Women's Money Wisdom

Episode 260: 5 Year Anniversary and Finding Your Authentic Style with Morgan Wider

• Melissa Joy, CFP® • Season 4 • Episode 260

Share episode

In this special milestone episode, we’re celebrating five years of the podcast and my 50th birthday with an empowering conversation about the transformative power of style! 

Joining her is Morgan Wider, founder of Wider Style and author of The Worthy Wardrobe, to explore how authentic self-expression through style can elevate confidence, impact success, and create alignment between personal and professional identity.

What does your wardrobe say about you? Whether you're navigating rigid dress codes, stepping into leadership roles, or simply seeking a wardrobe that makes you feel powerful and worthy, this episode offers deep insights into the interplay between fashion, self-worth, and success.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✨ The Power of Authenticity in Style: Why dressing as your true self boosts confidence and how to balance self-expression with professional expectations.
✨ Vulnerability & Fashion: How your wardrobe reflects more than just appearance—it’s an emotional and psychological tool for self-acceptance.
✨ Strategic Wardrobe Investments: Where to spend vs. save when building a professional wardrobe, especially for women in male-dominated industries.
✨ Wardrobe as a Career Tool: How personal style impacts the way you're perceived and can open doors to unexpected opportunities.
✨ Smart Fashion Purchases: How to elevate your style on a budget with practical tips on investing in key pieces like blazers, shoes, and accessories.

Resources:

Morgan's online course! Listeners can get 25% off with the code PODCAST

IG: @morganwiderstyle

Connect on LinkedIn with Morgan


The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https:...

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and the founder of Pearl Planning. My goal is to help you streamline and organize your finances, navigate big money decisions with confidence and be strategic in order to grow your wealth. As a woman, you work hard for your money and I'm here to help you make the most of it. Now let's get into the show. And I'm here to help you make the most of it. Now let's get into the show. Just a quick note before we dive in. The information that we share is meant to educate and inspire, not serve as personalized financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, so be sure to consult with your own financial professional for guidance that fits your life. And just so you know, the opinions shared in this podcast are my own and those of my guests, and they don't necessarily represent those of any organizations that I'm affiliated with. For more important disclosures, please go to our webpage at pearlplancom. Now let's get started.

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. We've got a special episode today. I don't know that you guys know this because it just snuck up on me, but it is the fifth anniversary this month, this week, of the launch of the podcast. Also, I turned 50 years old yesterday as of the publication of this podcast, so I'm going to call this a birthday episode. I think it's a gift to all of us. I have a rock star guest, morgan Weider. She is a coach and expert on executive presence. She's the founder of Weider Style and she transforms how leaders show up at work. Morgan is also the author of the Worthy Wardrobe your Guide to Style, shopping and Soul, and I think you're going to be blown away by this episode, morgan. Welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thank you and happy birthday and happy anniversary, Melissa. I'm so honored. I know what some great milestones. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1:

Lots of fives in there I thought about that. Yeah, when we talked about doing an episode and I wanted to save something special for this particular week, I just felt like what we're going to talk about today is about so much more than fashion and style. It's about your identity, it's about your space in the world. It's about who you want to be and how you can feel comfortable in your own skin, and I don't know that really matters to me. It's made a difference for me as I've embraced my authentic self and I hope for our listeners they feel permission to explore this topic more.

Speaker 2:

I'm so excited to go deep with you and thank you again for having me and creating this space for us to have this real conversation.

Speaker 1:

Well, first of all, let's talk about what you do, because you're sitting with the best background we've ever had on the podcast. Thank you, look at that closet.

Speaker 2:

This is my office closet, meditation room, dressing room. Yes, it is my she shed that I love to come in here and get inspired, just myself, and have conversations with people.

Speaker 1:

Well, you help people represent themselves. Tell me a little bit about what you do and what inspired you to do the work you do.

