123: Charlene Roxborough | Celebrity & Editorial Stylist

With over twenty years’ of experience, Charlene is one of the most renowned celebrity and editorial stylists of her generation. Her work has graced the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the Cannes Film Festival, earning her recognition in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Forbes and many more.

She has become a recognized stylist and designer  for today’s icons including Sofia Vergara, Eva Longoria, and Vince Vaughn.

Charlene’s styling endeavors span from high profile magazines to television, for clients such as Coca-Cola, Tissot, L’Oreal, Remy Martin, Nike, Guess and T-Mobile.

Now, Charlene is also the founder of Stone Windsor. Largely inspired by her daughter, Stone – Charlene has created a childrenswear collection that offers premium, eco-conscious clothing for kids (even the picky ones) that is designed for an easy and seamless mix and match styling process.

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You can find Charlene's styling website here: https://charleneroxborough.com/

You can follow Charlene's Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/charroxstylist/?hl=en

Shop and explore Stone Windsor here: https://stonewindsor.com/

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Past guests include Margaret Wishingrad, Kara Goldin, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Ann Miura Ko, Linda Avey, Sarah Leary, Becky Sauerbrunn, Miriam Haart and many more.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Carly Malatskey: Hello, everyone. I am super excited to welcome our guest today, Charlene Roxborough Konsker. With over 20 years of experience, Charlene is one of the most renowned celebrity and editorial stylists of her generation. Her work has graced the Oscars, the Golden Globes, and the Cannes Film Festival, earning her recognition in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Forbes, and many more.

[00:00:22] Carly Malatskey: She has become a recognized stylist and designer for today's icons, including Sofia Vergara, and the late Eva Longoria and Vince Vaughn. Now, Charlene is also the founder of Stone Windsor. Largely inspired by her daughter Stone, Charlene has created a children's wear collection that offers premium, eco conscious clothing for kids, even the picky ones, that is designed for an easy and seamless mix and match styling process.

[00:00:45] Carly Malatskey: Charlene, it is such a pleasure to have you on the podcast. Welcome. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited. Of course, of course. So Charlene, what I love to start with, I know you're from Jamaica, and I want to [00:01:00] hear about your childhood. Who were you as a, you know, as a young girl? 

[00:01:04] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So, um, I was born and raised in Jamaica.

[00:01:07] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: My family, Moved to the States at a young age. I was, uh, 11 when I moved here, but you know, I grew up on this beautiful island that was filled with love and lots of, um, different cultures and different, different, um, mixtures of people. 

[00:01:25] Carly Malatskey: Yeah. And I know that your mom had a, has a huge influence on you. Can you tell me a little bit about that relationship, even as a kid with you and your mom?

[00:01:37] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Yeah. So, you know, my mom, was the most amazing mom. She, you know, provided for us. I have two, two older brothers and you know, my mom was this like figure that made sure that, you know, we went to the best schools, but not only on top of that, you know, my mom was just this amazing. Woman that always, when she dressed, everything [00:02:00] was monochromatic and I would watch her in the morning as she got dressed.

[00:02:04] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And when she put the, her dress on, then she would put her hat on and the gloves and the shoes. And literally everything was just monochromatic from head to toe. And I always admired that. And you know, at a very young age, you know, I love fashion. So, you know, we would always, you know, go to different back then it was, um, You call it now the vintage stores, but we would go to different like antique stores or events and anything she would find, she would just make a whole story out of it.

[00:02:36] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And that was 

[00:02:36] Carly Malatskey: my mom. I love it. And I imagine because Jamaica had the British influence too, right? So I imagine that, you know, posh, or at least that fancier, elegant look. Is that, is that right? 100 percent you would think she was the queen. 

[00:02:51] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Um, yeah, because Jamaica is a British island. Um, 1962, we got our independence.

[00:02:56] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: The whole lifestyle is British influence. 

