Episode 183: Maria Casabianca's Journey to Becoming a Personal Stylist

Maria Casabianca has spent her entire career in the fashion industry. After graduating from F.I.T in New York City, Maria worked for a business owned licensing company that allowed her the opportunity to expand her skills in different roles. From customer service to public relations to product development, Maria has learned all aspects for the manufacturing business. In her many roles, Maria has worked with some of the best shoe designers in the world from Yves Saint Laurent, Manolo Blahnik, Brian Atwood and most recently Rene Caovilla to name a few.

Maria launched her stylist business, Styled By Maria to continue her passion in the fashion business and to ultimately do what she loves, help women find their personal style. Maria writes a weekly blog that can be accessed through her website for tips and finds in fashion and beyond.

Here's what I cover with Maria Casabianca in this episode:

1. How Maria Casabianca, a Greek immigrant, was able to pursue her fashion dreams despite her parents' expectations and limited resources.
2. The influence of Greek culture on Maria's fashion sense and her appreciation for fine fabrics, proper clothing, and well-dressed people.
3. Maria's journey from receptionist at a luxury showroom to product development and traveling to Italy, and how a small family business allowed her to learn and be seen.

 

You can find Maria on Instagram and TikTok.

 

Remarkable Quote:

“I barreled through and I just knew that's what I wanted. And there were a few times when I thought, I can't keep doing this, I'm tired. I don't want to go to school on a Saturday, I don't want to go to school after. But I barreled through and I really just wanted to finish and get my degree."

 

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Transcription:

[00:00:00]

Welcome back to your next stop. This is Juliet Hahn. In this episode, I speak with Maria Casabianca. Maria is a stylist, and you have to hear how she kind of how this journey unfolded. Always knew she wanted to go in fashion.

 

[00:00:14]

Her mom was from Greece. Both of her parents were from Greece. She had two aunts that were seamstresses. When she was in high school, she worked in a store, and one of the things that she loved so much is when people would come in and to kind of help them pick what looked good on their body. So she worked in a showroom for ten years as she put herself through college at night.

 

[00:00:34]

Then there was a period of time where she had a store, loved that. Again, she loved helping women style themselves, so she really enjoyed having the store. And then there was a health and fitness kind of stint in there a little bit. But you can follow Maria at her website, which is styledbyMaria.com, and then Instagram styledbyMaria stylist, and you can follow Maria there. And if you do need someone to help you kind of go through your wardrobe or pick things for you that fit, Maria is great.

 

[00:01:06]

Also, I consult people on how to tell their story. So if you are a small business influencer, micro influencer, if you are an entrepreneur, even if you're in the business world and you're out going to networking events and you don't know how to share your story, there's parts of your story that are going to connect with certain audiences. There's also times you're going to be on a podcast or in the media circuit, and you need to have your story under a certain amount of time. I help you do all that. If you guys are interested in working with me, you can email me at info at imjuliet hon.com.

 

[00:01:44]

I offer a 30 minutes free consultation to see if we fit and if I am the right person for you. So, again, if you do not know how to share your story, if you think that your story is not exciting, or you have so much parts of your story and you don't know how to put it together, I help pick those pieces that are going to connect with people on a different level, because stories connect us. All right, guys, we will see you for another episode of Your Next Stop or a WNS Live with NFL Thread. Have you ever been listening to your favorite podcast and that moment comes up and you think, oh, my gosh, I need to share it? Well, now you can with picked cherries.

 

[00:02:20]

What I love about Picked Cherries so much is that when I'm listening to my favorite podcast and that moment comes up that I want to share, I can take a Snippet, which is called the picked Cherry, and I can send that to my friends and family so they can get involved in the podcast that I love. It's almost like sending an IG or TikTok. Available now. iOS and Android if you're not picking cherries. Are you really listening to podcasts?

 

[00:02:46]

Welcome back to your next stop. This is Juliet Hahn. You know, I say it every single time, but I can't help myself. I'm so excited to bring you guys another person that has followed a passion and turned it into a business. Welcome.

 

[00:02:59]

Maria Casabianca. How are you? I'm great, thank you. Yes. I'm excited to have you here.

