Loving This Living: California Dreaming Edition

Amy Mac’s first LOVING THIS LIVING profile is all about the big business of fashion. I am a true believer that loving (or hating) what you are wearing can make or break your day, but let’s face it - everyone doesn’t have a knack for pulling together outfits that work.

That’s where a personal stylist like Sutton Stracke (and her fabulous blog) comes into play.
Sutton Stracke, of Laguna Beach, California, is a stylist and the founder of Bespoke Trunk, a lifestyle and fashion consulting company that caters to the individual fashion needs of women around the world. In addition to personally styling clients that live in her region, she writes a splendid blog where she gives advice to women on looking fabulous – whether you spend your days presenting in the boardroom or cleaning in the playroom.

Check out the transcript of my interview with Sutton:

Tell us what you do to Love your Living: The company I founded, Bespoke Trunk, helps style women no matter what their budget using pieces from mainstream stores, high-end designer boutiques and vintage pieces.

What is the best part about your job? The worst? What makes your job interesting and unique? I love chatting with clients about their likes and dislikes of fashion, and I love the hunt of shopping based on those likes and dislikes. The idea of helping someone look and feel better is fascinating to me. The worst part is resisting buying for yourself during the hunt!

Is there any special training required to perform your job? A good eye for putting looks together and good people-listening skills are all that it takes.

If someone was thinking of pursuing a career in your industry, what would be the first steps they'd need to take? If I could do it all again, I would probably get my BA in fashion merchandising from an established school such as the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. Living in New York is almost be a prerequisite for a job like this. Street style in NYC is the inspiration of many designers, and seeing those styles on a daily basis becomes your own inspiration.

Tell us something fun you’ve done recently because of your job. I loved doing the closet makeover with my sister-in-law. Though it was a long process, and perhaps painful for her, it gave such a sense of accomplishment to us both. I loved watching her face when I showed her multiple ways she could use one dress or one pair of trousers. Giving people a sense of power over their own closet is a remarkable experience.

How do you keep a good balance between your work life and your home life? I am still working on this part. Because I am new to the Orange County area and have just realized this business, I need to spend a lot more time on it than I do. But having a good nanny helps, and supportive husbands are the whole key – luckily I have both.

Any parting words of advice for our readers about balancing work and life? The one thing that has come to me this year is to do what you love. Once you have that, then the work is no longer a chore. If work isn't a chore, but something you really desire to do, then the stress of a job disappears. But when you work at home you must be disciplined to work only in the constraints of the hours that you have decided on, or otherwise it all blends together, and you do neither well.

AMY MAC LOVING THIS LIVING CONTEST: Subscribe to the Amy Mac Blog (on the right side of the blog under "Get Email Updates for Amy Mac) and you’ll be entered to receive a FREE two-outfit consultation with Sutton via e-mail! A winner will be chosen randomly from the list of Amy Mac subscribers (if you’re already a subscriber you’ll automatically be entered) on Feb. 6!

Life, Style and Work

Have you ever seen a profile of someone in a magazine or on TV dishing details about what they do for a living and thought “I want that job!!”? After seeing a stay-at-home mom on the Oprah show talking about how she’d written most of the songs for Faith Hill’s album a few years back, I briefly thought I should be a country music song writer. Thankfully, that delusion quickly passed, and here I am writing this blog (and lots of other things!) instead.

When these fabulous folks are being interviewed, it always seems rather “pie in the sky” to me – in other words, instead of hearing specific steps a person should take to pursue a dreamy career, we’re told “it just fell into my lap” or left with the distinct impression they had connections that made their success happen.

This week, the Amy Mac blog is launching a new series – it’s called “Loving this Living,” and it profiles women who have jobs they love getting out of bed in the morning for– and isn’t that the whole point?

