Empower Your Style, Empower Your Business with Jessica Papineau

Empower Your Style, Empower Your Business with Jessica Papineau

Crystal Vilkaitis: I’m so excited for this episode of Rooted in Retail. I am talking to Jessica Papineau, who is a stylist and she is also very Rooted in Retail. Not only in this episode, are you going to learn how to dress that feels very aligned for you, how to feel more confident, how to love the clothes in your closet, things to look for.

These are all things that I think are just so incredibly important. No matter if we’re working in our stores, we’re going on date night, we’re vacationing. There’s opportunities to make this part of our lives easier, as well as be really aligned with us. And Jessica is going to help us do that today, but also with her retail experience, she shares some really great tips on how to work with your customers and your clients and really support them, how to help them feel safe.

When we do that, we create lifetime customers. So this is a really great conversation before we dive in. Let me tell you a little bit more about Jessica.

The founder of CSJ, a leading styling company for high performing female entrepreneurs and other women who simply want to look and feel their best. Jessica Papineau has spent over 25 years in the fashion industry, teaching women how to use fashion to serve their purpose, boost their confidence and elevate their image.

Jessica has styled hundreds of women, from moms struggling to dress their postpartum bodies to business women seeking to level up their careers, to seven figure entrepreneurs and professionals in the entertainment, sports, and music industries. With a goal of helping women imagine more for themselves, break free from what’s holding them back and show the world who they truly are.

Jessica is committed to empowering women to elevate their style and transform their careers, relationships, and lives. All right, let’s dive into today’s episode.

Welcome to Rooted in Retail. I’m your host, Crystal Vilkaitis. Here, we have engaging and informative conversations with successful indie retailers and industry experts. Together, we learn, connect, and grow. Alright, here’s today’s episode.

Jessica, welcome to Rooted in Retail. I’m thrilled you’re here.

Jessica Papineau: Hi, Crystal. Thank you so much for having me. I am just so excited to dive in today.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I know, me too. We’re going to talk about a topic that has always been a little challenging for me and I’m so interested. Partially, this is something I am so excited to learn from and I know that our retailers are going to get a lot out of this too. We had a really good conversation before this and just the things I learned and what you were saying.

I’m like, I can’t wait for us to record. So before we dive in, will you just take a couple minutes? You’re pretty Rooted in Retail. So will you share with us your experience and what brought you to where you are today? Oh,

How Jessica’s journey into the world of fashion began when she was just 4 years old

Jessica Papineau: So I was in retail for many, many years and my side hustle was actually going to my clients homes and helping them to curate a wardrobe that really aligned with their lifestyle. And I would go in and basically show them how to eliminate the pieces that weren’t serving them. And then they would come in and work with me in the local boutique that I worked in.

I was the sales manager there for eight years and we would shop strategically. And that’s always been my whole thing is really, as women there’s so much confusion around shopping and what should I be buying? What is my style? And really not being intentional about the purchases.

And ensuring that they’ll go back with other things that you already have in your wardrobe or that there are even things that flatter you or that you really like because we kind of get caught up in the shopping experience, right? So I learned that this service that I provide is so important really to take that confusion away, to save women time.

And to really get them planned for whatever they have coming up or what their day is going to bring, and also really create this alignment with who they are inside and allowing that to be reflected on the outside. And so that was kind of the whole concept or why I started this business. But I’ve loved fashion my entire life.

I started when I was 4 years old. And we won’t dive too deep into that, but that’s when I knew the gift was there. Working with Salvation Army clothes because my parents were hippies and we lived in the backwoods of Maine with no electricity, no running water. I don’t know if I shared this with you. We had an outhouse, we had a hand pump and I was in my bedroom creating outfits out of Salvation Army clothes because my parents did not think that was important and I would create outfits and look in the mirror and pretend that I was at all these different parties and I was anywhere but where I was.

And so that’s really where it all began. That’s where I knew there was. And I stayed with that. I realized that was my gift. We’re all born with our gifts and this is it for me.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Yeah. And you found yours at four years old, which is so rare. I think it is truly just like in your blood of doing this. And you said something that I think our retailers, this is just kind of a side note, but you said strategic shopping. And I think that our retailers can look through that lens on how are you helping your customers strategically shop because that is such a huge value add. And it’s more about the caring of what the customers need, not just come in and spend money.