 

[00:03:04]

So Maria is a personal stylist and image consultant. You can find her on her website, which is the best place, and that's styledbyMaria.com. You can also find her on Instagram, styled by Maria, and that is underscorestylist or stylist. I think it's stylist. Okay.

 

[00:03:25]

Stylist style stylist. And we'll have this on the show notes, so you guys will have it. But the best place to find Maria is by her website. But welcome to your next stop. I'm so excited to hear the story.

 

[00:03:39]

Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. Yes. Okay, so the way we start everything is if you could just give us a little background where you grew up, if you went to university, and then we'll kind of get into the meat of the story. Yeah.

 

[00:03:51]

I grew up in Queens, in Astoria, New York, so for anybody who doesn't know where that is, it's right outside of New York City, right outside of Manhattan. And my parents divorced when I was really young, so I was raised by a single mom. It was me and my two siblings, and my mom was an immigrant, so I'm first generation American, so my mom didn't speak English at all while I was growing up, so it was me really trying to help her navigate the world. My first language was Greek, but I learned English, obviously, going to school, elementary school, and so I had to help her a lot with communicating.

 

[00:04:50]

My mom was in the fashion business, sort of. She worked for a factory, for a clothing factory. But both of my aunts, who also came over from Greece oh, I didn't say that before. My mom immigrated from Greece. I figured that when you said that you speak Greek, I was like, okay, that's where Mom I was going to ask the question, but it kind of came out for itself.

 

[00:05:17]

Both of my aunts were seamstresses, and so I spent a lot of time with them, watching them sewing dresses and creating clothing from their home because that's where they mostly worked out of. So I really always had this thing about wanting to dress nice and have nice clothes. And we didn't have a lot of money growing up, but every time there was either a holiday or was my birthday or was a Christmas present that my mom was buying, I always wanted to take her down to one of the streets where all the shops were, and I always wanted to go into the nicer shops. And I always dreamed of, like, buying those super expensive pants that I couldn't have. So I kind of just naturally fell into fashion in that way.

 

[00:06:11]

I was just kind of following what really made me happy and what I was excited about. And through high school, I worked in a boutique near my house, and I would help women get dressed for events, and I just remember loving putting these clothing on women and just watch them transform and get happy about having outfits on that they felt good in. So that's kind of where I started. And then I went to when I graduated high school, I remember my mom was like, she wasn't really pushing college. She was more, get a job, get a job and make some money.

 

[00:06:58]

And I really didn't know where to turn. Most of my friends didn't go away to college. They all went to community colleges, and I wanted to be in the city. I had such a passion for being there and wanting to be in the center of Manhattan and the excitement of the shops there and the nightlife there. I had this dream for myself, and so I thought, you know what, maybe I can be a designer.

 

[00:07:28]

And I realized quickly that I didn't know how to illustrate. And I really didn't want to spend time sewing pieces of clothing together at a trade school because I went to a trade school first for six months, and I thought, oh, I'm just going to do this for a little bit and then maybe I can get into some sort of design work. But all I could draw, really, was a stick figure, and my classmates were drawing these beautiful dresses and models with the hair and the shoes, and it was also beautiful, and I thought, okay, I probably not going to be very good at this. So after six months at trade school, I realized I'm not really going to be able to get a great job here because all I have is high school education, really. So I went to Fit and I applied there, and I thought, I need to get my bachelor's degree because that's the only way I'm going to kind of get anywhere.

 

[00:08:30]

So I couldn't afford college, so I applied for a full time job in a showroom, and it was for a receptionist position. And I remember walking in and getting all dressed up and wanting to impress people with my outfit and my and I landed the job, and I started working there, and I just decided, you know what, the only way I'm going to do this is go to school part time. So I would work from nine to five. When was in Midtown at a showroom, was actually a shoe showroom designer Footwear, and we sold to all the department stores, and I went to school at night. I I went to school from six to ten, and it took me a lot longer to graduate, but I did it, and I ended up staying at that company for ten years.

 

[00:09:35]

My first job. That's amazing. Okay, so I'm going to stop you there. You did say that your aunts were seamstressed. Do they come with your mom when they migrated over?