[00:02:59] Carly Malatskey: [00:03:00] Yeah. Did you have a favorite outfit? Because obviously, you know, you're, you had this passion for fashion and that started very early on. So was there something that when you think of your childhood, you actually remember you, you imagine in your mind in the, in an outfit?

[00:03:15] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Well, yes, when I was, uh, six years old, there was this, when my aunt moved to New York and, you know, we were still in Jamaica, she would always send me all these beautiful dresses. And I remember this beautiful blue and white check dress that I had. And it was like my favorite dress. And in Jamaica, it's like boiling hot, right?

[00:03:34] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So it's a hundred degrees. Yeah. I didn't care. And my aunt sent me this dress and it was blue and white checker. Um, with a cute little bow. And I used to put a crimoline, which, you know, you put onto your dress and it kind of poofs it out. And I literally wore that dress every day, every day. Um, as long as I can remember to the point where my mom was like, you have to put that dress away.

[00:03:59] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: [00:04:00] And I was just, I was a creature of habit. I had to have it every day. I put it on and It was like the same routine, same hairstyle, ponytail and same blue checker dress, same tights, same crimoline. And I mean, I think about that dress all the time because I literally wore it until I moved to the US. 

[00:04:18] Carly Malatskey: Wow. Oh my God.

[00:04:19] Carly Malatskey: Even if it was, you know, 90 plus, like so hot outside, you would still wear it without fail. 

[00:04:24] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Absolutely. With the crimoline and crimoline is very itchy. It's like very stiff. Not the most comfortable thing, but me at six years old, I thought it was like the best thing ever. And I just love dressing up and I was going nowhere.

[00:04:36] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I was in the country in a yard with my cousins playing, you know, going to the beach and here I am looking like I'm going to church. Um, but that was just me. I love dressing up. I love always to, you know, look like a little girl. 

[00:04:52] Carly Malatskey: Yeah. So As you mentioned, around 11 years old, you moved to the States. You moved to Chicago.

[00:04:58] Carly Malatskey: Tell me a little bit [00:05:00] about what were you like as a student? Did you like school? Were you, were you passionate about school? How are you thinking of, you know, what did you want to be when you grew up at this time? 

[00:05:07] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Well, when I moved here, it was all a culture shock because I moved here in, I moved into Chicago in the dead of winter.

[00:05:15] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So it was extremely cold. Um, I had an accent because in Jamaica, we speak Patois and you know, um, I didn't look like anybody else. And When the minute I opened up my mouth, I had this accent. So kids were like, where are you from? I was very shy. Um, you know, I was trying to get used to the cold, the winter, everything was like, Whoa, this is America with all of this snow.

[00:05:41] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I, so that part, I, I took a minute. And then when I was enrolled in school, you know, it was, it was very difficult. So it took, it took a while to get used to, The entire system, I would say, and I remember I would come home and complain to my [00:06:00] mom. I was like, the kids are not nice to me. And I speak this way and no one understands me.

[00:06:06] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And, you know, and I would go, my hair was extremely long. So I would go to school. With like a ponytail and the kids, they couldn't believe that was all my hair. So I would literally come home with a different hairstyle and my mom would say, who's messing with your hair? I'm like, the kids school, they take my hair.

[00:06:24] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: They don't think it's my real hair. Cause it was so curly. And so much of it, I didn't enjoy school in the beginning, just because Of moving into the American system and learning the American culture and not grasping it in the beginning was a little rough until my mom decided that, you know, she was going to send me to, cause at that time I was going to a public school and my mom was like, you know what, let me send you to, um, A private school, maybe, you know, it'll be a little easier for you.

[00:06:57] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So I did. And, um, and then things [00:07:00] got a little better. My accent started to change and I was more into like music and art. I'd love to learn in, in any areas that I could. 

[00:07:10] Carly Malatskey: You, so you mentioned you love art and music basically, and I can understand wholeheartedly how, you know, the transition from Jamaica to the U.

[00:07:19] Carly Malatskey: S., like it's, there's so many different shocks to the system, if you will. And I'm wondering to gain that confidence back, what did, what did you do? Did the clothes you wear, did that come into it actually? 

