Joseph Rosenfeld was born to be a personal style strategist. He had an epiphany in high school that remains the crux of his work for over thirty years. He theorized that personal style could transcend physical attraction. Joseph developed a strategy that saved and transformed his life. And he has gone on to transform the lives of an esteemed clientele.
Clients know Joseph as a “style savant,” and he is most called to serve those on a quest for transformation. His hallmark style strategy encourages clients to sync their inner and outer energy. He guides top business leaders with empathy, creativity, and precision. He shares their focus to ensure that they look on message.
Quoted in The New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, and NBC, Joseph loves sharing encouraging messages about style. He was once recognized by the San Jose Business Journal as one of its “40 Under 40.” And the Silicon Valley Magazine named him best personal stylist in its It List in 2020 and 2021.
In his spare time Joseph nurtures his interests in art, fashion, design, good food, and traveling.
“I may never be handsome, I may never be hot, I may never be sexy. I mean, I feel good. So I mean, I got it going on. But what is true is that I could have style. And that style people would know and get to know me from the inside out, because style is about revealing who you are from deep within. It’s not a surface game.”
Time Stamp
1:27 How did Joseph start getting into styles at an early age?
5:02 Joseph’s fashion and style design journey
7:13 Styling is not a surface game
10:26 Discovering his life’s purpose from his favourite track
12:17 Joining the retail
13:29 Sharing his transformation projects experience
20:45 Joseph’s workshops and fashion tips
30:34 How Joseph starts his day and his daily routine
34:01 Joseph’s favourite fashion designer and how he gets inspiration from him
35:55 Joseph shares his vision and mission
Social Media
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/josephrosenfeld/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephrosenfeld/
Clubhouse – https://www.joinclubhouse.com/@josephrosenfeld
Stevie Nicks “Think About It” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-6l3JP9mEg
Follow Patti Dobrowolski – Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/upyourcreativegenius/
Follow Patti Dobrowolski – Linkedinhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/patti-dobrowolski-532368/
Up Your Creative Geniushttps://upyourcreativegenius.com/
Patti Dobrowolski 00:03
Hello superstars. Welcome to the Up Your Creative Genius podcast where you will gain insight and tips to stomp on the accelerator and blast off to transform your business and your life. I’m your host, Patti Dobrowolski. And if this is your first time tuning in, then strap in because this is serious rocket fuel. Each week, I interview fellow creative geniuses to help you learn how easy it is to up your creative genius in any part of your life.
Hey, everybody, it’s Patti Dobrowolski with Up Your Creative Genius. Today, I have the chief style geek here that I’m going to interview in the podcast. It is so exciting to be here with Joseph Rosenfeld. He transforms geek to Chic, and he’s a style savant. I’ve never met a style savant. But I certainly could use one he’s most called to serve those on a quest for transformation. And he’s going to help you everybody that’s listening, transformed.
Today, we’re going to interview him and ask him all the ways that things we should consider when we’re getting ready to go out in the world and be our brand in life. So welcome to the show, Joseph. So nice to have you here.
Joseph Rosenfeld 01:21
Thank you so much, Patti. It’s great to be with you and all of your followers.
Patti Dobrowolski 01:27
Yeah, thanks. So alright, so I would love it. If you would just tell everyone a little bit about yourself. Like, I would love to hear your story of how you started to do this. And then what happened once you did?
Joseph Rosenfeld 01:41
Well, I’m happy to share I want to be as upbeat and uplifting about this as you are. What I have to say the story is the downer, but we have to kind of remember that we’re all here. I’m here. I’ve made it. So there is an uplifting parts of this. So I was really beaten up and bullied kid. And that’s very serious and sobering. And I’m a survivor of that survived sexual attacks in my home by a babysitter when I was a boy.
And so what all that did was it kind of disempowered me, I didn’t have a voice. I didn’t have a connection to my own spirit. And I believed all the negative BS that all the kids threw at me about how ugly I was and how they other me, they othered me for the way that I looked Jewish.
They bothered me for having a big schnoz being left handed wearing glasses, having a long face, all the things being short and for having even what I would now describe in polite company as homosexual tendencies, like yes, no, just my demeanour, my behaviour, however, which way people thought that I was gay? You know, I think that they bother me in all these ways. And when I finally got clear on honestly, like, even if the journey is up to now, like, as of two weeks ago, I finally actually got superduper clear on this Patti?