 

[00:09:46]

Did they all come together or did your mom kind of follow her siblings? Well, my mom came first, and then my mom and my dad came first. And then we went back to Greece. And I remember visiting my aunts, and they were actually seamstresses in Greece in this small village that they lived in. And then they came over after my mom.

 

[00:10:12]

So then they got jobs here as seamstresses. Really, like living in and around New York, fashion is kind of a prevalent. It really is around. So you're going to see things and be like, oh, wait, I really like fashion. I like to look at this.

 

[00:10:28]

But then it also seems that it kind of was in your blood that there was some sort of fashion clothing. Being a seamstress, you have to have some sort of eye. And I could be completely wrong, but when I think of a seamstress, you have to have an eye to kind of put things together or fix things and have that. Do you feel that that was an all of an influence or not really. I think more of the influence was not so much the making of the garments, because it's very technical and you have to be very good at you have to be super organized.

 

[00:11:00]

You have to be very precise when you're sewing. But I think more of an influence was the way they dressed and the way that they carried themselves when they were out in the world and they would shop at nice shops and put on.

 

[00:11:20]

They had the love of finer fabrics and materials. And so I think I got an appreciation on how a better fabric can fit better, look better, and they always dress so well, and I was always so in awe of them. And my mom always looked great. She never wore pants, and she still to this day, never wear pants. She always had a nice skirt and proper top and a little blazer or coat, and you always had a trench coat, and you always had a proper coat, and she always wore great skirts, and her shoes were always matching.

 

[00:11:58]

So I think it just gained an appreciation for how they carried themselves and the way they dressed. Right. And I think the journey is interesting. Of course, you're coming from a different country. I have a lot of different people on the podcast that maybe their parents immigrated over.

 

[00:12:17]

And different cultures, there are certain things that are important, and I find it so fascinating. Some cultures, it's all about education. It doesn't matter. The parents didn't have education. They don't care if the child's happy.

 

[00:12:30]

They just want them to get an education. They want them to be a doctor or a lawyer, and they don't care if the kid is like, well, that's not what I want to do. It's like, I worked my butt off for you. This is what I want from you. And so it's interesting to hear those stories, but then also to other stories, it's like, just get a job, make some money, find what's interesting to you, and then maybe take a different path.

 

[00:12:52]

So it's again, a fascinating thing for me to kind of hear different stories. Stories connect us. I say that on every single time. Someone's going to be listening to this and have a very similar background, and it's going to take them back to that time in their life where it's going to give you whether we all have bad times, good times, but it's still going to give you this feeling of, wow, I've come so far, or wow, I went this path. So out of school when you were studying at night, I mean, that had to be a lot.

 

[00:13:21]

You had to be very disciplined to be able to work and then go to school. Can you take us through that a little bit? Yeah. My mom, she barely had an elementary school education, so she was not about, like, get to the next level. And I really don't even know where I got it from.

 

[00:13:41]

Honestly, in my mind, I wanted so much more for myself, and I knew that if I could just take the steps and once I decided I was going to take the steps and that I needed to finish, because it took me six years to finish and graduate with a bachelor's degree. I mean, normally it takes four years, but because I was doing it part time, I couldn't finish in the four years. And I just kind of barreled through, and I just knew that's what I wanted. And there were a few times when I thought, I can't keep doing this, I'm tired. I don't want to go to school on a Saturday, I don't want to go to school after.

 

[00:14:26]

But I barreled through and I really just wanted to finish and get my degree. So it was almost like this habit that I just got into, and that was my mindset, that I wanted to finish this and that's what I was going to do. Right. I think that's so cool. And then also having the job in the showroom, I think when you have a steady job that you're like, okay, I really like this.

 

[00:14:52]

I see what my future can be if I finish what I'm doing. I think also I know for myself, that would help me. It would give me motivation. It's so true. And the first job that I had was a small company with family owned business, and there were a few women in there that I admired, and I wanted to emulate, and they had a life that I imagined I could have, too, because, remember, I came from a very poor background.