Speaker 2:

Sure, so the technical title that I've created for myself. As an executive stylist, I like working with professionals on essentially, Melissa, how do you take the inside of you and accurately reflect it on the outside with your wardrobe, your hair and how you present yourself? I'm so fortunate that I've gotten to do this work with women and men of all different professional levels. I've gotten to speak at all different types of companies and colleges, all with the goal of showing up as your most authentic self. Like this is absolutely deeper than clothing. It is really about how you can feel your best, no matter what the occasion, no matter what room you're walking into.

Speaker 1:

Well, I think about my personal history. I still remember clothes that I wore as a child. I remember certain days wearing certain things that made me feel good and represented myself. I loved to shop as a child and I feel like earlier in my career, especially because, like signaling tells you when you're younger, used to you kind of need to like.

Speaker 1:

Well, I work in the financial field with a lot of what I would call penguins Think of like black and Navy suits and you need to be a penguin to be appreciated or rewarded, and I spent a lot of the last five or 10 years trying to figure out how to more authentically be who I am. Some of that comes permission with age, I'd say, speaking of milestone birthdays, but also I think that I feel more able to be successful and able to telegraph and represent what me and the work that my company, pro planning, does, when we can more, just be more real. Um, and you describe some of those same journeys in your book, which I just. This book is, like you said. People say it's really readable and that, like, is a huge compliment. I really love it. It's just got great ideas and a lot packed into a little, a little volume.

Speaker 2:

So melissa, you said so much there and, um, one of the things that I think about for myself and a lot of the women I've worked with in the professional spaces, is something that I've called the hero's journey, and it is often where, uh, we have been told at the beginning of our careers that the only way to succeed is to look like everyone else. Play, play the game, play the rules. And I want to tell you a quick story about a woman that I often talk about, and she was a when she was in college at a historically black university, florida A&M. She was in engineering, and her refrigeration engineering, to be specific, and her professor said in order to be successful, when you go out into the workplace, you're going to be the only woman and only person of color, so you need to look and act and dress like as much like your white male counterparts as possible. And she, being the good student that she was, she did that. She slowly moved up the ranks to middle manager and she wore this uniform of blue shirts, black pants, and then, when she got to middle manager role, form of blue shirts, black pants.

Speaker 2:

And then, when she got to middle manager role, she started getting invited to social parties. And she told me in this interview when I was writing my book. She said this is when I started to wear my real clothes. I'm like, what do you mean? Like, what are your real clothes? And she says I love bright colors, I wear these gold high heels, I have my hair natural and when I go to these parties everyone would say, oh my gosh, you're so funny. I had no idea you're so funny.

Speaker 2:

And it clicked for her that when she was wearing her that uniform of playing small, she wasn't being herself and they actually liked her more when she was her most authentic self in the clothes that she loved.

Speaker 2:

And actually she said that after a few months of doing these social events, her newfound mentor told her an old white guy when she was getting up for her performance review come as yourself. We now know who you really are and we can take you as you really are, because before we thought you were hiding and lying to us and it was almost like this shift for her of like. As much as I wanted to get into the good old boys club and I thought I had to act like a good old boy, the good old boys knew that I wasn't a good old boy, so why would they trust me if I'm trying to play like them? And when I finally became myself, that is when I reached the top and that's, I think, for so many of us.

Speaker 2:

Waiting until we have that measure of success to be ourselves is so detrimental to our psyche, our confidence, and it sends a bad message to those women who are coming after us that they have to do the same thing. So I'm always about how can you be authentic and be appropriate from the start of your career, or as soon as possible, like today, today and not waste time waiting until this mythical successful point to be yourself.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's so interesting Because I think about her. What if she did kind of get the invitation into the room without her true self being represented? How restricting and uncomfortable would that be for her day in, day out?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and so many, a lot of women leave those environments like finance and engineering because they feel like they can't be themselves. And even in your case of being like the penguin doesn't help you stand out and build your business Like it's actually like. If you look like everyone else, no one is going to notice you. So it's. It is this ironic lie that we've been told of success comes from blending in and playing small. But as a business owner and as a professional, your goal is to get noticed. It is to build a brand that stands out from everybody else. How can you do that if you're not being yourself and how you dress and show up?