Patti Dobrowolski 03:09
Yes.
Joseph Rosenfeld 03:10
Why did this happen? They feared my presence. It wasn’t just about my appearance, only it was what laid behind it. It was also why they were attacking me for things that weren’t obviously visible, like my faith belief.
Patti Dobrowolski 03:25
Yes.
Joseph Rosenfeld 03:26
Or even my sexual orientation, my identity, they was really cutting me, you know, down because they could see how strong and powerful I was even as little guy and a could not take me.
Patti Dobrowolski 03:40
Yeah.
Joseph Rosenfeld 03:41
Is it any wonder that this is really what I do for a living is help people stand up to anybody, and to stand up to ourselves and be our best selves ever?
Patti Dobrowolski 03:53
Yes. Oh, my God, I love you so much. And I think, you know, I had a similar upbringing in those ways. You know, lots of things happen, because clearly I was gay. From the time I came out, you know, the womb, I wanted to wear my real clothes, and I dressed in combat gear most of the time.
And, you know, I was just always, always othered for those kinds of things. And you know, what’s beautiful about what that experience does, is it takes you into what you’re talking about by truly helping people to stand in their power as them their true selves. And I think for so many people, it’s scary. It’s scary to see someone who really is standing in their power who really is their true self and is not going to change that for anyone.
And so beautiful, beautiful on you for doing that. So you had this horrific childhood experience, you know, that you worked with, etc. Now, how did you get into doing fashion and style design? Tell me what led you to do that? I’m sure you did that from the beginning, but tell me more about that.
Joseph Rosenfeld 05:02
So there was an epiphany that I had. I’m a man with many epiphanies throughout life. And you could probably relate to this, you know, as a fellow creative, that every time I have another like big Whoo, epiphany thing going on, like, everything in life becomes a new, it’s the same life, but it’s like life at next level.
Patti Dobrowolski 05:25
Yes.
Joseph Rosenfeld 05:26
So when I was 15, on top of all the tumult and turmoil that was going on, another horrible thing happened, which is my father dropped dead of heart attack.
Patti Dobrowolski 05:36
Oh, my gosh.
Joseph Rosenfeld 05:37
Oh, now that was like really hitting the rock bottom. And I just wanted everything to end and contemplated constantly. And the whole turnaround really happen there. When I discovered this was the mid 1980s, a book that had been out already for a little while, it was very irreverent. No one was supposed to take it seriously.
Except me. It was called the Official Preppy handbook. And I as a midwestern North Chicago, suburban, you know, guy teenager, was looking for a way out, but to stay alive. And so I discovered the Official Preppy handbook, and I had this high school teenage aged epiphany, which was, if I could have style, no one would be able to tell me that I was ugly anymore.
That style would transcend anything about physical appearance and attractiveness. And my hypothesis was, I may never be tall, which did turn out to be true.
Patti Dobrowolski 06:42
Right, you’re an inch taller than me. I love that.
Joseph Rosenfeld 06:47
And I thought I may never be handsome, I may never be hot, I may never be sexy. Now, I mean, I feel good. So I mean, I got it going on. But what is true is that I could have style. And that style people would know and get to know me from the inside out, because style is about revealing who you are from deep within. It’s not a surface game.
Patti Dobrowolski 07:13
Wow. I love that. I love that it’s not a surface game. It comes from deep within style. And so you that handbook helped you to realise that if you could project that inner style outwardly, right, that inner self outwardly that it would change everything? And did it you tested it. So what happened?
Joseph Rosenfeld 07:35
The hypothesis worked event, so shortly into the whole thing. And this has to do in a way with the concept around personal branding and marketing, if you will, you make a certain number of reimpressions upon people, and they finally get like, you know, hit over the head, like the old VA commercials, I could add a VA.
So people finally stopped, like bothering me and telling me that I was ugly. Yeah, this was pretty incredible. Because that eliminated a lot of noise in my head, even though the tapes were still playing.
Patti Dobrowolski 08:11
Yes.
Joseph Rosenfeld 08:11
And a lot of reverb like a concussion.
Patti Dobrowolski 08:15
Oh my God. This is so true about limiting beliefs. They are like reverb in your head, they just play over and over again until you move the record.