 

[00:15:23]

My mother worked really hard. She worked two jobs to pay the bills, so we didn't have a lot of extras, and no, they were going on vacations, and they had beautiful homes, and they had second homes, and they were very happily married. So all those things kind of influenced me in that time and kind of pushed me to really dream bigger dreams for myself. And, yeah, the showroom that I was in was a luxury brand showroom. So we represented East Laurent and Anne Klein and a lot of great brands that were in the fashion show.

 

[00:16:09]

So I got to go to the fashion shows when I worked there, and I started as a receptionist, and I was promoted within six months. And then I went to customer service, and then I did PR. I was in public relations, and I handled all their magazines requests and photo shoots for the Footwear. And then I got into product development, and I was traveling to Italy to help build the collection. So every little step motivated me to get further and further because I loved it so much, and I worked with so many people that I admired.

 

[00:16:46]

And like I said, it was a small company, and I really got to know a lot about the business because I was exposed to every part of it. So, I mean, I think that's really great. And really, if you think about it, if you maybe worked for a big showroom, that you were a number and not a person, it could have been very different. But when you are working for a small company, a family owned company, you're more of family than a number. Do you think that had anything to.

 

[00:17:14]

Do with it was huge, because like you said, I would have just been another number, and I wouldn't have really been exposed to people's personal lives and the way they conduct business, too, and was always in the president's office, and he was a wonderful mentor to me. So, yes, absolutely. I think the fact that it was a small business allowed me to really learn and be seen also and grow. Right. I mean, that's the thing.

 

[00:17:49]

They saw you. They were like, okay, we're going to now trust you with this and trust you with that. And when you have mentors and people that you look up to, but then they also see you as a person again, not just a number, it really helps give you the confidence, okay, I am on the right path. You're going to school. And did they know that you were going to school at night?

 

[00:18:07]

So they also knew that this was something important to you and that you had aspirations and they maybe wanted to be a part of that. Was there any conversations ever with them about what you wanted to do with your life as you continued with them? Yes. They were so supportive and so kind. In fact, when I graduated, I asked my boss to write me a recommendation letter because I thought about going to get my MBA.

 

[00:18:34]

And in that letter, which I didn't really know, as he was watching me do all these things, in his letter, which he makes me tear up to this day, he wrote, Maria has all these wonderful qualities, qualities that I hope that my own daughter has hardworking. And I didn't realize that they I mean, they were very supportive and they were very kind, but I didn't realize how much they thought about all the things that I had to do and what I did to try to get. To where I was right, which is amazing. So when you left them after ten years, can you take us through that a little bit? Was that you didn't have anywhere else to go in the company.

 

[00:19:22]

You had another offer. Where was that pivot, and what does that look like? Well, that was when I got married, and then I was pregnant with my daughter. So I was kind of torn because I wanted to pursue my career in product development because that's really where I wanted to be. And I didn't have the support at the time of my husband, who is now my ex husband.

 

[00:19:51]

So it was kind of because I had to travel a lot. It required, like, traveling four times a year, two weeks at a time, and that would take me away from my family. So I had to make a decision.

 

[00:20:06]

So I decided, and I was living in Long Island at the time, so it was a long commute. They were very supportive and said, you can stay in a sales position instead of product development, and you can work from home two days a week. And I did that for a period of time, but I had a lot of mom guilt. I had a lot of guilt about leaving my daughter that much and not really being around for her. So I decided to resign.

 

[00:20:36]

And what happened was I had met another designer while I was working there, and she had offered me a job before I left the company I was at. And she said, we'd love for you to come on board and work with us. And they were based in Italy, so I wouldn't need to go into the office every day. And at that time, I had turned it down because I was making great salary, I had benefits and all that. But then when I resigned and I reached out to her and I said, hey, I'm not working right now, and I'd be happy to partner with you on this.

 

[00:21:11]

And launch they wanted to launch the brand in the US. And it was a beautiful Italian sparkly shoes, really red carpet shoe collection called Renee Calvilla, who still exists today. And actually, I still work with as a consultant. So I started working with her, and then we launched the brand in the US. And all I had to do was show up at the St.

