Fashion industry veteran and expert Robin Fisher is one of the leading image consultants in the Washington DC Metro area. In 2008 Robin left the corporate fashion world and put her passion behind a new labor of love: Polished, a full service personal styling and corporate image consulting agency. Robin’s experience in the fashion industry spans over twenty five years and has included positions ranging from Executive Department Store Buyer, Magazine Creative Director, International Production Manager, and more.
A certified image consultant who received intensive training in London, her personal clients include high achieving female executives, diplomats, judges, attorneys, doctors, authors, news anchors and any woman that is ready to get her style back on track!
Robin has also been featured on CNN, FOX, NBC, Redbook, The Epoch Times, Washingtonian, Capital Files Magazine, Modern Luxury, and more.
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Timestamp
2:02 Meeting Robin Fisher and understand how she gets into fashion
5:37 Her leap into fashion industry after internship
5:51 Confidence lies in what you wear
9:24 Composing her own business process
15:20 How Robin started Polished as a working mom
21:16 Robin has always been into fashion since she was a kid
23:05 Robin’s shares about her first client and her business startup
26:23 Make a business out of your interest – you will never feel like work
28:59 Fashion tips from Robin
31:26 Polished – six week program
33:47 Future vision of Robin and Polished
37:46 Robin’s way of starting her daily routine
Transcript
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.
Hi, everybody. All right. It is so amazing. All right, because I am so excited about our guest today. She’s a fashion industry veteran, and an expert – Robin Fisher. She’s one of those amazing people. She’s from the Washington DC area. But in 2008, she left the corporate fashion world and she went into her passion to really help people to create a look and feel for who they are.
And her experience in the fashion industry has really changed the face of everything. She’s worked with executive placement, store buyers and magazine creative directors. And she’s been doing all of these fantastic things in the international space. And so I am super excited to have you here. Robin, you got to tell us about you and how you got started. I’m not sure I gave you all the right accreditation.
Should we start that again? I’m sure we’ll cover it. So that’s good. So tell me all right, so you’re helping people to get their look and feel together. Right? So tell me how did you get started doing this? Because you came from the fashion industry. So where did you work? And what did you do in the past? And how did you even get into that? Where were you born? And tell us a little bit about you and your past? I’d love to hear it?
Robin Fisher 02:02
Sure. So I was born and raised in Oakland, California.
Patti Dobrowolski 02:06
Yes.
Robin Fisher 02:08
And my grandmother actually owned a business in San Francisco and she dealt with antiques and vintage. And so literally people would come to her when I was a little girl or costuming. So it would be jazz singers, theater, you know, costume designers and you know, collectors and all those kind of things.
But where we would go to get the merchandise was where I really kind of fell in love with the whole process of fashion and manufacturing and all that kind of stuff. Because we would take trips into Denver to the cotton mills. And so when I was a little girl, I would climb like a story high of nothing but cotton garments.
And basically they were there to get bleached back white soaked, and then the yarns come apart and then re-spun into thread. And so my grandmother was there to pull out the antiques and the vintage finds before they went through that process.
So that was something that I actually just was always anamour with. And then Oakland is in San Francisco definitely is an industrial kind of town. And so as I got older, you know, my mother is a master tailor. She used to sew people, wedding gowns and prom dresses in our living room. And so I just had always been around the industry, you know, but I was a troubled teen, you know.
Patti Dobrowolski 03:33
Oakland, I lived in Oakland, so I do a lot of trouble.
Robin Fisher 03:38
And so but I just always wanted more for myself. But the biggest thing that I watched my family work together as a family, and if our businesses made money, that meant we ate well, that week, if our business didn’t make money, it was a little bit of a struggle. And so I always have a personal goal of mine was for me to go into the fashion industry at a corporate level. However, you didn’t see a lot of people back in those days that looked like me know for sure.
But people definitely never really took me seriously. But it was just something that was a burning desire, because I just love the legacy of my family. So it wasn’t until I went to college, got my act together, and 19, 20 years old and finally enrolled in San Francisco State that I started you know, I’d always worked retail jobs.
You know, even my first job outside of my grandmother and family’s business was at the Ross Dress For Less you know, yeah, yeah, for sure. And I’ve worked you know, high end retail, you know, Ferragamo and Nordstroms.
And, you know, all that kind of stuff and I just loved you know, just the whole sales process helping people and I did that all through college, but once I was coming out, I took a non paid internship at a fashion company in San Francisco that hired me probably about six or eight months before I actually graduated. And then I was put on full time once I graduated.
