126: {Interview} From Wall Street to Wardrobes with Amy Feldmier

Have you ever used style to transform your mindset, confidence and the way you present yourself? It is a powerful tool, especially when you have a big milestone coming up. When you feel good about the way that you look, there always is that extra bit of confidence or glow in your step. 

In this conversation, Amy shares her unique journey from a corporate career on Wall Street to becoming a luxury personal stylist. She discusses the transformative power of style in her life and the lives of her clients, emphasizing the importance of overcoming mindset challenges and the value of networking. Amy highlights how her experiences have shaped her approach to styling, focusing on the deeper impact it has on confidence and personal growth.

takeaways

• Amy transitioned from a corporate career to luxury personal styling.
• Her corporate background gives her a unique perspective as a stylist.
• Style served as a transformational tool in her life.
• Overcoming mindset challenges is crucial for entrepreneurs.
• Networking events can lead to significant opportunities.
• She emphasizes the importance of taking action despite fear.
• Her clients experience profound transformations through styling.
• Style is about more than clothing; it's about personal growth.
• Building a business requires overcoming self-doubt and fear.
• Community and support are vital for entrepreneurial success.

You can connect more with Amy HERE or on IG @stylfwrd 

Also, on LinkedIn HERE

Thanks for listening! 

Transcript

Caroline Pennington (00:01.697)
Welcome Amy.

Amy (00:03.49)
Thank you. I'm glad to be here today.

Caroline Pennington (00:06.989)
So you and I met at a live event last fall at She's Made for More in Fresno, California and have stayed in touch pretty closely since. And I feel like every time I talk with you or get to know more about you, I learn so much more. So tell me about where you are now and how did you get there?

Amy (00:24.652)
Yes, so I am a luxury personal stylist. I live in Tampa, Florida, and I did not start my career out that way. In fact, I started it in the corporate world. And from a corporate perspective, I started my career on Wall Street. I worked for Goldman Sachs for a number of years. I then went on to work for a big four accounting firm. So as you can see, absolutely nothing to do with the fashion world.

or styling. And so I think honestly, that is something that actually makes me pretty unique as a stylist because most other stylists come from the retail world. They come from the fashion world. They went to fashion school. They have that pedigree. And although that's absolutely amazing and it's good from a technical perspective, I think what differentiates me is the fact that I have this long tenured corporate background.

and the women that I serve, work with female corporate executives and entrepreneurs. I think they really appreciate that because I've been in their shoes and I understand what it's like to be gunning for a promotion or trying to improve your presence in the corporate space or building a business or growing a business. And so for me, my journey has been very much on the corporate side and it's required me to move mountains in my mindset to be able to make the leap into entrepreneurship.

Caroline Pennington (01:48.995)
Okay, so take me back to the very beginning. You were originally raised in South Carolina, correct?

Amy (01:54.284)
Yes, yes I was. I'm from Charleston, South Carolina. I was actually born in Dallas and funny story, my dad knew someone who told him that Charleston was beautiful because it was on the water. And so without even visiting, he packed us all up and we moved to Charleston when I was two. So I grew up on Edisto Island back when there was not much there. And we lived on Edisto Island until my sister,

had to go to fifth grade and they just didn't have fifth grade back then. So we moved into the city, into Charleston and I grew up there. My parents are Egyptian. They're both Egyptian. I'm Egyptian. And I grew up in the eighties in South Carolina at a time when, you know, there wasn't a lot of diversity and we were definitely one of the few foreign people there, especially growing up in Edisto. So it was different. know, I had a very, I had a very different childhood.

Caroline Pennington (02:50.989)
So tell me, I've heard the story a little bit, but I want our listeners to hear this too, about how you started incorporating style into your life and how it started defining kind of who you are as a confident woman and tell me about all those things. I've heard you touch on before.

