Embracing Sustainable Fashion and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome with Alex Standley |EP277

Discover how to transform your wardrobe and your mindset with insights from Alex Standley, the driving force behind Luxe Leopard Lifestyle. Join us as Alex, a seasoned personal stylist and sustainable fashion consultant, unveils her journey of empowering women to embrace both fashion and sustainability. With her 15 years of experience, she sheds light on how to reignite style confidence while making eco-friendly choices. Listen to Alex as she opens up about her passion for shifting perceptions around second-hand shopping and promoting eco-conscious fashion alternatives.

Our discussion also navigates the realm of personal growth as Alex shares her battles with imposter syndrome—especially poignant within the niche of sustainable fashion. Her candidness about overcoming self-doubt and the importance of authenticity is a beacon for anyone facing similar challenges. Alex's narrative is a testament to the power of self-belief and perseverance in the face of uncertainty. Plus, don't miss out on Thursday's episode where we broaden the conversation to explore the four pillars of business through Alex's lens, offering you a rich tapestry of insights and inspiration.

Reshma Commencement speech Imposter Syndrome

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Transcript

Donna Eade: 0:30

You're listening to the Mindset in Action podcast, the place to be to grow and streamline your business. I'm your host, Donna Eade. Let's jump into the show. Welcome back to the podcast, everybody. For another mini Mindset Monday. Today is a guest episode. I have Alex in the house. Welcome, Alex, Hi, thank you for having me. Okay, before we get on to our mindset question, do tell us a little bit about who you are and what it is that you do.

Alex Standley: 1:07

Hi, I'm Alex Standley and my business is Luxe Leopard Lifestyle, which is always a bit of a mouthful. So I am a personal stylist and sustainable fashion consultant and I primarily help busy women who are struggling with their style confidence and I help them to reignite that um. So I focus very much on female empowerment and creating a positive impact on people and planet. Those are my two big um core values and I absolutely love it.

Donna Eade: 1:37

I I can't remember what happened when it happened, but the whole sustainability thing really got to me, and now, whenever I hear somebody turn around and say, oh yeah, I just bought it off Sheen, I'm like I get very I have to bite my tongue. And that's one of the things I absolutely love about following you on social media is all of the kind of impact stuff that you do and talking about it and, you know, trying to convince people that charity shops are not what they used to be, which is something that I struggle with like no, please don't make me go with one of those but,

Donna Eade: 2:12

there are some, some great alternatives out there and and if you follow Alex on social media, you'll find out all about those. So, on Thursday's episode, which you absolutely definitely need to come back and listen to Alex and I doing something a little bit different, because, obviously, styling isn't something that I generally talk about. I think we have, you know, in terms of branding and things like that, personal branding. We've spoken a little bit about style, but it's not really something that we talk about. So we're doing a business conversation instead and we're talking about the four pillars that this podcast covers and we are deep diving into how Alex uses them in her business. So do come back for that conversation. It was a really good one, but today we're focusing on the mindset pillar. So, alex, the question is what is the biggest mindset block that you've had to overcome in your business and how did you do that?

Alex Standley: 3:03

So I think, just generally speaking, I have I've been on such a big personal development journey with my business.

Alex Standley: 3:11

I think it's-tracked that development for me in a way that it never would have been if I'd stayed in my corporate career, and I think imposter syndrome is probably one of the biggest things that's kept coming up for me in various different guises, specifically to my niche, if you like, in terms of sustainability.

Alex Standley: 3:34

I think I've often over the years had feelings of you know who am I to talk about this? Because I'm not a scientist or you know, I don't have that kind of formal background. But everything that I talk about is from, you know, my own authentic experience, and you know I do a lot of research and I have, you know, 15 years of experience actually working in the fashion industry behind the scenes. So I've had to do a lot of work on that and in in a lot of different guises. Obviously, work with coaches and um mindset is a big part of that as well. But just also, on, you know, building my own confidence and having the confidence to show up authentically as myself has been such a big part of that, because I have to also, you know, walk the talk as well, because it's something that I obviously help all of my clients with.