Patti Dobrowolski 05:02
Wow, that’s fantastic. Well, you know, that’s where I came from that that’s what I did. When I was in college. I did all that retail, you know, Nordstrom, Frederick and Nelson when they existed, you know, just worked in all those places so that I could afford to buy some clothes, right at a discounted price.
Robin Fisher 05:22
Right, exactly.
Patti Dobrowolski 05:23
Yeah. Gotta get your look and feel.
Robin Fisher 05:24
Yeah. Yeah.
Patti Dobrowolski 05:27
So well, that’s incredible. I love that you came from that history. And so then when you did that internship, then what happened? What you do after that?
Robin Fisher 05:37
Sure. So I honestly got that internship, because it was at the time that we were going from flatlay patterns that people were drafting on the tables, but into computer aided drafting. And I had been writing.
Patti Dobrowolski 05:50
So CAD drawing, yes?
Robin Fisher 05:51
CAD, and I had been certified in AutoCAD. And so the reason they had hired me was to take their hard patterns into digitalization to you know, help lead that process. And so after that, once I graduated, and went into full time they put me on international production teams. Oh, fantastic. Yep. All right. innerwear, which is underwear, and then also special cuts, that’s when companies would come to us and want us to run their private label.
And so I really looked around, and because even a home girl coming out of Oakland, you know, I was going to college. I remember saying, Okay, well, I don’t look like a college and really making that transition to you know, Jack Purcells vintage 501. So why as you know, t shirt, and, you know, just Eddie Bauer puff coat, and that became my uniform. And I really took on the persona of a college student, even though I was struggling through my first engineering classes, but I saw the difference, you know, that?
Patti Dobrowolski 06:49
Oh, I love that, so what you put on, gave you the confidence to do what you were doing? Like, put that on? Wow, I love that.
Robin Fisher 06:59
Communicated that I was a student, you know, versus right. Oh, you know, hip girl coming out of Oakland, you know? Yep. And so that’s when I really, you know, thought of back, you know, working alongside my grandmother, when some of the costume designers would come or the jazz musicians would come to her and they say, oh, you know, and this kind of look has this. And that kind of look has that. So when I looked around right after college, I was like, well, I could go into Silicon Valley and make twice as much as what I’m making.
But I’m just married to this whole fashion thing, right? Yeah, I thought I was thinking, but I was like, what do the people that make the money look like? And so these people were very tailored, very, you know, had a great executive Hugo Boss, Hugo Boss, right. So I knew that I was not at that level. But I knew I wanted to send the message that I was headed that way. So I took my first paycheck, went and bought three suits from the limited you know, black, gray and navy, just how we used to do back in the days, right?
Patti Dobrowolski 08:01
That’s right. Did you have like that little flippy scarf thing that hung down on your shirt?I’ve always they always tried to get me to wear one of those. I’m like, I’m gay for that, sorry.
Robin Fisher 08:18
Literally, I would break the suit up, I would never wear it together. So I wear the nice slacks with a nice top or the blazer with a nice pair of jeans. And so it really started sending the non verbal message that this girl is going places. And that in conjunction with my work, opportunity came open for an international trip that was going around the world, you know, starting in Asia, ending in Europe and back into New York. And I was chosen to go and.
Patti Dobrowolski 08:44
Oh fantastic.
Robin Fisher 08:46
Yeah, it was six months after I never since then I just took off.
Patti Dobrowolski 08:49
That’s fantastic. So how old were you when that opportunity happen?
Robin Fisher 08:53
God, I think I was like 25 26 years old. I was relatively young. I know, I was the youngest person to ever go. But I just really always have taken myself really seriously. Yeah, and so.
Patti Dobrowolski 09:08
Climb and all that those cotton things, obviously. I want to get to the top up there. So there you go. That’s just a metaphor for you. You have it. All right. So then you’re out there, you’re doing this thing you’re traveling, right? And then what happens?
Robin Fisher 09:24
Well, you know, going global, I would say I never really had been a lot of places besides Denver, Seattle, where my dad lives in summer and holidays, and then Oakland and then you know, California. So seeing the world just really opened my eyes and I just wanted more, you know, and a world differently. And I just was like, Okay, what’s next? And so one of the things I loved love loved production, but I wanted to know like, after I make this stuff, what do you guys do with it? How do you write me?
