#9 Your Wardrobe, Your Landscape: Abbey Booth on Owning the Room Before You're Ready

🎙️ **EPISODE OVERVIEW** In this warm and energising conversation, Bryony sits down with Abbey Booth - personal stylist and author of *Don't Save It For Best* - to explore something most career conversations completely overlook: what you wear and how it shapes the way you show up. Abbey's journey is anything but linear. From receptionist to advertising sales at the Mirror Group's Racing Post, from window dresser to boutique owner to full-time personal stylist to author - she's navigated more pivots than most. And threading through all of it is one consistent theme: style as a tool for confidence, access, and identity. This is not a conversation about fashion. It's a conversation about women taking up space. * * * 🔑 **KEY THEMES COVERED** - Style as a career tool - how Abbey used vintage fashion to get into rooms that felt firmly closed - The psychology of dressing for the job you want, not the one you have - Why women are conditioned to shrink and how clothes can start to shift that - Abbey's pivot from corporate sales to visual merchandising to personal styling to published author - The disconnect between where your business is and how you're showing up and how to close it - "Style can take you somewhere before you feel ready" why we always think we need to be 100% - The 40/100 rule: men back themselves with 40%, women wait until they hit 100% - Three top styling tips you can implement today without a shopping trip - Why less wardrobe often means more clarity - Dipping your toe into colour - the power of a bold shoe, a bright lip, an earring that starts a conversation - Wellness after anxiety: plant watch, slow mornings, and the power of ritual * * * 💬 **STANDOUT QUOTES** *"Style can take you somewhere before you feel ready. And we're always ready, by the way. We just don't think we are."* *"I'm fascinated about the story of the woman behind the clothes and how I can evoke her story so she can get to where she wants to get to."* *"Your style is an invitation to people. It draws people in."* *"Women experience a lot of guilt and shame around their bodies, around spending money, around enjoying time with themselves. I really wanted to change all that."* *"Less clothes does not mean less outfits. Don't be afraid to get rid of things that are no longer serving you."* *"Yellow makes people smile. If we can walk around making other people smile, I think that's gorgeous. Let's bring the human sunshine."* * * * 📚 **MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE** - *Don't Save It For Best* by Abbey Booth - available on Amazon and to order at your local independent bookshop - Stories with Clothes - Abbey's personal styling business - Gardner's & Ingram Spark wholesale book stockists - The Racing Post / Mirror Group - Abbey's corporate background 🔗 **CONNECT WITH ABBEY** - Website: storieswithclothes.com - Book: *Don't Save It For Best* - order via Amazon or your local bookshop - Instagram: @Storieswithclothes - LinkedIn: Abbey Booth