Of course we care what they’re buying. We want them to love their purchases. So I just wanted to like double tap on that. I love that. So when we were having our call through Zoom, you were talking about, you were in retail, like you just said, and you’re in these four walls and that retailers have to really look outside of the four walls.

There’s so much more going on out there. Like, how are you going to show up confidently in the store, outside the store? How are you going to be aligned? And so I was really loving that conversation. And I was hoping you could share more about that here on rooted.

Jessica’s tips on how to show up more confidently in your store and outside the store

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: For our retailers, giving them some of that perspective. And what are some tips to help them show up more confidently and more aligned?

Jessica Papineau: I, over the course of the last 25 years, I’ve come up with a four part framework as to how to best serve my client. And it’s really interesting because the four parts, the first pillar of the process is review and reflect. And that has nothing to do with clothes actually. It has nothing to do with them purchasing anything.

It actually, it has to do with holding the space with her to really think about what she desires, who she desires to be, tapping into her uniqueness, right? Who she is on the inside, and then really allowing her to dream much like I did at four years old, pretending that I was like at all these parties and different things that I was doing.

So really allowing her to imagine what her life is, what she desires it to be. And when she goes there, I get her to tell me what it feels like. But also what it looks like and what her surroundings look like. I know this sounds hokey, but it really works. And as she’s telling me this, I close my eyes and I envision what she looks like and what she’s wearing.

And that’s then the lens. And the mindset that we have even walking into her closet and looking at her clothes. So that when we start to look at what she actually has in her wardrobe, we’re assessing what actually lines up with that woman that she desires to become. Many women have, every woman that I’ve ever worked with has feelings of unworthiness.

And it’s interesting, because the woman that I serve is actually the high performing woman. She’s either a high level executive or she’s an entrepreneur and she desires to be the best version of herself in every area of her life. And she’s constantly leveling up, right? She wants to be the best version in her business and perform the best that she can when she’s with her family.

She wants to be the best version of herself there, hold the space with her kids to do the homework or have date night with her husband. But she has never truly felt completely worthy to invest in herself. So what I have learned is how to do this, how to get her to show up in a powerful way so that she is in that alignment of who she is and allowing that to reflect on the outside so that she can operate at an even higher level and close the gap, that gap.

And I know we’re talking about retail here and offering some value to your listeners that are in retail. I think in everything that I’m saying, it’s really all about the client.

It’s all about the customer and it’s really about listening to what their needs are. And many women, because they have this worthiness issue, don’t even necessarily want to share what their needs are, unless they feel like someone really cares and wants to hear it. So we have two ears and one mouth. I used to use an acronym when I was a sales manager.

I didn’t intend on talking about this but I will, because I think it’s really important. The acronym is WAIT. Why am I talking?

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Ooh.

Jessica Papineau: So when I trained, and so many people that are in retail, they have all this sales experience and they’ve maybe had a couple different retail positions and they know sales techniques.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Mm hmm.

Jessica Papineau: But it’s sales techniques. They’re thinking of themselves selling something. And I’ve never believed that I’m selling anything but confidence. And so the little, that little switch of thinking and really wanting to get to know the person and really asking a lot of questions, but not just thinking about your next question when they start to answer, but actively listening.

And when you can really understand where that person is coming from, what their lifestyle is, and what it is they desire. That’s when you can use your expertise of knowing your product and pointing them in the right direction as to what it is that would solve that need. Sometimes they don’t know.

They’re not the expert, right?

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Yeah, right. as you’re talking, I feel like some of my listeners might listen to this twice, once through as like the person who needs the advice, then another time through as, okay, how can I help my clients and my customers as well? So this is so great that it’s helping both of those parties. Really what I’m hearing you say, the start of that alignment and that step forward to the confidence is really taking that time to reflect and go within.

And I think that we often don’t do that. So anyone who’s listening, this could be a really great time to block this week. Ask some of those questions that Jessica just went through on how she’s working with her clients. You can get in tune with you and are you feeling aligned? Are you representing yourself in the way that you want to and see yourself?

I think it’s just so incredible how you work with your clients. And that’s the beginning point versus okay, show me everything you’re wearing and all that. Like it’s way different and it makes sense to start there. So that’s so good.

