Lessons

Lesson Info

Define your Style

heidi ask me she's like way any way we can get these key notes because I can't write all this down that fast so it wasn't quite like that I exaggerated because I feel I guess I just felt her pain I've been in that situation before so if you do buy the class all the keynotes are included in pdf format so you can review all the information and take notes as you re watch so by the class and you'll get access to all that included with the price of the course okay okay let's talk about finding our style and getting a little bit of inspiration about our business as we wrap up here I know we're all tired and it's the half to noon lays ease after lunch this is the time of day when I start to lose everybody but I'm going to keep you motivated ok how do you find that style what are we gonna learn in this segment we're going to learn what is a style exactly but I think once you define it it'll help you find it why is it so important and I think we've touched on that a little bit I want to touch o...

n it even more we're going to talk about how you find your style what do you do how do you explore that what does it mean to be authentic in your style okay what does it mean to be truly you what do I do once I found it so I use it okay and I think you guys kind of no but we're going to find it sometimes when you make these things clear in your head it helps you pursue it with efficiency and greater greater effectiveness and then finally I'm going to give you a top ten list to hopefully inspire you in your business and in your heart okay okay so style what is it what does it mean to have a style well I was kind of curious myself so I looked it up in the dictionary style is a manner of doing something okay it's the way in which something is said expressed or perform so think about that in your in your art and your photography other synonyms manor way technique method methodology approach system mode for modus operandi which is my favorite a distinctive appearance typically determined by the principles according to which something is designed what kind of give you a feeling for what a style is about it's about how you do something okay how you dress personal style how you photograph how you create art your artistic style a style defines your authentic self you can express your style in a multitude of ways you can express your style and how you dress you can express your style and how you create art you can express your style and how you decorate your home you could express your style by what car you drive everything all these things say something specific about your authentic self okay oftentimes adding up to a bigger picture a style is a compass for making a more powerful choices okay ah guide for designing a business that reflects your whole being so once you understand what your own personal style is you'll be will make decisions about your business is your business and choices that are in line with that sense of authentic self instead of just something that intrigues you and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference it's like I really like that person style of work and I want to do what they do but I'm not sure why is that truly me or not you know sometimes that's confusing so I really want to help you dig deep and we're not going to solve this in one hour and a half talk so try not to have too high of expectation there but I am going to give you some tools and techniques and that workbook that you download downloaded from our facebook page that is also going to help you if you spend the time to do it and commit to doing it okay ah style is an anchor it's a symbol a mantra mantra think about that it's a declaration and affirmation a reminder of who you are okay is that resonating a little bit sometimes if you explain things in different terms it helps you kind of come full circle isto what the definition truly use for you a style a style helped to make empower decisions that stay true to who you are as an artist communicating who you are in all you do is pretty powerful stuff and helps you solidify your identity and hence your brand following find your style your authentic self that will help you form and make decisions to create an identity in your art and then your brand will develop from that strong identity resonating alice got questions like my personal style of like how I dress everything with dark hair and lipstick has nothing to do with my brand of photography showed it are you sure well I like a lot of soft tones I like a lot of vintage stuff I mean I guess I kind of like that but it doesn't mean it's not my dresses more harsh than my style photography should it sure that's ok maybe they both in a relate just big one facet of you is not defining there are multiple things in you that create a big picture so it's like pieces of a puzzle you remember the rubik's cube okay for those of you don't know everyone smiling and I'm not that old theo rubik's cube has it's a puzzle that is one of those things you twist and has colors on each side right now your rubik's cube is all messed up okay you need to get it clear and each color on each side each color is different ok the way you dress is on one side the way you shoot is on another but all six sides represent your style's a hole I'm just trying to help you get your rubik's cube back in line okay is that a good enough analogy to help explain it we'll get there just because you dress dark and you have dark hair and you seem a little bit more you know harsh and that terms but your photography is a very light and soft think about how the to communicate with one another to create an overall feeling of your authentic self okay help why should you care about this because your customer cares they don't know they care but they do care okay a defined style makes your work unique authentic you can't be copied no matter what if you guys tried to copy exactly what ideo still wouldn't quite be me might be close my eye sees things differently than yours and you could try with all your darndest to taken image exactly like mine and it's