gym! 

Once I had enough people I asked for testimonials and decided I needed to start a website. I was so fortunate to have my friend Rachel who is an amazing photographer and knew a MUA and I asked everyone I had helped to come for a makeover and shoot for my website. I was so lucky as Nomads let me use their upstairs studio to shoot my first ever content for Styled By Sian - SBS (and I had given my notice in by then too!) The shoot weekend was 3C with no heating in an attic - not glam but everyone was amazing to pull together and help me. I'll be forever grateful. 

Building my first website was like trying to speak a different language. It was so hard and SO BORING. But I got there, and now my website is probably version 5! And I still hate doing it haha.

I moved to London in Jan 2018, excited about my new design role and being able to build my business up on the side. Sadly the job didn't work out, it was the worst experience I have ever gone through BUT the stars aligned for me and I am forever grateful I rang LCS and said I was so desperate to become a Personal stylist, I had no job or money and was in panic mode. I was quite unwell from the job experience but LCS told me about a job as a Personal stylist in John Lewis as well as assisting a celeb stylist and I got an interview at both. Huge shout out to Jules Standish for helping me choose my outfits for the interviews… she worked her magic! 

I actually cried in my interview with the celeb stylist, NO JOKE, they were SO kind to me and so wonderful, they even offered me the role. It was part time and a bit up in the air but I wanted it. I was GOBSMACKED that I was also offered the Personal Styling role in John Lewis in their Flagship store on Oxford Street, I was speechless. The decision was so hard but I needed stability and safety and I took the John Lewis role.

I had 4 weeks in between getting the JL job and starting and I decided I needed to really make the most of having the time off. I got in touch with the Prince's Trust (luckily still at the tender age of 27/28) and wangled myself onto a business course. Again, I had NO idea how amazing this move would be. I sailed through the course, and won a business mentor called Paul who still coaches me now.

For 6 months during my job with JL we worked on my business plan. Paul's coaching and support was and still is phenomenal. Don't get me wrong writing a biz plan is hard and so dull… but we did it and I got through to having support from the Princes Trust. AKA Paul forever haha and also more business training with incredible professionals like Elliot kay who has been an amazing business partner and I met my fellow entrepreneur Tyler from Loving life who runs an incredible wellness in the workplace company (check him out immediately)  as well as being a fab sports massage therapist - a solid 12/10 from me. I also met the SEO King Danny Richman who brutally taught me how to make my website user-friendly and found on google… shout out to Danny! 

My first year at JL was amazing. I was lucky enough to be selected to be featured across their marketing campaigns, got chosen to style lots of celebs in store, spoke at huge JL conferences about the importance of style and most importantly managed to style 100s of women and really practise my styling skills.

I learnt so much so quickly and loved it. I recommend in store styling for people who don't have as much financial stability as it takes the pressure off of you money wise. After a year I felt as though I had outgrown the role and I started to pick up my own SBS clients. I also insisted with LCS that I wanted to assist Jules Standish when she taught colour analysis at LCS. 

During my time at JL I did my advanced colour analysis course. I was obsessed with it and I wanted to really push my skills and up my knowledge. Once we had that magic experience, I bonded with Jules and we became super special friends. I'm pleased to say she pushed for me to assist her at LCS (so grateful)  and it meant I could drop to part time at JL. 

I now had more time to focus on building my biz and getting clients as well as learning even more when assisting at LCS. I also learnt how to teach which made me a better stylist too. It was all an accident to be honest. I was then introduced to the incredible Tracy Hooper who is now also a super special friend and coach of mine.

I had a bit of a battle for a year as I knew I was desperate to leave JL but couldn’t see a way out. I had a few super cool things happen that kept me focused. For example, my friend Beth worked at Birchbox as the social media guru and we did 3 Facebook lives together with Birchbox and we worked with fashion brands like Silk Fred and Traffic people and spoke about fashion and beauty. I LOVED presenting with her and it's something that gave me such a feeling of freedom. 

I also hosted my first style event for my clients which was so inspiring and kept me focused. I kept consistent and word of mouth from clients really started to pay off. I kept focused, kept chipping away and in 2020 I felt ready to fly solo. After a year of assisting I was also made a colour tutor in January 2020 which was a dream come true. Being able to teach solo was liberating (and scary the first few times) Now I LIVE for it. It makes me a better stylist every term. 