Speaker 1:

Well, I've learned these lessons in real life. So I, just when I got to the point where I started pro planning six years ago you know I've been around the block I, even when you're saying, play the game. I remember early in my career the survivor was newer on the CBS show and I was, like, you know, kind of the business. Your career is kind of like a game of survivor. You've got to be tactical, you've got to be, like you know, really competitive and you know that's a tough place to be where you feel like work is a competition versus someplace where you can be rewarded for your contribution. And so when I started the company we, you know, I was just like we're going to be me. I know I can go get a job if I need to like conform, but we, you know, we're going to try this out in a way that feels much more authentic and comfortable from, you know, having an office five minutes away from my house.

Speaker 1:

That wasn't in like the city center. You know, if you look at our website, we're an all-female team and people often are like, oh well, that it's so great that you're working with only women clients. It's like what part of being female employees means that we are excluding men from being clientele. We love the men that we work with and, you know, one time I had a client when I opened the new office who came in and I was wearing jeans and he was like, oh, I see, we've changed the dress code around here. And I was like, you know, I've been around the block and it's just fine to do business in jeans when you're in the environment. We're in and still doing great work, and so most people that fit in and some people that felt awkward and that's just okay.

Speaker 2:

That is, and you wearing jeans and maybe meeting your client where you are. I remember I was speaking to a college group, a group of college students, and one felt the need to say well, maybe you know, I'm going into finance. I feel like I need to, like, cover my tattoos and I'm like that's a choice that you can make, but you, being a tattooed financial planner, might help you have a niche in a business and attract people who may have a lot of tattoos, who thought that financial planning wasn't for them, and so, like the idea of using your wardrobe, like in your case, melissa, we've talked about how you were bright pink, right in your headshot, like and and and, and owning who you are helps you attract the people that may never have found you because you are blending in with the penguins well and I always tell people you need to be comfortable with your financial planner.

Speaker 1:

You don't always have to have a good hair day to work with them. Like you need to come to them with your problems and if you feel like they're not real or being real with you. How do you get real with them when the reality is something that might be a little messy?

Speaker 2:

Vulnerability and authenticity.

Speaker 1:

I love that, oh yes, such a big deal and it works. In exchange, you can't just expect people to be vulnerable with you if you're invulnerable, impenetrable, like up on, you know, up on the mountaintop, and not relatable even to yourself.

Speaker 2:

Even to yourself, even to and I often say your wardrobe choices are bigger than you, the people below you, the people on your team, your daughters, your sons. They are paying attention to how you dress, how you show up for yourself, how you communicate. I would say your worth to the world and the choices that you are getting dressed and the choices that you make when you step into the closet.

Speaker 1:

Well, if our listeners are still here and enthusiastic so far, but they feel like they may need some work to do to be a little more authentic, I mean, this is what you do. This is why people come to you. Where do we start? I mean, tell me more about how you uncover someone's true self and incorporate that into their style.

Speaker 2:

I am so fortunate that people trust me with this process because it can get a little. It's intimate. One of my core values is intimacy, like I love back to that vulnerability and authenticity part. It is a chance for us to really have honest conversations about their life. How do they want to show up in the world? And then, what does their audience need from them? Because it's one thing to be so true to you that you're not meeting what your audience needs, and by audience it could be your clients, it could be your team.

Speaker 2:

If your business, all of those things and then we talk about okay, like in the case of Melissa, melissa is a classic, her style profile is a two and her clients probably. They want to feel safe and secure and have a fundamental trust aspect of I'm giving you a lot of money to manage. How can we communicate that in her wardrobe in a way that signifies that this is the person to come to you for those things. So, once we get clear on your style and what do you want to be known for, your body type and maybe challenges that are happening, and it could be post babyivorce, perimenopause I've worked with men who are post-divorce and going back out on the dating apps, like all of those things, like all the things that can impact your life. And then, how do we create a closet and an image that you feel good in for the person you are right now, not who you were five years ago, 20 pounds ago, a job ago, or the job you want to have, but right now, like how can we really?