Joseph Rosenfeld 08:23
Exactly. Like let’s pick up the needle and move it. So what was really great is that it allowed me to have some quiet within myself, so I could learn who I was. Now, in 1997. Tom Peters, famously then introduced this notion around personal branding. I think I was way ahead of the curve, not understanding what the hell it was that it was personal branding, but being able to go inside to say, Who am I what am I? What do I really believe in? What would I live for?
All of those things equate to things that have to do with the personal brand. And I have to tell you that the great saviour around all of this is my favourite singer songwriter ever. And a song that she wrote in 1974 that was released on her debut solo album in 1981.
That by the time I was really listening to it, this particular song became my mantra. It’s a Stevie Nicks song called “Think about it” as her one of the lines and there are many lines to that song. I think everyone should go and give it a listen.
Patti Dobrowolski 09:36
Definitely.
Joseph Rosenfeld 09:37
She sayings your fortune is your life’s love. And I thought, I can’t end because I don’t have my fortune because I don’t know what my life’s love is.
Patti Dobrowolski 09:50
Yes.
Joseph Rosenfeld 09:50
I feel that for all of us. Our life’s love has to do with our mission and our purpose and our values and just our variable being like, who we are supposed to be without any explanation or justification or action to make ourselves worthy of anything, like we just belong to exist. And that song lyric, the whole song, but that line alone just gave me, you know, laser focus, purpose and vision. So I thought, I’ve got to go forth and figure out what that is.
Patti Dobrowolski 10:26
That’s right. That’s what you do. And so you did, you went out and you went forth. And what did you find?
Joseph Rosenfeld 10:33
So I then came to really understand that as much as I was interested in the idea of getting involved in politics, and government, public service, those things really whet my appetite in the later part of my high school years. So yes, junior senior years of high school, I think what happened was, by the time I was enrolled in college, and was really enjoying some of the special projects I was doing, I was enjoying the special projects. More than I was enjoying classwork.
Patti Dobrowolski 11:05
Yeah.
Joseph Rosenfeld 11:06
And I also decided, I don’t want to be known as the gay politician.
Patti Dobrowolski 11:12
No, no.
Joseph Rosenfeld 11:14
And this was the now that like the mid to late 1980s. And AIDS crisis was like, huge.
Patti Dobrowolski 11:20
Yes, was horrible.
Joseph Rosenfeld 11:23
You know, very famous people. And it was just in my head at that point where I thought, I’ve already come through so much I just fell in, I just didn’t think I could take it anymore. So I couldn’t go back into being barraged for me being me that even though I survived, and I’m tough guy, that’s too hard.
So I thought, I really want to help people and make a difference in their lives. And I also just decided college was not going to be my thing, even though right into learning. And I advocated for most people. I made the other choice, which was to stop.
And I went to Neiman Marcus in Chicago. And I said, Look, I see that you’re hiring, and I need a job, give me a job. And I was the youngest person that they ever put out on the selling floor at that time.
Patti Dobrowolski 12:16
It’s fantastic.
Joseph Rosenfeld 12:17
Yeah, it was cool. The store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago had been open seven years. I was 19 when they put me out on the floor.
Patti Dobrowolski 12:25
Wow, that’s so crazy. Good.
Joseph Rosenfeld 12:27
That was amazing. And kind of, you know, there’s more to that. But in essence, the rest is history. I had 12 year career in high end retail before I decided to go out on my own, and work as an image consultant and personal stylist. And for the last 21 years I’ve been successfully self employed.
Patti Dobrowolski 12:47
Well, yeah, you’re crazy busy to like trying to get you was almost impossible to get an interview with you. Because you were in Austria, you were in, you know, Paris, you were in Denver, you were in, you know, you’re just Silicon Valley, you’re all over the place you’re working with, you know, execs and pro sports people and people just like me, right business owners who want to change their brand and bring it forward in a way that aligns you.
That’s what you do now. Right? So say a little bit about what you love about what you’re doing right now. And if you can speak, you know, without talking about client names, but speak a little bit about the kinds of projects you’re working on.
Joseph Rosenfeld 13:29
Sure. So, for example, I have worked with different clients to help them escalate from being at one level of authority and accompany to becoming CEO of a company. This doesn’t happen overnight, because competence has to be proved. Someone show up with a strong CV to begin with, they’ve got to have it going on.
