I have to confess, I have more clothes, shoes and accessories than I know what to do with.  Before meeting Lee, however, I was often overwhelmed by the choices and didn’t know how to put the various pieces in my wardrobe together.  I found myself wearing the same things over and over again because they are accessible and comfortable, not because they project anything about my personality, style or mood.  Finally, I gave Lee a call.  A style concierge can work with you to help you discover your own personal style and then build your wardrobe around the image you are trying to project.  Best of all, they can do this using your existing wardrobe!

Lee Heyward, founder of Charleston Style Concierge, was kind enough to share her expertise with us.

How does Charleston Style Concierge help women achieve great style?

At Charleston Style Concierge our goal is to help women discover a style they love that makes them feel confident and happy. Ironically style isn’t about fashion—it’s about expressing yourself and feeling comfortable with who you are. We can help a woman do this through our style coaching services.

All of our products and services are education based. We believe that anyone can have great style. All you need are the tips and tricks that are sure to help you look and feel your best. Whether you want to learn how to shop for clothes you truly love or wear what’s in your closet more, we can help!

Will using a service like this save me time?

Absolutely! One of my signature talks is “How to Get Dressed in Ten Minutes or Less.” Women arrive at this talk skeptical that this is even possible, but they leave knowing that it is!

Deciding what to wear can be a very frustrating time waster each morning. The good news is that there is a solution—and it’s easy! The key is creating a versatile wardrobe.

A versatile wardrobe contains clothing and accessories that can be dressed up or dressed down, mixed together differently, and can help you create unique and interesting looks that reflect your personal style.

To create a versatile wardrobe you must be disciplined about what you need. And to know what you need you must know what you have. Spend some time peeking around your closet before you head out to shop. This will help you make smart choices that easily mix with your current wardrobe—keeping you from buying another black shirt.

If I agree to a Closet Edit, will you throw away all of my clothes?

Definitely not! The point of a closet edit is to help you discover the disconnect between the style that you desire and the style you have created. This disconnect is the reason so many women change clothes multiple times before settling on something and running out the door.

A closet edit is an opportunity to take inventory of what you have and what you need—it is your recipe for style. Sure you can whip up a dish without a recipe, but it never turns out quite how you wanted it to. Your style is the same way.

Yes, sometimes it is time for clothes to move on. They can be donated to goodwill, sold at consignment, or turned into other household items. Other times all you might need is a simple alteration to an item of clothing. It can go from something you hate to something you love. Ever had a skirt in your closet that you try on every few weeks and take off because it makes you feel frumpy? You could simply shorten it to the most flattering length for you and voila you have a skirt you actually want to wear.

I don’t have money to buy a whole new wardrobe, but I could use some help “shopping in my own closet.”  Is this a service you offer?

Even if you have unlimited funds, I believe in shopping your closet first. We are human so we easily forget what we have. If you shop your closet first you always know what you have and are able to make smarter shopping choices.

Style can be had on any budget and shopping in your own closet is a great way to do this. Simply having a fresh eye help you create outfits can make your style feel completely refreshed. Worried you’ll go back to putting the same old outfits together? Create a look book. This is a service we offer where we take pictures of outfits we put together for you to reference on a morning you are running late or simply need style inspiration.

I thought only celebrities used personal stylists, isn’t it prohibitively expensive?

Using a personal stylist or style coach is an investment in yourself. I don’t believe there is value in “dressing” a client. I believe in teaching a client how to dress themselves. That might sound funny, but consider where you learned how to dress. Most of us developed a style from things our parents made us wear, what our peers said or did, or by watching others. Working with a style professional is an opportunity to learn what works for your body, your lifestyle, and your desires.

Once you have this knowledge it is easy to say no to a salesperson trying to talk you into a dress you don’t need, decide to skip a trend you know isn’t right for your body type, or know that a simple alteration can save you the time and money it would take to buy a new pair of pants.

About Lee

Lee Heyward is a style coach and owner of Charleston Style Concierge, LLC, a company that specializes in teaching women how to achieve easy and effortless style. Lee works with clients one-on-one, virtually, and hosts monthly seminars. Lee believes anyone can have great style with a little knowledge and an open mind.

