How Your Personal Style Aligns With Your Brand with Naana Badu
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Description
The clothes you wear aren’t just about style—they’re an extension of your personal brand. My guest, Naana Badu, firmly believes this, and I couldn’t agree more! Naana is an image consultant, speaker, and style coach with a unique ability to help women express their authentic selves through fashion. As the founder of Badu Basics, she works with high-achieving women of color to transform their wardrobes into powerful reflections of their personal brands.
Naana’s approach focuses on helping her clients align their style with their personal brand in a way that feels intentional and authentic. She shares practical advice on how you can evaluate your own wardrobe and brand to make sure they’re working in harmony, offering tips you can implement right away to make impactful changes.
In this episode of Branding Room Only, Naana dives deep into why it’s crucial to align your style with your brand and how doing so can influence the way you’re perceived, both personally and professionally. She walks us through the framework she uses with clients to ensure their style reflects their brand’s message, and shares her own journey of building an authentic personal brand.
Chapters
1:19 - What personal branding means to Naana, herself in three words, the quote resonating for her right now, and her hype music
4:28 - The dual situation Naana faced growing up and learning to embrace the uniqueness of difference
8:30 - Naana’s career transitions and how she has always seen style as a difference-maker
15:32 - How Naana collaborates with others to help them find their authentic personal style in different areas of their lives
21:25 - Working with men and the framework Naana uses to help clients transition their wardrobe
24:54 - How Naana builds trust with her clients and her belief in women hyping each other up
30:36 - How Naana has built her personal styling and image consultancy brand
37:19 - How the pandemic shifted people’s view and sense of their personal style
40:33 - Naana explains the ABCDs of image and how she teaches image consulting to FIT students
45:39 - Naana’s advice for what you can do to build your brand right now
48:50 - What Naana does for fun and her uncompromisable brand aspect and magic
Connect With Naana Badu
Naana Badu is a corporate-creative black woman who went from working as a management consultant for IBM and Deloitte to a stylist and certified image consultant of her own business, Badu Basics. She launched her company to help women of color shine and focus on their personal and professional development by feeling confident about how they look. She has over 10 years of coaching and consulting experience and received her certification from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Based in Brooklyn, NY, she lives with her husband and is on the executive board of the NY Tri-State Chapter of the Association of Image Consultants International (AICI).
Badu Basics | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Mentioned In How Your Personal Style Aligns With Your Brand with Naana Badu
Picture Perfect: Paula’s Rules for Capturing Your Personal Brand with the Right Photos
Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
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Sponsor for this episode
This episode is brought to you by PGE Consulting Group LLC.
PGE Consulting Group LLC is dedicated to providing a practical hybrid of professional development training and diversity solutions. From speaking to consulting to programming and more, all services and resources are carefully tailored for each partner. Paula Edgar’s distinct expertise helps engage attendees and create lasting change for her clients.
To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.
Transcript
Paula Edgar: Welcome to The Branding Room Only Podcast where we share career stories, strategies, and lessons learned on how industry leaders and influencers have built their personal brands. Now, let's get started with the show.
Hi everybody, it's Paula Edgar, your host of Branding Room Only, and I'm so excited for my conversation today with Naana Badu. She changes lives through style. As an image consultant, speaker, and style coach, Naana helps high performing women of color and leadership transform their wardrobe from unnoticed to unmissable.
Through her styling and image consulting firm, Badu Basics, she teaches how to strategically create personal style that aligns with your personal brand—I love that—and positions you for your next bold career move. That being said, Naana, welcome to The Branding Room.
Naana Badu: Thank you, Paula. Look at that, you'd be an announcer, girl.
Paula Edgar: One day I'll write a book about what I used to do. But anyway, so excited for this conversation. First of all, I was like, “What am I going to wear for this?” Everybody who's listening, you need to go check the YouTube so you can see that our outfits are doing all the things right now, because we have to step up the game. Naana, what does personal branding mean to you? How do you define it?
Naana Badu: I look at personal branding like your own reputation. It's very much an extension of who you are, your gifts, your talents, and what you want to be known for. What do people say about you when you're not in the room? How do people describe you? How do they talk about you? It's an energy, it's a feeling, it's an experience.
Paula Edgar: I love that energy.
Naana Badu: That's how I feel about it.
Paula Edgar: I like to say your personal brand is your magic.
Naana Badu: Mm. Mm.
Paula Edgar: Tell me, what is your magic? How would you describe yourself in three words or short phrases?
Naana Badu: Dynamic, intentional, and I'm funny.
Paula Edgar: You are funny because I will say that, so Naana and I were connected on LinkedIn before this, this was the first time we actually had a chance to meet. But I love people who show their authentic self through their commentary and their posts. I can say that that's exactly what you do. Because I feel like I know you already. I always love it when people tell me that because I'm like, “That means that all this is resonating.” So I do feel like we go way back.