Right, then there’s also the presence piece, and how is someone pivoting to make the right appeal to the right audience. And so these are all things that I strategize with leaders to add to the competence. It’s, you know, there was this, I think they may have taken the drug off the market, but there used to be this TV commercial where they would show like an ice cream sundae or something and then they would show like the human being kind of dressed like the ice cream sundae. It’s like very much about being like on brand in that way.
So when somebody especially my clients were in high tech and leadership, they have to look like themselves and be authentic and genuine that way. But they also have to appeal to what the brand ethos is of the company, and sometimes even to the degree that they might match a little bit.
Patti Dobrowolski 14:53
Yeah, the branding colours and everything like that right.
Joseph Rosenfeld 14:56
The product or the service in a way like super quick example of that would be like someone like Steve Jobs, may he rest in peace. You know, when he and Johnny Ivy designed the original iPhone concept with their team, the iPhone looks so sleek and minimal, probably looks like a better version of Steve Jobs, quite frankly.
But he was a very minimalist guy like us, not a lot of bells and whistles going on with him. And all the Guts and Glory was all inside. But he looked kind of streamlined on the outside, sort of like, you know, your iPhone could like, write like an essay, Miyazaki.
Patti Dobrowolski 15:34
He’s holding up his iPhone right now and showing it to us. So those of you that are listening, he’s just showing us how sleek and beautiful it is right?
Joseph Rosenfeld 15:42
You look at your black screen. It looks yes, me Aki black mock turtleneck, sweatshirt really does it know that Steve Jobs were every day that was his uniform. So that to me is an example of how to really show up and look on brand to deliver the right message. So I love getting people to the salient points of that, so that they do what they’re supposed to do as top leaders to inspire to serve. Not a self serving thing. This is really about how leaders show up to lead. Yes, leaders.
Patti Dobrowolski 16:18
There we go.
Joseph Rosenfeld 16:20
That to me is a really exciting thing to do. And I would say that that’s part of it. There are other people who I work with, like my oldest client right now. She’s 81. She is fabulous. She had an issue where she almost couldn’t walk anymore. And years before she and I met she had foot surgery. Here in New York. She lives in California, by the way, her foot surgeon told her you can walk as long as you wear certain shoes, but no more dancing. No more high heels.
Patti Dobrowolski 16:53
Oh, yeah.
Joseph Rosenfeld 16:53
You know, those days are over? Well, she felt so disconnected from the life that she used to have that although she was alive, she didn’t feel alive, she felt she was just existing. So we got to meet. And I decided that what I would do is work with her footwear based on the parameters that we had to work with and fetishize them as if she was Sarah Jessica Parker and Sex in the City.
Patti Dobrowolski 17:21
I love that.
Joseph Rosenfeld 17:22
We you know, there are going to be Manolo Blahniks. Louis Vuitton will be no bowls, whatever. But what we could do is take the shoes and make them look yummy and delicious with the rest of an outfit. So I started with her footwear and levelled up. One day, her daughter came in to the dressing room, here in New York City.
And I was showing her a complete wardrobe, starting with the shoes, and then everything else from the ankles up. And she and her daughter had like big boohoos in the dressing room, and I knocked on the door, and I send us everything okay in there? And they open the door, and we had a group hug. And the daughter said, I have my mom back, what did you do?
Patti Dobrowolski 18:13
So sweet.
Joseph Rosenfeld 18:15
I mean, this is like the thing that I live for these kinds of things where the things that I’m doing are not merely transactional, like make me look good. And like, I don’t want to learn how you made me look good. Just make me look good. That’s a little more transactional. And I do that for people who need that. But yes, this other type of instance, it’s totally about having the deepest kind of relationship really connecting soul to soul, really seeing a person and seeing into that person and then giving that back.
Patti Dobrowolski 18:48
Oh, I love that. That was one of the things that I noted. You know, I dug around on you. I’ve stopped you a little bit, you know, on the internet to see what things were said and what you did. And one of the things that you wrote is I study you like nobody’s business, like nobody’s business.
And I think that really says so much about the heart of what you’re doing. You’re really trying to see, what is somebody about? And how could I reflect that in a way that brings more of them forward no matter what it is that they’re doing. And so, if you’re listening today, what we are getting here is about you knowing inside who you are, and then allowing that to emerge in how you look and feel, whether it’s you know, wearing something that is a T shirt and you know, some high tops that match who you would look and feel like but also how you want to be seen in the world.