And so my college sweetheart, who is now my husband was on the East Coast doing grad school. And so opportunity became available for me to go and be an executive buyer for my company. And when I thought about it overall, in terms of what I wanted for my long term goals in my career, I was like, Okay, this is perfect. So they relocated me out there. And then that’s when I started the buying trend. And so it was, that was really fun, because literally the merchandise that I had produced I met in store.
So yeah, I was very connected to the whole process, like, how is it gonna sell? How does it sell through? How do you mark it down? You know, and margins. And that was actually a really hard transition, because it was going into finance. But from there.
Patti Dobrowolski 10:45
Yeah, because you really have to understand it end to end, right. So you have to understand it from a seller’s market, right? So it’s not just the buying, it’s that what do you do with that aftermarket? And what happens to it? And then where do they make their profit in that? And how can you get the most profit, really, and you so you got to really understand the spreadsheet.
Robin Fisher 11:06
That’s what I tell people all the time, like, people were like, were you going to the fashion with someone like, Absolutely, but that was like, 10% of my job. And by the end of it, I didn’t want to be there. I’d rather be in my office making sure that you know, because what comes down the runway is does not always be produced.
But yet, it was a great experience. And it really gave me a 360 view in the fashion industry. And, you know, after I left that company, I had my first son married my husband, and then I went to another company, but this company was very specialized. And their thing was urban fashion. And so the first time I realized like, I’m not really into like the hip hop stuff, I had more of a classic personal taste.
Patti Dobrowolski 11:53
Except for the jeans and the t shirt and the puffy coat that Eddie Bauer that’s about as far as it went after that you were in the suits, right? Why?
Robin Fisher 12:05
I always love suits. I always have had a classic even as a kid I wore Argyle, you know, best sweaters like, you know, that was just kind of like my aesthetic probably coming from my mom, but I loved it. Right? Yeah. But when I got to DC, I personally had issues with the dress code, because it was so white. And I was like, Oh my God, and they wrote me up, because I didn’t wear collared shirts, you know?
Patti Dobrowolski 12:30
Oh my God. Are you kidding? Oh my gosh.
Robin Fisher 12:34
Let me tell you what I did, Patti. I flew into San Francisco went to the Haight Ashbury hit up probably about three or four of my favorite vintage stores got 70 Psychedelic shirts with collars. And I started popping them underneath my suit. And people were like, Oh my god. So that’s where the concept of my concept of my company comes from, like, individual taste and individual style. Because once I started putting no I was fine. You know, the plain boring, you know.
Patti Dobrowolski 13:03
Why not gonna happen? That’s right. It’s not gonna happen. fast enough.
Robin Fisher 13:08
This, aren’t we exactly. So weird and bizarre.
Patti Dobrowolski 13:12
And I think that really I remember this going into my first job, right? The first time I went into a consulting thing, I thought I had to wear a three piece suit. Let me just say I bought a skirt. Okay, that’s me buying a skirt that I hadn’t worn one in years. Skirt, heels, top and then that shirt collared shirt, you know, but a plain shirt.
And let me just say it was a huge flop. I was so uncomfortable that at the end of the day, I just took that suit and I took it right to, you know, resale place and I’m like, I am never wearing that suit again. Again. No, it’s not me. You know, I have to be myself. Right? Important, right? It’s so it is because your confidence comes from you feeling comfortable in your skin, right?
Even if you got a Hugo Boss suit on, you got to know that it really represents you, whatever it is. Alright, so then how did you get from there into dressing people? Really? That’s not the right way of saying it. Of course you’ve given that a look. And.
Robin Fisher 14:10
Yeah, well, honestly, through my whole career, and my whole life, I’ve had to reposition myself and I’ve always done that through hair, makeup and clothes. I’ve always done that. So, you know, as a teenager, I was really insecure. I was blessed to go into very great schools for academics, but these girls had a lot of resources because they were private schools. I was on scholarships there you know.
Yeah. And I just hated the feeling of feeling inadequate. I hated the feeling of people thinking that they were better than me or me mentally forget them me mins. Yeah, right. The way that I was able to combat that was by staying in the lines of the Walgreens or CVS and the makeup and the you know, just getting myself together and so I’m a process because in the fashion industry, you know, especially when you’re walking the streets in New York, and you know, all these different shows, people are looking you up and down to see if you look the part all the time. And that was something that just comes with my industry. And I’m just like, Hell, if they’re going to look me up and down, let me give them something to look at.