Speaker 1:

lean into who you are. Wow, there's there's so much packed in that, First of all, you need to be cognizant of who you are and how you're changing, which I think is very I mean, there's so much vulnerability there. There's so much honesty that you need with yourself. There's so much, you know, detachment you need from the shoulds of everybody else expects me to be this size. All my friends are on Ozempic. What do I do about, you know, going into this? What do I wear to this event to feel myself? So many different things to think about.

Speaker 2:

Yes, the shooting is the thing that gets so many of us caught up.

Speaker 2:

It's actually why, in my sessions, I don't want to sound like a dictator per se, but I really don't let anyone else in my client's life join us in our sessions, because other people, some people can have a vested interest in you not changing and you not right, like and so.

Speaker 2:

So if it could be your spouse or your partner or your sister or your mother, um, even your daughter, like I've had sometimes, like I have to tell when I'm in a closet like, hey, like your teenage daughter, she may want you to get rid of those clothes for her own selfish reasons. Right, like, how to think about these things. But this is really a personal journey and we can't dress for everyone else. And I know I talked about what's authentic and appropriate for the audience, but it's also balancing what's authentic and excitable for you, and so when you have all of these other voices in your head and people who may not want you to change, they may not want you to invest in yourself, that can be very, very limiting. So again, it's your job to filter out the noise and I just get to be a guide to help you find the things that make you feel good about yourself.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that is so powerful. I think about other examples, like it's not just how you present yourself in career, but do you feel comfortable being who you are or how you want to present yourself Like? Is there a uniform in town where you can't go over or under? You know level of pull together and things like that, when it's nights and weekends and stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

One of my best friends tells me this ABC always be closing.

Speaker 2:

If you are a professional, if you are a business owner, you never know when your next opportunity could come from right.

Speaker 2:

And so I'm not saying that everyone needs to be fully dressed up in high heels and full glam at a grocery store, but I remember when I was single, living in San Francisco and San Francisco is inherently casual, right and in my job I was working head quarters of the gap so I pretty much, and I wasn't confident in who I was, so I would pretty much wear baggy jeans and a white t-shirt every day and I was going out with one of my girlfriends and I was like, oh, I'll just wear like my normal uniform. She says you never know when you might meet your destiny. And that changed how I viewed getting dressed, because I never, you never know what could happen when you walk out the door. And, yes, clothes are to help signify other people to come and talk to you and attract you, but it also signifies how I felt about myself, and the better I felt, the more confidence I radiated and the more the better things that I attract.

Speaker 1:

Well, I think this all goes. I feel like we're at a moment in time maybe it's just generationally for Gen X and millennial women, who are many of our listeners where I want you, whether it's your work on financial planning, your work on your sense of style, which is inherently your sense of self, at least for many of us If you just say I don't care about that, it doesn't matter, hey, I'm here for you and that's great and that's a representation of yourself as well. But I feel like in a day and age where things feel uncertain, things feel challenging, you may feel threatened based on your essence of identity, or just all those shoulds of you should be here by now. This is where you should, what your career should look like why doesn't your family look like this or that when there is so much power in knowing who you are whether it's what matters to you financially or how you, how you are comfortable, you know kind of packaging yourself that makes a difference, because that's something you can control.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely. You would not be crazy right now, in the times that we're living in, to choose to opt out, to go into hiding, to keep your head down, to play it safe. That is a perfectly understandable, natural reaction to, essentially, the uncertainty that we are living in right now. I would encourage and I'm talking to you, listeners, and you, melissa's, I'm talking to myself of the power of showing up for yourself and, in my case, getting dressed each day is, like you mentioned, the thing that I can control. It motivates me to keep going and keep working and and and keep, and not all hope is lost.

Speaker 2:

Um, I think that it is for me as simple as and I work out of this office that I'm in right now, most days, it is as simple as getting taking a shower and changing out of my pajamas to actually even like my work sweatpants, like even that somebody you know, like I have my cute work sweats, like the little sets that I buy that I feel good in, and even that is a signal of it's work time. It's go time, it's you can't. I don't get to wallow in uncertainty and pity in my work pants.

