Scaling With Style: A Scalable Expert Case Study With Jackie Wheeler

Welcome to the Scalable Expert, the podcast where we unlock the secrets to building a business that grows with you, not around you. I'm your host, Tara Bryan, business strategist, mentor, and creator of the Infinite Scale Method. If you're a coach, consultant, or service provider who's maxed out with one on one work, overwhelmed by the grind, and ready to scale your expertise into a business that works for you, then you're in the right place. Each week, I'll share actionable tips, inspiring success stories, and proven strategies to help you reclaim your time, grow your income and create a business that delivers results without sacrificing quality. Let's dive in and make your business infinitely scalable. Hey, everybody. Welcome to this week's podcast. I am thrilled to welcome you all to Jackie Wheeler. Jackie, welcome to the podcast. I am so happy that you're here. Give us a little bit of a sense for who you are and what your story is.

Fantastic. Hi. Yep. Jackie Wheeler. I own JackieStyle Image Branding Agency, and I've been helping women in the spotlight look amazing with their style image and brand for over 30 years.

I love that. Okay, so tell us, first of all, how do you do that? Like, what is the kind of the thing that you do to get people all styled and ready to go? And then, how you got started in this?

Yeah, fantastic. Well, a lot of times I'm in those private spaces where women feel a little uncomfortable, which is their closets and their fitting rooms. I take a look at what, my client has, what is in your closet, how it's, working well for you? If not, we curate, and if it doesn't, then we shop and and that's where we're in the fitting room. I can make sure that you have this really great experience while we're shopping, finding those key pieces that enhance all of those things. I started as a small child. My poor mother, who is extremely natural fashion personality, she's had this firecracker of a daughter who had opinions about what to wear. And, just started from there. I styled all my friends in junior high and high school. I was on a college bound, so I found, my degree in clothing and textiles. And I started my business actually while I was in college because it just made sense to me. I could just do it. And so yeah, I started all of those things right away and it's just been so much fun.

That's amazing. Okay. There's so much to unpack there. So I'm excited to kind of dive in. First of all, one of the things I love about what you just said about your story is that you took your passion, you took what you was naturally the thing that lit you up and made it into a business, which is like so dreamy and exciting. And, so I want to dive into that a little bit. But tell us a little so okay, so you go into someone's closet or you go into you take them to a store, so is your business primarily face to face? Or are you doing this kind of work, online?

So I'm, my favorite, very, very, very favorite is in person and face to face. So I do some traveling, I have worked with a lot of people locally. Virtually I'm capable and am happy to do virtually. So yes, I can do that. It's a lot of fun. It's a different experience, but it's still a fabulous experience online still.

So women come to you because they don't like, they don't like their clothes. They don't feel comfortable in what they're wearing or what they're wearing is not reflected on who, of who they are.

Well, there's a variety of different reasons. At first, it may not be a, I don't know what to do. And then as they grow and they learn more about themselves and the tools that they have available to them, then it becomes more of that, okay, now I have decision fatigue. I understand. I understand my body. I understand my best colors. I understand these things. I have it. I need to go be my, do my superpower on my business, and my life. And now I just want somebody else to take care of the rest. And so I'd help them with that. So that decision fatigue of, all right, well, now we've made this really great wardrobe for you that enhances your style, image, and brand. Let me just take care of that. So, now I have women that open their calendars and say, I have these events, dress me. And I just go into your closet and make sure that happens.

Well, I love that. First of all, I love that because, I am definitely one of those people that I go to my closet and I'm like, I have nothing. Like, what am I supposed to wear to this? I have no idea. And so I love that you are available to, to help with people and it matches your passion for being able to do that. Okay, so tell us a little bit about your journey to creating a business around this. So it was your passion. You said you had done this for yourself and for your friends and other people growing up and then went into the major that allowed you to formalize it, perhaps, but there's a difference between having a passion and then actually being able to monetize it. Talk a little bit about that for our audience, because our audience could potentially be experts who are like, I just love what I do, but I don't even know how to make a business of it. And then I'm going to take you to the next level, which is how do you actually scale that? So first tell me a little bit about how you turn it into a business.

Of course. It was when I was working with my girlfriends in junior high and high school, a lot of their moms like realized that I was doing a pretty good job of budgeting and whatnot. So they didn't necessarily hire me but they're like, here's your budget go with. And so that's how I started learning about what that could look like. And I didn't have a name for the information that I knew. I didn't have a name for the job that I wanted to have. And I randomly met an image consultant and she and I had coffee. She took time with me at 18, 19 years old to just have that conversation and say, here's some options that you might have. Here's some formal, other formal information that you need as an image consultant, if this is the direction you want to go. And that really changed my life in that I can, oh, I can really do this. My initial thought when I was going to school was I was going to become a buyer. I was going to do a, I was going to have a shop. I was going to have all these things. I had that entrepreneurial sense in me the whole time. I knew that there would be something. But when this woman sat and gave me her time and gave me a definition of what that real thing was that I wanted, I was like, oh, okay, did I do it right? Probably not. I'm sure 19, 18, 19 years old, I did not initially do things the best way. I knew I needed to network. I needed to find the right people. I knew I needed to find the right space, and I knew I was still in school and I needed to find that balance. So, I just found, I started at the chamber of commerce and met people and learned how to network and I learned how to give my little speech and I just kept going and made lots of mistakes along the way.