I work with this a lot. You know, I love glasses. And so this is my thing. This is the way that I express myself is I’m like this is part of my brand, you know, I want to be my brand in every moment. So people realise, yes, you can be creative and you can look, the part of what you do in the world.
What would you say to people who are, you know, struggling to figure out how you know, with their look, what would you say to them? Where’s a good place for them to start? I saw that you were doing some workshops. And I was like, Oh, that’s interesting. He’s doing some workshops. But I also saw that you really are starting at the core.
So tell people, what can they do, just by going into their closet and their wardrobe and see how can they consider what they’re doing when they’re putting on their clothes.
Joseph Rosenfeld 20:45
The first thing to absolutely pay attention to is colour. You know, when you go into your closet, or when you go into a store looking for something new, you’re always looking for you. And colour is one of these things that we are always looking for. If you don’t see the colour that you’re looking for in a story tend to go right by the rack.
Even if you’re in the right department, you’re shopping for basically, the right item might have in mind, if the colour isn’t there, you’re out. So thinking of colour is a wonderful and grounding place to begin, one of the things that I recommend is that you look at your own physical colouring, to look at what I call your DNA colouring, even if your DNA colouring is say this with love, manufacture DNA, like if you’re colouring your hair.
Patti Dobrowolski 21:41
I would have manufacturing DNA, he speaking to me right there. So I’ll take it.
Joseph Rosenfeld 21:46
That’s true. But you know what’s terrific is that if you’ve made that choice, you’ve made that choice for a reason. And that says something about your energy. So colour is energy, and there is something that is vibrational about it.
So one of my favourite tips and tricks is if you can identify the colour or colours that are in your eyes, like in the iris, find those colours in clothing and then repeat it on your body. That creates a kind of elegance.
Even if you’re wearing like something like a simple knit top, it helps people find and connect with the truth of who you are as a human being. And you might wonder like, hey, what does you know, moss green have to do with anything. But we have and I’m wearing moss green? That’s why I say that right now.
Patti Dobrowolski 22:39
Yes. Right. What I knit top I might add, it’s really nice. It looks beautiful. And it’s great. And I bet you behind those glasses, your eyes match that colour. Am I right? They match entirely. Yes, I’m leaving. Now he’s leaning in. And you can see that his eyes are that same moss green colour. Those are beautiful eyes, by the way. So I’m really great, thank you.
Joseph Rosenfeld 23:02
So what is powerful about this is we may not have the language to understand with fluency, what it is that we are looking at, but we have been socialised in Western society to pick up the nuances and the vibe loves all kinds of colour. In fact, we know from looking at colour from when we are newborns, the first colour that we actually ever see is yellow, and then we move on to red, and then we move on to blue. And then other colours come about as our eyes develop more.
Patti Dobrowolski 23:43
How cool.
Joseph Rosenfeld 23:45
And even for people who may be listening in who can’t see, you know that you can feel colour because colour does have this vibration. You can be around a person or you could be in a room where you can almost sense the colour. And even if you don’t know what the colour is, if you could describe the feeling of the room that you’re in, or the space that you’re in, or of the energy of the person that you’re in conversation with.
You could really use descriptive words that somebody would come back and say, oh my gosh, you’re entirely describing the vibe of the colour purple. How did you know that I’m wearing a purple blouse right now, like that kind of thing can happen. It does happen. People feel the vibration of colour.
We just don’t always have the language of fluency. So the reason why I say work with colour is, you know, in your gut, when there’s a colour that you love, or a colour that repels you, why is my work with a colour that repels you, for example?
So if you could think about that there’s a lot that you can pick up on. I have a whole system that I do with my clients where I study their colours in a very in depth kind of way, but to be able to do it on your own, you can still start out by thinking through what are the colours that I really love? And if you aren’t so sure, go look in your closet and look at the rhythm of colour own and see hmm, why do I own so much black?
Or why do I own so much navy blue? Now, you can think critically about that. Also, by the way, and say, I have you know, hazel eyes, why am I not buying things that are in the olive tones? Or the mage tones? Like, why am I playing it so safe over here with black? So you can have a conversation with yourself and ask yourself legitimately good questions that challenge your conventional thinking about your habits.