Speaker 2:

You know, like I can do that in my pajamas, but I can't do that in work clothes, and that separation of mindset is something that is. It's powerful for me and I think that it's important for all of us whether we're talking about in your emotions and how you feel, but also again in the spaces that we are in to be the change we want to see, to show up as your best self, to inspire other people to do that In the case of all of the different initiatives that we've used to have in place that encourage diversity and inclusion and standing out, and if those fundamental structures go away, you being your authentic self is still part of changing the tide and changing the narrative.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I mean representing yourself in any room that you walk in. This will be out in the world, both on audio and YouTube. Like that is to me, it's honoring our forebears who, for us, women who really spoke out and asked for more, asked for a different pathway. So yeah, Totally.

Speaker 2:

When I was writing my book, I interviewed over 70 women, and one woman who I interviewed I met previously when I did some work with Mercedes-Benz and she was telling me that in the car industry this was when she first started out. She was telling me that all of us women wore. She said we would get, we'd go get to Brooks Brothers and get the little like the sometimes the boy version of the men's suits.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the tailored, yep, yeah the tailored suits right.

Speaker 2:

And I said to her I'll never forget this. I was like, well, what did the women in leadership wear? Like why were you always wearing men's suits? And she said, morgan, there were no women in leadership, no-transcript. When she started off in her career.

Speaker 1:

Well, if we have time for a brief anecdote, I can remember in the early 2000s I was much younger but I had really great connections with some powerhouse trailblazers financial advice, female financial advisors. We would attend a conference every year and I looked back and said there's never been a female keynote in this conference I've attended. I've been there more than 10 years and, morgan, you're one of those people nowadays right that you're getting up and speaking at those types of events. But I got together with other people who cared about this and two of us approached the executive who kind of organized the conference and he said well, we've tried, there just aren't any. And when we really like laid down the challenge of like, no, seriously, like that can't be the case. You know it. It took that ask and that wasn't, that wasn't DEI, that was just like common sense and like personal appeal, Right?

Speaker 1:

And so I do think that that power to ask for more to take up space in the room and that's just. You know, that is your personal privilege, for the power and what you've earned for our rock star listeners.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it is what you've earned, but it's, I would argue, what you inherently earn, or what you're worthy of. I think earning is equated to you have to work for it and pay your dues and do all of those things, and I think we've been conditioned to think that. But I would argue in that's where the title of the book came of the worthy wardrobe is you're already worthy to show up as yourself. There's nothing wrong with you, whether you're, whatever size you are, whatever, whatever race you are, whatever mistakes you've made, you are worthy to show up in any room and feel good about yourself.

Speaker 1:

I love that and I do think that that that message has so much power, that sense of worth. Also, when you walk in and are comfortable and are not demanding, you're just you're, you're giving and getting worth. If it, if that makes sense. The the payback is unexpected and appropriate. You know, like you do you do not get dinged when you do this the right way.

Speaker 2:

Love that You're right.

Speaker 1:

Well, I I hope, in addition to this conversation about authenticity and worth, we could talk a little bit about your chapter, chapter 12 in the book, called Intentional Investing. And for many people, when you talk about investing, you're like, yeah, dollars and cents into stocks and bonds, not in my world, but in your world. And I're like, yeah, dollars and cents into stocks and bonds, not in my world, but in your world. And I would agree there are investments when it comes to style and fashion and there are certain things that We've had another episode kind of on sustainable fashion, which I'll make sure to include in show notes with Marcy Green, but let's talk about you know kind of your style guide for what it's worth to spend money on and where you could save it.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so my background was in corporate retail and I worked with a lot of the mainstream brands. I'm fortunate to get to work with the companies like the Gap and Banana Republic, so I was not in the devil or Prada world, and I say that because I want this to be relatable to everyone. We all don't have unlimited budgets when we're shopping and building a wardrobe, so I want people to think about what are the areas that I call splurging, which doesn't mean they have to be designer or, you know, break the bank, but that's where you really invest intentionally. And then the save things were the things that, like I, wouldn't spend a lot of money on, and I can go spy a couple of categories if we like to Sure.

Speaker 1:

Sure, OK, it's in your hands. So you give us the five minute um kickstart to the longer chapter.

