Transforming Your Podcast with the Power of Personal Style and Color w/ Patsy Sanders

In today's episode I speak with image stylist Patsy Sanders. Even though this interview was originally made for Solo Moms! Talk, I thought it would be an appropriate topic for aspiring podcasters, because we talked a lot about how podcasters can present a more authentic image so they can level up their podcasting. Take a listen and let me know what you think. Thank you. This is Tools of the Podcast Trade, where you can learn about the tools and resources you can use to start and grow your podcast Tune in this week, as we talk about the help you need to remove the mystery from podcasting so you can become a successful podcaster that can reach your audience where they are. My guest today is Patsy Sanders. Welcome, Patsy Sanders, hi there. Thanks for joining us today. Before we get into what to do, please tell us who is Patsy Sanders.

My name is Patsy Sanders and I am an image stylist, international image stylist, coach, master hairstylist and a speaker.

Oh, okay, so you are an image coach, so you would be a good person to talk to. If you're a podcaster doing videos, right.

Absolutely. Your brand and your image are the heart of your business. So it's very important that we align that and I do it from a sole level like who are you born to be? How should you look and show up as your natural, beautiful self? So I try to align that with my clients. I love working with women, especially because I think we're very confused by the fashion industry. Like you should have to wear this, you have to wear that, and it isn't always aligned with who we are and what our personal style and color palette is. So I really love being able to give women clarity, confidence. You know, being attractive, just really important.

Yes, you're so right in saying that we get distracted by the noise.

Well, I think we're constantly guessing too.

We want to stay current, we want to look nice because women we tend to have, we have our ideal image, but then we let the noise in. So we get all confused as to what we should do and try to change based on what this person in front of us is saying.

Right, yeah, or the fashion industry. And I think a lot of times is because we're really not confident in who we are and know what we should wear and how we should dress or who we're being in the world. So I love helping people have clarity about oh, just because that's how you mean, I don't have to wear it. For instance, the fashion industry has us convinced that you only look thin if you were black and everybody should have a little black dress. But there's only one of my color pilot elements air, fire, water and earth that really look good in black. That's in the color palette and it's a strength color for them. For the other people it's like hiding in plain sight. So that's what I was a long time ago. When I got my colors done, I was told I was an earth and I should wear black and jewel tones. I did that for over 20 years. Then I got color typed in the elements and they said I should be. I'm as a fire, wearing more of the warm fall colors, and I was pretty resistant to changing. But I thought, well, if I'm not open to possibilities, maybe my business won't grow as much. And as soon as I changed what I was wearing, I started getting compliments, people started noticing me. They started saying why, patsy, you look pretty today. Not I like your purple highlights or I love your dress. So I think there's a big difference of being seen as your authentic self than just dressing and looking nice but people not really easily connecting with you. And there was such a change in my business by me being more authentically aligned with who I was and wearing colors that really were complimenting me and who I was in the world, and I think we don't know that always. So that's my passion is to help women especially have a wardrobe they love to wear, that everything goes together and they know what energy they're gonna bring to the room for the day and it's like, oh my gosh, this is funny being a girl, yeah.

Yeah, it is fun being a girl, but we sometimes forget it, right? And are you saying that we don't have to wear black to impress?

Absolutely. That's more of the male dominance corporate, where black look like the men, act like the men and women are busting out of that. We don't have to do that anymore. There's so many people becoming podcasters, being entrepreneurs and speakers and authors and breaking out of that mold that we've been put into for a long time and now women can be themselves. It's just having enough, I think, motivation and information and inspiration to step into that arena and invest in yourself. Get a wardrobe that really aligns with who you're being in the world, right Like this is who you really am right what I thought was really. I did the four when I started working with the color typing things. It was so life changing for me. I got trained to add that to my beauty business, so now I can do head to toe makeovers, which really helps me. Really, I know how beautiful you are, I know what hairstyle you should wear, I know what lip color you should have, but we're confused, like out in the world. So there's these four elements air, fire, water and earth. I'm showing these half fans and each one has energetic qualities, but what's really fascinating is that each have character traits. So I'll just tell you this little story about it's okay, you could hold them up.

You could hold them up for yeah.