Naana Badu: I love that. Oh, that feels so good.
Paula Edgar: Tell me, do you have a favorite quote or mantra?
Naana Badu: You know right now what's resonating with me is everything aligns for your highest good. That always sinks deep when things are topsy-turvy, you stress, overwhelmed, you're just like, “No, everything that's happening is for my highest good and intention. So let me ease up off of the worry breaks.”
Paula Edgar: That's a word. The good part about that quote is a word that everybody can hear and incorporate because we all, at some point, have something where we're like, "Hmm."
Naana Badu: Ooh. When you don't make any sounds, you know something's going on.
Paula Edgar: That part. Tell me, do you have a hype song? I define hype song two ways. One, when they're going to get full Naana in a room, what song is playing in your head? Or if you're having a bad day, what song are you going to play to hype yourself up? It could be the same song or a different song?
Naana Badu: Okay, so hype, there's so many. I'm not a one-song hype girl but genre-wise, you could play anything 90s hip-hop. Janet Jackson is my girl. If you run that Rhythm Nation track, I'm going to get all the steps, we’re going to do the choreo.
Paula Edgar: Okay, so we are best friends then. I'm going to just go ahead and choose Pleasure Principle because I just wanted to pull from the Janet.
Naana Badu: Listen, listen, do I want knee pads?
Paula Edgar: Best of the best, on the chair. Oh, awesome. So, where did you grow up, and how did that shape you?
Naana Badu: I grew up in Baltimore County. I am the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants to the United States. My parents came to the U.S. in 1970 and the youngest girl of two boys with my older brothers, I should say youngest of the three, and I grew up in a community that was mostly white.
In my elementary school, my brother and I were the only Black kids for free kindergarten, kindergarten through fourth grade, because I remember the exact moment in fourth grade when another Black girl came in and I said, "Now hold on, you look like me."
But it was very interesting because I always had a dual situation happening. My parents are West African, but I was born here in the United States. So I'm very much a Black girl, then also I'm an African girl, but raised in America. There was always this piece of sometimes feeling like, “Oh, I'm totally fitting in and in this space, but oh no, I'm different.”
When I go home, Mom's cooking Jollof rice and plantains all the time, she would make some spaghetti too. But it's like all of the things that people feel excited about now when they think about Ghana and West Africa and dope prints and Afro beats and all those things.
Sometimes it's just so ironic to me because I'm like, “Yeah, I had that all the time. Mom was wearing matching print sets all the time.” That's just what it was. You went to outdoor rings and you went to funeral celebrations and that's what it was. It was just the culture.
Of course, now as you get older, I have just a deeper appreciation for it. But yeah, I just grew up really as a tomboy. Funny enough, people always find that hilarious as a stylist.
Paula Edgar: Well, two older brothers.
Naana Badu: Two older brothers, it makes sense.
Paula Edgar: That'll do it.
Naana Badu: Yeah, I was super into sports. Yeah, then it was definitely that mix of being one of the only Black kids in school that also definitely allowed me to understand whiteness and Blackness in a different way. Also being a smart Black kid. I was like, “Oh no, I'm a nerd so I'm fitting to get straight A's. Mom and Dad expect me to do well. I don't know what y'all doing, but I ain't doing that. Say no to drugs.” I was not that kid.
Paula Edgar: Yeah, that resonates with me because I went to boarding school. That definitely resonates. I understood.
Naana Badu: You did it, yeah. All those things just I think really helped me appreciate being different in uniqueness. I felt that early on and I embraced it. I liked it in a lot of different ways.
Paula Edgar: I think that says a lot about you because so many times, people tell their stories about being an other because the majority was whatever X was and that felt for them marginalizing that they couldn't step into their individual self and their authentic self.
I know it often takes a while to get there, but even being able to say, “Well, yes, I'm different and,” it speaks to strength of character, which I believe comes from values and then it really does shape your brand, it shapes who you are and how you're doing in the space. Awesome.
Talk to me about your career path. You've been a management consultant at Deloitte and you've done all the things and now you have your own style consultancy. So what inspired all of those transitions? Talk to me about your path there.
Naana Badu: Yeah. Like I mentioned, my parents are from Ghana. There's one of a few approved professions when you graduate from college. You're going to be a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse. I was like, “I'm not doing any of those.” In all actuality, I wanted to be a TV producer, but I went into college and my mom and dad and some other relatives were like, "What are you going to do with that?" "No, you need to change." I was like, "I don't know."
No, I changed over to business. Got a business degree, graduated, and was like, "What do I do with this marketing degree?" But I was like, “Let me go to these career fairs, get this good job, IBM.” Y'all heard of it, you're relieved, great. I started working in the corporate space.
From college, I always loved style. I definitely had a reputation for being dressed up, going to class, walking around in heels. I just love to play in the style space. So that continued when I went into the workplace.
