I have loved clothing since I was a young girl. I even tried my hand at being a fashion designer and made a cute Jean Skirt on my cabbage patch sewing machine. My mom let me wear said skirt in the house but proposed that outside the house it should be worn by my doll since it was a little scandalous 🙂
Fast forward to today and each week I style an inspired look for the workplace. My goal is to help you look and feel your best. Two months ago I met this women and she has changed the way I think about clothing and shopping. Elissa is the owner of the amazing MonelleVermont, and this fall she helped me elevate my Lil’ Workstyle. She also helped me dispel two myths about boutique shopping that I previously held. First, I had always thought that boutiques were SUPER expensive. I’ve found that this is not the case. Almost every item I’ve shared below from MonelleVermont is around $100 and they are each unique Pieces vs. everyday staples. The other myth I had was that the clothing would not fit me. I am tall and so often I hear other people complain about their own sizing challenges. Working with Elissa and her team meant that I had a personal stylist (move over Trunk Club), and they found me styles that fit like they were tailor-made. They also helped me expand into new styles that I would not have otherwise ventured into.
Each week there is so much more I want to tell you when I post my #lilworkstyle so this blog post will allow me to go a little deeper into the pieces and method behind my styling.
Ruffle Sleeves- You are seeing a lot of sleeve embellishments this season which pair nicely with the skinny pants which don’t seem to be going anyway. When skinny denim first arrived back on the scene in 2005 I was convinced it was a fad and would be here today gone tomorrow, boy was I wrong! With any outfit I start with one key piece and build from there, in this case it was this amazing Gretchen Scott shirt. This shirt fit like it was tailor-made and was sleek allowing for a super easy front tuck. The front tuck is a trend that I have pulled into the workplace, rather than tucking my full shirt in which feels too uptight I do as the mommy bloggers do and just tuck a small portion of the front in to define the waist. I finished this look off with Emerald Tassel earrings. Jewel tones make their way back every fall/winter and this year is no exception. I also keep a drawer full of assorted mugs, because that’s what you do when you are in the coffee industry and a blogger trying to add that touch of workplace authenticity. I already shared that I am a recovering perfectionist so hopefully this does not surprise you 😉
Weekend to Work– I love making pieces work overtime and not having specific items for work and play. This plaid shirt was something I originally purchased to wear casually on the weekends so I was excited to incorporate it into my workday. I find that any shirt with a collar can be dressed up or down depending on how you style it and plaids are no exception. Pairing this shirt with grey denim further dressed the look down so I purposely styled the rest of the outfit with more formal pieces. A Navy blazer from JCrew is a staple in my closet, they don’t usually go on sale but I managed to find this one at a pretty nice discount. Then I topped the look off with a sparkly necklace and bracelet which both play more formal to counterbalance the laid back core of the outfit. Finally the cutest pair of flat pointed shoes added the extra formal polish this look needed.
Chicago Style On my recent trip to Chicago for a leadership summit I embraced a capsule collection and picked twelve key pieces that can pair in so many ways. I always bring my Barbour Jacket when I travel because it packs small, is waterproof, and has a detachable hood and removable liner. It will literally get you through any weather and is formal enough to pair with my work attire.
Tuckernucking When I met with Elissa from MonelleVermont she asked me if I was following @tuckernuck and now it is my latest obsession. I pull a lot of my outfit inspiration from their feed and love how they style their outfits. This fall trend is called the “noodle” scarf where you take a long scarf, fold it into a triangle and then roll it up to create a long tube. Since the scarf is the focal point of this outfit I tried to keep the rest neutral, I layered a long-sleeved button down under a Michael Stars sweater (no this is not a piece from college MS is officially back!), My finishing touch was a pop of pink with my suede loafers from JCrew.
Carcoat Comfort How many of you work in a freezing cold office year round?! Enter the cozy carcoat, it feels like a warm hug all day long. This one has the most exceptional detailing along the sleeve and pockets and I topped it off with the ADA wrap belt to define my waist and give the coat more polish. If you haven’t noticed I wear A LOT of navy pants. I wear them instead of black in most cases, because I personally find it pairs better with the color pallet in my closet. I also wear these Tory Burch gold flats on repeat because they literally go with everything and her updated version is way more comfortable than the original reva flat I previously wore. The other thing I’ll point out about this look is that it does not have my usual pop of color. Normally I add a splash of color to keep things lively and fun but between the detailing of the coat and belt I didn’t want to dilute the look by adding color.
Bell Sleeve Sweater This is another work to play look for me. This sweater has become a staple of my weekend wardrobe for fall so I enjoyed dressing it up for the office by adding a collared chambray shirt underneath. The fun tassel necklace is my hit of color and a basic grey tailored pant from Banana Republic is the perfect backdrop for the look.
Two Previous Lil’ Workstyle Posts so you have the background on this series:
#LILWORKSTYLE | WINTER WORKSTYLE ROUND UP
Please share your go-to #lilworkstyle tips below or any questions I can help answer.