Jessica Papineau: And we’re doing a full wardrobe. So my clients, when people reach out to me, they’re typically going through some kind of a transition in their life where they want to make a change. And so maybe it could even be a woman that has just had a child, maybe it’s four months before and she’s getting back into the workforce and like, who am I now?

And what is my style now? And what should I be wearing? And so, she’s really looking for the expert to tell her what she needs. What’s interesting is in retail, when I was in retail and customers would come into the store, I would always know, like they had a choice as to whether or not they wanted to walk in the store.

And so they have a purpose, but they won’t always tell you what that purpose is if they believe that your intention is just to sell them something. Yeah.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: social media and we’re on the marketing side. And a way to help your customers make you feel safe and seen and heard is by having that kind of content where you are talking with them, you’re asking them questions.

You’re adding that value. And this is why it’s so important that you are showing up online. So they do get to know you. So they do feel safe to have those conversations and go there with you. And so I just think that it’s so critical. I love WAIT. That’s such a good acronym. I hope people are using that. We just gotta help. We gotta listen. We gotta help people be safe and feel safe and strategically shop.

What are some ways women often set themselves up for wardrobe failures?

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: It’s so good. Okay so, I’m dying to know. What are we doing wrong here? Okay, so what is something that most women do that sets them up for failure with their wardrobe?

Jessica Papineau: Lack of planning. That is probably lack of planning and shopping desperately. Right. So how many of your listeners here probably have busy lives? Right. A lot of the women that I work with, like I said, they’re professionals. They have a home life. Plus, they have work. And then they don’t really put the intention into their wardrobe.

And that woman like, I’ll just give you a scenario. She’s doing this big presentation at work and she’s going to be standing in front of a bunch of people and she’s prepared her whole speech. She’s got her slide deck. She’s like ready to go. And then she goes to lie in bed that night and she’s like, Oh, I’m so prepared.

Oh no. What am I going to wear? And so then it becomes a matter of going in her wardrobe and keeping her up at night. So it’s like overwhelmed stress. Now she’s got lack of sleep. How does she then go and deliver her message in the best possible way and show up in the best possible way when she’s worried about this.

So that morning, she gets up and she’s like she tries on like five different things and settles with the good enough. And so we’re worthy of more than good enough. And then there’s the scenario of I have this trip coming up and I’m going on a maybe it’s a professional trip as well.

And you’re going to be meeting clients ,or you’re going to be meeting people like higher up, and maybe the company you’re working with or working for. And you decide, Oh, I have to go to the mall and get something, right? And you desperately shop and you buy a bunch of stuff, right? And then your closet starts getting filled up with things that maybe you even haven’t spent that much money on.

Because I do find a lot of people don’t invest in themselves. Especially with the things that are not exciting to buy, like jeans and t shirts, they scrimp on that. And then maybe they’ll get a more expensive dress for an event and that sort of thing. But really having the intentionality around what are the core pieces that I need in my wardrobe to take me from day to day so that I can plan my outfits?

And this is really what I do for clients is create that core wardrobe that really aligns with their lifestyle and where their life is headed. And ensure that those pieces are quality, that the fit and the fabric is great. And then from there, teaching them how to, I call it the cake, that core wardrobe.

And then putting the icing on the cake. Because most people buy too much novelty. Right? Or too many prints and patterns and all these things that they just got caught up in the emotion and the excitement when they went to the store to buy and then they didn’t focus on, like I said, the basics, the jeans and T shirts.

Like one of the T shirts that I carry in my inventory is actually $130, which to some may sound completely insane, but the fabric is so good and it fits the body well. And when you wash it, it doesn’t pill or fade or you can wear it again and again. So that’s the other thing. More isn’t always better.

Sometimes it’s better to just have that strategic. Buying those quality pieces so you can reimagine them season to season and then sprinkle in your little novelty pieces here and there. Yeah.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: in my, that I’m wearing and the things that, where I do feel great in and where I don’t, or that didn’t wash well. And you know why we’re having this conversation on Rooted in Retail, a few different reasons, but one of those main ones is we know that when we like what we’re wearing, we do just show up differently and it can cause less stress. If we’re planned out, like you’re saying, and if you go into your closet and you don’t feel that overwhelming, you love everything that’s in it. It’s about how can you be a more efficient entrepreneur? Because retailers are very busy.