I think for me, it was a different way of expressing myself and understanding that I'm smart and I can get the work done and I'm driven, but I know I have to stand out in some other way for you to take notice of me. Whether it was at the career fair or I'm coming up to you because I want to get on your project or I think you'd be a great mentor or whatever the thing was, I was always, in my mind, like, “How am I going to connect with this person? Have I heard about something they said about their family?”
I was always trying to figure out how I'm going to be different from everybody else. Even though I was one of the only Black folks, women, youngest, etc, etc, etc., I was still like, “Nah, I need something more.” So I think in that sense, I understood what personal branding was without knowing what the term was. Style became one of those things. So while everyone was in mostly Black and navy suits and such, I was like, “I'm going to Express because they got colors.”
Paula Edgar: Shout out Express.
Naana Badu: Shout out Express. I mean, and this is the early 2000s. I was like, “Oh, I love this color, I love these pink pants. Ooh, maybe I could wear a head wrap with this.” I was just experimenting. That became a calling card. People would always comment on my style and how energetic it was and how much of a light I was when I would enter the room and how they just couldn't wait to communicate and engage with me.
That lent itself well to me building client relationships as a management consultant, it was a super important skill set. All of those things came to just be in it. It wasn't until I left IBM because burnout and I decided to go independent and do more contracting.
I took on a contract at Deloitte, and I had a manager for the first time who was a Black woman and I was like, “Yes, this is amazing.” She was phenomenal. She still is. One day she approached me, she's like, "Naana, I think I need your help." I'm like, "Tell me, what's up?"
She's like, “Well, I'm going for a promotion from manager to senior manager. My skills on paper, my work product, all of that is tight, but my wardrobe, it is making me feel more like a junior associate. I'm in the room with these partners and I'm not feeling like at my best. Can you help me?” I was like, “Absolutely.” So we did this whole What Not to Wear inspired experience. For those of a certain age, you can reference that show.
Paula Edgar: They say.
Naana Badu: They see a clone, I think they're making a comeback too. Anyway. We did that experience and she got the promotion. She showed up very consistently in her newly found style. Of course, people took notice, not just of the clothes, but her, like, “What's been happening with you?” She shared, “I worked with Naana.” From there, that led to referrals and other opportunities. I said, “Okay I want to get into the styling thing.”
Prior to that, I had been styling, but more on the commercial side of things like photo shoots, a musician, or TV show. But it was this space of personal styling with a woman who looked just like me for work and she really wanted to put her best foot forward to feel confident, elevate in her career, and crush it with her personal brand. I was like, “I like this. This is what I like.” That's when I pivoted in the business and just really started to focus on helping women of color in that space.
Paula Edgar: I love that. I talk about personal branding all the time. It's literally what I do and one of the conversation pieces that I find to be challenging because you can't really tell somebody what their style is but you can figure out to get collaborative what their style is, but I always say, “You have to have a style. There should be something I'm expecting in how you're going to show up and that is in your work products and it's also in how you show up.”
For example, I just said in the conference call just recently, “If you ever see me in a suit, something has gone wrong. Something has gone very, very wrong. Call the police.” It's because I love a dress and I love a fancy dress. I consider myself my own Barbie doll. I'm like, “What can I wear?”
Naana Badu: That's right. That's right.
Paula Edgar: But the thing about when I tell women, and primarily women and women of color, when we're having conversations, is about having a set standard for themselves, whatever that is. It's hard because I'm like, “You don't have to show up with colored nails and red lips and big glasses. You don't have to do that, but you do have to have an understanding of what you're,” my mother used to say, “What's your minimum? When you walk outside, what's your minimum?” For her, it was like no ashy elbows, no ashy lips.
Naana Badu: Come on, Ma, be moisturized.
Paula Edgar: Exactly. I wonder how do you balance being authentic and being a professional in all these different spaces? I'm a lawyer, I work with a lot of lawyers. When you're talking about Deloitte and being a consultant, there's a lot of overlaps, same thing with finance in what people are expecting you to show up as.
But I also love what you said in that you understood the game changer was showing up a little bit different too. What do you tell them? Give us a taste of when they show up, you'd be like, “Hey, let me see your resume in outfit.”
Naana Badu: Right. It's so funny what you said at the top of that conversation around it being collaborative. I'm not coming in and saying, “Oh, your style is this and your style is that.” I can give you some frameworks so there are seven different fashion styles that we go through and we identify which ones resonate with you the most.
Then we talk through and create a mood board for you so that we can get really specific around how that translates. What does that look like in work? What does that look like in weekend? What are you doing in your lifestyle? What are your career goals? Because I think as I work with women and take them through my process, they begin to see where they're showing up in a way that's either more conformative or traditional or just simply, it's not them. More was who they were 10 years ago because the closet don't lie. So when you’re picking up the clothes and you're like, “Girl, I've had that for 15 years.”