Donna Eade: 4:33

Yeah, and I think it's a really good one, and I love it when anybody mentions this one because it always makes me bring up on my social media oh, don't want it to make noise Reshma's commencement speech that she did and I will link it in the show notes again, guys, guys, because I think it's so important to listen. It's it's a long one, but it is amazing to listen to and just think like, why do we put ourselves through this? Why do we think of ourselves as less than or you know, even like you just turning around and saying that, oh, you know, I'm not a but. And then you listed off all of these things that prove that you have got the experience and the authority to speak on it, even if it's not a scientific background, that you've got that you do your research before you talk and that you've got a lot of experience. You went to these countries and saw, you know where it happened and you know you've got that experience.

Donna Eade: 5:33

Yet we don't give ourselves the credit for having that and we undermine it to ourselves and it's, it's a shocking one, it is a bit crazy. We do it and I think it is something that is a big female focused issue that we do tend to put ourselves in this box of who we should and our DNA almost, and I hope that in our grandchildren's era that they will be, you know, fighting fit and the imposter syndrome will be a thing of the past or imposter phenomenon as it is. Actually it's not a syndrome, but you know, it doesn't take away from the fact that it feels the way it feels.

Donna Eade: 6:25

Yeah, and it is a struggle. So have you, have you noticed anything sort of going back to the beginning of starting your business? Because is this something that you found hit you in corporate life as well, before you started your business, or is it something that was that came up because of the business, because I think a lot of people do suffer with it in lots of different ways?

Donna Eade: 6:51

but you obviously had a very sort of important role within what you did as a buyer. That's kind of a really big deal. Is it something that came up there as well?

Alex Standley: 7:01

looking back, yeah, I mean I can definitely look back and see you know strands of it. I'm very much like a what do they call it? Like introverted extrovert. So I had to very much step out of my comfort zone in my role as a buyer as well, because I had to do a lot of presentations. I had to stand in front of directors you know big international franchise groups and present my range and get it picked apart and torn to pieces a lot of the time and that took me a long time to kind of grow my confidence in doing that and you know standing my ground and having that authority.

Alex Standley: 7:41

Um, so I think there's always you know strands of it through my career. But I think the difference in having being in that corporate kind of what I like to call safety blanket, then going to your entrepreneurial side of your career, is the spotlight is very much just on you. You don't have that you know team of people around you. It's very, very different. I I think even when I worked for Amazon, we did a lot more kind of individually and not so much as a team, but you still you worked for Amazon. It was like a huge corporation that you have behind you and in all your negotiations and everything that you were doing. So to go from that to just being just me on my own, I think that definitely impacted um, the imposter syndrome, or whatever you want to call it, because everything you know falls on you and everything comes back on you as well, and I think a lot of it, for women especially, comes down to that fear of judgment.

Donna Eade: 8:48

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely, it does. Yeah, I think it's interesting, and the reason that I kind of brought up the past careers is because you usually find that these mindset blocks although it's the same thing, it's just showing up in a different way. So, you know, in your corporate job you were a buyer. You went out, you chose ranges, you know. You came back and you said this is what we're going to do, and you've got a thick skin around you know them picking you apart and able to stand your ground and things like that. So in your business, I would assume that actually, when it comes to going out and picking and doing the personal shopping, that you're really confident in going no, just try it, personal shopping. That you're really confident in going no, just try it, just let me show you how this will work. And that you actually then give your clients that confidence to give things a go.

Donna Eade: 9:35

But there's this other side of your business that you want to sort of hone in on, which is the sustainability element, which isn't your you know background, and there in the imposter syndrome comes up again and oh, what? What do I know about this? Um, so it's interesting and I think you you're amazing at what you do and I think it's a well worthwhile thing to be doing, um, especially for the planet, um, and especially for the people that you work with. I know that it makes a huge impact. I've seen some of the testimonials and things that you've put up, and people talking about how it's changed their perceptions of themselves even, which is amazing, so that's wonderful. Where can people connect with you? Where do you like to hang out on the old internet?

Alex Standley: 10:24

um. So I am on all of the social media platforms. Um. Instagram is obviously the visual one, um, which is important with what I do, so I am Lux Leopard Lifestyle over there. Um, but I'm also on LinkedIn and Facebook and dabble with a bit of TikTok as well, so you can find me on all those brilliant.

Donna Eade: 10:44

I will put the links in the show notes for you, guys, so you can go over and connect with Alex. And don't forget to come back on Thursday, because Alex has got a very special gift for you in the show notes on Thursday's episode and we have a fantastic conversation, so you're going to want to hear it. So thank you very much for your time today, alex. Thank you, we will see you in the next one. Guys, guys, bye for now.