When I first started YuDu Concierge, and before I had an office, when people used to asked whether I had an office, I would tell them I had about 5 of them. And it was true! I would shop-hop from cafe to cafe, meeting with various people or working on our website. I loved meeting the owners and even made new clients out of cafe customers who were curious about what I was working on.

Whether you are looking for free internet, tasty coffee and treats, or just a spot to park it and be productive before your next meeting, here are some of YuDu’s favorite places downtown and East of the Cooper:

Chucktown Coffee – tucked away in Seaside Farms;317 Long Grove Dr # D, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

Charleston Bagel – 656 Long Point Rd # A Mount Pleasant, SC 29464-8306

Bodacious Bagels – 766 South Shelmore Boulevard #202, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

Metto Coffee – 354 West Coleman Boulevard, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464-3424

Just Chill - 1118 Park West Blvd # 1, Mount Pleasant, SC 29466-7124

Rising High Cafe – 480 East Bay Street Charleston, SC 29403

Kudu Coffee – 4 Vanderhorst Street, Downtown Charleston, South Carolina

Baked – 160 East Bay Street, Charleston, SC 29401

Fast forward a couple of years and my mom turned 50. We threw a first-time-ever surprise party for my mom and invited all her closest friends and family. The team at the Post House did an amazing job preparing and serving and not once did they give away the surprise, even though my parents were staying (once again) at their bed and breakfast.

We love this place so much we celebrated another birthday of Mom’s a couple of weeks ago with dinner at the Post House. And I got them the same room they stayed in for her 50th.

But I’m not the only one with mad love for the Post House. A client of YuDu, publishing company The Fig and The Vine, raves about this spot and likes to use it for cozy trainings and seminars on the Business of Writing. Makes me want to become an author just to hang out at OVPH for a day and learn…

If you are looking for a good party spot or a relaxed and unique meeting spot – definitely try this spot out. You won’t regret it!

After launching YuDu, things changed a little. I started to focus on time efficiency and time management. As a concierge and personal assistant, you basically have to become an expert in managing not just your own time – but that of your clients as well.  As with learning a language…survival is the best environment to learn!

Have you ever tracked your time? I mean down to the minute? There is even time tracker software out there right now that you can download for free to track how you spend your time. (You can email me about that later). What most people find when they start tracking there time is – Wow! I waste a LOT of time. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am a firm believer that some times you need a little non-productive time where you are thinking, being creative, relaxing – giving your brain a break and the opportunity to problem solve or even think up opportunities. My point is that most of us feel like we “have no time” when really we are not managing our time. So what I am going to do today as part of our time saver secrets is show you how to manage your time, point out some time wasters, and then give you a few tricks of the trade.

Just keep one thing in mind – YOU and Bill Gates have the same amount of hours, minutes and seconds in your day.

Some of these you many know but don’t follow and some of these may take you some time to realize that you need to do, but I’m telling you – if you want a balanced life, where you are excited about getting up and energetic about your tasks at hand, you need to pay attention to these 5 Steps for Improving Time Management.

1. LIST. I have a motto that I use at night that is “its 10 pm, do you know where your priorities are?” Some of you may remember the evening news anchor in the 80’s that used something similar to ask parents about where their children were. In my opinion, knowing your next day’s priorities is just as important (maybe that’s why I only have cats!). How many times have you woken up in the middle of the night going, “Oh crap! I have to do that tomorrow!” Keep a list. And if need be, keep it by your bed. And if you are 100% digital, keep it in your blackberry/sync it to Outlook. Whatever it takes to keep your list updated and relevant – do it.

Because we are a Life Balance company, I have to insert here that included in this list needs to be YOU time. This may be a 30-minute walk or a 2-hour gym workout. Maybe it is getting your nails done, your hair highlighted, or watching Jersey Shore. Whatever it is, it needs to be on your list and it needs to be a priority (which is something we talk about next). I guarantee that if you work on these tips and save time, you will have time for this YOU time. And you’ve earned it.