Paula Edgar: Is there a camera in here? Not the closet doesn't lie. Oh, that hurt.
Naana Badu: The closet don't lie.
Paula Edgar: Let me throw out my acid-wash jeans real quick. Wow, what else? I think that's a really good thing. I remember somebody told me years ago to shop my own closet and I was like, "Why when all the internet exists?"
Naana Badu: Oh, good, I want something else.
Paula Edgar: But I do think that's a good framework in terms of thinking about it because then you might be able to re-look at what you already have in a different way too.
Naana Badu: Yes, 100%. Step one when I work with clients is always getting clarity. We have to get clear and have a clear vision of where your style is now and what you want it to be. That's why we take you through the exercise of what fashion styles resonate with you.
If I'm throwing a mood board in front of you and I'm giving you these colors or these prints or these textures or these cuts, what hits with you and you're like, “Oh, I love this or I hate this”? You do have likes and dislikes. Everybody has preferences of things.
I think to your question about, especially in the workplace in certain professions where the standard is very specific as an attorney in the management consulting space, the standard is very specific, you have to come back to what aligns with you.
At the top of this, you ask me three words to describe myself. I ask my clients the same thing. I'm like, “When you're not in the room, what do you want people to say about you?” We're going to have a whole big old conversation about that.
If you tell me, “I want them to see me as inviting, endearing, smart, determined,” you choose the words, not me, I'm not you. You tell me and I'm going to reflect back to you, when I reflect back to you and I'm like, “Well, you said you just got this promotion and you want to make sure that people see you as sharp, poise, and ready to take on this new role so when I come into your closet and I see a lot of soft cardigans and maybe a lot of floral prints, that doesn't translate as sharp, poise, and ready for business. I need sharp, crisp lines. I need some fluid silhouettes.”
It's about I can give you the language and help you translate how words can go from your personality trait to a piece of clothing, garment, or accessory, but we got to get clear on what the words are. How are we describing ourselves and how are we connecting that to how we show up?
Paula Edgar: I love that. I'm going to just be like Cowboy Carter. Let me get my hat.
Naana Badu: Come on, come on, come on.
Paula Edgar: I love that because first of all, when I think about personal brand, I always think about strategy. It always has to be reflective and also has to iterate because when I think about my style transition, me pre-children was a different me. It was a very different me. Now, me now, post-children who don't need me to feed them, is a very different me.
Naana Badu: Come on, more time for me, more time in the morning.
Paula Edgar: Exactly. When I think about that, I did, I used to wear a lot of shift dresses, I’m like, “This is easy, shift dress, shift dress.” Now I'm like, “I wear what I want because they're gone already.”
Also thinking about how our bodies shift too and realizing what your body does, I just think it's such an important piece. I know you work primarily with women of color. Do you ever work with men?
Naana Badu: I do work with men. It's funny because I'll get the boyfriend or the spouse of the woman. That's a common thing. Yeah, when I did a lot more styling in the commercial space with musicians and things, there were more men in that space too. Men are great because they're, listen, one store, we fit in to be done. They get very clear.
I think a lot of times with men and with women as well, there is a knowledge deficit happening. The framework that I use to walk my clients through to help them transition their wardrobe is called the CKC method. That simply means that clarity plus knowledge builds your confidence in style.
Knowledge is all about debunking the things that you think are going on with how you're supposed to look, what fits your body and what doesn't, what you can and cannot wear, et cetera, et cetera, and starting to refill you with, so let me break off some gems to you real quick, this your body right here, you can do a whole lot.
So if you thought that you were limited because, "Oh, my bust is so big, oh, my hips, oh, my booty, oh, oh," I'm like, “Girl. What? We can find the right things. We can find the right things.” So, yeah.
Paula Edgar: I love that because even as somebody who—my closet, I love it very much, I'm looking at it. I have one room with a big closet in it—but even as somebody who thinks about this a lot, I also love the excitement of being able to refine and to be thoughtful and, again, strategic.
I asked the question about men because it's exactly what you're hitting on. I thought to myself, “I'm going to have all these women being like, ‘Now I'm flying,’ and here goes this fool.”
Naana Badu: No.
Paula Edgar: When we step it up, we shine a big light.
Naana Badu: Huge, huge, huge, huge. It's so funny because I was just with a client yesterday and just talking about the fact that she's like, “Before, I wasn't so used to the attention that I get now when people will stop you on the street or I'm just going to get my coffee and someone's like, ‘Oh, you’re so beautiful today.’ You go up to the register and the barista's like, ‘I love your outfit. I love your glasses. Wow, cute bags.’”
Before, you were like, “Dang, I don't know what I was doing before because I wouldn't get no love.” But it's a very big difference and it's a shift. You're right. If you're with your partner, your husband, and they like, “Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye. Okay. you can't just be out here just all getting out.” You're like, "Well, come on, boo."
