133. The unspoken voice with image consultant Julie Hyne

You say so much before you even say a word! First impressions last and the visual brand you show up with matters!

In this episode I chat with certified image professional Julie Hyne about what an image consultant is, how they can help you get what you want and why image might just be the missing piece in your career puzzle.

Transcript

You say so much before you even make a sound. Our first impression is a lot to do with how we present, how we look, and it's actually amazing how much my visual, personal brand gets referred to. People are always commenting on my red nails and my red lipstick, and that's why today I'm introducing you to a certified image professional, Julie Hyne. Image consultancy is a whole profession, and I'm really looking forward to bringing you this conversation. We chat about what an image consultant is, how they can help you get what you want and why image might just be the missing piece in your career puzzle.

Now, before we get into it, if you are not happy with the way you sound when you speak, you are unhappy with the clarity of the words and the phrases you use, and overall you feel more fear than confidence when you step out to use your voice, then it is high time you hit me up for a chat. I've got a couple of spots left for private clients starting in December. If you prefer the power of a group, then speak from your soul is for you. Over six weeks, you will crack the blockages, holding your voice back and discover the beautiful simplicity, the flow of what it means to speak your truth from your soul.

I will link to both my one-on-ones and Speak From Your Soul in the show notes. Put it in the calendar now. So in the lead up to Christmas, you know you have your personal development for the New Year sorted, and you do not go into 2023 putting things off again. Okay, Let's get into the conversation with Julie Hyne.

Sally: Julie Hyne, welcome to That Voice Podcast. So wonderful to have you on the show. How are you?

Julie: Yeah. Good. Sally, Lovely to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Sally: Oh, this is such an interesting topic. Julie, tell us what is a certified image professional.

Julie: Well, a certified image professional is someone that's actually trained extensively.

Image consultancy is probably more widely known over in America and Canada, and parts of Europe. But, um, it's where, where those people that sometimes HR will call in or companies will call in to work with their employees where they're grooming them for bigger and better things, or where they see there's potentially a problem with how they're presenting or how they're communicating, or how they're. You know, the bottom line results that they're getting. So we come in and we just, we help people. We help people with every, every aspect of their personal appearance, whether it's the visual, whether it's their behavior, whether it's their communication, their style, their grooming, because this is all really important in terms of the impression that they leave on people.

Much like the work you do when you're training people to speak clearly, properly, and you know, with confidence and credibility, we do the same, but it's a little bit more wholehearted. We deal with all aspects of.

Sally: Yeah, it's interesting because the message is, you know, be yourself, presenters, yourself. It's not about being a different person. How do people react when you are coming in and saying, Right, change your hair, change your clothes?

Julie: We don't really do that. Um, because there needs to be some level of permission given. Okay, and a person has to at first acknowledge that there potentially is a roadblock or there's, you know, something is holding them back from being the best version of themselves that they can possibly be. Now in a corporate environment. Yes. You know, and days gone by, HR would say, You know what, I think, you know, we have, you know, I, we can see lots of potential in you, but we would like you to think about how you present yourself, how you dress, how you, you know it could be something that's just not quite gelling with the corporate values of the company.

Sally: And what sorts of things, like what sorts of ways are people not presenting?

Julie: Well, there's lots of things that we call, uh, potentially personal brand killers that people can do.

Sally: Oh, I love this. What, what are the personal brand killers?

Julie: All sorts of different things. You know, it could, in terms of behavior, it could be pettiness, it could be gossiping, it could be, um. Physically, it could be poor hygiene, it could be bad grooming.

It could be just really having a lack of awareness as to how they're putting themselves together, which could be potentially offensive to other people, whether it's inside the organization or outside the organization. If particularly if they're in a sales role. If they're people that are in, you know, leadership positions, then you know, we want them to be really good role models.

Really good leaders. Showing the way, setting the benchmarks for people coming through underneath them. And so it's all about, well, what does that look like? And are you actually putting yourself out there as a really good leader and a really good role model in every element of what people receive from you? So it's how they dress, how they behave, how they speak, how they conduct themselves.

Over a period of time, too. It's not just in one instant. So when we look at total image as a concept, there are five different elements of total image. And we always say that, you know, it's fine, but you, you have to have them all. If you only have a few and you don't have the others, it's like trying to drive a car with only three wheels, you know, you fall off.

So it starts with what's happening with you in terms of your inner image. And this is all about how you've been brought up. It's your social conditioning, it's culture, it's religion, it's all of these things which have helped you formulate into the person that you are today. Then we have what we call, um, assumed image.

And assumed image is all about what people think they're going to get when they meet you. So it's the reputation that precedes you, um, which is also very important. We always say guard your reputation because this is really important. Then it's about the scene image, and this is where we, you. A lot of people identify with the scene version of this because it's how you dress, the colors that you wear, the style of clothes that you wear, how you coordinate yourself.

