Many of my readers will know that I’m building up my ‘professional speaking’ side of my business. As a published author I am now getting booked to speak at events and I have begun to actively pursue this kind of activity.

But, after being home for 14 years in my business, I didn’t want to appear too ‘homely’ on the stage so I took the plunge and engaged the services of an Image Consultant. I rang around a couple of consultants to interview them on the phone and sought references from people I knew who’d used their services before making my decision.

Yesterday was the big day – at least, the first one.  I nervously awaited her arrival. I had no idea what to expect and didn’t dress up for it, nor wore any makeup or anything. I wanted Claire to see me as my natural self and to go from there.

We went through some assessments to work out my personality and styling.  Then we did the scary thing – looked inside my wardrobe.  Eek!  So many things in there not right for me – style wise that is. I already had a good idea of what colours were right for me, so that was a plus.  And I was surprised by other colours Claire said made my skin glow – colours I’d never really thought about wearing.   And it’s not all that bad – whilst there are things in there I need to get rid of (things I’d never worn, go figure!) there is much in there I will be able to mix and match with my new clothing.

Today was the next big day. The urgency was that I’m speaking at a business breakfast tomorrow morning, with a fairly large audience, so it’s important I present as well as possible, as soon as possible.  So I met Claire at 2pm today for a shopping expedition.  1.5 hours later, laden with bags and some $500 less in my pocket (figuratively speaking) I have a good selection of items I can mix and match.  A jacket, trousers, skirt and 3 different tops means I now have at least 6 different outfits.  I also bought a couple of more casual tops that will look great with the trousers and then bought some chunky jewellery in 3 of ‘my’ colours so I can add more colour when I need or want to.  Oh, and I got the most gorgeous pair of shoes too which was a bonus!

Because my topic is based on my book “Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work At Home Mum” I wanted to bring in a ruby theme into the things I wear and use.  A month ago I bought a lovely small ruby coloured suitcase on wheels to carry my books in for book sales and events.  And the jacket I bought is ruby coloured, as are the shoes. Thank goodness ruby was one of ‘my’ colours, as opposed to bright red, which I’ve been known to wear in the past.

Funny really, I loved the combination of red and black, but in my maturing years, ruby and charcoal grey are much better for me and that’s what I’m now focusing on.  I really feel this has been a worthwhile exercise and I have my colour wheel to take with me for whenever I shop alone in the future.