Amy (03:07.532)
Yes. So style for me has always been a huge transformational tool. And it's the reason why I, you know, despite the success in the corporate world, I really wanted to follow my passion into styling because I, you know, like I said, I grew up at a time in Charleston where it wasn't very diverse in the eighties and early nineties. And I was bullied a lot. And that bullying wasn't just when I was young, it was, know, through high school and being a young adult. So.

you know, I was picked on a lot for my ethnicity because I just didn't look like everyone else. You know, I was heavy. So that was a big thing. I was bullied a lot for my weight. And, know, it got to the point where at the beginning of high school, I, I felt like really defeated by it. You know, I, every guy that I ever had a crush on somehow he ended up finding out and was, just did not have a good reaction. it wears on your self esteem, you know, and then people that I thought were my friends would end up talking about me behind my back.

So, you know, I went through this little period where I kind of retreated into my own world and I really spent my time instead of being social focusing on the things that I loved. And I would sit in my room for hours on end with the Delia's and the alloy catalogs. If anyone remembers those from the nineties and I would put together outfits, I would say, if I could buy anything I wanted, like hear all the things I would buy. And I would like cut out the pictures and make a little outfits and,

You know, I was fortunate at that time that my parents allowed me to buy some of those things. And so I started cultivating my own style. And by the time I finished high school, I was not only voted most unique style, but I also had people come up to me who hadn't spoken to me in those four years and got to know me towards the end and said, wow, like you're so cool. I was just always so intimidated to talk to you. And I thought like intimidated. I used to be bullied, you know, like I'm not intimidating. And then

You know, I realized like that's what the style did for me. It gave me this confidence that I did not have because, you know, as you could see, I was being bullied left, front and center. And it really helped me step into the person that I was and that I wanted to be. And it gave me a different sense of what was gonna be possible for me in my life because it literally changed how I thought about myself and how I was behaving in the outside world.

Caroline Pennington (05:34.249)
story and thank you for sharing. shared even more this time around than I heard before, so thank you for that. Okay, so you had some big fancy, I mean you've worked on freaking Wall Street, that's awesome, and for these big four accounting firms, like you don't get those jobs if you are not really good at what you do. So you have the corporate career, you climb that ladder, check the boxes, you still I'm sure are doing styling at a minimum to yourself and probably your friends, but when did you start?

actually making a career out of it and tell me about what that looked like. Did you go to a networking event? Was it a coach that you hired? Tell me all the things.

Amy (06:11.938)
Yeah, so I started my career in 2006, so very interesting time. And then I went through the financial crisis while working at Goldman. And that was interesting to say the least. I think every day we thought we were going to lose our jobs. We would walk into work and people were carrying their boxes out. I didn't know if I would survive. And I was lucky at that time to be young enough in my career that I didn't have a whole lot.

to lose, but I knew early on that although it was glamorous and it was fun and I was learning so much and I had great friends and great coworkers, that it wasn't really my path. And as I continued my corporate career and I continued to become more successful, I really enjoyed my corporate career. It gave me so much polish that I bring into my business and into entrepreneurship that I definitely would not have without it.

I've learned firsthand how to start businesses just by watching how we start them in the corporate space, right? And so despite the amazing experiences that I've had, you know, I felt inside that I wasn't really giving to the world what I'm really good at. And I am really good at using style to overcome insecurities that you have about your body.

and using style to change your mindset to be able to achieve things in life. And I've done it time and time again. I did it also in my corporate career. And so, for me, that voice inside that we have sometimes that tells us that despite how wonderful things look on the outside, something just isn't right, it started to get louder and louder. And about five or six years ago, I started to think about what else could I do?

And at the time it was pre-pandemic. And then when the pandemic hit, I really thought about it because the thing is nothing is secure in the corporate world, despite how well you're doing. It doesn't matter what position you have. You could be let go at any time and the world could change at any time. And although there are impacts with that in entrepreneurship, there's something about being in a corporate role and at the mercy of someone else that's very, very unsettling. And so I knew that

Amy (08:25.076)
not only was this voice getting louder that I needed to do something that was my true passion and that would really allow me to give back to the world, but also that I needed to have security. I needed to be able to know that if something were to happen, whether it was the economy or just something that happened at work, I had something that I built that I could fall back on. But getting to that point was not easy because

If you're someone like me and many people who grew up around the same time that I did or the exact same way where you're bred to be in corporate, despite the fact that actually both my parents were entrepreneurs, I think that's even more why they pushed me down the corporate path. But if you've grown up knowing that that's your only path to success, that is a very hard thing to break mentally. It is very difficult to see any other mode of success, any other path for you. And so the bulk of the work for me,

was overcoming my mindset. Back when I first started on this journey, it was all about, okay, what could I do to be financially secure? What could I do to make money? And I wasn't really thinking about what am I inherently good at and what am I passionate about? So I started selling a product on Amazon that I created. was wax strips for hair removal, which I actually still sell. It's like on autopilot in the background, because...