Patti Dobrowolski 15:19
Exactly, exactly.
Robin Fisher 15:20
Right. Because a lot of things that don’t have to be said, if you walk in and look in a certain kind of way, you know, and so I developed a process like, you know, as women, we come on done all the time, you know, for different various different types of reasons. And I realized that I had a process of getting myself back on track every single time. Yes. And when I was at the last company I was at I wasn’t treated very well, I was waiting to move back into San Francisco. So I took a job, which I thought would be temporary, but my husband did not want to leave the East Coast. And so we ended up getting pregnant with a set of twins.
Patti Dobrowolski 16:01
Oh, wow. Well, that’s a full time job right there.
Robin Fisher 16:05
And I probably been ready. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. It comes from the beauty of my family. But I had probably been ready to start my own thing for about three, four years, but I just wasn’t listening. You know what I mean?
I just wasn’t, my focus was to get me and my kid and my husband back to San Francisco. And then I go work for one of the companies there. And I had communities lined up, and I was just waiting and biding my time. But I didn’t work out, you know, once you get a set of twins.
Patti Dobrowolski 16:36
Oh, yeah, you got to be near family to help with them. You gotta. Yeah, it’s crazy. Well,
Robin Fisher 16:42
We actually stayed on the East Coast.
Patti Dobrowolski 16:45
Oh, did you wow, okay crazy.
Robin Fisher 16:47
Post about the family support. But you know, I had a bad situation in the office one day, and I was only probably about eight or nine weeks pregnant with my twins. I’m a twin too. So it was a total shock to me that I was having twins. I was older. And literally, I was in risk of losing them.
Patti Dobrowolski 17:06
Yes.
Robin Fisher 17:07
I just made that decision at that very moment that no job is worth losing your kids over? Well, first of all my integrity.
Patti Dobrowolski 17:17
Right.
Robin Fisher 17:18
Secondly, just the respect. And I knew the power that I had at that company. I knew tribution. And it was a lot.
Patti Dobrowolski 17:27
Yeah.
Robin Fisher 17:28
And I was just like, No. And then when I piled on the fact that I had been under that kind of pressure.
Patti Dobrowolski 17:34
That’s what I’m thinking.
Robin Fisher 17:35
I period of time. And now I have kids and the kids, for me was where I was like, Absolutely not get your stuff together, get your stuff, y’all out here and don’t ever come back. And so yeah, I walked off. And it was very.
Patti Dobrowolski 17:52
I bet that was scary.
Robin Fisher 17:54
It was very scary, because my husband was newly out of grad school. Like I said, we did not have the family support here. But it was definitely me choosing myself over a job for most, even though I love the industry. And I actually love the work that I did at the company, because it was very successful. You know, most of the people there were amazing.
But it was one of those things that that’s what I said, you know, you got to feed yourself, you’re gonna have to yourself, because Washington DC is not a fashion town at all. Opportunities here are very far and wide in between. And I felt like if I did take another opportunity, and they were presented to me, but in this region that I would just be setting myself up to go back down the same road.
Patti Dobrowolski 18:39
Yeah. And what I love about what you’re saying is one and this for me is key. You know, you’re in a circumstance where you’re not treated well, people don’t respect you. It’s wrong. It’s just wrong. And you realize the stress, you’ve got these twins, and it’s stressful. And that’s why I said that about you know, because of the kids.
I mean, because of the stress, why you can’t put your body under stress and expect to have those kids feel that they feel that you know, and you don’t want to birth a couple of kids who have issues because you were under stress when you were pregnant, right? And what I love about it is that you totally took it and you’re like no matter what, I’m going to have to do this myself, I’m going to have to feed myself, it’s going to happen.
And I think that is like a huge leap that you took with your husband just out of graduate school or in graduate school. You know, I mean, that’s a big leap out into the middle of nothing, right? Yeah. What did you do to get yourself to land?
Robin Fisher 19:40
Well, to be honest with you, I got really depressed because everything I felt like I had worked for in my life and what saved me from myself as a young young woman, I felt was like over you know, what was I going to do? I had always played with different business things and you know in the fashion space designing jewelry selling handbags at one time.
Patti Dobrowolski 20:04
Yeah, yeah.
Robin Fisher 20:04
Different stuff. But it was nothing that I just said, If my husband was making it where I could have been a stay at home mom, I tried that junk with my first son and Jesus. No, I just like.