still couldn't quite get there would be darn close do you see where I'm going with this and if your style is truly unique to who you are you won't care what anyone else is doing copy you or not they won't matter because you're being true to who you are and you'll have confidence in yourself as an artist that's what I hope you achieve you can create the work that you want to make and people will love you for it charge more for your art confidence in who you are provide a sense of true direction having your faithful style exudes authenticity in your business and it kills george dead which is probably the greatest thing of all when you are confident and sure of your authentic self george has a really hard time putting up with you okay so how do I find it well you have to really dig deep okay and this is not something that happens in an hour and a half conversation this happens over time I would say it took me five years to develop my style in the way that I truly felt like it was me okay and it yes you need to think about it and analyze these things and study what style means like we're doing now but you also have to just let it marinate a little bit and just let it kind of come because it will come as you keep working and as you keep creating art and as you keep you know making this little playdates for yourself that's one of the greatest ways you confined your style is to be playful and creative and be a child again and really figure out what you like to do you don't mean what successful for you you mean that shoot we did yesterday was so me it wasn't even funny I mean that was like exuded my style and my my inner being and how I feel about motherhood one instagram follower I posted the image the night was it last night yeah said she looks like a goddess and I said oh my gosh that's exactly what I was trying to convey was this feeling of the mother goddess and so obviously it's satisfying to have somebody get you but he got me before I got me you know my girl you know I guess that was kind of that does feel right that is and sometimes that'll happen to you and you know here I am I have a good sense of my personal style my thunder itself and yet still I'm discovering things on a daily basis your style will evolve over time your style is that rubik's cube of experience and knowledge and creativity and all these things that evolve through life when you die and leave this planet what do you get to take with you what do you get to take with you your knowledge your experience your heart the people who love you that love the things you get to take with you are the deepest things on the earth who you are is who you get to take with you so discovering who you are is a process it takes up time that's what we're here on this planet to do is to figure out who the heck we are and learn and grow from it and have these experiences that so that when we die we're ready to go we've lived our lives we can look back and say I did everything with a talent that was bestowed upon me when I get to those pearly gates whatever they may be I really hope that I can tell whoever it may be that gosh darn it I used up everything you gave me that's a life full lived okay so this process of finding your style is really digging deep into that inner core being of who you are and living to that what so I'm asking you to do things that are pretty deep ears that's why I say it's not gonna happen in an hour and a half conversation it took me five years to figure out my artistic style I'm still discovering my personal sense of style that's gonna be a lifelong process and it will be for you too okay this is from the book style statement and I'll show you the book here in a minute so what I highly recommend if you want to really get into this daniella porta have that I'll have to cover here in a second I forget the it's carrying daniel who wrote the book that I mix up their last name so I'm not gonna let a little screwed up so they say that style meets the eighty twenty principle on it's it's somewhat true eighty percent of your style is grounded or rooted deeply in who you are in every decision you make about your life it's your being it's you to the core twenty percent of it is how you do what you do and how you express that to the world how you express your being to the exterior does that make sense so you express alley you're being in your art and your clothing so that's why I'm saying think about the rubik's cube is you and each one of those facets on each side is just the expression of you but really what makes up the rubik's cube is the deep inner workings of it not what's on the surface the service is just how it shows does that follow okay so if you think about it from the eighty twenty principle all of a sudden you realize ok I need to figure out what my authentic self is what I do what I love how I want to be what I believe in what my morals are I mean all these deep life questions about family home life relaxation all these things that we do every day and the decisions we make in a daily basis and how do I express that to the world okay so the prerequisites for doing this are number one you got to think outside the box you've got to be objective and willing to kind of go whom what could be what does that remind you of stepping outside the box exactly kelly being creative exactly do you see how being creative on a daily basis will help you discover your style okay discover your authentic self so think outside the box open up your mind exume your past yes your past is part of you but you've grown and learned from it you need to use that part exume that and discover that past behind you that's wonderful painful amazing awful all those things shape who your authentic self is I mean you guys for a story about my mom and my birth and I've gotten kind of personal deep with you hear all these things army they've shaped who I am so you need to dig all that deep and it could be a very painful experience sometimes you have to be okay with that and that's not the easiest thing in the world to do sometimes that's why I say to you this is deep psychological stuff