You are doing so much. So how can we take that out? No guesswork there. We’re confident in our closet. And how we feel so we can show up and have more of that time in other places and feel good doing it. And I just think this is so important for us to do. And man, I’m guilty of the, just shopping like last minute and buying stuff.

It almost makes it worse because then I come home and I’m like, okay, what am I putting this with? Do I even like this? It’s just and then I’m spending more time and less sleep. Like I identify with that majorly It’s tough. You gave us some good ways to level up our closet here. I mean, the fabric was one of those things, more planning.

How the three F’s can transform our closet and elevate our confidence

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: What would be another way for us to just level up so we feel more confident with what’s in our closet?

Okay

Jessica Papineau: Thing to really do is a reset of the wardrobe and obviously like I have these four different pillars for my process I can’t share them all today but I think if I give, so when you actually walk in your wardrobe and you’re making these assessments what’s working, what’s not working I use something called the three F’s.

I like to make it really simple for everyone. Like how do I make these assessments? And the three F’s are fit, fabric, and fashion. So we touched on the first two, but I’m going to dive in just a little bit deeper just to give a little bit more understanding of what it means. Make it really easy.

So fit. So as you’re going through your wardrobe, ask yourself the question, does it fit right? Does it fit me right now? Oftentimes, women have a stack of jeans somewhere in their closet, kind of hidden somewhere, but they know they’re there and there are a stack of jeans that don’t fit, right?

And they’re usually too small. What they’re doing is they’re saying to themselves I’m going to keep those jeans in there that don’t fit because I’m going to lose the weight one day. And so then what is that setting you up to do, right? You’re shaming yourself. You’re basically saying every time you walk in your closet you know those jeans are in there and they don’t fit you and you’re telling yourself you’re not good enough or you haven’t lost the weight yet.

So that’s number one, if they’re designer jeans, or if it’s a designer piece that doesn’t fit and you love it and you have emotional attachment to it, you can put it in another closet and revisit it at another time, take it out of that immediate space, or you could consign it. And you could use that money towards something that does fit.

So that’s number one. Number two is fabric. This is a tricky one for people, but I’m going to try to debunk this a little bit. So there’s some obvious things, right? Like pills on your clothes. When it’s been overwashed, it fades a little bit and these are obvious things we can see. One of the things that people really don’t know about fabric is that fabric has evolved over the years.

So there’s elastin and lycra that’s now in fabric. And the purpose of it really is to like, smooth and lift and keep the shape, right? But over time lycra and elastin breaks down. And so I’m going to just share with you how to tell when you know, it’s broken down.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Great.

Jessica Papineau: So for a tip, like a t shirt, for example, like say you have a cotton t shirt, but it has a little bit of that lycra in there and you can look on the tag and see that it has that in it.

When you take that piece, and you kind of pull it apart and just to see it doesn’t snap back like it did when you first purchased it. In fact, sometimes it actually feels like crunchy. I know this sounds weird, but like you pull it apart and it like crunches. And what that means is that it’s been washed so many times that the fabric has broken down. And sometimes that’s because we’re washing our clothes in hot water. Or we’re putting it in the dryer and it’s breaking down, the heat’s breaking down the fabric. Or if we haven’t had it that long and it’s doing that, it’s not a quality item.

So that again, not to say that you have to spend a ton of money on every single item that you get and that means, oh, it’s better quality. There are lines out there that are better quality and that are a little more expensive. The other thing is jeans. Everyone wears jeans, right?

So denim, how you know that the fabric has broken down is that when you hold, they fit, they may still fit you, but when you hold up the jeans right in the crotch area, there’s like a bubbling. I don’t remember if I shared this with you, Crystal, but it’s like this bubbling, right? And so that again is showing you that the Lycra or elastin has broken down.

So when you put the jeans on, they’re not doing what they’re intended to do, which is that lift and smoothing. And so those are really big things. And oftentimes when I first start working with someone, they’re really not aware of them, so they have an abundance of clothes that really have worn out and they’re thinking there’s something wrong with my body.

Like the clothes don’t look good on me and it has nothing to do with your body. It has to do with the fact that these pieces, it’s time to retire them. And then the third F is fashion. So fashion, is it in fashion? Right. This can be like very overwhelming for some people. So you really need to sort out like what is a core classic piece and what’s a novelty piece?