Right, right. So do you still primarily just do one on one image consulting for people?

Uh, no. So I have a workshop coming up here in Arizona on Power First Impression, and I'll be doing like a group workshop then. I'm working on some virtual workshops. I've done all kinds of different opportunities for specific topics that I do zoom and workshop masterclasses with that.

Awesome, so you went to one on one and then now you're doing group, where you're able to help more people at the same time, so through workshops and whatnot, are you also doing some sort of scalable delivery where you have some options that are available for people to access that don't require your time.

I love that you're asking me that. I don't yet. I don't yet. And I have been thinking about how can I expand this, like this legacy, this love that I have and help more people and create something that is again, not all my time, cause it has been 30 years I've been doing this and hopefully someday maybe, I'll probably never retire, but maybe do less and that would be nice, but no I have not I've been thinking of noodling it but not nailed down what that looks like.

Right well and you hit it on the head right where it's, it's you have the ability to package what you do so that more people can have access to you without you, you know, having all of your time involved in it and then You can still kind of play in people's closets when you want to, instead of having to from a business perspective. So that's super exciting. So when you're doing your workshops, are you doing multiple iterations of those workshops? So it's sort of like a package curriculum that you've already created when you're helping people?

It's a curriculum that's in my head that I've created, but it's not necessarily packaged. I love that idea of pulling, like, here's three options and, packaging that, that's fantastic. I'm gonna write that down.

Well, and it's interesting, right? Like when you think even about some of the things that you probably do, you mentioned colors, right? Like you help people figure out like what the best colors are or how to put together an outfit. All of those things would be easily packageable into something that if somebody was interested in figuring out, like, how do I dress myself for age or dress myself for an event or, you know, all of those kinds of things. I'm like, what color should I be wearing? What color shouldn't I be wearing? All of those kinds of things. Are those some of the topics that you talk about in your workshop?

Absolutely. All of those topics. I love it.

Yeah, yeah, that's so fun. Like, I, it's, I love meeting experts in sort of non traditional expert areas, right? And so it's, it's so exciting to think about, like, how can you monetize? How can you grow? How can you package what you're doing to get out to more, more women? Do you specialize in a specific age or kind of type of... image consulting?

What's my niche? Yes so I love working with speakers, authors, coaches, those women that are in the spotlight all the time. They have to consistently like really know that they're on point. So that's the woman that I love to, to work with. I am able to work with all, obviously that's like not a concern. It's like, if I can. So that particular woman has, again, a lot of decision fatigue. She has a lot of things that she needs to think about and there's a lot of events for her. It's not just a, I'm going to maybe do a networking group, or a this, or a whatever. She's doing podcasts and she's doing on stage and she's like, all the things. So yes, that is my, yeah. Age group wise, yeah, it's like probably 30, 35 to 65.

Yeah, yeah. Well, and then, you know, how do you dress when you're not, like, at home, with your yoga pants on? I have no pants on today, I just have to tell you, like, real pants, but most of the time it's my, my yoga pants, right, and then the shirt on the top. So I'm sure you deal with that now, too, right, where it's, it's the difference between how we used to dress, when we would go somewhere versus like, how do you show up on camera and still present yourself with the right brand and being able to do that? So give us one, um, what's your one top tip that you have for my audience around how to present themselves visually in the way that you teach?

So one of the things that I like to talk about is how... the decision to show up for you, right. So, that never have a second chance for first impression moment. That's, that's all about how other people are visualizing you. When you show up with how you want them to see you, that's the key. So then you start changing and taking control of that first impression because you've made that decision, on how you are showing up. And I usually recommend picking three words that you want, I have two, but my personal is to have grace, poise, and style. And I hope that every time that I put my clothes on and I think about it, my style image brand, who I am, exudes grace, poise, and style. So just taking that one thought further in like, I'm going to show up in this room, I'm just going to throw clothes on. Okay no, how am I going to show up in this room? How am I, how am I, what is my message that I'm going to give? And that's what I think the biggest impact that women can think about is like where you're going and the impact that you're going to make based upon how you're visually showing up.