Airs that wear these bright, warm spring colors, right? Their natural character trait is visionary, like that's their core gift, like they have so many ideas they can't even hardly see straight, right. Then there's the earth that wears all the pure tones, black and all the jewel tones and stuff, and their natural character trait is the editor. They can come into a room kind of take it in, analyze what needs to be fixed or what's missing, you know, on a project. They're great project managers because they can bring things to completion. Then there's the water that has these beautiful, warm, I mean these cool, soft, muted summer colors, right, and their natural character trait is they are the. They love process, order and detail. My VA is a water. She likes doing all that stuff. I don't like doing that stuff. So this is my color palette, all the warm, spicy colors of fall, and my natural character trait is a mover and shaker and get stuff done. So when I learned that, when I was being color type, being resistant to change when the, when the stylist told me that that I knew that was me, she goes let's do this. Let's just go shopping at a consignment store, buy a few tops and if people don't treat you differently, you don't have to do this, you can still do what you were doing before. I thought, okay, that's a good deal. And every time I'd wear one of those darn tops to work, people say, g Patsy, you look pretty today, g Patsy, you look nice today. And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, it wasn't me, it wasn't just you know my dress, hair. It was like they saw me.

And.

I think in business you have to connect with a whole. Purpose of building a business is to create that, no like in trucks factor. They have to connect with you, they have to feel like you're appealing and attractive and want to know what you have to say and do. And people know that if you take good care of you and you look really amazing and attractive, then you're probably take good care of them. So it's a psychological thing. Sometimes we don't even think about it, like if you ever went to a store and that saw somebody think, wow, they look beautiful, or somebody else thinking why would they wear that? Well, like Walmart, you know, people go in there and they're pajamas, like it blows my mind, but it really says I don't care about me, I don't care. We have to care for going to be in business.

And I think in broadcasting especially.

You know it just takes away the guesswork when you know how to look and you can get. Then your whole energy goes on what you're doing, engaging with your audience, learning about them. But you know you're good when you walk out of the building and you're done, ready for the day. You're good. Yeah, I think it's important that people know there is a way to do that. It doesn't cost a bazillion dollars, but what it does. It saves you a lot of time and money over the years. It's an investment in who you're being and what you're wearing, not so much how much money you're gonna get close because you could shop anywhere. Fashion is not an age, it's not a size, it's not a name brand and it's not a price tag. It's more about being who you're being and wearing, being approachable, feeling confident, feeling attractive and knowing you're presenting your most authentic, beautiful self, just as you are.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I mean, when you go and do your nails or you get your hair done or something, you feel divine and you project that aura out, right, absolutely, yeah, yes, yes, Okay, all right, thank you, all right, so give a podcast. Specifically, I have a small group called Moms who Podcast and we sometimes have the biggest excuses as to why we can't look good, because we have to make our kids look good first, right, so give these Moms who Podcast three tips.

First one is just to put some mascara and lip color on and do your hair right, because when you look at yourself in the mirror and you feel like you're pretty put together, then you can kind of do anything, no matter what you're wearing. And I think a lot of times we push ourselves aside, when really, when you give to yourself first, when you take care of yourself first, you have a higher vibration of energy, like energetically, you're more aligned, you feel better, you feel excited about the day. You know, and we have to do that for ourselves. Nobody can do that for you. The second thing is, if you're on podcasts and you're doing this kind of work, I really encourage people to wear solid colors, because then people are looking at you and they're not distracted by your outfit and the worst thing to wear really is patterns, big patterns, and black is kind of gives you a floating head, like you don't, like you know you in the head. So I, even if it's your color, I tell you not to wear black on podcasts or on stage. You need to wear something with more color and more vibrancy so you look more alive. And so any medium color, solid, is really good if you to start with but there's really some great colors you can start with is like any kind of a teal. Everybody looks good in teal. And then there's this you can wear wine or eggplant and that's kind of a power color, but it's really it's more. It gives you more authority when you wear that. And then dark green, like right now. You know Mallard greens some of these greens are coming out. They're really good. So you know, for me, each one of my colors in my palette have a purpose and that's what's so exciting is like when I actually handmade every single one of these palettes and when you work with me and we do a whole session and we get you started, you will see a fabric color pan like this, but on the back it tells you what it's for. So there's colors, there's patterns, there's metallics, there's flush tones, there's pastels, there's tranquils, there's dynamics. And when you know what energy you want to bring to the room, you would go and pick out colors within those color palette strips, right? And so that really can give you more confidence than what you had before, when you know. So when you shop you think, oh, I'm going to be speaking on a podcast and I want to, I'm going to be the expert. Then I'm going to look for a foundation color, right, so that really helps. Another great color, and this is my super tip if you wear your eye color, it makes you more approachable. So my color is chocolate brown and that's kind of my black, because that's what color my eyes are, right, so that's a really safe color. If you just want something where you're more the expert, it's easy to do that. Sometimes people just go to the color you know, go to Home Depot and go through and have somebody they help pick out sort of their colors you know, because you have at least three to five colors in your eyes and when you hold it up by your eye you can kind of see some of those tones. So it's a great place to start yeah, more powerful to know who you are and have your color power aligned, because I think sometimes we just guess and we end up spending a lot of money. Here's a good question for you what percentage of your closet do you think you wear on a regular basis.