Speaker 2:

I would say that when I, when you're thinking about intentional investing, I want you to, overall, think about the things that are going to get the most use the workhorses of your wardrobe. So, for example, I tell people, invest in quality blazers, and doesn't mean black, boring blazers. It can be a really well-made if you're watching this in video an orange blazer or a pink suit. I have back there a cobalt blue. Invest in well-made blazers and pants. Save on blouses and most dresses, because those skirts you're not going to wear as often as a great well, great pair of pants. Pants and blazers take more make like you need someone to know what they're doing. When they're making a good pair of pants or a well-made blazer, your I love pleated skirts, the fabric isn't as good of a quality as it needs to be. In a good pair of pants, usually the fit isn't as important because it's just a triangle shape, right, like.

Speaker 2:

So there are the things I think about when you're thinking about investing.

Speaker 2:

Think about the work courses that you love and that you're going to wear multiple times and then not spend a ton. And by not spend a ton I really mean like I was with a client last week and here in Atlanta there's one of my favorite areas has a TJ Maxx, a Nordstrom rack, a Bloomingdale's outlet and a Saks outlet and we did her entire she's a global executive HR and we did most of her wardrobe rebuilding out of those stores and we spent money on some beautiful tweed blazers. We did not spend a lot of money on the Calvin Klein dresses that you can get at Marshalls and TJ Maxx for like $24.99. We bought a lot of those. We did not spend a lot of money on her blouses, but we made sure that those pants and those blazers were looking impeccable and we also budgeted in alterations. So even if you buy something that is relatively on the cheap side, you go get it tailored and altered for you. You're going to look like a million bucks um that's a pause.

Speaker 1:

Like budgeting your alterations. I've never heard that and that makes a ton of sense.

Speaker 2:

Like ton of sense, yeah like and it goes back to thinking about your body's not the problem. The clothes just might not fit you well, and so if you have to go up a size, don't let that get in your head. Just add the extra 25, 30 dollars to go get to go get it altered and and you look way more expensive than you normally would. I will also say this is one of my, because I used to work in accessories my biggest thing for you to invest, versus saving, is invest in well-made shoes.

Speaker 2:

There's nothing wrong with spending 400, $500 on a pair of pumps, like if it's a Jimmy Choo pump that I would like for me. My, my bases are nude and leopard. I really wouldn't wear. I wouldn't invest in a black pump. But if you wear a lot of black, go ahead. Invest in shoes that are comfortable on your feet, take care of them. I have a shoe guy that I go see regularly to like adjust my heel length. All of those things.

Speaker 1:

How do you find that guy like what is he listed under?

Speaker 2:

he is listed under um leather or shoe repair. Okay, um, my guy's. Actually. His title of his store is classic leather and shoe repair, so like that is so that. But he is. Uh. I've actually had him on a guest to some of my class work because I tell women he can cut my heels down if they're too high. He stretches the front of my pumps out. He can do a lot of things with a well-made shoe, so invest in quality shoes. Do not spend a lot of money on sunglasses. That is the biggest markup, biggest scam in the entire retail industry industry.

Speaker 1:

Okay, if you if you love the designer glasses, if that is the thing that you want to.

Speaker 2:

I would encourage you to never pay full price. Go to the outlets, get your designer frames from there. Because I'll tell you the story. When I was working at Old Navy, we went into the sun. We wanted to go to the sunglass business because they had a high markup. All the vendors from across the world came into our office and they were just throwing me all these different designer sunglasses I won't say any names and they make in the same factory. The high end sunglasses and the old maybe sunglasses are made with the exact same material. The thing that usually is only different is the name plate and maybe the shape of the frame, maybe. So that's my. I will stop there and say invest in shoes that will last you while and take care of your shoes, and then don't spend a ton of money on sunglasses.

Speaker 1:

Do you have any tips? When you're taking your client, maybe she's never bought the $500 pair of shoes. How do you figure out if it's going to be a pair that you're going to wear Like? Is there? Are there certain tests? What are we doing to know that the two minutes of try on that, it's really going to be?