 

[00:21:38]

Regis or the Plaza at a suite and make appointments and sell this beautiful brand to buyers all Sacks and Bergdoff. So that was a perfect scenario for me. So I was able to spend as much time as I wanted with my daughter and then just show up for these shows. So it was great. Well, that's awesome.

 

[00:22:00]

And I'm sure that the company that really kind of grew, you would have understood, right? They were a family owned business, so they understood family. And so that is kind of cool that you and smart, right? Forward thinking. I don't want to give this up.

 

[00:22:15]

I still want to work. We talk about this on the podcast. I chose to stay home after work, but I remember it was a really tough decision because it was at a time where it was like, women can do it all. You can have that career. You can be the best mom.

 

[00:22:29]

You can be the best wife. And I was like, I don't think so. I know how I work. I'm all or nothing. If I'm into something, I'm into something.

 

[00:22:38]

But I'm not very good at I don't want to say multitasking because I'm good at multitasking, but focusing 100% on three big things, I was like, I don't think that that's going to work. And I'll never forget I was sitting with my oldest son when he was a baby, and I was talking to Nannies because I was like, okay, I'm supposed to go back. My younger sister had her son. They were a week apart. She was in corporate real estate.

 

[00:23:02]

She was going to go back, but she was going back one day a week. I worked for an alternative advertising company, and I traveled everywhere, and the hours were a little bit crazy. I knew they would work with me, but I was like, how am I going to do this? And I just remember sitting there and really being sad, thinking, I just want to stay home. And my husband would have supported me either way.

 

[00:23:21]

He's like, Whatever you want to do, I'm here. And I'll never forget my sister said to me, what's going to make you the best mom and wife? And I said, oh, to stay home. And she said, well, why are you even thinking about this? And I said, it's so crazy.

 

[00:23:35]

I'm a confident person. Always have been a confident person. But at that moment of just hormones and having this new baby, I was like, flailing a little bit. I was like, okay. I don't know.

 

[00:23:45]

I'm happy just staying home, but society and my mom even was like, I think you should go back when the babies are young. It's a good time to continue a little bit and my dad got divorced, so she was also talking from kind of a we have a great relationship with both, but probably just a protective place, right? You want your own stuff, you don't want to just give it all up. And I'll never forget when my sister said that, I was like, oh, you're right. She's like, I can work one day in an office and stay home four days a week.

 

[00:24:15]

She's like, you're going to be doing and I know my employers were very supportive, so they said, I worked for a UK company and they said, you could work three days a week, it's fine, but I would be going. We lived in the city, so it would be fine, but I just couldn't imagine pumping and doing all of those things and not being with my child. But I know for myself, that was for me. My sister, she was like, no, I want to go back for a little bit. And then I had one of my best friends was like, oh, my gosh, this newborn stage.

 

[00:24:42]

Nope, I need to go back. Like, she needed to go back to be the best mom and wife. And so it was just very interesting. You have to really kind of think about who you are and what's best for you and kind of not think about society and what people say to you. It's a very personal decision, right?

 

[00:24:59]

Because you only know what you're feeling yourself when you're in that situation. And I was always very fearful that I would lose a part of myself because I loved my career, I loved who I was in my career, I loved the people that I worked with. And so the fear was, I'm going to step away from this and I'm never going to get it back, I'm never going to get to the level where I was working at this company for ten years. But on the other hand, you have this little baby and it's your first and you don't want to miss all of the things associated with because it does go so fast. And looking back at it now, I'm so happy I made that decision because I had all that time to bond with my baby and do all the things with her that I probably wouldn't have had the time to do had I really stayed in this full time job.

 

[00:26:02]

And for me, it was just the right choice in that moment. But like you said, everybody's different. Everybody operates at a different level. For me, I had way too much guilt at the time that it was better for me to just take that time away and not feel so bad, because I just wouldn't have been able to do my job properly if I had stayed right. Which I think is so important.

 

[00:26:27]

So I would love for you to then take us to your next Pivot. I know you had a clothing boutique. I know. Now you're in the styling world, so tell us how that kind of evolved. So I got divorced in eight, and I had been working with this Italian brand that whole time.