Paula Edgar: Right, exactly. Let's all step it up.
Naana Badu: Let's all step it up.
Paula Edgar: When you're talking about this, I'm thinking, “If I were to do this, I would really need to trust you. Trust that you're going to tell me the truth. Trust that you know what you're doing.” How do you build trust with your clients as an image consultant?
Naana Badu: Yeah, trust is huge. It's huge. For me, I do my best to meet my client where they are and let them know we fit [inaudible]. We’re going to take some time to get to the place where you open up your closet and your life. I feel a completely different experience than I did three, six months ago.
I find that it’s important to understand, I listen so much, I listen for what's said. I listen and watch and observe body language when you're trying things on. When clients work with me, every day you send me a picture of what you're wearing because that's the way that I get to see in real time.
When the stances go from shrugs to hand on waist, poise, shoulders back, I'm like, “Okay, I see what's happening here.” So that trust for me starts with listening and understanding where you are now and then beginning to introduce things to you.
I think it was also important to let people know there's a clear plan. Like, “This is what we're going to do.” That's the management consultancy. We're going to break it down. I would be like, “We're going to meet today. I'm coming through your closet. Make sure you have A, B, and C done. This is what we're going to do.”
You are going to be clear on what's happening next and what the expectation is of you so you won't feel like, “Well, I'm not sure. I'm lost. How do I get a hold of you?” We're going to be clear about how we work together. I'm a hype girl. Women as a whole, I know what it's like to not feel confident at your best or to put a lot of pressure on yourself.
I'm a totally high achiever like, “Oh, I didn't get that A, I didn't get that promotion. Oh, I wanted that thing. I didn't get it. Why, why, why?” Then will spiral into the depths of disappointment and will be very hard on myself. I know what that feeling is like when you're just like, “Man, you want to make a change in your career.”
I wanted to get into the fashion industry and all them doors closed in my face. They didn't want me. They didn't understand my skills as a consultant. How's that going to fit in over here at DKNY or sex?” We don't get it like did you go to FIT? Did you go to [inaudible]? No, I didn’t go there. But you can hire me though. I got skills.
Paula Edgar: But I'm cute.
Naana Badu: Right. They would say, "No." That wreaked havoc on my confidence. I mean, I just love the power of social media, especially LinkedIn, in the space of the hype women. So many women, like you said, this is the first time we connected. I was like, “Oh, well, I know her but ain't met it in life.” I was "Oh, I know her from LinkedIn, she cool, yeah, I'm going to sign up for this."
Just hyping each other up I think it's so important because when you're just in your head all the time, the mental chatter, sometimes you can't trust yourself with that. It's so debilitating and it's going to find everything that's wrong. When you try on the pants, “Oh, I gained weight during the pandemic. I can't believe these things don't fit like they used to. I got nothing to wear. I got to get on this plan. I got no time for that.” “Oh, let me just put on these Black pants so I can get out the door.”
All of that 30 seconds, when I want to be like, “Yo, send me a picture. Okay, listen. Yeah, they're not the best, but right now that's what you got. So this is what we're going to do. Change the top, pop on those earrings. Where's my lipstick? Pop a little bit of lip. Let's get it going. We’re going to make it work and we’re going to make a note and we'll invest in some more things that's going to fill in the gaps of what you need.”
Paula Edgar: Love that.
Naana Badu: They’re like, “Yeah. Okay, I know where I am, but also I know when I'm about to achieve what I'm striving for.” I think that helps build the trust.
Paula Edgar: I mean, agree, I'm already sitting here like, “Yes, exactly that. That is correct.” Thank you so much. Now my therapist, Naana. When you were talking about sending the photo of your outfit every day, I had joked with my husband that I'm going to buy a 360, one of those things.
Naana Badu: Oh, that would be fire.
Paula Edgar: Every single day, I'm just going to be like, “Here’s my outfit of the day.” And then he was like, “No, you're not going to do that.” I was like, “Whatever, fine.”
Naana Badu: That wouldn’t be bad if you get it. I will be here for that post every day, every day.
Paula Edgar: All right, so you talked about LinkedIn and you talked about the power of social media and then showing up on your own. What are some of the other ways and things that you've done to build your brand?
Naana Badu: Yeah, yeah. It's so funny. I think sometimes we're doing stuff, and we don't even know we're doing things that are helpful. I would say one big thing is that I brag on myself. I talked and owned the fact that I am a stylist, I'm an image consultant, I'm in this space, I'm good at what I do. Let me talk to you about it.
Because when you tell somebody, when you say the quiet part out loud, you're like, “It's out there.” When I would have exchanges and someone might be whatever, targeting someone's like, “Oh my gosh, I love your hat.” “Oh, thank you so much. This is one of my signature pieces. I'm a stylist so I really understand how important this is.” “Ooh, you’re a stylist? Tell me, tell me more, tell me more.” Then I can share a little bit more of what I do, et cetera, et cetera.