I'm not gonna get into the Amazon story today, but I know that you also sell on Amazon, so you understand. just the marketplace has changed so much. anyway, my initial venture was what could I do to create security and money? And so I wasn't thinking with passion in mind. But even starting that business, the thought of even opening up an LLC was terrifying to me. I was like, I can't do that, that's serious. Then I have to report it to the IRS and then it's a real thing. And I can't really do that.

I, I just told myself that this was June of 2020. So as the world was crumbling around me, now is the time, if you don't take this step now, you're just not going to take it. And so I started this business and I opened up that LLC and I started talking to suppliers, which was the scariest thing in the world. And as I kept taking these little baby steps,

Amy (10:37.976)
things started to become more real in my mind. And my mind started to get used to the fact that, okay, this is happening. This is something we're doing. Despite the fact that at times it would say like, what are you doing? You're gonna kill us. Like you're putting us at risk. And so you have to quiet that voice down. And the best way to quiet that voice down is by taking action. And so I kept taking one step after the other, after the other. And then when I launched the product, it was really, really successful.

But then as you know on Amazon much worse now, but even back in 2020, you know, the Chinese sellers start to attack anyone who's doing very well. They start to try to copy you. They steal your images. They steal the copy on your listing, all kinds of things. And so as I started to face these battles, I asked myself, like, why are you doing this? Because even at the times when I was very successful, I thought to myself, I'm still not helping people. I'm still not

making an impact on people. Like, I think it's great that someone out there is a little less hairy thanks to this product, but I'm not changing people's lives and impacting them in the way that I really want to. That's going to give me that fulfillment that I crave, that I really seek. And so, you know, in that venture, an opportunity just fell out of the sky with some really close friends of ours who happen to be our neighbors. And they come from the e-commerce world and they approached us about opening up

a warehouse in Tampa where we live. And I thought, well, that's great because now I can serve e-commerce sellers who are just like me, who need a place to store their product, who needs someone to fulfill their product, who give them really good quality service. Because in that e-commerce space, the 3PL warehouses have this reputation for just being very difficult to work with and expensive. you know, we, sought out to really solve that problem by giving top-notch service.

and making our prices affordable for our clients, which we really did. And so, you know, I'm in that journey and even getting to that point, there was a lot of hurdles that I had to overcome with my mindset, but that felt safe because I wasn't doing it alone. I was doing it with these very experienced partners who knew way more than me. And it was great until we had to close the business down. They had some changes in their personal lives. They wanted to step away from the business. And so it left me

Amy (13:04.0)
at this point where I thought maybe I'm just not cut out to be an entrepreneur. And then going back to the original reason why I even did this for safety and security, because we just don't know what's gonna happen at any given point, especially post pandemic. I I think that that really kind of scared everyone into re-examining their priorities. But, know, I thought like, I have two of these now under my belt where I like pushed myself and I pushed past my mindset and it still didn't work out. And so I had to ask myself like,

What are you gonna do now? And I went through a really dark period where I really retreated into myself, very similar to what I did in high school to overcome the bullying. I retreated into myself and I'm actually reading a book right now. It's called Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill. I don't know if you've read it. It's excellent. And it's all about that voice inside that tries to keep you safe. It's all about overcoming the mindset and listening to your soul and what your soul is actually talking to you.

and telling you to do. And so in this period, when I retreated into myself, my soul was telling me like, the style has been there the whole time. Like I literally one day sat there and I asked myself like, what do people come to you for? And without hesitation, was, you know, the style, like people have always come to me for that. My friends, my coworkers, when I was on Wall Street would have me take them shopping.