Patti Dobrowolski 25:50
I love that. I love that. Because if I look in my closet, you know, I have a lot of blue, I wear a lot of blue, and chartreuse, and these really bright colours, but I rarely wear brown and my eyes are brown. And so why do I rarely wear brown because I have an opinion about brown, right.
But if I had brown, more brown in my I would be in alignment with that. And then I can accent something with the colour that I want to pull out. Right. And so I think this is part of it, that you want to really pay attention to what you’re doing now.
And if you want to transform and what you’re talking about as up levelling yourself, is that come into alignment with who you are internally, and also externally, what your face looks like in your skin looks like like I know, you know, if I put on something that’s really orange, oh, no, it just doesn’t really work for me for some reason, right? I don’t feel good. Right?
Joseph Rosenfeld 26:50
That’s right, yeah, you know, if you’re not feeling good, and something or like you have a huge high energy, orange, the hottest colour and the colour wheel. And when you put orange on you, you might feel small compared to the power of the orange, which is weird, because you’re a very high energy.
But sometimes that’s the thing about colour is it can be like blob, like, wow, you know, can be very overwhelming the thing about brown for someone like you, and I’m going to just use you as an example. Because everybody knows who you are and what you look like for you to wear brown, it would be easy for you to do in the way that you could wear black as a high contrast because your hair is so lightened and bright and platinum.
And that compared to the darkness of your eyebrows, which are more like your natural hair colour, and how light and clear your skin tone is, that creates a lot of contrast. So if you were to wear brown, not a muddy brown, but like a really dark, kind of like a strict brown that you could say, this is the brown that I could wear, that would be like black, and maybe a little bit of a red undertone to it like this in your eye, then you’re wearing something that is totally in alignment with you, even though it may be stark, it’s in high contrast. It’s bold, it’s dramatic. And that is who you are.
So there are ways of being able to think about it that way. And that’s just an example that applies to you. But it’s a way of demonstrating to other people, you know, how you actually look at a colour that you might even say, No, that’s a kind of a sleeper idea for me, how do I incorporate? We’re talking about that outer alignment. But as I’m describing your own colour contrast, I also am identifying with like that boldness that exists from within. So if you right now but within and then you look that way outside, why not just go for it?
Patti Dobrowolski 28:47
Well, I love this because I think that I don’t know about you. But I think that in our world, we become afraid of things that we have never tried sometimes. And I think it shows up in your style. That’s where it shows up.
So when I went to France and I visited my friend Dawn, she was like, come on, we’re gonna go out to the Buddha bar, we got to get dressed up, but you need to wear a scarf and I’m like, I’m so gay. That scarf is gonna look terrible on me.
She goes, No, we’re going to put that scarf on because it’s going to change everything. And let me just say, I was transformed in that experience. So now I often will wear a scarf all often augments something with something that I never thought of before. And I think this is what you’re talking about.
You can ground yourself in a colour that is aligned with you and then you can be and sort of blast off in my you know, terminology blast off to be all of you are with the rest of you. And in a way when I think about that, like that is what’s beautiful about the expression of colour is that colour allows you to ground yourself in you And then from the rest of that you can become even more of who you truly are. I love that. I love this.
That was just fantastic little nugget and piece of it now, knowing your world I want to know. So like, what’s the day in the life of you, Joseph look like like, what do you do? What’s your routine so people could get to know you on that level? Like, what do you do when you get up? What do you do? How do you stay centred, when you’re flying all around like that, tell us a little bit about what the day in the life of you looks like?
Joseph Rosenfeld 30:34
Well, my home life is a little bit different than when I’m travelling at home, I’m up first thing, making coffee, usually going into clubhouse now to, you know, participate in a couple of rooms in the morning, getting you know things together in my thoughts, getting some inspiration and sharing some maybe checking my email.
And then I have calls or I go to the gym, and then I’m on to client appointments and meetings, and so on, either in person or on Zoom. And when I’m building a wardrobe, I have to carve out hours for that. And then like I’ll be doing something like that tomorrow, where I’ve got a dental appointment and a hair appointment.
And then the rest of the afternoon I’m dedicated to doing some, as I say Schmieding around, where I’ve got to go look for things for a client and have it ready to go. So that when I go back to California, the first week of December, I’m already and so those are the ways that I sort of structure my day.