It's also your posture and your smile and your, you know, all the gestures that you use. This is the scene image, how you groom yourself. When we talk about first impressions to the scene element of your total image becomes really important because, You know, we use the statistics from the morian, the psychologist that, you know, 55% of a person's first impression is based on what you see.

Sally: Mm. See you, you say so much before you even make a sound.

Julie: Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's what comes next. Sally. What comes next is 38% is what people hear, and then 7% of what you actually say, the content of what you say. So you can actually be setting the parameters and setting the scene very early on, purely by the presence that you make when you walk into a room.

So that's the scene image. But then following on from that, we have experienced image, and that's the behavior, that's the communication style and the communication skills, and then proven images over a period of time. So have you actually done what you said you were going to do, and has it been consistent over that period of time?

And so people will judge you based on all of those elements. So there's a lot to work on.

Sally: So much! So there's the, the inner inner image, the assumed mm-hmm. the scene. The experienced. And the proven.

Julie: Yes, yes. So we work on all of those aspects with people.

Sally: And all of those aspects could be absolutely applied to voice coaching as well.

Julie: Absolutely, yes. The voice is very important.

Sally: Mm, it is. And out of those five, what area do you feel that you spend the most time with people on?

Julie: Oh, well, definitely without a doubt the visual, because we are very visual creatures. So when we look in a mirror and we don't like something, or we are getting people potentially make comments about what we are wearing.

Um, and women get, particularly for women, we age, we get older, we start to feel very dissatisfied, and we become very judgmental about what we look like and don't like these wrinkles. For me, I, you know, this doesn't look the same way as what it used to on me, and they start to feel second guess themselves, basically.

So when they start to feel that things aren't quite as profound, um, as they used to be. That's when they start to think, Okay, well, is it, is it about what I wear? And I have listened to very intelligent people say, You know what? I had, I have a fabulous CV I have a fabulous resume. I've got the results for companies but I'm not getting the interviews, they're going for the next level.

I'm not getting the interviews. And so when they start ticking off all the boxes, I've got this, I've got this, I've got this, I've got that. There's a really big missing link. And the big missing link is potentially how they're packaging themselves in a visual sense, because we always like to know what we're, what we are going to be receiving is what we expect.

So when there's a disconnect with, if you are going for a senior role, for example, and you walk into the room and the people who are greeting you expect to see something, and what they see is something very different, it makes them check themselves and, Hang on a second. Is this the person that we are meant to be meeting?

Do you know what I mean? So it's very important for you to think about your image in total. So, who are you? What do you represent? What are your values? You know, and how do you want the world to perceive you and to receive you as well?

Sally: Mm. So if a woman comes to you and she's got all of those things ticked off, I have, I hear this a lot as well.

Julie: Mm-hmm.

Sally: And like, I like, I don't know. Is it, is it what I wear? Is it what I look like? Do I need to wear more makeup? Do I need to have a hair makeover? Where do you start?

Julie: We start at the beginning, , we start at the beginning, really un unpacking. Well, what is it that your. What is it that you are hearing? What is it you are feeling?

What is it you are sensing? What are the missed opportunities perhaps that you've, you are aware of and what is this costing you? And, and we just, I work backwards and we start to unpack all of those things before we can say, Okay, well what is it now that you want? And we can start to work forwards with a plan of what you want moving forward and how we need to really unravel this situation that you found yourself in. And it's very, It's very prevalent at the moment for particularly for women having come through the pandemic, that they're starting to go back into these face to face type encounters and that they're looking at their wardrobes and they're saying, My wardrobe is nearly three years old now. I'm not sure if I totally relate to what's in that wardrobe. I don't feel the same person as I used to when I put those clothes on. How should I actually be dressing now? You know? So it's raising a lot of, uh, challenges for women in terms of how they should be presenting, how they should be putting themselves together.

Sally: Mm. And does any, uh, particular story come to mind of the transformation that you've witnessed? I'm sure similar to me, you witness a lot of transformations with people.

Julie: Yeah.

Sally: But can you share a story of somebody who's perhaps come to you with these struggles and then has worked with you and poof. Gone on to huge things.

Julie: It's amazing what does happen when someone starts at point A and as we work through the process and they start to identify things that they have been doing, patterns of behavior they have been doing over sometimes their whole life because of something someone said to them years and years ago.

Sally: Oh, isn't that a common story?

Julie: And so they've dressed a certain way because subconsciously they've been wanting to impress a very important person in their life, when in actual fact they've been denying themselves the opportunity of dressing in a way which is really authentic to their own sense of self and personality style. So when we start to uncover, well, what is your, you know, we obviously have to take physical measurements and work out shape and proportion and things like that, but when we start to get, dig deeper into personality style, personal values, You know what's really important to you?