I think there was a space where I just said, “Own it, own it, that is the skill, that is a talent, that's a passion, own that. Don't shy away and just say, ‘Oh, thank you.’ Just go put your almond milk in the car and check out.” Know that that's a space and a place for you to share. You don't know what that sharing is going to do.
Then just be intentional about building a relationship. It's something that is ongoing, especially post-pandemic, because sometimes I have to get motivated to go outside. It's a different thing. But I have to tell myself, “Nope, Naana, this month you're going to go to at least one networking social activity and you're going to meet somebody you haven't met before and you're going to tell somebody you haven't met before about who you are and what you do.”
I give myself these little mini-challenges. Because I could easily just be in this space and just be by myself and do my thing. But then also I'm intentional though about how I show up. Because of the power of style, I'm always going to spark a conversation with someone. More than likely, I'm going to attract them to me.
It takes someone a leg work out of it because someone is always going to come up to me and comment about what I'm wearing. I take that as a personal invitation to have conversation and connect and learn more about them and to share. We are building the brand and we are being the brand.
When that happens, listen, how are you going to trust me? I say I'm a wardrobe stylist and my game is whack. Wrinkled clothes, makeup on the teeth, just not it. You'll be like, [inaudible] Maybe you will be [inaudible] right now. Keep it going.
Paula Edgar: I say it all the time, whenever I go to speak someplace, I always go, “What if I show up in my pajamas? What would y'all say?” You have to be the brand you want people to absorb from you. You have to show them the things.
The same way I talk about using the words, to your point, about understanding what you want, you have to live that. That intention is such an important part of it. It's why I wanted to talk to you because, to be frank, I see a lot of people not out here doing what they need to do.
By that, I mean, you don't have to be flashy, but you have to have that standard. I always go back to what my mother said, “Is this your minimum? If so, we need to raise it. What is going on?” Because I want to trust you and how you come to the space is a part of how trust is built and relationships are built.
When you were talking just now about people coming up to you, I think everybody who knows me knows, I love attention, come at me. I'm an extrovert’s extrovert. I want to connect. It's supposed to be a part of the discussion. When people are like, “Oh, yeah, I love you guys,” I'm like, “Yeah, you do. Let's go, let's talk.”
But style doesn't have to be about flash. It does have to be about, again, I keep coming back to strategy, when you were talking, I was like, “Yes, there's a plan.” Because I don't want folks to see you, see me and be like, “Well, I can wear lipstick,” or whatever the thing they're thinking, but it's about what their thing is.
Naana Badu: Yes, that's so, so key, so critical. I say this to people all the time, “Now you know you're not going to finish working with me and try to look like me. I got my style. Get your own. It's mine.
Paula Edgar: That part.
Naana Badu: That's it at the core. It's definitely a delicate balance of, like I was saying earlier, meeting someone where they are. Where they say, “Ooh, look at this. You both wear red lipstick, you both got these bold glasses, I can't do that, et cetera, et cetera.”
But if I'm talking to you and you do wear glasses all the time every day, oh yes, Ma'am, we are going to talk about investing in a statement pair of frames because that is an easy way to build your personal style, your brand, have a conversation starting piece in your wardrobe and consistently be that thing.
We're going to figure out what shape is best for you, what color is best for you, which one aligns with your style, et cetera. But yeah, that's where I'm going to introduce and say, “Let me give you the lens of an expert in this space. This is a key accessory that you need to have as your go-to as part of your signature style. We’re fitting to do it, so let's go.” Then okay, okay, you start to make some suggestions and you can get on board with it.
Paula Edgar: I love that. I always say I'm so glad that I'm a woman because I just feel like guys got three or four pieces that they gotta work with and then that's it. I'm like, “What would I do if I could only work? I just wouldn't know what to do.”
But one of the things I love in the evolution of what I've seen, especially post COVID where people are more like, “Look, it is what it is,” is that I see more men being like, “Well, here's my, I don't know, can take a little tie,” something different in the uniform. They're finding their own piece of authenticity in it, which I feel really good about.
I just feel like that shift of being like, “Okay, it's not that serious. We can be who we are,” really happened when we realized how quickly life can change for us in the pandemic.
Naana Badu: Totally, totally. Then so much, especially for my women of color clients, there's so much permission granting that I'm like, “If you needed the permission, here you go. You don't have to wear a suit every day to work if you work in the C-suite. If you have a C-suite role, a suit is not required for everyday attire for you to feel professional and to feel like a leader and feel worthy and feel respected. It's not.”
If you feel like you're stepping into that role in that mindset, because it adheres to someone else's standard, it's like, "No, what was this?" Because how'd you get to the role? You got to the role because you did something different from everybody else.