Because once you determine and people know like, is it a classic? Is it a basic white t shirt? Is it a basic black suit with a one button blazer that you can wear season to season? Those are pretty easy, right? But then you get into some of these novelty things like, say is a cold shoulder in or skinny jeans all these things, just Google it.

And make these decisions quickly. So yes, upfront, it’s going to take some time to make the assessments, but then once you have, then you can really decide, what do I need to plug in to round out the wardrobe? Right.

Jessica’s take on the skinny jean fashion trend

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Okay, love it. These are so good. I am learning a lot and I have to ask, are skinny jeans still in?

Jessica Papineau: Yes. Okay, I’m glad you asked. I said that because I was hoping you’d ask me the question. Okay. So I have to tell everyone, this is what happens on social media. I’m not saying that everyone does this, but oftentimes like influencers are looking for content. I’m sorry, I’m calling them out here.

Sometimes they’re looking for content and they come up with these things. And I see it like on, on Instagram where it’s like skinny jeans are out. And I’m like, what? I was just at market in New York a couple months ago and I just bought, for fall, a bunch of skinny jeans that these reps in these like designer showrooms are showing me.

And the reason why skinny jeans are still in is because boots like the high knee boots or even over the knee are really in fashion and it’s continuing over to this next fall. And you have to wear them with skinny jeans or dresses. Yes.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: to hear that because I have a lot of skinny jeans and and I will hang on to them. Then I need to get some boots, it sounds like too, for fall.

Jessica Papineau: Yes.

How Jessica’s postpartum client found confidence in the right fit and the right fabric

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Oh, love it. So good. Okay, I love hearing success stories. And so will you share a story of somebody that you worked with and just helped transform her closet and her wardrobe and what happened for her through that?

Jessica Papineau: Crystal, I have so many stories, but I’m going to share one with you that I’ve actually shared often because there’s just such transformation in it. And she is a professional woman. And so I think a lot of your listeners can resonate that what happened with her. Her name’s Jennifer. She reached out to me.

Gosh, I can’t remember quite how long ago it was now, probably about a year and a half. And she was desperate. And instead of going in desperately shopping, she called me instead because she knew she didn’t have the skillset to do it. And so Jennifer told me she was actually going on a business trip.

And for the very first time would be meeting the higher ups in the company, like the president and vice president, but she’d also be meeting her team for the first time. She had been hired during COVID and she had a remote position, mid level position, actually managing a team that it was an IT company and she was managing this team that was under her.

And when she got the job, she was actually pregnant. And so, you know, she’s wearing her maternity clothes or whatever. She has the baby, and this is six months postpartum that she reaches out to me and she’s freaking out because her clothes don’t fit anymore. Like she’s left everything in her closet.

She’s left in there. Her jeans that are too small and all the things. So she was just really not feeling good about herself. I mean, on Zoom, she could put on a little, a cute little top and earrings and it was fine, but now she’s going to meet these people in person. So I didn’t have many appointments left for her.

And I had an office day that day. And so I said, you know what, Jennifer, I’m going to drop everything. Cause I felt for her and I wanted her to be able to show up powerfully. And as a mother, I get it. Like I understand what that’s like. So I take all the pieces that are in my inventory that line up with her size.

And that would be perfect for her trip and go to her house and I walk in and she’s wearing like sweatpants and a t shirt. And I could just see like her body language, like her shoulders are rolled in she doesn’t look confident, right? And so the first thing I had her try on, which is I do this with all my clients is a white t shirt and a pair of jeans and like fitted. And especially for a woman that’s postpartum jeans really is, that’s really hard for them to get themselves in a pair of jeans again, because the body has changed. Your hips are a little bit wider or perhaps like she hadn’t lost all the baby weight yet. Things were kind of still settled in the middle.

But I put on the perfect jeans on her body and they were high rise and they had all the Lycra, so they’re doing the smoothing and the lifting. And I put on that great t shirt. And initially she just seemed so stunned because she said, I didn’t ever think I was going to get in a pair of jeans again.

And you know, as women, when we look in the mirror, especially when we put on fitted clothing. Our eye goes right to the area of our body that we’re shameful of that we don’t like and then we cover it up.