How can we express this visually through what you wear and how you, you know, what your hair should look like, how you should do your makeup? You know, it's really amazing what can happen and when they allow themselves or give themselves permission to be a little vulnerable and to just accept change. And they take those steps to actually implement change.

And it could be a totally new hairstyle, new hair color, different styles of clothes. That's when they, you know, the new person emerges. And yes, that's when they go on to have super amounts of confidence and they apply for those jobs that they would never have applied for before. They might, in marriages, they might attract a new partner. They might, you know, all sorts of different things happen when you give yourself permission to accept change and you know, become the person that you've always wanted to be.

Sally: Surely yes. When you give yourself permission to let go of the old story.

Julie: Exactly. Exactly.

Sally: And say, I'll, I'm trying a new look, a new voice, a new way of doing things, and then experiencing all of the great results that come with doing that.

Julie: Mm-hmm. And the hardest thing for a lot of women, particularly in this whole process, is not worrying about what other people are going to say about the fact they've made the decision to do something.

Sally: Mm.

Julie: And that's the biggest problem for women. You know, cuz I'll worry about, oh, what my partners, you know, the partner might be a bit bit worried about the fact that all of a sudden they've got someone that's changing the way they look.

They're actually becoming more attractive. So they start to feel insecure or they might feel, well what will my, I'll lose my friends because my friends are gonna feel insecure about the fact that I'm actually doing something about how I look! So it's really, yeah.

Sally: It's so interesting, isn't it? Um, they say that's one reason why women are perhaps more afraid of change than men because we care so much about relationships, and it's not that we have fear of our own success, but we don't want that, those relationships and those dynamics around us to potentially change.

So Julie, what advice do you share around that when people do the whole, I just can't walk in with different hair and different clothes. What will people say? What will people think?

Julie: Mm. Well look, some women will not even worry about it, but I would usually suggest to them that they advise people in their inner circle that they are going to be going through this process and for to ask for their support.

And that it's not necessarily going to change the relationship they have with them, but they're doing this for a reason, um, because they want to go down this path or they want to apply for this role or whatever it might be. So if you make people aware that you are doing it for yourself and that you, it's, you don't want it to affect any existing relationships, then that would be a way to, to go about that.

Sally: Yeah, Taking them on the journey, not just, you know.

Julie: Yes!

Sally: Like, surprise. Yeah. . Oh, Julie, how can people work with you?

Julie: Uh, very easy. Look, I have a very active LinkedIn profile. So people can find me on LinkedIn and connect with me on LinkedIn. Obviously, I have a website which goes under juliehyneimagestylist.com.au.

They can connect with me through there. It's really about starting a conversation, Sally, and I'm always open to starting a conversation, which is why I'm so active on LinkedIn. And I have, you know, I connect with lots of women on LinkedIn and I often find I'll have a message in my inbox. From someone that says, You know what? I've been, I've actually been following you for about five years.

Sally: Yeah. I get the same things.

Julie: And um, you know, it's time, it's time. I had this conversation and that's fabulous. And so that's perfect. And in fact, I was at a style event last week in Melbourne and I invited a lady in to have a one on one style session with me with, with some beautiful European designer fashion.

And she wrote me a lovely text back to say, You know what, Julie, I was really apprehensive about coming in. She was very nervous about coming in, in terms of what situation that might find herself in. And even at the start, she said, You know, I, I'm not gonna spend any money. I can't afford anything today. I said, That's absolutely fine.

And we just, you know, I'm just very gentle with them and just work them through. Well, at the end, she sent me this lovely text to say, It was the most amazing experience I've ever done. I cannot wait to work with you. And she actually invested in some fabulous pieces while she was there. Where at the start she was absolutely NoGo zone.

So it's just talking through the insecurities that people have about what does this mean for me? You know, and what uncomfortable situation am I going to be put in? I don't like anyone to be in an uncomfortable situation, so I do find I have to, you know, be very gentle sometimes.

Sally: That's such a beautiful story and I hear a similar stories as well of people saying, I've listened to your podcast for so many episodes, been following you on you on LinkedIn, and I've just now got the courage to send you a message.

So if you are listening to this and you are feeling like you would like to know more about what you could do with your image or with your voice, send us a dm.

Julie: Mm-hmm.

Sally: You know, just open up that conversation. Give yourself that permission. Make that change, and I will share all of Julie's details in the show notes as well.

Julie Hyne, thank you so much for coming on with the podcast. Was there anything final you would like to leave us with today?

Julie: Oh, Sally, thank you for asking that question. I think, um, you know, never ever, never ever think that you know, something is not possible. So if you are looking in the mirror at yourself and you are, thinking, Can I do better? Is there something else for me that I can do? Then always allow yourself the opportunity to to pursue that.

Sally: Oh, what a beautiful way to end. Julie Hyne, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Julie: You're welcome. Thank you, Sally.