Managing Director – EA Inclusion
"I now walk into boardrooms, deliver tough sessions, and speak to large audiences knowing I’m being taken seriously"
Kate is a Managing Director at EA Inclusion. She regularly presents to large, unfamiliar audiences and leads demanding training sessions and difficult conversations. She needed her presence to match her expertise the moment she walked into a room.
When Kate came to me, she had lost confidence in how she dressed. Major lifestyle changes had taken away her instinct for what worked for her, and the sheer volume of online shopping choice made it worse. She was buying clothes she never wore, with no clear sense of what suited her or the message she wanted to send.
We began with identity, not clothes: her colouring, her shape, and the style language that would help her walk into a boardroom and be taken seriously before she said a word. The wardrobe came after.
Challenges
Kate had lost her sense of style, especially after major lifestyle changes. That loss made itself felt most in her career: she often works across different countries and cultures, frequently in male-dominated rooms, and needs to build authority and trust quickly with people who do not know her, while staying approachable enough for the harder conversations. It is a balance many senior women will recognise.
She needed to reconnect with who she wanted to be, rather than defaulting to what felt safe.
Results & wins
- Walks into unfamiliar boardrooms and high-stakes training sessions with visible credibility and calm authority
- Builds trust quickly while staying approachable, a balance she once found difficult
- Receives repeated, unprompted feedback that she looks confident, assured and “glowing”
- Rebuilt her confidence and sense of direction with clothes, and enjoys shopping again
- Capsule wardrobes have cut decision fatigue, waste and impulse buying, she wears everything she owns
- Work travel and daily dressing are now simple and stress-free
- Delivered a stand-out presentation at a women’s conference that raised her profile further
Watch Kate's Testimony
“This wasn’t about clothes, it was about confidence, credibility, and finding myself again”
Working with Joana has been genuinely life-changing. This wasn’t about clothes, it was about confidence, credibility, and finding myself again after a major life change. I now walk into boardrooms, deliver tough sessions, and speak to large audiences knowing I’m being taken seriously. The impact on how I show up has been profound. Maybe most importantly those who love me and know me best have seen the positive transformation. I could not recommend Joana more highly.
~ Kate Sturgess, Managing Director ~