And then it just makes it look like bigger than it is because it’s like, what is she hiding under there? So, in doing this and putting the right fabric on her in the right fit, she then looked in the mirror and started to see her shape and see what was really good because we’re highlighting her ways. And her confidence started to elevate. I saw her shoulders go back and like she got into it. And then from there, we built all of her outfits from day to night for her different events and she had her little look book of outfits.

And when we left, she just simply had to put everything in her suitcase. And look every day at what the outfit is on her phone with what we had prepared and put it on and she was so excited when we left. She calls me a month later and says, Jessica, I need you to come back. I’ve worn all the outfits and I need to do this again.

I have another, she was going to another conference for the company. So we go in and I said, okay, before we start, Jennifer, tell me, how did the event go? Tell me everything. Right. And she said, okay well, first of all, I started out by wearing my cute little airplane outfit, wheeling into the hotel.

And she said, I didn’t even care that. Some of the people might’ve been there. Like I wasn’t ashamed of my outfit. And she said in that very first evening, I put on the really cool outfit that you’d coordinated for me. And she said, I walked in to the meet and greet. It was like this conference room within the hotel they were staying at.

And she said, as soon as I walked in, the vice president of the company walked up to me. And she said, Hi. And clearly like Jennifer knew her, but she didn’t know who Jennifer was. Right. And so Jennifer said who she was, her position. And she said, Oh my gosh, I’m so embarrassed. I know we ‘ve seen each other on zoom, but we’ve never met in person.

She said, you look like a million bucks. You literally look like you could own this company. And that set the tone for the entire weekend. And she mentioned to me how she always thought she was in like as high of a position as she could be in, in a company. In fact, she was really proud of herself when she got this job. But she said, instead of sitting at the table with the other managers, the president and the vice president, and some of the other higher ups in the company, she said, they kept having her sit at their table at all the different events.

And they started asking her questions about her thoughts on how they could improve certain areas in the company. And she said, not only were they responding to me differently, she said, I felt different, like I felt more powerful. And the day, the morning that she was going to leave right after they had the breakfast meeting, the vice president followed her out of the room and caught her before she left.

And she said, “Jennifer, when you get back to Sarasota,” cause it was someone local here where I live. She said, “we need to get a date on the books to have a Zoom call.” She said, “After I’ve met you in person, we now realize that we need you in front of clients, not just managing a team because your image and how you present yourself is so in alignment with our brand. And we need more people like you on the front lines.”

And she said, “I got on the plane and I just started bawling.” She said, I never thought, and she got a promotion. And so this next round, she was like, I had taken the time to invest in myself, not really knowing how it was going to go. It wasn’t totally like funds that I had at my disposal.

She said, now I actually. I’m going to have the funds at my disposal. So I’m sharing that story to say, when you invest in yourself with a service like what I provide, it allows you to take where you are. And where you desire to be and that gap closes. It closes. You see how quickly it closed for Jennifer.

So that’s like one of my amazing success stories. We have many, but I think that’s one that your listeners could really resonate with.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: I love it. I love hearing her transformation, like where she was, and then just having that support, feeling that confidence when, again, like when we like what we’re wearing, we do just show up different and she was noticed she was being seen and go Jennifer. I love that story, it’s so good.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Do you want to minimize frustration that you may have when it comes to tracking purchasing orders or freight tracking? Or do you want to have it be even easier for you to get products to your customers when they request something and easier to manage and track that? Whether it’s special orders, special requests from your customers, or do you want to make it even easier for you to manage your accounts payable, making sure that you’re paying vendors and invoices on time, it’s easy to.

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That. Don’t have to live within your town. They can be anywhere. All of this is covered in the new brand new training course called next level retail Asana strategies to boost your business efficiency. This course was created by me and fellow retailer Beth rich with mix it up. Who has been on the show.

And during that episode, she was talking about some of the ways she streamlined her store, saving her a ton of time, frustration, hassle using a sauna. And I said, Beth, would you be willing to share more? Should we do a course? And we did it and it’s here so you could get access to this. We’re talking about tracking purchase orders, freight tracking, customer requests, special orders, accounts, payable vendors claim, how to keep you efficient and maybe even run your store from a beach in Bali, which is Beth’s dream, and she’s on her way to that because of this course, the things that she teaches in this course, you do not need technical experience to learn.

And go through this because we break it down. Beth actually shares her screen on how she does everything. You get to peek behind the curtain at a very successful retailer on how she’s running the backend and the systems of her store. And she even teaches you kind of click by click where you need to click and how you could set this all up.