So very flexible, depending on what’s happening now and I’m out west, I can’t sleep I have way too much energy. So I’m up at like 530 Like, you know, put on yoga gear and I power out for a big walk. I will walk anywhere between 10 and 20,000 steps in the morning, depending on when I have to actually get my day started. And I just crushed it all day with meetings.
You know, Friday last week, this is for anyone who’s in the Bay Area. I started out in Mountain View, went to San Jose did a colour profile for three hours, got back in the car, drove to Walnut Creek, did it wow ration, Brian with a client that was all great, got in the car, drove back down to San Jose met with another client, we tried on three suits for first fitting that was all great, went up to San Francisco after that did some stuff up there had dinner as well made the most of my time came back down to Mountain View after that probably put like, an excess of 200 miles on the car.
Patti Dobrowolski 32:38
That was gonna say and that’s a lot of sitting in traffic right now down there in the Bay Area, although it’s a little improved there. But still, like that’s crazy. Well, that is. So you really have to take care of yourself and your body and all the things. So I love that you’re going out there and you’re getting all those steps in before you get in that car.
And then you’re seeing people. And this to me tells me a little bit about yourself that you’re looking for inspiration first thing in the morning, and then you’re going out to do whatever it is that you need to do, and pulling that inspiration through. And I think you know, you’re about helping people transform themselves, their look, their brand look and their style.
And this is so essential. We talk about transformation here in these podcasts all the time. And people mostly talk about transforming their career, or they talk about transforming their brand look and feel in terms of their business. But talk with seeming that together with transforming your style look, so that you really do step into the chic issue that you possibly can.
I love that this is fantastic. So who right now in terms of in this space that you’re in, who’s inspiring your who you’re watching to see what they’re doing. Do you do that? Do you do that a lot watch different designers to see what they’re up to?
Joseph Rosenfeld 34:01
Well, I would say my favourite fashion designer for some time now is Drees Van Noten. I think that he just has such an elegance and such a flair and such a verb. If I get to show Drees to a client because his aesthetic matches their style profile. And the colours are also a good colour match.
Like he made it and here I’m finding it for you know, I’m able to show it to somebody that’s really very fantastic. I love when that gets to happen. I’m a Drees wear myself, I think it’s when I find something exciting for me. It’s awesome. I’m also a really big Tom Ford fan.
He’s just turned 60. So I really admire his journey. I admire the transparency around the challenges of his journey. He’s been very vocally public about some of it as recently this week, just talking about the story struggles that he faced when he turned 40.
Maybe he never had the challenges that folks like URI faced when we were young kids, but his challenge decade came around in his 40s with drugs and alcohol and, you know, the high life of being super high flying and successful, and yet being depressed. And so, he really shows that kind of a humanity. And yet, I love how, for example, his women’s clothing is just full of unbridled sex appeal. And yet for his Menswear. I love that He has this look, not maybe not always in his suitings but in his sportswear looks that I’ve been fancying for me personally. Yeah, yeah. They look very fluent. Like you might live in New York City. But you have a home and Aspen or I love.
Patti Dobrowolski 35:45
Yeah, yeah.
Joseph Rosenfeld 35:45
They look very fluent. Like you might live in New York City. But you have a home and Aspen.
Patti Dobrowolski 35:55
You have a home in New York City, which now is that affluence? You know, I mean, that’s what’s true, right? But it could be anywhere. I love that I love this piece of it. And when you think and you know, you listen and reflect and look at what people are doing and style, etc. What’s your big dream for yourself? What is the vision that you hold for yourself, that you’ll transform into or step into, as you continue on this journey? What’s that vision look like?
Joseph Rosenfeld 36:24
I love doing the stuff that I’m doing every day right now, it’s so exciting to be doing this kind of work. One of the things that I’m branching into, that I’m very good at because of the overall modus operandi that I work under, is working with lawyers and expert witnesses to prepare them for trial, like corporate things.
Patti Dobrowolski 36:48
Yes.
Joseph Rosenfeld 36:49
Corporate intrigue, and helping to really connect. And to tell a better story with the jury is something that I doing quite a bit of this work right now. And I’m really enjoying that. But besides that, being able to make a difference for people, and being able to do it at the scale that I’m doing where there is intimacy is very important to me.
Patti Dobrowolski 37:14
It’s the 81 year old woman, right? Who had that transformation within herself.