If you know someone who does something for a living that makes you say “I so wish that was my job!!” send me an email at amymacpr@comcast.net . Following are some guidelines for submission:

1. Ladies only, please. As my school-age children will assure you, “Girls Rule, Boys Drool.” With all due respect to the men in our lives, No Boys Allowed in the Amy Mac Loving this Living series.
2. Lots of women out there are doing amazing work at phenomenal jobs…and I’m happy for ‘em. But what we’re looking for are women who have translated their passion into a way to make a living – and have done it successfully while juggling a real life (ya know - kids, dogs, husband-with-hefty-travel-schedule, volunteer work, triathlon training – okay, that’s a stretch, but you get the point)
3. Must be willing to share tips for breaking into the professional field and balancing career and life – this is key! We don’t want to hear about your fabulous life unless you’re willing to share your secrets!

In the meantime, stay tuned for the first blog entry for Loving this Living – it’s a California dream if I’ve ever seen one! AND, even more fabulous – a giveaway is coming your way!

See you back here soon! Amy Mac

Scare Tactics

I am one lucky gal. I work from home, my clients are fabulous, and to top it all off, I contribute as a writer to a fabulous local publication focusing on women. See my latest article here.

Stay tuned this week - something great is coming your way on the Amy Mac blog!

Limericks and Love

In general, I love my work. I love the writing, and I love my clients. All of them are fabulous (I have a very strict policy for swiftly striking the difficult to work with from my client roster. Strange how once you make that distinction, the good folks seem to find you.)

But today has been even more fun than usual, and I credit that to the fact that I got to write a limerick for a client today. No joke. I have a new client that is opening an Irish pub in the area, and they asked me to spiff up the copy on their menu. “Make it fun!” they said. “Okay-dokey!” I replied.

So you probably already know there’s a county in Ireland called Limerick. And the good folks at my local pub named one of their sandwiches after said county. The temptation was too great, so this is the copy I’m sending over today:

Limerick Monte Cristo

There once was a man from Limerick.
He could not decide on a meal to pick.
He liked turkey and ham,
And raspberry jam.
He chose Monte Cristo -that’s not a trick.

Honey baked ham, mesquite roasted turkey, Irish Farmhouse Cheeses, and raspberry preserves. Served with hand-cut potato chips.

Now, they may say “Ah, we didn’t know you’d take ‘make it fun’ quite so literally,” and strike it from the copy. I hope not, but even if they do, I got to write a limerick today for the first time since fifth grade.

I’m hungry for a sandwich now, so I’ll sign off. Are you doing something you love today?

The Good, The Bad, and The Bio

If you are in business, you need a good personal bio, written and at the ready. Your bio can be your 60 second advertisement for why you are the perfect person for whatever it is you’re seeking – a new job, a writing or speaking gig, or an introduction to a volunteer board with whom you’re working.

A great bio has three key features:

The most important and eye-catching information is at the beginning (don’t save the fact that you were recently featured in the Wall Street Journal for the last sentence.)

The words are in the active tense (for example, “Suzy Q. Jones is the top salesperson at XYZ company, and continues to lead the company to exceed its goals each year.” instead of “Suzy Q. Jones has been the top salesperson for XYZ for 5 years, and has continued to lead the company to exceed its goals.”

It’s short. That’s right, no need to write an actual hard-cover biography book. Hit the highlights of your career, keeping it to 10 sentences, max.

There are many components that make a bio perfect, including excellent writing, but if you keep these three features in mind when you write your bio you’ll be off to a great start!

Grab your laptop and get started writing your bio today. Happy Writing!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

This morning, as I was sitting by the fire drinking my first cup of coffee, watching a favorite show on the Food Network, and looking at the latest Pottery Barn catalog, I remembered why I love weekends. No bus to catch at early o’clock, no 8 a.m. meetings, no need to make the beds quickly and settle into my office chair to dash out a few lines of copy to meet a noon deadline.

I prefer simplicity and ease, and not just in my days, but with the people with whom I socialize and work. Haven’t we all worked with or been friends with someone who tended to make things a little more difficult? Conversely, haven’t we all been around people who made things easier, who came up with solutions instead of roadblocks, and made our days a little brighter just by being there? Which do you prefer to be around most of the time?

My goal with all my clients is to make their lives easier. To help them mark one thing of their to-do lists by handing it to me - knowing I will get the job done, right, on budget and on time.
In general, I find that being easy to work with, going the extra mile, and doing it with a smile on your face keeps your best clients on your roster and helps recruit new ones.

What will you do today to make a client or customer’s life a little easier?