So you could go to crystalmediaco.com/asana. That’s A S A N A, crystalmediaco.com/asana to learn more and get your course. Don’t delay because this will save you so much frustration. You and your team will create efficiencies in your business. You will be streamlined. You will be happier.

You will have more time and a more successful retailer. Thank you. Beth and I know you’re going to love this course, so head on over to crystalmediaco. com slash Asana and get your course now.

Jessica’s new app designed to guide women in setting up successful wardrobes

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Now Jessica, you’re building an app that depending on when this podcast is released this summer, will be live. Will you take a couple of minutes and tell us about the app you’re building? Oh,

Jessica Papineau: business, when you just follow your passion and you just keep going, even when things don’t turn out the way you want them to, things organically grow and the business I woke up one day and realized, oh my gosh, I am one person. And I have 600 clients. Like, how is this actually possible?

And it’s possible because I love what I do, but I realized that more women need to experience these transformations. And so what better way to do that than have a platform where I can serve a larger audience? And so that’s what we’ve done. We have an app, it’s going to be launched in the next couple of months.

I don’t have an exact date, things keep getting set back. We want to make sure when you roll it out, it’s like everything is ready to go. Within this app, we will have a three tiered membership program. So the first tier of the membership is basically like a DIY. I have an eight module course.

And the eight module course really is diving into these four pillars of my framework that I was referring to earlier. And it’s like 25 years of experience compiled into each of these modules to share with others how they can do, set their wardrobes up for success for themselves. So that’s tier one. The second tier is that, is the DIY of the digital course, but also a community and a community in which these aligned women that are these high performing women that want to be the best version in every area where they can really go and be in one place.

These are women that desire to lift other women up as well. So it’s a place to talk about fashion, but also offer other values. So I’ll basically, you know, monthly we’ll be going into the app and doing live webinars where I’ll dive a little deeper into each module of the course and do some group coaching on that.

I’ll also be having guest expert speakers in all different areas, actually. Not just fashion and beauty. But also, business coaching life coaches, book writers. Let’s see what else? Therapists even like that have things to offer the people that are in there. And they’ll also have access to my curated lines and my style boxes.

So they’ll be able to access the outfits and then top tier membership is all of that, plus what I’m currently doing. And that’s really that one on one high touch, a high touch service.

Jessica’s resilience round

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Yeah, love it. I love that you’re doing an app because obviously us women need some help and you’re so good at it and your framework and how you help women transform is just pretty incredible. So I’m excited to see that launch. Are you ready for the resilience round?

Jessica Papineau: Yeah, let’s do it.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Let’s

Jessica Papineau: don’t even know what you’re going to fire at me, but I’m ready.

Best business book

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: All right, here we go.

Best business book.

Jessica Papineau: Best business book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie.

Best retail technology

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: That’s a good one. Best retail technology like an app or software.

Jessica Papineau: Well, I use Lightspeed for my POS system, but I wouldn’t say I am not a techie person. So I prefer to have somebody else take care of that.

How do you keep up with the ever changing retail landscape?

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Yeah, smart. I think that’s super smart. How do you keep up with the ever changing retail landscape?

Jessica Papineau: I focus more on my clients than and thinking about what’s best for them and pivoting and shifting my business model based on what they need. Now, it’s really interesting the retail world and the buying and all of that, that has really shifted. In fact, I actually have some difficulty sometimes with buying because I’m not a retail store.

And I do one on one with people. I think there’s a constant evolution here of people that really want more value when it comes to business and retail and really being mindful of that. I’m all about refining how we’re doing the business.

What’s a wardrobe foundational best practice?

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Love it. To help retailers be stronger, more rooted in success. What’s a wardrobe foundational best practice?

Jessica Papineau: Ensuring that you have those core wardrobe pieces that are quality that will take you from season to season. I work with, like I said, a lot of high performing female entrepreneurs, but sometimes those entrepreneurs, when they reach out to me, they’re at the beginning of their business.

They’ve just started out. And so they’re investing in things like marketing materials. And websites and having to set up their POS system and, you know, having to rent the space, right? And sometimes what gets missed is the actual wardrobe. But when you put the strategy in place of even if you get yourself one amazing black suit, right?