this is going to take some time to develop and there will be things and decisions you make will be like why am I doing that oh yeah I'm doing that because of that horrible experience I had its a teenager or whatever why do you think I teach what's my purpose in teaching I love teaching I'm so passionate about it and I have a very deep purpose my why in teaching is very strong and if actually just recently discovered it when I was in college my dad is an organic chemistry phd ok he has a phd in organic chemistry I was majoring in marine biology and I had to take first second and third quarter okay I just find got a b minus my first quarter second quarter not so much I walked into the final exam with a d average in the course I looked at the test I sat down looked the task my teacher was just terrible she I forgot her name that's how terrible she was I probably should remember that but I know it's probably gonna be either she used to keep office hours for one hour and there would be so many people out the door on the line and she was probably close her door after the one hour and say come back tomorrow that's awful here we were students going please help us we don't understand this that's your job to do that and she was shutting the door in our face okay I went into that final opened it up and sat there for a half an hour and the tears were rolling down my cheeks I mean that is this is still very painful for me okay and I was looking at all these chemistry equations and going flunk this test I'm going to flunk this test and I knew it and I and I just kept hearing my dad and how disappointed he was going to be I mean think about he's a phd in this stuff and I never went to him for help I was scared to death and here I was sitting in this final exam going on I'm gonna fail my first my second quarter okay um and this is what I have to get through this to get through my major which I love so much I stubborn billy goat self and I stood up with the final half an hour into it climbed up the walkways a big stadium there is like a two hundred students taking this course you now this big dave is called the wieder outer course because they wanted you to fail so they could get you out of the major kind of thing you know the class I'm talking about um and so I walked up and this ta the short little t a guy who was kind of half balding I mean you can probably pay looked a lot like george actually he came up to me now that I think about it and he goes you can't leave the finals not over and I still had the test in my bag and I said make me stay and it is you can't take that exam out of here you can take that because he was trying to be his said oh just try to take it for me I stuffed it in my bag walked around him went out the door and promptly for an hour sat out in the courtyard bawling my eyes out I flunked second quarter okay flunked it okay f big old fat f I knew it was gonna happen you know and you know when that's gonna happen so I had a choice I could either continue on and change my major and give up or I could try again so my dad bless his heart was the sweetheart that he is and he helped me and he said you just need to do it jules you need to try again you need to get on the horse again so I went back had a new teacher took second quarter o came again and ended up with an a minus I didn't have a nice teacher and did really well on was determined it all ended up hunky dorey but that great that experience a negative one greatly influenced why I teach when you die all you have is your knowledge that's all you have what brain cells you have managed to accumulate over the course of your life your knowledge and your experience so if I can help anyone get more of those with what I have experienced then to me that makes up for mrs what's her face and that ta it's just one example may well have examples I can talk to you about mrs simpson and the fourth grade who berated me on a math question you know we all have those experiences but you will find that you have a deep purpose for why you do what you do okay and it's like I said it's not gonna happen in an instant and you need to really open up yourself and your experiences in your life to figure out what that is so that's why I say these prerequisites are so important admit to your bad choices open up exume your past giggle it yourself your silly we all are it's awesome awesome sauce someone have tagged that was hilarious there is no right or wrong myself discover don't label discovering reveals labeling conceals discovering who you are reveals the true inner self by trying to label yourselves oh I'm I'm organic or I'm vintage tends to conceal okay now I guess you will kind of label your style than shit but when you're starting this process I really want you to try to stay away from those labels and instead look at us his process of self discovery okay think highly of yourself be gentle treat yourself like your your best friend like how would you I mean you guys are friends now patty and kelly you've given to chatting with each other if we were feeling down you would try to encourage the other person that life's okay right why don't you do that to yourself your your best friend right that's george not gertrude krista named her on I don't mean to be sexist it all being one being a boy wanting a girl it's just kind of the way it came out but chris and I were laughing in the makeup room yesterday and we decided the gertrude would be a wonderful name for the angel on your shoulder who's your friend gertrude's in there too okay she's a sweetie and she loves you and she's going to care for you and you need to let her voice be the voice of reason as if she was your friend helping you out okay it's never too late to do this it's never too late to dig so dig deep this book will help you do that if you really want to get deep into it on on a long term level it's called style statement live by your own design by carrie mccarthy and daniela port okay this is in the resource is guide and some of the exercises that I'm goingto show you today are from this book so I want to fully give them credit