Another tip… never stop learning and improving, knowledge is power.

PLOT TWIST

In 2020 I was about to hand my notice in and then COVID, I was heartbroken, absolutely gutted. I felt my luck had run out and that was the end. After a couple of weeks of mopping, I decided I would reach out to all of my clients and offer catch-up calls and I'm so pleased I did because they gave me so much hope and I think they were so chuffed to have heard from someone not in their immediate circle when the world was going barmey.

I also taught myself how to help style clients online, it's amazing how you can adapt when you have to. I didn't realise at the time but this was a big shift for me and SBS. I focused on building a better website, restructuring how I work, updating my sessions, learning about google, and starting my style subscription (I hope you have joined it!) I also started my blogs too which have helped people find me online. 

In August 2020 I made a promise that if I went 1 full year of being able to afford to pay my bills and rent with just my SBS income I was going to leave no matter what.

After the first furlough, I was made to stack shelves in waitrose, I haven't ever confessed to it before but I now see it as a really humbling experience and something that I made it through. (FYI i'm not saying anything bad about stacking shelves in waitrose, it just wasn’t on my business plan that I had spent months writing!)  I was sick of working 3 weekends out of 4 and not having a life. 

After 6 months or so of  writing blogs, keeping up with clients, staying present online, and the pandemic kinda slowing, I noticed my work was building up and I was starting to struggle with balancing JL and SBS. I had almost a year of constant work and it was hard and intense. The not being allowed to socialise was actually a blessing in disguise as it meant I could keep all the work up!

By May 2021 I had decided I was going to leave JL, I had had enough of working mad hours and feeling drained. The LCS, SBS and JL had to have a better balance and I handed my notice in and I had all the feelings.

I was excited, terrified, nervous, frustrated, scared, impatient. The last week I was like OMG what on earth have I done hahaha.But what a decision it was. I wonder what would have happened if we didn't have the pandemic… who knows.

Fast forward to today, I have had my most successful year, I have grown by 250% (INSANE) and won two awards including Personal stylist of the year. Worked with amazing brands like Bash Paris and boutiques such as Trilogy. I am part of the Harvey Nichols Stylist club, ranking high on google, have styled a couple of celebs, conquered my public speaking, fallen in love with vintage style again, stopped comparing myself to others, written a quote that made the back cover of Jules standish's latest blog, the list goes on but its almost 11 and I still need to upload this blog and have some corporate work up my sleeves. I have 4 personal stylists i coach and its phenomenal helping people build their businesses - it gives me a buzz like no other! 

I have a LONG LONG way to go, a lot to improve on, a load of things I want to change and update, the list goes on and on. I need to work on my work life balance, stop panicking so quickly, stop giving myself such a tough time, but I must remember, I am LIVING my dream that I have worked so hard for.

It's not easy, it can be lonely and frustrating but seeing the smile that I put on client’s faces daily is something that I will NEVER tire of. I am a Personal stylist that makes a difference to people's lives, I help lift people's emotions and teach people how to reflect who they are by how they dress, it's an HONOR. 

I recogonise that I have had a very easy path, I am incredibly lucky but I have worked so hard and will continue to do so. It's relentless, you must keep going but also have fun with friends and loved ones too. I have also missed out sections because it's just so long and much! 

To all of my friends and family who have supported me and kept me going, I owe you everything. To my clients who aren't 'clients' but treasured friends, thank you for opening up to me and trusting me with yourself. Everything I do comes from my soul and I put every ounce of energy, time, and passion into what I do to help lift you up - and make you look fabulous.
Huge shoutout to everyone who has studied at LCS on the Personal Styling course and Online colour analysis course - it's been a DREAM sharing my 5 years of experience and knowledge with you all. 

To those of you who have made it through this essay – thanks for reading, I hope it inspires you to keep going and yes, it's taken me 5 hours to write! I still need to get all the photos up too!

I can't describe how happy I am, how wonderful it is to be doing what I love and I promise to keep doing better and help as many people as I possibly can to become the best version of themselves. After all, style starts within. 

Stylish wishes,

Sian