That's a funny question. You know why? Because I've only used about maybe five to 10% of my closet in the last three years. Yes, think about that. I've never thought about it.

The national average is 20%. So, if you think about how much time and energy and money you've spent with all those clothes you're not wearing. And, of course, covid changed things. Everybody gained the 15 or whatever, but some of those clothes you wouldn't wear anyway, you just haven't worn them. But that's the, and when you know what your color palette is and you can go through that with your fan, it's easy to release the things that don't serve you anymore. I just recommend you give it. You know, if they're nice things, put them in a consignment shop, get some money back and then you can even use credit there to get the colors that really are yours. And I really believe that. You know, consignment shopping is a great way to get nice clothes without having to spend a lot of money. You know, yeah, and like I, don't a lot of donated a lot of stuff to women's shelters, women in transition, women that are, you know, trying to change their life right. Yeah, I recently just started a nonprofit called Elevating Women in Transition, which I've wanted to do for a long time. I've already went to, you know, to like the rescue mission and done hair. I've done hair cuts for years and years and years. But once I started doing this color typing I realized here these women are up leveling, they're going through a program, they're trying to get their act together so they can go get new jobs. Now that's what this nonprofit does. So I give them a total makeover on them. They apply for a makeover scholarship. I do their hair, I do their colors, we get them in the right makeup and I have a wardrobe closet that people are donating to me that I take them to and we get them outfits and their colors that fit them and then we have. Then there's a. They have a stipend that we get to take them out into the community and go shopping. Maybe they need new shoes, maybe they need a dress that we didn't find right, and so we can still help them up level their you know confidence by teaching them how to. I teach them how to dress their body type. I teach them how to shop, how to use their color pan when they're out shopping. So they now have a whole different energy about them and confidence when they go apply for those jobs. I've worked with three women in the last few months. One girl got a job at Macy's in the makeup department. Another girl got a job at a hotel working the front desk and another girl, I guess, finishes out now looking at interviewing for jobs. So there's a whole transformation that takes place and just watching, just watching how they feel about themselves, is so life changing for me, because we should be doing that for the women in our community, right?

So I'm on a.

I'm on a mission to build that and grow that and help. I'm working in this community to get Acquainted with more nonprofits that are helping women and offering that in all segments. Right? Yes, I feel like as women, we don't give ourselves permission, right? Those probably would never be able to afford my services when they need them. They may someday, right, but right now is when they have the funds. So I just so excited and honored that God's given me this mission to change people's lives. And my other thing is I want to change the mission of you. I want you and your moms to take time for themselves, to invest in themselves. It could be a Christmas present or a birthday present or whatever, but when they do that, things change Almost so level, like from a heart level. You start to feel abused. We start to believe that about themselves. A lot of moms just get Caught up and wearing gray and black and white and bringing their hair in a ponytail, like they. They don't take the time because they're like, yes, but when they want to they can't. So we have to make it. Ever do that, yes, ourselves, right, yeah.

Yeah, and I think so do you have. I'm sorry, how many children do you have? I have three sons. Well, the youngest is 28, the next one is 30 and the oldest is 40. Who told me this morning he's expecting my third grandchild?

How fun. But I know when you were a young mom you know you probably didn't take that for you very much and my mission is to whether you're a young mom, whether you're you know in Entrepreneur or whoever you are, you know, are you gonna go into 2024 with the fresh start, with an up-level look for more You've ever have? now's a perfect time to work with people. You know. Just me to say hey, the holidays are coming up. Why would you go out and buy one more thing you may not wear? Yeah, yeah, let's get you in the right colors.

Yeah, yeah. I think this is an interesting topic and Profound one to help us as entrepreneur especially female entrepreneurs, to gain the confidence we need, because it's tough enough right.