A t shirt that can be worn casual, or could be worn under the suit jacket. A little black dress, just some really good basic pieces that are high quality and then sprinkle in, you don’t have to spend as much on the novelty pieces necessarily, but really showing up as if you are an established company with a really strong brand.

If you had to start your business all over again, what’s one thing you’d do differently?

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: I totally agree. If you had to start your business all over again, what’s one thing you’d do differently?

Jessica Papineau: I don’t think that I would necessarily do anything differently, but I don’t mean to change the question around, but I guess what I’m thinking is like, what would I tell her? Because I wish that I, is that okay that I go there? The reason why I wouldn’t do anything differently is I feel like all the things that I did, even when I fell on my face, were all really great lessons and I’ve just learned so much. But I just wish that I would have known that I would be okay.

That there were more possible clients out there that would value everything I had to offer. And I also wish that I would have realized what my story is. So I guess I’ll call that my personal brand, right? Who I am inside. I wish I would have known how much that mattered to the business.

And not that it’s about me, but it is in a way because people are attracted to those that they like, know, and trust. I mean, we all know this. That’s why we have social media and all these things. Obviously it’s to give value, but it’s for people to get to know us. It’s interesting. I learned, so the problem I solve is unworthiness.

I learned that I had that problem, right? And so once I really, myself started to show up even more powerfully and in alignment with who I was and started to share. who I was on the inside to my clients and online and even on Instagram, which I was scared to do for a long time, I started to attract the clientele that I could serve deeper because they got to know me.

What do you think the future of independent retail looks like?

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Yep. Oh, that’s such good advice. So good, I love it. Wow. And finally, Jessica, what do you think the future of independent retail looks like?

Jessica Papineau: I don’t know the brick and mortar concept, I feel like it’s shifting a lot. I don’t know and I’ll just be honest with you, like even in the world of buying like when I go to market and I go to these showrooms and I buy. They haven’t shifted their thinking to realize that the consumer that’s out there, they’re online. They’re on Zoom. The world has changed and their needs have changed and they’ve realized how important it is to be with their families and their relationships. are important to them and they don’t go out and shop as much as they used to. They’re outsourcing. Yes, they’re shopping online, but people still want that high touch.

They still want that interaction and they’re doing it more digitally. So I think things are going to change a lot and I think it’s really important to, in retail, make those slight adjustments. And also in retail, I do remember when I worked retail, not focusing on social media. You know because it’s brick and mortar and people are coming to you. But again, the showing up on social media gets that connection going right and people are more attracted to that. I don’t know. I hope I answered that question.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: You did. Absolutely, I agree. I mean, things are changing and it’s important that we evolve and adapt and stay up to date. And digital is a big part of that. I love it. Jessica, how can people learn more and connect with you?

Where to connect with Jessica and learn more

Jessica Papineau: I know we’re going to put some links here in the show notes, so I definitely have some free resources out there. On my website, I have a free wardrobe edit blueprint, and this is just a really basic but tactical, actionable steps that people can take now in their wardrobes of diving a little deeper into the three F’s.

And setting your wardrobe up for success. Now that’s a great place to start, but I’m also offering your listeners a free styling call. And so the link will be there for them to reach out for me to get to know each of them, whoever wants to know more about what I do.

And really see where their needs lie, where they’re at in their fashion journey or where, what season of life they’re in and how I can meet them where they are and see where in my within my membership, even that may be a great fit for them.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Right.

Jessica Papineau: I do also have one other thing and I don’t know if you have the link to it, but it is on my website. I have a lookbook. My spring lookbook is still on there. By the time this airs, you’ll probably have my summer lookbook.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Awesome. Oh yeah, we’ll link to that too. And I can’t wait to go through that and all of these resources. So thank you so much for sharing them with our listeners. Jessica, this was so helpful and a great conversation. Thank you so much for being here.

Jessica Papineau: Thank you so much for having me, Crystal.

Crystal Vilkaitis 2: Awesome. Everyone remember that I am rooting for your success. Have a great week ahead. Bye.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Thank you so much for being here. It means the world to me. Don’t forget to join the rise and shine newsletter, which is social media news. You need to know sent via email every Monday morning, go to crystal media, co. com slash rise to join and don’t miss the newest episode of Rooted in Retail, which drops every Sunday morning.

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