They even suggested at one point 15 years ago that I should be a stylist. And I was like, no, I work with you guys. I'm not doing that. And I honestly, I wish I had listened to them. But the point is that I got into styling because I finally put down this need to make money, to have security, to, you know, just be an entrepreneur just for the sake of it. And really ask myself, like, you want to make an impact on people? What is the best way that you can do that? And

the answer just came immediately and it was styling. It's always been there for me. It's always been there. And so how I knew it was the right move was that everything started to just align. And at the time I was in a mastermind with Kathy Heller. I don't know if you're familiar with her, but she is huge on energy and mindset. And she always says that when you are doing anything, whether it be in business or otherwise,

Amy (15:26.4)
you will know you're on the right path because the doors just start to open and things just start to fall into place. The people that you need to meet start to come to you. Everything just starts to align. And that's exactly what started happening for me as I started this styling business. And it's been amazing ever since.

Caroline Pennington (15:44.279)
Okay, I love this story. We might need to have a side conversation. We have very similar experiences with Amazon and the product and the pivoting again and all of the things. So thank you for sharing. I love this. And you really touched on something that I talk a lot about too. And I know that you and I are similar in this. You have to start taking tiny action. I have so many people that they have excuses or they think it's not possible for them.

Amy (15:47.468)
you

Amy (15:53.101)
Yes.

Caroline Pennington (16:12.961)
and they compare themselves to people who have been on the journey for five years or 10 years and you can't do that. Like you just have to start and it's gonna be messy and it's gonna be like, ick and cringe, but you just have to be okay with it in the beginning because honestly, this is something that's humbling and someone that told me one time and it made me wanna cry and go sit in the corner when I heard it, but they were right. And it was like, when you start your journey out, like,

Not that many people know who you are anyways in the beginning. you, that's the time to be messy. Like once you start to build the snowball, then people start to know you more. So at the time it stung, I was like, but like I know like a hundred people like are like, what?

Amy (16:44.43)
True. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Amy (16:54.478)
Yeah, yeah, that is so true. And you do have to take action despite how you feel. it does not matter. I love Leila Hermosy and she's constantly saying, you know, F your mood, take action because it doesn't matter if you feel like it. All the people that you admire that you think are so successful, they don't wake up every day and just feel like it. They didn't wake up on day one and have all the answers. It's just one messy step in front of the other.

And it's very messy and it's, you're going to put stuff out that embarrasses you. And you're like, what, what was I thinking? Why would I even do that? But at least you did it, you know.

Caroline Pennington (17:33.729)
Yeah, I love her too. And it's like, the athlete will never make fun of you working out in the gym. The entrepreneur will never make fun of you for starting that business. The podcast host will never make fun of you for putting that episode out there. So I love that. And I love her too in that message. So what's been your, what's been your biggest challenge as an entrepreneur?

Amy (17:47.81)
Yeah.

Amy (17:53.676)
Definitely the mindset. It is a roller coaster. As you know, some days you're like, my God, things are working out. I'm getting all these clients. I'm getting these interviews. Things are happening. And then other days you're like, it's all falling apart. Is it over? Should I sell all my belongings and move to a deserted Island? Like it's so inconsistent. And I think that's the hardest thing, especially coming from corporate where you have your role, you know exactly what your responsibilities are.

You know who you report to, you know who reports to you. You don't really worry about whether or not you're gonna get your paycheck deposited every two weeks. You you might worry here and there about whether or not you're gonna let go, be let go, but for the most part, it's very predictable and it's very safe. And when you come from that world and all of a sudden you're having to go out and get your own clients and make your own name and post your own content, like, yes, it is great to not have to answer to anybody and to have full creative freedom.

basically say and do whatever you want to, but it is very terrifying and your mind will be the first thing to tell you that it's not working and you should have known better. You're taking big scary risks, you should really stop, that's not safe. Those voices get very loud and I think that mastering your mindset is a lifelong journey. You're never gonna get to the point where you're like, okay, great, I know how to do it now, so I'm done.

it's constant because they always say like new level, new devil, the more successful you get, there's gonna be different things that that voice is telling you. So for me, in the beginning, as things were starting to align and the doors were opening, I was like, my God, this is great. But I still had to master my mind of saying that I was even capable of going down this path because there was a part of me that was like, what are you doing? This is insane. Look, you've had two.

essentially failures, failures under your belt. Why are you doing this? Just stay in your corporate job. And so you have to kind of listen to your soul going back to the book, Outwitting the Devil. It's learning to listen to what your soul is saying and that voice and not what your mind says. Because your mind is your nervous system and your nervous system is programmed by nature to keep us safe. That's why that voice is even there because

Amy (20:12.492)
It's there to make sure that you don't actually physically step off a ledge, but it doesn't know that that's not the same thing as taking a step forward and building a business.