 

[00:26:46]

And when I got divorced, just coincidentally, the woman that I had built the business with in the US. She decided to leave the company, and I didn't want to be there without her. She and I had become very close, and she's still one of my closest friends, but the dynamic of the whole company was changing, and I didn't want to be there without her. So I thought, okay, I'm divorced. What is something that I always wanted to do?

 

[00:27:21]

And I always wanted to open up a woman's clothing boutique. And I thought, you know what? Now's the time. And at the time, I had had my son when I was divorced, my kids were younger, and I wanted to be around for them also. So I thought, let me open up a store, because for myself, I really didn't find a store in my town that I wanted to shop in.

 

[00:27:47]

I wanted it to be a little bit more city. I wanted it to be a little bit edgier and cool stuff that I would want to shop at. So I decided, you know what? This is the time to do it. So I opened my store up.

 

[00:28:02]

1. Think it was right after maybe it was 2020, I don't remember, 2012 or something like that. And I had the store for about I had one location, and then I moved to a larger location. So I had that lease for about five years. Right.

 

[00:28:23]

And if you could share, because I think this is where I always let my listeners know where we kind of connect, and I believe that we connected through a mutual friend. Or you found the podcast, but you did have a store in Westport, connecticut, which was near where I lived in Darienne for many years, and I believe I even shopped at your store. I think that's what happened. Well, what happened was I had built this great email list with all my clients, and after five years, I had the option to renew the lease in the store or not, and I decided I didn't want to have the store anymore. I figured this was great.

 

[00:29:11]

It was done. It was really difficult. I was not on Main Street, so it was a challenging location. I didn't have a lot of foot traffic, so the business was okay. But I felt like, you know what?

 

[00:29:21]

It's time. I'm not going to sign another five year lease. And so the first company that I worked for reached out to me two weeks before my old ball saw that I posted that I'm closing the store. And two weeks before I shut my door, she sent me an email and said, hey, there's a new position open in the company if you want to come back. To work, give me a call.

 

[00:29:49]

And I thought, oh my God, this is perfect. I didn't even know what I was going to do after I closed the store. So anyway, I contacted her and I started back in the footwear space for a few years and then I started my personal styling business. So I took the email list from my business that I had before and I sent out an email saying, okay, I'm personal styling now if anybody would like some help, I'd be happy to do this. And I think that you were on.

 

[00:30:23]

One of my email lists, right, which is really funny. And that's why I always say to people, you never know who you're going to meet and you just have to be open because again, I say it all the time. Stories connect us and so it's really important to just be aware, be aware who is coming into your path or be aware if you're getting an email, just read it. We all get so many different things. We're bombarded with just technology, emails, social media, all that stuff.

 

[00:30:55]

But if you just live life a little bit more where the things that are supposed to be put in your path, they're going to connect and they're going to connect for a reason. So I love that's how that kind of works. It's so great. Yeah. Unfolded.

 

[00:31:12]

So the listeners know we already said where they can find you, but how long have you been doing the personal styling? What are some of your favorite things about that as well? So I always loved my store and I loved when my customer would come in and say, I need this outfit for so and so or what do I wear to so and so? Or how do I put this out? And that was part of the business that I loved so much and finding really different kind of cool things that women can wear, special pieces, pieces that you don't really see everywhere.

 

[00:31:44]

So during COVID I lost my job with the wholesale footwear company that I was working with because I was selling very fancy high heel women's shoes. And that business dried out during COVID because nobody was going anywhere. So I thought, well, fashion is not really great right now. And one of my other passions was health and fitness.

 

[00:32:18]

And I think a lot of my tenacity and also regimented way of being has come from the way I had been with health and fitness because I've been weight training and exercising since I'm 17. So I feel like the two kind of go together. Having those habits and having that kind of routine really helped me both in my career and with my health. So when we were all home from COVID I was exercising and eating better than I had ever been. So I thought, I'm going to put together a digital lookbook and I'm now going to be this health and fitness person.

 

[00:33:09]

So I put together this digital course. I put together my own website. I learned how to launch my website, how to do more Instagram, and how to do more videos, and create blogs and create email list and shoot out all my email lists.