Next Up: A Lil’ Vermont Holiday Gift Guide. Curated with love and a focus on Vermont Brands & Businesses! If you don’t want to miss this and other fun posts click the follow link to be notified by email when there is a new post.
I recently had the amazing opportunity to attend the Network of Executive Women (NEW) Leadership Summit in Chicago. NEW is a women’s leadership organization serving the retail, consumer goods, financial services and technology industries. It represents more than 11,000 members from 850 companies, in the U.S. and Canada. I feel so fortunate to have spent 3 days focused on my development and want to pay it forward by sharing what I learned at the summit with all of you. In business, we often start with an executive summary before diving into the details, so without further ado here are the top 4 things I want to accomplish walking away from the Summit:
This summit had a heavy focus on money and the concept that unless you are financially independent you will never have true empowerment. To me it was an uncomfortable, but important topic, something that is typically taboo but if discussed it will help us to begin to close the Gender pay gap. Depending on what source you believe, on average, women are paid ~20% less than men. Key note speaker 
Mentorship is something I am well versed in 
Another key theme of the summit for me was perfectionism. I have always viewed that as my personal brand and something that brings me great pleasure, but I had never stopped to consider its impact on the people and team around me. I am the person who obsesses over every tiny detail. A Christmas tree is not just a tree, it is a masterpiece with a color theme (red/Silver ONLY of course) and an intricate method for decorating, first the lights, then silver ribbon, followed by white snowflakes and all the shiny red/silver balls. The last touch is our assorted sentimental ornaments placed just so to give our tree a subtle unstructured look. But I learned at our conference that perfectionism becomes a trap later in your career when you need to rise. Early in your career you will be promoted for being precise and accurate, but as time goes on this habit makes it harder for you to delegate and will cause extra stress on yourself and your associates. That Christmas tree looks good now but as time passes my sweet little boys will want to add their personal touch and if I don’t let go of this vision of perfection I will be left decorating a tree on my own. This will be a work in progress for me and something I know I need to work on if I am going to rise in my career and in my life- this was a BIG ah-ha moment for me.
The last lesson I learned is that you need to bring your “whole self” to work. I am a Mom, business women, a blogger, a sneaker & Coffee connoisseur, an athlete, and creative mind; I am diverse in thought and skillset. If I am only bringing the mom and business women to the office then I am bringing less than 50% of myself to the office and therefore I am not bringing my full value. I am proud of what I am doing with my blog, the drive it displays and the creative outlet it is affording me and yet I don’t share that with my co-workers. My hope is that with time I will learn to bring my whole self into the office and share with my team both the triumphs and challenges.
Throughout my career I have had exactly five formal mentors and dozens of informal mentors who have supported me in my career growth. To them I am forever grateful. One question I hear frequently and a topic that was of highest interest when I polled my subscribers was “How do I find a Mentor?” So in this post I will share how I connected with my mentors so you can leverage these tactics in your own career.
I was very fortunate in my first mentoring experience at New Balance Inc. The company had a formal program which took career interests and strengths to pair me directly with Kathy who was a more senior leader at New Balance. The program lasted six months and provided a valuable foundation to guide a newbie like myself through expectations and process. The biggest tip that I will pass along to you is that the Mentee MUST take responsibility for establishing the goals and drive the process. I would come to the table for each meeting with 3 topics I wanted to discuss and then report back on what I had accomplished at each subsequent meeting. Show respect for your Mentor’s time and always be prepared.
For my second mentor I looked outside the company and asked a recently retired senior leader to be my mentor. At this phase in my career I felt like I needed someone from the “outside” to help me navigate my next move and John was a skilled mentor providing coaching for many High School students entering the workforce. I was also at the exciting life phase of getting married when I worked with John and his personal focus on family often brought me to tears during our meetings. He pushed me to put together my 5 year plan and start considering what having a family would mean to those plans (whoa I had NO idea what was coming). Don’t forget to look outside your company to people who you admire and ask them directly if they will be your mentor. 90% of the time that person is going to be flattered that you asked and happy to help.
I found my current Mentor while leading the development of a formal Mentor program here at Keurig Green Mountain. Since I personally credit my career growth to hard work and great mentors, I wanted to help others have the same opportunities I have enjoyed. While working with HR leadership on the program design one of my VPs suggested I reach out to Tina. I connected with Tina just before I went out on Maternity leave with my second son and she gave me some of the best advice of my career. She simply stated: “Don’t’ be Superwomen, enjoy your time off with your family and new baby; work will be here when you get back” I needed to hear that from someone I looked up to and respected. While we never launched the program when polling our leaders we had over 40 people step up and offer to be mentors, so you can assume in any given company the majority of leaders would gladly take you on as a mentee so just ASK! 🙂 Speak with your HR lead, they will likely know who would be a great Mentor fit for you even if your company does not sponsor a program.
Do you have a mentor today? If you have one please share your story in the comments below. If you don’t have one, what is holding you back & please let me know how I can help.
Lil' Vermont Adventures 