Joseph Rosenfeld 37:19
That’s right may sound a little selfish of me. But I want to be able to give 100% of me to another person in exchange for them being so open and courageous, to share themselves with me, so that I can help them. It really fulfils my mission. And that in conjunction with getting out and doing more talks at high schools.
Patti Dobrowolski 37:45
Yes.
Joseph Rosenfeld 37:46
To inspire kids, to not bully one another, to live another day to envision what life could be, wow. Even if you have to pick out a hobby that you do all by yourself, because there is no one now me that if I could reach one kid, one teenager that needs that message, and to see me embody the success of that, that’s worth everything to me. Wow, those are the kinds of things that I really want to do more of, and I am doing that.
Patti Dobrowolski 38:24
I love that. And, you know, I remember reading that in there execs and you know, this sports people and etc. And then high school students was at the bottom. And I was like, yes, because that’s where it all begins.
That’s where we feel so disempowered and disconnected from ourselves, because we’re not able to live our authentic life there. Because everybody’s trying to sort of step on each other to get somewhere and get seen. And that really that behaviour has to shift. And it’s up to us, really, I think, as people who have lived through that, to really speak to that and let people know, you know, it’s okay to be yourself. You have to bring yourself, the world needs you.
There’s only one YOU, you know, step out and do that. Well, I love having this time talking to you. It’s been incredible. And I’m going right away to go and look at brown because I never did before. And now I really am desperate to go out there and see like, what would brown look like? Where could I find a kind of brown with a red undertones in it?
That might help me and so I hope the next time that I see you, which I hope you’ll come back and let me interview you again. Because after you’ve gone out and travelled the world will you let me do that?
Joseph Rosenfeld 39:39
Oh, I would love to come back. This is a great conversation. And I feel like when you’re talking about up in your creative genius, I think there’s a lot of overlap between what you do and what I do just in different ways. And I feel a lot of synergy where we just scratched the surface and so lovely to do that with you Patti.
Patti Dobrowolski 40:00
I would love that and I have so enjoyed getting a little peek into your world. I’ve never been in this world before with anybody other than the person who has dressed me before in some Nordstroms you know, dressing room. But I love this because I just know that there’s so much information in what you share with people that’s valuable to them, that will help them feel more aligned with themselves and love themselves.
But really, in the end, you got to love who you are. And if you love who you are, you want to express who you are. And those two things help. Right and we learned that in the preppy handbook. So I can’t wait to hear more tips like that from you, Joseph, thank you so much for taking time here with us. Everybody.
Don’t you think he was fantastic round of applause. I love this. Okay, so just for those of you that are listening, I just want you to look down below in the show notes follow him. He doesn’t clubhouse room. When is your room and clubhouse Do you have a regular room people can come and talk to you.
Joseph Rosenfeld 41:05
There is a regular room. I do it most Wednesdays unless I’m flying or unless I’m abroad. And I typically do it on Wednesdays at 7pm Eastern time. And the topic is around The Introverted Executive. That’s the name of my clubhouse club.
And we often talk about things related to executive presence and, you know, covering things around colour and style and fashion and image and personal branding and my favourite word gravitas. And all of these things come together to paint a full picture of who we really are as total people.
Patti Dobrowolski 41:45
Yes, I love that. So please join him on clubhouse, follow him on Instagram. And you can find more information about him in the show notes and in the transcription on YouTube, etc. And in my blog post. And if you liked this interview, share it with people because this guy really is amazing. And he has so many great golden tips in here.
For people who are feeling and struggling with their style and coming in contact with it and how to grab it. This is really helpful. And for those of you that are listening, you know, go out in the world and bring your true self there’s only one you and we’re waiting for you. So have a great, fantastic rest of your day, everybody. Thank you again, Joseph. Thank you for being here.
Joseph Rosenfeld 42:31
Thank you, Patti. It’s great. All right.
Patti Dobrowolski 42:34
Thank you. Bye bye. Thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to DM me on Instagram your feedback or takeaways from today’s episode on Up Your Creative Genius. Then join me next week for more rocket fuel. Remember, you are the superstar of your universe and the world needs what you have to bring. So get busy. Get out and up your creative genius. And no matter where you are in the universe, here’s some big love from yours truly Patti Dobrowolski and the Up Your Creative Genius podcast. That’s a wrap.