2. Prioritize. Listing your tasks is not enough. You have to prioritize. What absolutely has to be done the next day? The day after? I like to say that I’m going to have 3 deliverables. For me, it may be: entering payroll, finalizing our client’s research project, and finishing next week’s presentation.  And to make it fun, I also include rewards, like watching Grey’s Anatomy that night or sending pictures out from last weekend if I get those deliverables done. Now there are a bazillion classes/seminars out there on how to correctly prioritize. Last year I spent an afternoon looking at several of them trying to find out what I was missing out on and I honestly believe you need to do what works for you. If Stars and Colors make your list work and determine the top priorities then do it that way. You can list it all and then re-list 1-10 if that is your preference. The point is – you need to decide what is important.

3. Delegate! Now of course I’d love for everyone to call me tomorrow morning with all the tasks they do not have time or do not want to do…but delegation does not necessarily mean to a concierge/errand running service. Delegation can be to your bookkeeper, lawn service, copywriter, SEO specialist, graphic designer, etc. Recognize the talent that you bring to your company (and your household) and then seek the expertise of others. The market is full of entrepreneurs who can bring their specialty to your work without costing an arm and a leg.

This of course sounds normal and easy but do you do it? I mean, do you really do it? My female clients take a long time to delegate their first YuDu errands. Even if someone has gifted them YuDu hours! Why is this? I think it is because – in general – women like to be in control. No one does it like us, “it’ll take longer to explain than for me to just do it”, the list of reasons goes on and on. We want to be super woman. We want to have it all together, to look like we did everything with NO help. We baked cupcakes for a school event, worked out for 2 hours, had a personal best week of selling our product/services, attended all the best networking events, had dinner with our husband and STILL managed to clean the house, weed the lawn, and donate time to Habitat. To all my female reading audience out there, let me tell you that anyone you see accomplishing all that, has someone like YuDu behind them! Every great businessperson (Gates, Jobs, Roddick, to name a few) has an assistant. They have someone to delegate to and the best news is – you don’t have to have a million dollars to delegate. And in some instances, you can actually make more money focusing on what you need to do (i.e. your job) or at the very least, having a higher quality of life (did I mention a bike ride with your kids).

4. FOCUS. STOP Multitasking!  If you keep up with YuDu on FaceBook (and I encourage all of you to do so!), you’ll remember that we posted an article about the health dangers of multi-tasking. Some people pride themselves on the ability to multi-task.  Women are supposedly great at it. Well, I hate to break it to you but without focus on one pending task, you are doing yourself and your clients a disservice.  Your brain can only focus on one thing. When you think you are multi-tasking, you are actually just changing tasks and while women may be able to do this changeover quicker than men, there are very negative costs that can affect your relationships with clients and with friends/family. There are time costs for switching from one task to the other and studies show you produce a lower quality of output, increased number of mistakes – leading to longer output time because you had to go back and redo. And think about it for a minute: have you ever been in a meeting with someone who is looking at their phone while more than they look at you? Is that meeting productive while they are “multitasking with those other messages”? And don’t you feel just a little slighted? Where’s the productivity there? Why is this person WASTING your time? Your time is precious!

5. ACT. Stop putting off things that must be done and figure out why you are putting them off. If you are putting it off because you are scared to fail, keep in mind that life is a learning process! If it is something you know how to do, but just don’t really like doing, make it the first thing you do and get it out the way.  Of course, this does not necessarily mean you have to do it, but either you do it or delegate it to someone who does. Examples are the previously mentioned yard work and bookkeeping tasks.

If you take these 5 Steps to improve your time management, I am certain you will find a little more time for what you really want to do.  If you need help, you know where to find us.

I have been working with YuDu since the company opened, and I can’t say enough about the excellent service that YuDu provides. Sarah and the YuDu team are amazing, and I don’t know what I’d do without their help. As a busy professional, I was struggling to juggle it all until I began utilizing YuDu’s services. Now YuDu runs my personal errands like grocery shopping, selecting wine, buying toiletries, dropping off and picking up dry cleaning, alterations, shoe repairs and more. YuDu also helps my business run smoothly by making copies, picking up office supplies, setting up for events, and much more! Because of YuDu, I now have more time to spend with my friends and family and more time for growing my business, and this is invaluable. All the members of the YuDu team are such a pleasure to work with and are always professional, prompt, and efficient, often providing same-day service. I’ve referred many friends and clients to YuDu and they too have all been pleased!
C. Cone