Patti Dobrowolski 20:17
I need to have my own thing. I can’t stay here with you.
Robin Fisher 20:22
Yeah, I tried. I tried. I did. Actually I did. I wasn’t saying, what I just started this, on the side where I had my little business, you know, to take care of. And oh, literally, I think once I finally got over just the depression of it all, and just how everything had happened, and really started to think about my power and my position.
And what I was able to do realistically with three children, while also you know, making sure that I was filling my soul, one of the things I always loved are beautiful women, I could sit on a bench in Paris, London, a park in Oakland, or Berkeley, you know, hiking, I love to see women pulled together and looking amazing. Regardless, if they’re coming down the aisle at Target, they’re picking up their kids from school.
Patti Dobrowolski 21:16
Yeah.
Robin Fisher 21:16
We’re working, you know, at a corporate office. And that’s actually where it started, because my mom was an executive in San Francisco. And my grandmother used to pick her up, and I would just sit there, you know, at the window, like a little girl and just watch all the very nice dressed women and men walked by.
And so I was like, You know what, I have a whole process about how I reinvent myself, or recreate myself, and I understand often. And I also had done a lot of research, you know, through the years about style and stuff like that. And I was like, I need to turn it into something.
Patti Dobrowolski 21:52
Yeah.
Robin Fisher 21:53
So I sat down six months pregnant with my twins, and I wrote my business plan, and I decided to go back and finish get my masters. And so as soon as they were born, I enrolled in school, I started, you know, putting the pieces together creatively.
And when they were probably about one years old, I’ve completed my master’s, I went to London, right before I completed my master’s and train with one of the world’s best image consultants ever, because I knew I needed a high level.
Patti Dobrowolski 22:23
Yes.
Robin Fisher 22:24
Serious level, and she was amazing. But then I still needed to turn that into my own. You know what I mean?
Patti Dobrowolski 22:30
Yes, yes, of course, because you get a mentor, but they give you their perspective on things. And you then have to shape that for what it is. That’s your thing, your niche, whatever it is, right.
Robin Fisher 22:42
Absolutely.
Patti Dobrowolski 22:43
That’s fantastic.
Robin Fisher 22:44
Yeah. And so in the night because I was there I think for two weeks, and my twin brother and my mom came in watch my kids for me. You know, during the day, I would train and in the evenings, I would write my thesis. And so when I came back, I submitted that thing. I graduated and launched Polished the same month, December 2008.
Patti Dobrowolski 23:05
Yeah, I love that Polished is a perfect name for your business, because that’s really what you’re doing. You’re helping people to get their Polish going on. So tell me then how’d you get your first client? What was that like for you?
Robin Fisher 23:20
Oh my god. So like I said, I believe when you can’t get it together, you go down to the bare bones and I again, a little bit over 100 pounds pregnant with my twins. The budget was definitely not the same without that income. And so I had gone to like, you know, I think targeted and shopping Macy’s and I had put together this little capsule of a wardrobe and literally I was wearing a uniform once again similar.
Patti Dobrowolski 23:48
Yeah.
Robin Fisher 23:48
Wore back like in my old company.
Patti Dobrowolski 23:49
Your new uniform, your Polished uniform.
Robin Fisher 23:53
Very similar to what I have on.
Patti Dobrowolski 23:55
There you go, there you go.
Robin Fisher 23:57
Nurse these guys. And so I was walking through our flagship mall here, which was Pentagon City and I have my twins with me. And this woman stopped me because I was there all the time. I hadn’t really you know made any traction yet and she stopped me she goes I see you all the time and you always look so well put together.
And I’m a mess. I have a set of twins and you know how do you do it? And I started laughing I said well actually is a concept based on basics. And she said basics and so I said well actually an executive image consultant personal stylist I just launched a business you know here’s a card, call me. Well she did and she.
Patti Dobrowolski 24:36
Oh yay.
Robin Fisher 24:38
You know be owning executive coaching firm here.
Patti Dobrowolski 24:42
Fantastic.
Robin Fisher 24:44
Oh, it just took off.
Patti Dobrowolski 24:44
Oh my god. Oh, I bet I bet and then did like at the very beginning. How did you figure out your pricing and things like that those real basic things like did you start off low and then eventually just bare self up?
