Solution Architect – Global Technology Sector
The impression they left was that I was to be respected.
Emma is an architect working within a global technology company, in an industry where she can be frequently the only woman at the table. When she first came to me, she was navigating something I recognise in so many of the women I work with: a quiet slump brought on by the shift to post-pandemic working from home, compounded by changes to her body that left her unsure of how to dress for the woman she’d become. She wasn’t short of ambition or capability. She simply didn’t yet have a strategy that let the two be seen together.
We began where I always begin with every client: not with clothes, but with identity. Together, we established clarity on how she wanted to show up, what she wanted to communicate, and how she wanted to be seen and understood by the people around her. Only once that foundation was in place did we move into the style elements themselves, choosing every piece, cut and colour to align with that outcome, and working through the limiting beliefs sitting beneath her sense of self. The process ran end to end: identity first, then wardrobe, then the curated pieces, building her confidence step by step.
Two years on, Emma is still working with me, having renewed after her first year to step further into the impact she was building.
Challenges
As a woman leading in a male-dominated field, Emma’s challenge was one I see time and again: the sense that credibility has to be built and rebuilt with every new introduction, every new room, before anyone will simply take her seriously. Beneath that sat something more personal. Working from home had blurred the edges of her professional identity, and physical changes to her body left her uncertain of how to dress in a way that felt like her, let alone in a way that communicated authority. She needed a strategy that addressed both, so that what people saw and what she knew to be true about her capability were, finally, the same thing.
Results & wins
The shift in Emma has been extraordinary to watch, and it has continued to build across the two years we’ve worked together.
- A stress-free daily routine and renewed sense of self-confidence, in place of the indecision that once shaped her mornings
- A more powerful, unmistakable presence at work
- Invited as a panel speaker and recognised with an industry award
- A sideways promotion into a more senior role
- Immediate credibility and respect from new stakeholders and colleagues, no longer earned in increments
- Renewed for a second year, moving from confidence into bolder, greater impact
- Now working on projects with international brands
- Selected from a pool of twenty candidates for the opportunity to interview her company’s CEO
Watch Emma’s Testimony
“I wish I had done this sooner! It has been a great investment in myself.”
If you too are serious about climbing your career ladder and want to show up with more credibility and strength, book a call to discuss your Style Strategy.