That's the thing that'd be irking me. I'm like, “If you are a woman in leadership, you got there because you're doing things differently from everybody else.” Whether it's a perspective, a thought, anything, it's different and it's gotten called out so much that people are like, “Only you can do that thing,” or “You do that thing the best of everyone else.”
If you're that unique and distinct, why do you show up like everybody else? Make it make sense. I don't get it. That's when I'm like, no, that same fervor and that same magic, to your point, that you use to get the job, climb the career, be successful, we just fit into just the door that was closed on the wardrobe, we’re just going to open that thing up, let them cobwebs out. We will let that magic just spill on over because you don't have to be or look a certain way to command the respect that you want.”
Paula Edgar: Yep, my therapist says, "Shake off the shoulds."
Naana Badu: Ooh, I like that, shake off the shoulds. Therapists always got the good. Just that one line and you're like, “That's it. That's the one you're going to have me thinking about for 30 days.”
Paula Edgar: Indeed. So you talked about the thinking about how your brand shifted and there were doors closed to you because of where you hadn't gone. One of the places you talked about you hadn't gone was at FIT, but now you teach there.
Naana Badu: You see what I'm saying? You see how I gotta be working.
Paula Edgar: Right. I'ma hear from the story. Tell me what are some of the things you teach your students about image consulting styling that are some basics when they first went through the door, what are you talking to them about?
Naana Badu: Yeah, yeah. At FIT, there is an image consulting certificate. I took the certificate five years ago and it's actually four instructors and we all collectively teach this certificate. It's really great.
One of the big principles we talk about are the ABCDs of image. The ABCDs are Appearance, Behavior, Communication, and Digital presence. I tell folks all the time, “When you're talking about your image, it's definitely a component of your brand. It is a piece that you want to give thought to and have a plan around how you are going to elevate it oftentimes to where you want it to be.”
Appearance is very straightforward and that includes your wardrobe, your clothing, your accessories, your beauty. You want to make sure you have all three of those covered.
Behaviors, your mannerisms. What are you doing with your hands? What are you doing with your eye contact or lack thereof? Do you shift? Do you pull your hair? Sometimes we all have some kind of nervous tick or a tell. If you were at the poker table, “Oh, [inaudible] over there rubbing her knuckles.” There's something that you do and you want to be more keenly aware of how your body actions are supporting someone to listen to you versus distracting them and deterring them and making them want to pay attention to somebody else.
The Communication goes without saying. I mean, I can't stress enough. This is for everybody. But in particular, if you're really focusing on building your brand, your verbal and written communication skills must be employed, and those are things that can be learned. Take the Toastmasters class. Hire a public speaking coach. I hired a public speaking coach. She's phenomenal.
Invest because you will be called upon. Someone is going to ask you, “What are the three words you describe yourself? How would you describe a personal brand?” Wait a minute. I don't even know. You ain't even talking. Next. You want to practice these things and invest in getting strong in those spaces.
Then of course last, your digital presence. Everyone is going to be Google. You are going to be Google. What are the images that are going to come up with someone Googles your name? What are the sound bites? What are the social media pages? Google yourself now. What is coming up?
If you're really keen on building a presence online so that people can go there and get a flavor of you, which they are going to do, what is the flavor going to be? If you're more spicy and they're going over there and it's just like stale boiled chicken, what are we doing?
Paula Edgar: I'm like Larry's. The digital presence piece, it's really what attracted me to you. I'll just tell you that you inspired me to do something that I hadn't, I think about this all the time, again, that branding is my life, but you did something with headshots. People's before and after. I was like, “Ooh, ooh, ooh.” Because I had just done a podcast about pictures, my Paula's rules for photos.
Naana Badu: Ooh, I love it.
Paula Edgar: I thought to myself, “I want to show the evolution of my headshots.” It hasn't come out yet. Teaser, spoiler alert. It’s coming. But I'm doing a “This is how my headshot has gone over the whatever decade and a half that I have been on LinkedIn” to be able to say, “Look, it's okay to shift and change and grow. If you're not iterating, then you're still and I refuse.” So, yes, I want to thank you for that inspiration. I was like, “Yes, I'm going to do this.”
Naana Badu: I love that. Oh, I'm so here for that.
Paula Edgar: I'm going to tag you.
Naana Badu: Yeah. Tag me. Tag me so I can make sure I see the comment. I love that so much.
Paula Edgar: Quickly, what are some pieces of advice or a piece of advice that you would give for someone who's right now thinking, “What's one or two things that I can do right now to build my brand?”
Naana Badu: Ooh. One, don't overthink. Don't overthink. Then two, be active. I would tell you to just assess where you are and where you want to be.
Paula Edgar: Ooh.
