Fashion vs Business

What we hear and see is what makes us

I have often been asked, “Have you always been like this?”. But what is “THIS”? 

I have been asked this question many times throughout my life and by various people across the world. It has taken me a while to reflect on it and it has now intrigued me. I am me, after all, and that is all that I do know.

I have grown up with a very humble life, modest in some ways. I was raised by a mother who worked tirelessly and a father who was a philosopher and a humble and noble man who shared everything he had, everything that we had, as material things were not a prized possession.

Subconsciously my learnings in life were that people mattered and everyone was valued no matter our differences. That is not to say there were no family disputes, there were, and they were in abundance, but everyone was entitled to have a voice and would be heard. 

So, what was so different?

I can break things down but today, I want to dig deep into a subject that has become close to my heart. I see this in simple terms as looking at the differences in what we have adopted as children and what we have been led to believe is a fundamental way to look at who we are in society and how to position ourselves. 

Home and School 

I did not see a difference in what I thought were values that we placed on things between home and school but how would I know that when I went to a Girls’ School for my senior years? What I was taught in junior school may have been different to that of my male classmates.

How much was truly different? I played in the streets with the boys and I played the sport that they played, but did all girls do that? No! 

So the internal story begins. Was I always like this?

Yes is the simple answer. I don’t believe that I was ever told that “I couldn’t”, nor did I ever believe that I couldn’t.  Was I told how to dress and how important fashion was? Well, no, not really as I was mostly raised by my grandmother and my father was my greatest influence (my mother worked around the clock as my father was ill most of my life and was not able to work). 

Does this make a difference? Yes! Because my father did not portray the values of what may have been assumed by a female figurehead in looking nice. It was about being a good human, understanding the value of money, and how it can work at a higher level beyond self. 

I got a job when I was at school, and looking back, I wonder how I did not cringe at what I did. In fact, I had 2 jobs. I worked at Coles, behind the counter, selling items and then I worked as a cleaner, cleaning a car park and picking up rubbish from the floor. Unheard of these days but I did it after school with my parents to help out. I cleaned offices at night with my mum and, looking back, it felt normal. I was helping my family whilst I went to a private catholic girls’ school. 

What does this all mean?

I was not raised in an environment where girls needed to look pretty whilst boys were taught about money and careers. I was shown that money can either make money or that you can “waste it”. I remember being competitive in sports and not looking at gender to decide if I belonged or if I could play. In fact, I don’t remember the boys having any objections either. 

Did other girls join in? In hindsight, yes, but perhaps not quite as much as I did. So is this what has shaped me? Perhaps.

In today’s environment, when I listen to conversations and look at social media, what do I see? I see that mostly the default is that females post about fashion, beauty, and their image and males default to sports and activities. So, what sits behind all of this? 

When I look back at what has transpired over the past three years and look at what people spent their money on, I was shocked to know that women spent a significant amount of money on cosmetic surgery, fashion, and looking good, to the point that some withdrew funds from savings and superannuation to make themselves look good. 

So where does this leave us today? Surely we are not defaulting to industrialisation times. Surely we are not going to continue to place our heads in the sand and say that’s not me, as we stop at a Chanel store and think about that $6K bag that I don’t have but want because it will say something about who I am? 

Investment in you or in a Bag?

Yes, I hear you, that bag will be an investment. One day it will be worth so much more. If you could invest in yourself so that you had the ability to make more informed decisions would that be a better investment? Yes. But instead, many will invest their time on social media posting about their latest spending spree.

I am not saying that you shouldn't ever treat yourself to an expensive accessory, I am saying that you should place at least equal value in understanding your money and who you are so that you don’t keep handing over power to someone else or, worse still, valuing yourself through how many “likes” and “followers” you get on social media. 

Investing in yourself is about valuing who you choose to become. As I approach my prime years in life, yes, mid 50’s, I don’t want anyone to have to wait to know what I know at my age. This is an opportunity to take away learnings and to shape a better future for yourself or, better still, for your children. 

Investment is about your future and where you want to be without having to rely on anyone else. 

Nike knows girls run like boys. 

“Run like a girl” is a commercial and, when I first saw it, I thought “What does running like a girl look like? Isn’t it the same?”Well of course it is!

This simple statement shows you how indoctrinated we are in certain aspects of life.  When you go to a Nike training program, they don’t separate the girls from the boys. They don’t show girls how to run differently from boys. They tell you “Straight arms, keep them low, swing strong.“  so why is it even a question? 

What you share with a boy is shared with a girl. Maybe I never got to see this as my sibling is 10 years older than me and we lived in different worlds. Perhaps this too has had a play on who I am.

All I know is that I did and could play cricket, rugby, football, and volleyball, just as much as I could do gymnastics, sprinting and throwing a javelin.  

Money matters as do you

There is no better time than today to explore what money does, what money means, and how to make it work for yourself. Investing in yourself comes from learning something that will equip you to make better choices in life. 

If you wait for the retirement age to figure out how you are going to live life, well, that is too late. You will simply need to make do with what you have.

If you make the choice to know what you want when you retire, you have the ability to choose what that life can look like. 

You need to choose yourself over a simple image. 

If this has struck a cord for you, I want to say thank you. You have made a choice to invest in yourself and there is no greater gift that you can give yourself. This is you valuing you!

For more information or if you want to book a session with your work colleagues, organisation, or friends and family reach out. This is you taking control.

You can also start by ordering your copy of our Intentionally Conscious Living Journal to begin your new roadmap forward.