Robin Fisher 24:57
Yes. absolutely. And I’ll be be honest with you, my goal wasn’t, you know, to make a ton of money. My goal was to give myself some business. And then also to pay my student loans myself, I did not want to ask my husband to help pay for my student loans. That was my independence. Okay.
Patti Dobrowolski 25:15
Yeah, yeah.
Robin Fisher 25:16
So literally Polish would generate them. But then after a year, it just started growing and growing and growing and growing. And I was like, Oh, my God, I don’t even know where to do with my kids. Like, you know what I mean, like I was booking people in the evening hours and on the weekends when my husband can watch them.
So Polished was really grown alongside the development of my children as well. Now, that is what honestly, the best part about my company is because they were there, when I was signing up for the LLC in the business office. I’m like, bottles and pushing the stroller.
Patti Dobrowolski 25:50
I love it. I love this. This is really, really the life of a working mom. I mean, this is what’s true, is that I love that they were there everywhere, because you were there everywhere with your mom and your grandma. And this is really what we, you know, the myth is that there’s some other place that they should go. But honestly, the best way you learn about things is by watching and observing and seeing how other people are. And then you figure out, Oh, who am I within the world of that?
Robin Fisher 26:17
Right.
Patti Dobrowolski 26:17
And so I love that. So now, what’s your favorite thing about what you do right now?
Robin Fisher 26:23
You know, my favorite thing that I do right now is just work with women where they are, you know, women transition all the time, and they’re always going through things. And sometimes it’s like, this can be overwhelming. It’s not sometimes this overwhelmed a lot of women, and I’m like, I can teach you to take, you know, everything that you need to know about yourself, when it comes to this fashion environment. Because you don’t have to be an expert in everything, you know, and we fall apart. You know, like, four years ago, I was diagnosed with colon cancer.
Patti Dobrowolski 26:56
Oh my god.
Robin Fisher 26:57
One of the things that I feel so blessed about is that my company kept going, even when I wasn’t taking new clients at times, I wasn’t promoting my business, there were a lot of things, I just did not have the, you know, energy to do, because of what I was going through, but the brand of Polished and the power of Polished and what it does, kept my business moving till I got well, and then you know, I was able to pick it up again, which is my opinion, the whole essence of what Polished is about.
So when I work with women that are going through those kinds of things, you know, illness or promotions, or maybe they’re retiring, maybe they’ve done a regional move, maybe they’re getting a divorce, maybe they’re in a new relationship, you know, those are the kind of things that really make me extremely happy. I’ve always had a huge respect, especially coming out of the San Francisco Bay Area for culture. And so the fact that I attract international clientele makes me extremely happy. So I’d say everything, everything.
Patti Dobrowolski 28:03
That’s, that’s fantastic. Well, congratulations for coming through colon cancer. And I hope you’re, you know, just doing well now, and I just send that send that energy your way. But here’s what I love about what is very unique about you, is that you actually are most interested in the point of pivot, you’re interested in creating the new persona that you are through your look and feel.
Robin Fisher 28:29
Yeah.
Patti Dobrowolski 28:29
Helping you understand, here’s the base and the basics of what you need to know about you. And then let’s build on that based on who you’ve emerged and have become, is that right?
Robin Fisher 28:40
Yes.
Patti Dobrowolski 28:41
So then give some of our listeners a tip about the basics. Is there any kind of tip that you would give them that would just help them as they’re going into their closet before they call you on the phone to get you to help them? You know, is there any simple thing that you would give them that would be helpful?
Robin Fisher 28:59
Sure. So a lot of people when they think about fashion and style, they think about things, but all the bells and whistles, they really forget about the stuff just like this quick little shirt I throw on to jump on here that pull outfits together, that pull looks together. And so I want to scream that from the rooftop because there’s so many times that I’ve looked at in a woman’s wardrobe and all I’m looking for is a simple black pair of slacks, no bells and whistles, no details, or all I’m looking for is a simple blazer, or a simple collared shirt like similar to this and they’re just not there. And so they get themselves in a bind because literally they’ll have all these fashion items that they picked up that they just love but they have nothing to anchor them to.
Patti Dobrowolski 29:44
Yeah.
Robin Fisher 29:45
And so that is the one thing I would say is like check your closet, make sure based on how you’re functioning so if you’re a person that is working from home right now you need you know, abundance of maybe comfortable pants, right. But those comfortable pants, make sure that some of them are clean. So when you put on a fashion shirt, you just put those comfortable pants on, and you’re good to go. You know what I mean?
