As a young girl I would often ask my mother “What should I wear?” Her response is one that has shaped who I am and how I style myself and my clients on a daily basis. “Wear what you feel best in” my mother would say. It may seem like a simple answer, but if you dig deeper, it is such a profound thought.
Feeling good about the outside dramatically affects how we carry ourselves and our level of confidence. Feeling comfortable is vitally important in our ability to achieve our goals for the day and can affect our endurance to do just that.
The reason I became a stylist came from a moment in my early childhood that is deeply burned into my memory. As a 9 year old girl I sat down in a hairdresser’s chair with a very distinct vision of how I wanted my hair to look, only to be told that she didn’t like my idea. This experience left me shattered, as did the resulting mullet that I sported for the next year. In that very moment, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if I ever had the privilege to style someone, that I would do better, and most of all,
I would always listen.
From those early shaping moments, I continued to blossom into the fashionista that I am. Influence from my mother, a stylish farmers wife, continued. My favorite picture is of my parents standing side by side in front of our fireplace. My father is covered head to toe in truck grease, hair standing on end, and my mother is dressed in her bright yellow blouse, trouser jeans, and large earrings, hair streaked and styled, and of course you can catch the flash of her long manicured nails. She taught me that no moment was ever too insignificant to look her best.
Life is your runway.
Over time, into my teenage years, I began to realize the importance of making sure other people knew they were beautiful. A good friend of my mother’s would often come by for coffee. She never failed to mention to me that I was beautiful, even if I was in my pajamas and my hair all askew, her exclamations would sink through my rough teenage shell and warm my heart. I began to always want to look my best around her, to make her words valid.
Realizing the power of a few words, I’ve set out on a journey to make all people realize their beauty. Seeing the waitress who hides behind bangs, I wonder if she knows how beautiful her eyes are, so I told her. Yesterday, my cashier at the department store had skin like porcelain, and was shocked: she didn’t believe me when I told her. Our words are like diamonds that can put a twinkle in the eye, and last forever. Making people find their beauty is my passion, my calling and my life’s purpose.
Taking all I’ve learned along my journey into adulthood, I followed the only calling that fit my life and began a career as a hairdresser and a makeup artist. My heart has always been drawn to styling, so many fond memories come from being a part of the special days of many brides and grads. It continues to be a great honor for me to transform a nervous girl into a beautiful woman for her special day.
It was my love for all things beautiful and sparkly brought me to the greatest fashion and glamor adventure as I competed and won Mrs. Canada 2006 and went to Russia to compete in Mrs. World. I was awed by the beauty of the women of the world. A wide range of ages and a world of culture was brought together for me to study and learn from. From losing my luggage for the first few days and needing to make outfits from what I had on myself and in my carry-on, meeting Russian government dignitaries to giving autographs to little Russian ballerina girls, and skating with Russian hockey players, the impact of all those weeks will forever remind me that...
I can do what seems impossible. When I was 19 years of age, my style icon, my mom, passed away after a 9 year battle with cancer. Through this difficult time I learned many lessons. One of them being, that
Life is Too Short Not To Sparkle Every day.
I have taken this lesson and applied it to my life and tried to impart this way of thinking on my clients. This mind-set lead me to a number of years spent on the “Look Good Feel Better” volunteer team. In that setting, I was able to help women dealing with the effects of cancer and treatments to feel a sense of control over their body and their image. It is truly amazing to me the transformation that occurs not only to their appearance, but even more so to their demeanor.
I am now seeing my
dreams come full circle. No longer am I the little girl asking my mother what to wear. I now have clients who are asking me that very question! I am taking all that I’ve learned about
true beauty and passing it on to my clients. Feeling great about the image you are presenting to the world creates a completely different attitude which comes through in your smile and your eyes, and adds the final accessory to a super cute outfit!
A current client of mine has just lost a lot of weight and it is so much fun to watch her light up as I bring her yet a smaller size. Not only do I want her to be comfortable, but I also desire for her to look good and feel better about herself! I am continually grateful for the opportunity to help others realize their beauty, whether it be through hair, makeup, fashion or all of them combined. It's so much fun for me when friends, family and clients refer to my styling services as being “Nickified.” I love the moment when the final result is pulled together, and that special person looks in the mirror, and says...
“ Wow, I can’t Believe That’s me!”
A friend of mine from high school went on to a successful career as a singer/songwriter. One of his songs is called "All The Good Ideas Are Gone" (by Riley Armstrong). This is exactly how I feel about fashion in 2011. We have become so very good at recycling in this, the 21st century, that even our fashion is completely recycled from past eras. Have we really run the well so completely dry that we need to bring back the STIRRUP PANT?? Was this really such a fabulous trend the first time around that we just have to enjoy it once more??? The pant that looks like it's hanging on for dear life should you yank them up one more time!? The pants that if they were even a smidgen too short were like a permanent penguin costume? Well, my friends, let me urge you, on the soapbox platform such as this little blog, NOT to recycle this trend! Actually I'm quite certain that anyone old enough to recall this previous fashion tragedy, would never sign up for a second round...it will only be those young enough not to be scarred that will be running out to find the perfect slouch socks to go over top. I'm not saying all fashion recycling is bad, but it's one thing to have found a new love for Caesars sandals...