 

[00:33:35]

And then at the end of the day, I really miss being in fashion. And so even though I love health and fitness and it's a passion of mine, I really didn't want it to be my career. So I thought, well, I'm either going to be a trainer and a nutritionist and really get into this and help people with that. And at the end of the day, after like six months, I was like, okay, I'm done. I have no more left in me.

 

[00:34:03]

Because I was all in working day and night writing these blogs and coaching people and helping them. And then it was like, I really just want to still be in fashion. So I didn't know anything about being a stylist because it is a little bit different than it's a lot different than owning your own store in a lot of ways, but there's a specific system to it. So I ended up training with another stylist in Greenwich, and I kind of learned from her the various ways that this works and how to set it up as a real business. So that's what I did.

 

[00:34:47]

And all the things that I had learned with my health and fitness digital course that I created, I applied it to my new personal styling business.

 

[00:34:59]

And just working one on one with clients has been so amazing. And having the feed because a lot of my clients, because I reached out to them through emails, they already know me. They knew my store. So when they got in touch with me, they were like, I so miss your store. I love your style.

 

[00:35:15]

I'd love to work with you. So I kind of already knew some of these people. And so when I started working with them, it was like easy. It was like I would go shop for their whole wardrobe and bring it to their house and they would try all these things on. And you can see how happy they were with all these new ways that they can dress themselves.

 

[00:35:40]

And the feedback has been amazing. I mean, they all continue to wear all the things that I buy for them and how many compliments they get and the confidence that they feel in getting dressed up now is all a big part of all of this. And I'm still writing my blogs.

 

[00:36:03]

It's been great now, and I want to take it back to something that you said in the beginning of the podcast. So if anyone when you guys are listening to this, something that you said is that when you were in high school and you worked at that store, one of your favorite things was helping people get dressed. So it really has come full circle. That's where you kind of got your feet wet is when you were young and then it just kind of evolved and now it really has gone full circle because this is what you're doing. And that was one of the things that you said was what you loved so much about it.

 

[00:36:35]

So what I always encourage my listeners to do is to find that spot and my clients to find that time that you can go daydream. And I really always say it's important to go back to when you were a kid. Sometimes when you were a kid, what were the things that you really loved? What were the things that you kind of found interesting? Because, funny enough, a lot of times when you're a child and there's no expectations and there's no society or whatever, people telling you what you should do or what you shouldn't do.

 

[00:37:03]

And if you go back, if you're in a space in your life where you're a little bit stuck and really think about what motivated you and what excited you as a kid, try to see how that can actually go into your life now. And you're going to be kind of amazed to see that maybe it's something that you can turn into a business. It's so true because it comes from a very natural place. When you're younger, you just gravitate towards things that make you happy or you like or you are interested in. And as we get older, we kind of let our mind take over what intuitively we want to do, oh, I should be doing this and I should be doing that, and this is going to get me to a great place in my career and this is what my parents want from me.

 

[00:37:49]

And we're not really listening to what we are meant to do and what kind of our soul wants for ourselves. Yes. No, totally. Well, Maria, this has been wonderful. Thank you so much for joining your next stop.

 

[00:38:05]

You guys, you can go find again, find MariabystyledbyMaria.com is the best place. She also has instagram. She also is on LinkedIn, but mainly right now it's Instagram and her website. So again, thank you so much for joining your next stop. Thank you so much for having me.

 

[00:38:22]

This has been so fun. Of course, you guys, you know what to do, like rate review and share. You might be listening to this and think, oh, this is so fun. I love hearing stories. I love again, I always say stories connect us.

 

[00:38:33]

But you don't know who in your life needs to hear this story. You don't know who in your life that maybe needs a little motivation. You don't know who in your life actually maybe needs a personal stylist. So take this episode and send it to as many people as you know you want to be the one that is inspiring others. Thanks again, Maria, for joining your Next Stop and we will see you guys for another episode of Your Next Stop or YNS live with NFL thread.

 

[00:38:56]

I hope you liked this episode of your next stop. Please subscribe to my channel, share with your friends and join in each week.