Patti Dobrowolski 30:11
Well, and for me, it’s like, it’s not just comfortable pants, can I wear them in public so that I can actually go out, you know, into the world and not have to change out of my sweatpants, right? So there’s something like that, I have that. So it’s something really, that will anchor you you said, anchor you, and then what?
Robin Fisher 30:30
And then you add on the fashion, you know, and that’s when I build capsule wardrobes for clients. The first thing that I invested in is finding out what their personal taste level is, you know, I’m 33%, classic, 33%, natural and 33% updated, okay, so I’m always going to have some kind of classic kind of tailoring on but you’ll see that I also will play with trends, but it will only be up to 33%. If I go over that, it’s just like to costuming for me.
Patti Dobrowolski 31:01
I love that now, I want you to pay attention to can you see the pull through of the engineer of her that build into that percentage thing. That’s what I’m listening for him, like, She’s totally an engineer, she’s engineered this piece of your fashion, so that you can create the closet that you need to have so that you can go in there anytime and pull together the things that and I bet everybody has different percentages. Would you say?
Robin Fisher 31:26
Yeah, buddy, like I run a six week program. Okay, we’re literally I help women, you know, develop their individual style and wardrobe to match within that six week program. And I can tell you that there’s women there from all over the country, you know, even internationally, and literally, they’re never the same. It’s very rare, you know, because I it’s a very intimate group. So I only take up to 10 people.
Patti Dobrowolski 31:51
That’s fantastic. Is this online, that you do it? Okay. So if you’re listening, and you wonder, like, How can this happen for me, you want to be one of those 10 that get into that, I would say that individualized experience so that you could learn, you can learn and you can listen to what she does with other people. Oh, my God, I’m getting in that that’s all there is to it. I love that.
Robin Fisher 32:16
You know, I work with women one on one too. Okay, yeah, that’s a faster process.
Patti Dobrowolski 32:22
If they fly you to Paris, and you want to do that, or Vienna, you’re okay with that, you’ll be fine with that go wherever it is.
Robin Fisher 32:30
You know, what I learned is I just respect differences. And people learn different. So someone can learn everything within their consultation and me pulling together their capsule, and they’re like, okay, but then there’s other women that they learn by doing. They learn by, you know, asking questions. And so that’s why I developed the six week program, just to help them because what I basically do for all of my clients, whether it’s one on one, or whether it’s in a group program is I teach them what I know.
But for them, okay, so they begin to own style editor. And to me, that’s where the power comes from. That’s where the confidence comes from. Because once you understand your personal taste level, your fashion rules, your body type, all those kinds of things gel together, then the confidence comes with, I’m killing it, because I know I am but you are talking about it’s because this is my personal taste level. This is how I do it. So you know.
Patti Dobrowolski 33:27
Whatever, get with it. Yeah. That’s right. I love that. So when you think about the vision of the future for you, what’s that look like for your business for where you’re going? What do you want to be known for? What do you want to do that you haven’t stepped into yet? Do you want to expand into?
Robin Fisher 33:47
Yeah, well, to be honest with you, I’m working on that. Now. I want to touch as many women as I can. I think life is, you know, I have a different view of life just based on what I’ve gone through, especially in the last five years, where it’s too short to feel insecure and not attractive, you know, full of joy, you know what I mean?
And if and your appearance is what is holding you back, girl, I got you okay, yeah, you know, come on, I can we can fix this up real quick, and I can let unleash you to the world with your power, you know what I mean? So that is honestly what makes me happy. And when I was ill, I really had to do some deep soul searching. And honestly, every single time I thought about what do you want to do with the rest of your life? If you’re blessed to you know, beat
Patti Dobrowolski 34:35
Yes.
Robin Fisher 34:35
And it was the same thing. It was the same thing. That’s what I want to be known for. I want to be known for the woman that helped me get my stuff together and taught me a process that I can always keep myself together. Even when I fall apart. I can put it back together, you know, and you know, just broadening my reach because honestly, I’ve been in the DMV, I’ve been a mom so I never really focused on my reach out. I was blessed to work with a lot of international people, you know, diplomats, and you’re on business just based on the region that I’m in.
Patti Dobrowolski 35:08
Yep.