Wow that's so interesting. So a lot of times, you know, for me, I'll do like a power pose, right? Like if I'm going on stage, I'll be like, okay, this is how I feel confident. Right? Like my hands are on my hips, my feet are planted, but I don't necessarily think about what I'm wearing. I'll wear something that I feel confident in. And most of the time it's a bright color because to me, my brand is more like, authority and strength. And so I usually show up in like, I don't know, red or a color like that. But I don't know if I've ever intentionally thought about that, right? Like whether it's red or orange or like a, just a brighter color, but I, I'm very intentional about like how I'm standing before I go on stage. So I love that because that's totally something that, I bet a lot of people don't think about, but it makes a huge difference. It's like when you see somebody on stage and they're in some strange outfit that doesn't match how they're presenting. It does make a huge difference.

It does. If you're not matching your message, it's hard. I kind of like have the two, like it's similarly, if you have your picture on your card, and it's the 80s glam shot now, you're not representing yourself well. That cohesion is not there and it's, it's like that.

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Okay. Interesting. All right. So what's one book resource tool or template or something that you could not live without as you're growing or when you were growing your business?

Oh, well my most recent one it's called The Go Giver and it's a book and I love that one so much because it really talks about how, sales and connecting with people is not about what you're going to get, it's about what you can give and how he's gonna come back to you. Does that... I think, lemme make sure I'm saying that right. But I love that one and the other is The Compound Effect, I think that's a great one. I have to reread it over and over again 'cause I will forget.

Yeah. No, both of those are amazing. So we'll put those in the show notes for everyone who is listening. So if you wanna check those out we always include resources, so thank you for sharing those. All right, so what is one thing that you for sure want my audience to know about your brilliance, your expertise, and how you show up in the world?

Oh, that is a such good question. I just want you to know that this is all about you and you showing up authentically. So when I am connecting with anyone, I just truly see you for who you are and there's no judgment, there's no anything like that in any of the space that you're with me, and I just enjoy that discovery along with you.

Yeah, that's so cool. It's interesting, right? Because I think we spend a lot of time talking, or like, focused on messaging, what we're saying, and, like I said, like, persona wise, how you're showing up, but I think that, the image, the full picture gets missed. So, Jackie, I love that this is what you do, and that this is your passion, and you're bringing this out, and I can't wait. So you're helping people in Arizona, you said, right, in a workshop. I cannot wait to see that workshop or something similar come out from a bigger perspective so that you can help more people because I'm in Minnesota, I am not in Arizona. I would love to be in Arizona right now, especially because it's like negative 17 outside and so I would gladly come to your workshop to get out because I want to see you, obviously, but also to be in the warmth. But, I can't wait to see how your message gets out to a broader group when you're able to package it. So I am, I am excited to kind of spitball a little bit with you, on that, like what ideas could you come up with in terms of like, you know, even just like small pieces of your workshop, kind of packaging that out, being able to give that as a live virtual workshop, or even, as a scalable offer that doesn't require your time. So more on that, because Jackie, I'm going to follow up with you.

All right.

After you've noodled through some different ideas. But what comes up for you around that? Like, I would love to hear your thoughts on that. Cause you know, you've been kind of intrigued on that. I'm sure you're thinking about it. Any thoughts on that, that you can share with our audience that would help them also, kind of, brainstorm some ideas around that?

Absolutely. So, um, I was literally just thinking about a gal who I was working with. She does content creation, content sessions. They're all in person. They're taking pictures and stuff. And I was thinking I wanted to partner with her to prep her people, for that content, because they're taking photographs over and over and just to have a consistent monthly opportunity to what does that mean? How do you show up? You know, when you're talking about you, you and your content, is there, how do we put that all together? So you're prepped for photo shoots content and, you know, those kind of things.

Yeah, that's amazing. Very cool. Great idea. All right. So for my audience, if anyone wants to get a hold of you and learn how they can be, in your world, let us know, how can we get a hold of you?

Yes, of course. I have a little special gift for anyone who's listening. You can find that gift at, it's a style guide, the jackiestyle.com/freegift. And the best place to find me is an Instagram, which is @thejackiestyle. And you can see all kinds of the fun things that I'm up to and creative ideas and more of my personality.

I love it. I love it. So, all right, perfect. So for all of you who are interested in learning from Jackie in terms of how do you improve your image, how do you improve your style, and get a little bit of her passion for what you should be, you know, putting on your body, definitely check her out on Instagram. All of those will also be in the show notes. All right, Jackie, leave us with a parting couple of words how what you do could help our audience.

Oh, well, I want just to remind you that there's no one like you. And so as you're prepping yourself for any of the events and things that you have going, just remember that you are the most unique special and there's not a single person like you. And I just want you to remember that.

That's amazing. Well, thank you so much, Jackie, for being on the show. I appreciate you. Alright, until next time, enjoy your week!