Speaker 2:

comfortable. It takes longer than. Do not rush yourself when you're shopping for shoes. Do it at the end of the day. Do not just walk on the carpet in sacks or Nordstrom. Get on the, get on the hard floor.

Speaker 2:

If a shoe is too big, that cannot be fixed. But if a shoe is too big, that cannot be fixed. But if a shoe is a little tight, that can be stretched. So that's something like a shoe guy cannot make a too big shoe smaller, but he can make a smaller shoe mold to your foot. My shoe guy will also tell me and this is after you bought them but do not wear a new pair of shoes without breaking them in 30 minutes a day for a week and you don't have to be walking around, but you just have to have them on on your foot when you're at your desk, even on the couch. But the leather of a well-made pair of shoes will start molding to your feet so that when you do wear them out and I have not listened to ryan a few times and I've paid the price for it because I'm not heels do not come naturally to me, so I have to like I. That's why Ryan and I are so close, because he's made so many of my high heels comfortable. Break your shoes in.

Speaker 1:

I've kind of given up on high heels, but would could the shoe guy? I'm a pair of boots that just like I have the same pair in a different like material and they're fine, but the the ones I got, they're like tight around the ankle and their boots. Could he stretch like someone like him stretch them out?

Speaker 2:

yes, yep, it's always worth a try. It's always worth a try. And one thing when you asked about to decide what shoes to buy, this is why, when I work with clients, I always I actually want to before I even take you shopping, I want to see what's in your closets. We do a virtual session or come to your home. We start with your shoes, because and I want you to build your outfits from the shoe up, because it's going to be a factor in what's comfortable for you what else is in your closet. So again, a lot of my closet, as you can see, is a lot of color. I don't I'm not going to wear a black shoe with that, I'm going to wear nude. I might wear leopard, I might wear snakeskin. So, thinking about what your needs are in your wardrobe and then build really some great shoes can help make everything else easier.

Speaker 1:

What other accessories can elevate and are worth spending money on?

Speaker 2:

I would say a good watch. I am not a fan of the technical gadget watches for a couple of reasons. I think a quality watch. I have one on that I and I pair a lot of. I think a quality watch. I have one on that. I and I pair a lot of. Like, that's my thing. Um, a quality watch, jewelry and accessories. It doesn't have to be spending a lot on those things, but it's an easy way to show that you are trending like. I have a pair here. Like this is from amazon. These like molded sculptural jewelry. It's so trending right now. Don't spend a lot of money on it, because next year we'll probably be talking about something different and it's very cool to play in these exaggerated shapes with whatever else you're wearing. It's like the necklace you have on most. It looks great and you may not want to spend a lot of money on that because next year you may want to do a longer chain, right, but jewelry is an easy way to stand out.

Speaker 1:

And I always know. For me, rings and necklaces are my thing. I don't wear as many earrings. I've got the headphones on that are also like what I often have in my Zoom meetings and they're just not my thing. Neither are bracelets. So I know what I like and you know I might buy a pair of earrings here or there, but I know I'm not.

Speaker 2:

But you're not going to spend a lot on them. Versus me, I will spend a ton on like a quality gold pair of hoops because that's like that's my thing.

Speaker 1:

Necklaces aren't necessarily my thing, but earrings are my thing and this was a splurge for me on a trip to london, because I knew, oh, I will wear this a hundred times in a year, right, there you go there you go um anything. What about hand? What do we think about them?

Speaker 2:

Especially in this climate where everyone's talking about the knockoffs and the fakes and all of those things.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, the Instagrams are that Yep.

Speaker 2:

I encourage most women to invest in a well-made work bag. Assuming you're going into an office, right? Assuming you're going somewhere, invest in a work bag that holds your entire life, and so that is a bag that can fit your computer, your lunch, your notebook, like and because you're not going to change that bag out every single day and and invest in something that has a zipper on top that can be traveled. Well, all of those things like really spend. I've spent a lot of time like shopping just for like perusing and exploring what is the best bag for my lifestyle, my client's lifestyles. I would, then encourage you to not spend a ton of money on the smaller bags, like maybe, if you have like one great crossbody, if you want to invest in a designer that you're going to carry on the weekends and if you have kids, like that's a great, you know, whatever thing not a closet full you have a client.