Robin Fisher 35:08
Also my specialty, I was very attractive to them. So but I never really expanded my reach until COVID. When COVID happened, that’s when I decided, like, you know, I prayed about I was like, oh, Lord, you know, with my disorder, we just in my mind, it’s just not going to be safe, even they won’t know, what am I going to do? And I really considered, you know, just that’s it, you know, just from my head. Yeah.
But I thought thought it through and talked it through, you know, with my advisers, like my family, my mom, you know, my aunts are great advisors. And finally, what I had been doing digital work for a very long time, because a lot of my diplomats would get deployed. And a lot of the people that would work with me domestically would ended up going back to their home countries, and they want to keep working with me. So I actually had the whole processes already.
Patti Dobrolski 36:01
Ready in the digital space. Yeah. So I think, you know, we underestimate, I mean, me, too, I was alive illustrator. So I was often a speaker and an illustrator live and in person. And when it pivoted, I had just started doing online classes just before that, and everything, of course, became online and still is. And so when I get called to go places that real and in person, I’m like, really? Are you sure that you can’t do it?
Are you really gonna all get together? COVID is still really high. Because I still want to wear my, you know, comfortable bottoms instead of like, put on my suit, right. And so I love that, that you were able to easily transition into that, Oh, my God, I could ask you so many questions, I have to save it for the next time I talk to you because I want to come and do that course with you.
Because I think that would be fantastic. And if you’re listening, you want to look in the show notes here and get involved, I want you to really carefully look at where she is in Instagram. Because Polished is something you need, you definitely need to do this and this piece that we’re in a time of pivot.
So you have to understand that if you’re not aligning what you look like with who you are inside, you’re doing a disservice to the people to showing your full self I think and that’s what you’re talking about. So all right, I just want one last question I want to ask you before I gotta let you go, cuz I know you have a hard stop.
So what is your day look like? Tell me from the moment you get up until what happens in your day. And you know, just give me the brief overview. But people love to get inside your world. So how do you prepare yourself in the world do you have any daily practice you do and things that help you to bring your full self into the world?
Robin Fisher 37:46
Sure. So you know, I wake up relatively early, I like to be up before my twins, my oldest son is away at school, so I don’t really have to worry about him. But I do a lot of meditation in the morning, just you know, focusing on my day, and just checking in with myself. And then about seven o’clock, my twins rise, we you know, do the whole morning routine, I drive them to school.
And by 10 o’clock, I’m fully dressed and you know, usually working on Zoom, if not taking calls, meetings, doing marketing and stuff like that. So that goes through my day until about maybe about three o’clock and then I will go pick them up, then I’ll come back. And then I’m usually working with clients in the evening time.
So sometimes I’ll be working with clients, but there’s a window at 12 one at two and then one at five. So I only take because this is such a creative process. I only take about four clients a week.
Patti Dobrowolski 38:43
I bet.
Robin Fisher 38:43
And the reason why is because I’m a creative person, I want to zero in and focus on them. So I take them during the latter part of the week. Once the merchandise is you know up on the systems that you know that people have received so I can really give them the best assortments available the consultation, you know, I’ve had time to really go in and deep dive and study them yet so forth.
So my typical week, I probably shut down at around 10 o’clock. I’m trying to get better about not working past a certain time. But yeah, honestly, it doesn’t feel like work to me, and none of my jobs except for the bad. You know, treatment. Yeah, no, I’ve never made a single dime. I don’t think even outside of the fashion industry. I don’t think of it as work.
Patti Dobrowolski 39:32
That’s fantastic.
Robin Fisher 39:34
Yeah.
Patti Dobrowolski 39:34
I love that.
Robin Fisher 39:35
Work as work at all. And you know, I’ve been doing this for 30 years, you know, over 30 years now.
Patti Dobrowolski 39:43
Yeah, I love that. Well, you are incredible. I just love everything you’ve said today, Robin and I just want to say thank you so much for spending time with us. Listeners, just really pay attention to the show notes. Take some of these tips to heart and really upgrade what you’re doing You know, so that you can get your capsule together because I want my capsule together. So it matches my brand and everything.
So thank you for spending time with us and we will look forward to seeing you again because I’m having you back on the show so that you can tell us more about what we need to do to get it together. Alright everybody, let’s give a big round of applause. Robin, thanks so much for coming on. And thank you everybody for listening.
If you like what you’re hearing, you know, be sure to forward it to your friends because we want all of you to be learning some of these great tips. And until next time Up Your Creative Genius. I mean it Robin, thank you. Thank you. 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.