Caroline Pennington (20:22.615)
My therapist calls it reptile brain.

Amy (20:25.228)
Yes, yes, absolutely.

Caroline Pennington (20:29.891)
Okay, so you and I met in the room. She's made for more last year. And I know that why is it important to get in the rooms?

Amy (20:39.774)
Ugh, I have to say that event really changed so much for me. It changed like honestly everything. It was a very pivotal moment in my business to this point. And even my husband mentioned the same thing to me. So that event you went to in California was critical for you. And so it's important to get in the room because you never know who you're gonna meet. And it's not, you know, from a business opportunity perspective.

Caroline Pennington (20:55.639)
Thanks for being here.

Amy (21:07.84)
It's from a life perspective. There's people that met each other in that room that had crazy things in common that they didn't even realize that are now really good friends. There's people in that room that partnered together in business and they would not have met had they not gone to that event. I got a client by being in that room. I met you by being in that room. I have coaches and mentors who are in that room. So it's...

uncomfortable and I, you know, I went to that event and I didn't know anyone. I was walking in there and I only knew Crystal, the host. and I had never even met her in person. So it's sometimes scary, especially when you feel like you're an imposter and you're not that far along in your business to go to these events and be in this, in these rooms, but it is critical for business. And I'll tell you that every other type of event I've been to since then has also been a very critical milestone in my path. So.

Getting in the room is really important. It doesn't mean you go to everything, but if something feels like it aligns for you, it doesn't matter how far along you are in your business or who you know or who you don't know. If you don't know anyone, just go alone. You will meet people. And I met incredible people, including you in that room. get in the rooms. That's really important.

Caroline Pennington (22:24.631)
And I'm gonna second that. Yes, it costs time. Yes, it costs money, but it is literally worth it every single time. Okay, so last question for you. What is lighting you up with some of the clients you're working with right now?

Amy (22:32.323)
Yes.

Amy (22:38.918)
yes. So one thing that I really love about my clients is that they feel really comfortable texting me and I love that and I encourage that. And so I am constantly, I posted a couple of them on my stories yesterday. I am constantly getting comments from them about how they're showing up differently, right? Like they're getting compliments everywhere they go. I was on a Zoom call with one of them actually.

And she just wrote a book, so she's going on these tours. And I could just see her, her whole face was lit up and she was carrying herself so much differently than she did before I started working with her. And she messaged me afterwards and she was like, I can't tell you how many people keep commenting on how amazing I look. And these were things that she would have never even picked out for herself. So.

What I'm really loving to see, like, yes, I love the fact that people are getting compliments and they think they look really good. But as I always say, style is not about the clothing. It is a transformational tool. And that's how I have really come to love style in my own life. And that's what I see for my clients. And that that's really lighting me up because I'm seeing them get more clients. I'm seeing them network better. I'm seeing them put themselves out there for things that they weren't doing before. I'm seeing them even little things like

changing their Instagram profile photo to all of the sudden they're now front and center and they were too afraid to do that before. So watching the transformation that happens in people, that is exactly why I got into styling and that is the basis of the styling that I do. is, yes, it's the technical stuff of how to dress for your body shape and making sure that you don't have dated clothes and that kind of thing. But for me and my clients, it's always a bigger picture. It's always about

seeking that transformation in your life and really stepping into the person that you want to become.

Caroline Pennington (24:35.649)
So how can our listeners find you?

Amy (24:38.338)
Well, I am on LinkedIn. am Amy Feldmeier on LinkedIn and on Instagram, I am Style Forward, S-T-Y-L-F-W-R-D. And you can also link to my website and lots of fun other things on my Instagram.

Caroline Pennington (24:53.175)
Thanks, Amy.

Amy (24:54.552)
Thank you.