Naana Badu: Yeah, I would tell you to assess where you are versus where you want to be. I love little homework things. I would say as you think about those ABCDs around your image, just do a red, yellow, green assessment for yourself. Think about your appearance. Think about your wardrobe, your clothes, your accessories, your beauty, how you're showing up currently.
Does that fully align with what your brand is or what your brand is growing into? If it aligns and it's on point, green, baby green. If you're like, “I'm doing pretty good, but I definitely could elevate a few things,” yellow. If you're operating on the wardrobe for a decade ago, siren red.
Paula Edgar: Siren red, fashion emergency.
Naana Badu: Fashion emergency, it's an emergency. Do the same thing for your behavior, your communication, your digital presence. That can at least give you just a quick baseline to say, “Yeah, you know what? I do need to overhaul my social media. I do need to get some pictures. So if I need to get some pictures, let me go ahead and get my wardrobe together first so that I make sure I have some things that I know I can work with when I get these pictures taken.” It'll give you a bit of a baseline to think about and then you can have a direction to take action.
Paula Edgar: I'm a big fan because the first piece of personal branding is self-assessment. I know how to figure out where you're going to go. For those of you who remember when I did my podcast about the photos, I literally was like, “Now you know that your photos are terrible or whatever, and now I'm going to give you a skill,” and I put my favorite photographer. I was like, “Here’s the information. There's no reason for you to be choosing,” but again, everybody knows that I want you to take every experience that you have with me and with my guests to be able to say, “Now I can take that and go and do something, incorporate it.” I love the stoplights of style. Oh, I just made that up.
Naana Badu: Stoplights of style.
Paula Edgar: I'm giving that one to you.
Naana Badu: That was good, girl.
Paula Edgar: Tell me this, what do you do for fun?
Naana Badu: Laugh. Yeah, I'm a big laugher. I'm a big friends, get together, hanging out in the backyard, a little barbecue. I love food, especially in New York. What's happening? I don't know if I will say I'm a foodie, but I do love a good meal. I'm like, “Oop, new spot, oop, Black, oop. I want to check it out. I want to go there.” I hang out with my husband a lot. He's my homie, he's my friend. We will do that, and people watch. I love a good people watching the situation.
Paula Edgar: Well, you're in Brooklyn, so am I.
Naana Badu: I'm in Brooklyn. Yep.
Paula Edgar: We have so much to watch, so much to watch in Brooklyn.
Naana Badu: So much, so much.
Paula Edgar: We could probably do a part two on don'ts on that one.
Naana Badu: That would have to be from the streets. So we are on location.
Paula Edgar: That's what you were thinking. So I ask my guests, everyone on my podcast, two of the same questions, which is one is this: What is one aspect about your personal brand that you will never, ever compromise on?
Naana Badu: Being Black.
Paula Edgar: I mean, number one, well, I was going to say, you can't compromise, I was like, “Nope, people can.” So, yeah, I love that. I say my intersections, I live nicely in my intersections. I love that. I love that. When you started talking about being a child of immigrants, my family's from the Caribbean, I got that, I felt that same thing too, understanding the different flavors of our Blackness and how it shows up definitely resonates.
All right. I think I know what you're going to say, but let me just see. The other thing is my podcast is called Branding Room Only because it's a play on standing room only because I'm clever. So what is your magic? What is that experience of Naana that people are going to only be able to have standing room in a place to experience about you?
Naana Badu: Yeah, for sure, it's the style.
Paula Edgar: Yeah, I was going to say, it's gotta be your outfit.
Naana Badu: You know.
Paula Edgar: I love how you're like, “It's the style.”
Naana Badu: Yeah. Let's know what it is. You're going to come, you're going to come for it.
Paula Edgar: That was perfection, I love that.
Naana Badu: You're going to get it and be happy. You will be like, “This was worth the price of admission.”
Paula Edgar: There is no time when somebody's joy shines that we don't get some joy from it, too. I just feel like a human condition is that when other people access their thing, that's what you give to people all the time, like, “Here's your thing.” You're bringing joy. How can people stay in touch with you and find out about you?
Naana Badu: Oh, my gosh, you gotta watch this. I want people to watch so they can see what Paula did with her ass. Oh, my God. Oh my gosh, so good. But definitely come connect with me on LinkedIn. Drop me a DM, let me know that you were hanging out with Paula and I today when you catch it, whenever you listen or watch, would love to connect more about you.
Paula Edgar: Fabulous. My friends always tell me that they always go from listening to going to watch to see what my face was doing during something. If you were listening, you need to, first of all, come onto the video, go onto YouTube so you can see us in action. Just number one, the outfits are on fire. There's that.
Naana, thank you so much for spending some time with me and my peoples in The Branding Room. And whenever you want to come back, you have an open invitation to talk about whatever you want to talk about when you come back to The Branding Room. Appreciate you.
Naana Badu: Thank you so much, Paula, this was so fun.
Paula Edgar: Yes.