Speaker 2:

I don't. I really don't think women need as many bags as we buy, especially that middle size or larger size, because, again, on a monday or tuesday, you're not spending time switching out your bag every single day. You might spend, you know, on the evenings, in the weekends. If you have a couple different clutches, which I love, I'm not spending a ton of money on them because they are the. I'm looking at one of my office right here. That's magenta pink with bedazzled on it. I bought it from a nan republic years ago for 20, but it's. It's a statement, but it's not my everyday bag. So really investing in one or two, I hate when women buy these small, like the shoulder bags because most of us, your life can't fit there, so you're carrying another bag anyway, so you might as like right, it doesn't make sense. Invest in things that truly, truly make sense for your lifestyle.

Speaker 1:

Now, you've mentioned the discount stores, but are there any other hacks that you would suggest to you know? Save your money for the splurges um and for your everyday purchases build relationships with um store employees.

Speaker 2:

I have I like. Even there's a. I love the saint john's. That's one of my things some of my clients things.

Speaker 2:

there's some really few outlets out in the country, but the few that I have um the out, like the outlets for saint john's and and Jimmy Choo I have relationships with them. Even if you're not a stylist, they are happy to text you pictures and when things come in so that you're not paying full price that is something that again my retail background you don't have to pay full price. Google search is also a good option. If you see something you love on Pinterest or on Instagram, snap the image, reverse, search it and you can see what different options there are. And be patient. I think it's really easy to impulse buy or especially if you are.

Speaker 2:

I will say this if you have an event coming up like a wedding or a gala, do not wait until the week of or the day of to shop for that. If you're shopping for Christmas presents or if you're shopping for someone else, go into that area where there's no pressure, so you can buy a good deal on clearance and then have time to alter it where you're not pressed to buy something full price instantly or at a desperation mode. So take your time and and don't buy things impulsively or last minute.

Speaker 1:

I love it. Well, thank you for the investing advice.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for indulging me and getting to talk the brass tacks of that stuff. I love that. Thank you, Melissa.

Speaker 1:

And also just thank you for um for giving people permission to show their worth in the way they present themselves. Thank, you, that's so powerful, can you? I got a chance to take your quiz. That kind of identifies your style and you like, nailed it. I'm a classic, but also, what was the other identifier? Romantic?

Speaker 2:

Romantic. Yeah, I've even got like A little ruffle on her sleeve, guys. Yes, yes.

Speaker 1:

I was like, how did you know? But of course you know so, but can you share where people could find you if they're interested in learning more? And also, you know where could you take the quiz?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I keep the quiz private because I don't want it out in the world without guidance.

Speaker 2:

But if you go to morganweidercom, you can learn about my services, book a consult, call and we can talk about your goals. I also have a group coaching course that's called Style Shopping in Seoul that I love doing. You can join at any time. We meet every Saturday morning. It's a transformative group of powerhouse women and we go into the nitty gritty in the deep stuff of how do you show up, how do you we even last week I have a couple of speakers in the uh in our group and one of them reminded me as she was getting ready for her, her next big keynote. She said I had to learn from you, morgan, to. I wrote this down to dress in a way for what the stage demanding. Oh, thinking about what the stage demands of your life. And so I say that to say I love the power of women together and we have conversations about what our work, that we do. So if you go to morganweidercom, you'll learn about individual ways of working with me, booking me for your company to come and speak, or my online course.

Speaker 1:

That's amazing. I love the work that you're doing, Morgan. I'm so appreciative that you've been willing to be a guest on the podcast. What a special way to celebrate five years, and for everybody out there. If you need a little pep in your step and to really dig deep on who you are and how you present yourself, please reach out to Morgan.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, Melissa, for having me Congratulations on these big milestones of 50 and five years. That's incredible.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. If you found value in this episode, the best way you can support the podcast is to forward an episode to a friend or leave a review. Go to pearlplancom and the podcast link to get all the resources and links mentioned.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Melissa Joy, CFP

Co-host