for that because these are pretty sum's amazing exercises I want you to look at these areas of your life this is the rubik's cube okay home and stuff you own okay fashion and sensuality as a woman as a man we all have a sensuality essential part of us spirit and learning relationships and communication nature and relaxation how you let go body and wellness your health creativity and celebration your art and how you celebrate the milestones in life okay your service to others and your wealth how you feel about money okay these are all aspects of your life that will help you narrow down what your style and authentic self are cassie's they're all pretty major facets of who you are correct I want you to ask these five questions of yourself in each area okay so it's kind of a big project so you're gonna have five questions for each one of those slots on the rubik's cube okay so ask yourself about possibility if anything were possible what would you create in this area of your life dream a little ok if anything were possible in each area of your life what would it be and be honest when it comes to wealth and service is money really everything do you want more of it is there more important things than that and its service more important than wealth change what needs to be let go in terms ofthe this area of your life both materially and emotionally okay so these air thinking questions you can't just do this in one hour he's there strong thinking questions so on the flights home which I know a lot of you came from far away you have several hours to think about this okay and I want you to try to do that email me results so I would love to hear after getting to know you a little bit more okay gratitude what can be more appreciated in terms of this era of your life both materially and emotionally it's a big big stuff to kind of chew on doesn't it inspiration where and how do you find and give inspiration in this area of your life when it comes to creativity and celebration where do you find inspiration but where do you give it where do you give it to others it goes both ways both materially in the physical sense and emotionally in the feeling sense do you see how this is going to really dig deep into who you are and the experiences you've had plus when you guys have all done that purpose exercise finding your purpose in the workbook you're going to start to see all these facets come together okay and the rubik's cube is starting to come organized again and finally authenticity how can you more fully express your service and wealth your fashion and sensuality how can you more fully express that you're all I can see the wheels just going along it's fun to think about it but it's also draining okay so keep in mind that this could be a very boo process that's very healthy too because it trust me it will not just be in your art and your business this will help your entire life and living a more authentic life every decision you make from how you raise your kids too you know what movie you see on a saturday night it's going to be true to who you are and what you love and then you'll say once you know yourself you'll be like okay I want experience something new that maybe outside of myself to try it on like a hat see outfits and that's fantastic because that means once you have that authentic stealth you'll just start evolving and as your experience and life grows you'll it may change that's okay okay so on a note seek inspiration for all these things like that night at important word is seek look for it okay no your strength keep an open mind when I'm out especially when it and you know this is just a small faster but was it comes to creativity and new ideas I'm constantly out in the world going oh what can I do with that that's kind of neat or is it you have to kind of shut it off sometimes when you get to a point where you're really seeking inspiration for things in your life you'll get so overwhelmed because everything is inspirational e now you know how artists say oh everything inspires me they truly mean that because they khun seriously walk down the street and be like what could that mean that you set you'll find yourself literally need needing to shut it down because it'll be so overwhelming okay be ruthlessly picky about what fits your authentic self and be ruthlessly picky in your business once you find that self in style about whether or not the decisions you're making fit that do you see how once you start to do this your brand is just kind of kind of fell in your lap you're not going to work very hard to develop the brand that's right for you once you go through this process it'll just happen like oh yeah that's that's me yeah that's my authentic self yeah that works were pulling that we're pulling out not going to work can it then you come up with a decision to be like okay do I use raffia or twine that's a simple stupid thing but it'll be so closely like wilt winds easier I like it so that's my that's my creative self okay so watch for ah ha moments you'll be driving along in the car remember the stories I told you about that elizabeth gilbert eat pray love author about tom waits the musician who had this moment inspiration or roost own the poet who had the freight train coming towards her watch for those I mean stephen bless his heart was telling me he came up to me today he's like oh I just have all these ideas in my head I'm like ram down don't let that train pass you by you'll find this inspiration it'll just come to you and me like it is such a good feeling and then you'll write it down you want to create it right away and then you may lose steam and you may go I can't forget that I don't have the skills yes you do there was a time when you'll just have to go can't do it just get up and do it sometimes you just literally it's like working out you don't want to go to the gym just get in the car and go on do it once you get there you'll be happy okay so if you ever have that sense of I'm just not there sometimes you just got to sit in front of computer open up a file and start doing something no matter what it isthe