And I think a lot of people just were never taught, right, yeah, we just never were taught. And now it's the work I do. Is is different than just the color typing we used to have, like the seasonal thing that mine goes at a deeper level, like we find out who you are. I have a session with you. We learned about your natural gifts. Well, I teach you about the human design and what is your natural character traits Like? Who are you anyway? We use all for those character traits in our business and our lives every day. Sometimes we have to. You know, we have a great idea and we get things started and then pretty soon we have to go and get the website and fix, you know, write the content, do all that stuff. And then there's other times we have to go out there and give that talk that we practice at home, but you know what I mean. And then we go do something yes, so good. Then we have to edit down like, okay, what didn't work there, why? So we're using all the character traits anyway. But he's poor and I have to tell you that when I stepped into really embracing my fire, I have never been so comfortable being me. I'm comfortable in my own skin. I've always struggled with my weight, right and in about 15 years ago, somebody introduced me to a 12-step program for food. So I we're being a size 2022 to a 6 8 in 8 months, and I've been 14 years because I found out what I was eating was not working for me and I was emotionally eating and Trying to deal with life. Well, that doesn't work either, right? So it's never the answer, right? So now I have new tools that I have continued my whole life Using them because I don't want to be that woman anymore. So when I got my into my right-sized body, you know, people started noticing me. You know like, wow, I look different. Gee, do you look nice Just being thinner? But it's amazing how I was treated when I was overweight. Yeah people are judgmental and I, you know they don't say it, but you can just see them look at you, right, and we've, just for women, we handle life that way a lot. Yeah, go to. We don't smoke, we know. You know we don't do a lot of other things that we could be doing, so we have a. We live in a huge world of addiction, right? Yes, but the food is the most acceptable. So, that that always made me feel terrible about myself when I would lose weight and gain weight, lose weight my whole life and I just I'd almost given up until I found this program. So in this, you know, when I got this going and then I got color type in this element and started Understanding my own personality and who I really am showing up in the world. Anyway, this is just enhanced. That, you know. It helped me to really go. Okay, this is who I am. I hope you like. If you don't, it's really okay, because this is the best it gets you know what I mean.

Yeah, yeah, definitely Tell us your process for working with your clients.

Okay, after I got color typed I thought, oh my gosh, this would be so fun if I could do it. One place I manifest a little makeover studio where I could do people's colors, do their makeup, you know, change their hairstyle, give them the right hairstyle, and Then I people start to give me clothes. So I had this nice gently used clothing section though I could sell to ladies and then some new accessories and I did that for two years and it was so amazing, so much fun. And then COVID closed me down and I was thinking now what am I gonna do? And one day I got this download, I feel like from God, saying but everybody's on zoom when, if you sent somebody a style kitten did a test. So I tested that with two women, one in Oregon or one in Texas that I color typed right. One was a fire, mom is a air or something. And then I had another girlfriend that is a coach, which I love working with coaches. She had a bunch of friends that wanted to do it. So we, so we did a group one. I sent her the style kit and she held all the fabrics and put the mid, the lips color on and I was able to color-type everybody on Zoom. Then I work with women on Zoom in their closet. Like you can take me into your closet. We go through that, we sort things out. Oh, that's pretty good and then I can take you shopping online and it worked. So now I have clients in Canada and in Portugal and South America and in France and like all over the world who would have thought that COVID was a blessing Like for me. So once people enroll in one of the packages, I can send them the Style Kit. It comes with the four half fans so you come up with at least if I teach you how to start with these and. But then you always have at least a color palette to start with. Then I digitally send you the Style Guidebook with a picture of the full fan and then I pop the fabric fan in the mail to you. So you pretty much have to be in the States to have that done, because to mail it overseas is so extravagantly expensive. It's really hard, but it's great knowing I can work with people anywhere. Yes, yes, it's pretty awesome, it is fun.

All right, I appreciate you, Patsy. See, you've done a lot, you've given us a lot, and I want you to tell us how we can get in touch with you, how we can get a hold of your program, because it's really needed right now.

Yes, Well, I think that you just wait for us to have a conversation. So if you go to my website, embracingyouressencecom, there's a little link you can. It's called let's Connect and you set up an appointment and we'll have half hour, 45 minute session and get acquainted and see where you're at in a life and see what works for you, and then I can share more about the work I do and how it's gonna benefit you. And sometimes it's perfect for some people and sometimes it's not. You know, I think the best way is just to have a conversation, cause I like working individually or in small groups with women and because everyone's an individual, you and I need the same element, but we're gonna be totally dressed different, we're gonna have different lifestyles, we're gonna do different things. So it's just helping you capture your unique style and essence right and help you grow that something you're totally comfortable with. So that's kind of the best way to do it, which is let's connect.

Okay, all right, so we'll put the links in the show notes so people could get to it. What is Pat's the grateful for today?

I'm grateful for the opportunity to affect women's lives. To really help them feel beautiful, cause the Bible talks about that. We were, you know, beautiful beyond compare. We were totally created, absolutely flawless, but the marketing world has taken that away from us. We don't believe that about ourselves. We get caught up in life. We have to multitask, we have to do all these other things, so it's hard for us sometimes to stop and just appreciate the gift we are to our the world right.

But if we're doing it, feeling good about ourselves.

It changes everything.

Yes, definitely, thank you. Thank you, pat. It's a sound there. So coming in and speaking so openly to us today, we got a lot of value and I had questions to ask you. But I'm like you know I'm gonna let her talk because you know I'm like quality, I'm not much here listening, so I appreciate you Any parting shot.

Well, I just want to tell you, fashion's a look. It's not a size, age, name, brand or price tag. It's who you're being and what you're wearing Confident and beautiful. Okay, all right, thank you, you're welcome.