[00:07:32] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Well, no, because when I went to a private school, I wore uniform. So I was used to, because I grew up on an island where everyone, no matter what grade you're in from pre k to high school, or even when you went to college, everyone wore a uniform.

[00:07:50] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So to me, That was just a great lifestyle and I didn't think of it as in, oh, we're missing out in fashion. Oh, our [00:08:00] uniforms were very cool. Like we wore little bow ties around our neck, so, you know, white shirts, bow ties, you know. So even now when my daughter goes to school, I love the fact that she's in a uniform.

[00:08:10] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Yeah. So, yeah, I, I wasn't thinking about clothes back then. I did read a lot of magazine. I remember reading tons of Vogue. Um, I would take out all the pictures and I would tape them up on my wall in my room. Uh, you know, I, of course, then I, you know, I, my mom would always take me to these like secondhand stores and pick out just like interesting things.

[00:08:33] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And I, to me, what, you know, I would create things out of it, you know, but I, but I was looking at every magazine and Every magazine I knew every supermodel. Um, and, you know, I was living vicariously through everyone. 

[00:08:48] Carly Malatskey: And it's amazing because I assume in your mind, a career in this wasn't even an option, right?

[00:08:54] Carly Malatskey: Like, you weren't thinking long term. It was more of just a, a hobby, a passion. [00:09:00] That's amazing. Yeah. 

[00:09:01] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: It didn't even appear in my mind that there was a job called styling. I Right. You know. As growing up as a child and moving to the U. S. I didn't even know I would be leaving 

[00:09:13] Carly Malatskey: Chicago. So tell me as you got older, you know, around 16, 17 years old, tell me that moment that clicked where you were like, you know what?

[00:09:23] Carly Malatskey: I think I need to leave Chicago. And what was that journey like? 

[00:09:26] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: You know what it was? Chicago is very cold and I love to be in warm weather. I mean, cause I grew up on an Island that was like 90 degrees every day on sand. People said to me, Oh, did you play with lots of toys? I'm like toys. We went to the beach.

[00:09:43] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: That's all you do is swim. So, no, I mean, you know, at 16, I was just still into like fashion and looking at, um, fashion magazine. I went to a boarding school at a young age. At 13, I went to a boarding school and boarding school was very [00:10:00] strict. Because, you know, you weren't allowed to wear your uniform and on the weekend you got to wear clothes, but it was also, you know, you couldn't show your ankles or, uh, you know, when I, I mean, everything was like up to here, my arms were covered.

[00:10:15] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Uh, so I went to boarding school and it was just, It was like a whole nother life. I came home like, it was like college. I came home, um, during the holiday. So from 14 on, living on campus, uh, I became very independent at a very young age. Right. And making, making decisions and things for myself, because that's normal for someone from Jamaica or someone that lives in London.

[00:10:45] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Kids go to boarding school. When kids go to boarding school here, they're like, what did you do? What's wrong? But. Even in boarding school, when I came home on the, when I find, when I did come home for the holiday, I would dress up with my friends and then we would go out as much [00:11:00] as my mother would allow.

[00:11:01] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Cause I grew up in a very strict home. Uh, but you know, I was into fashion then I knew what I loved. I knew what I wanted. I would see everything on the cover of Vogue. And I remember there was this one dress that I saw on the cover of Vogue and I was like, Oh my God, I have to have that dress. But you know, I It wasn't realistic.

[00:11:20] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So I went to the fabric store and I got the fabric and there's this guy in the neighborhood who used to make all these dresses for like these.

[00:11:32] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And he was this young guy and he loved to, to design and he loved to sew and I remember showing the picture. I was like, I love this dress. I would love if you can make this dress for me. I'm going to go probably to this, you know, event with the, with a friend of mine. And he made the dress and I have the picture till this day, which is hysterical.

[00:11:53] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So you know, I mean by 16 and 17, I was having all my dresses made. Yeah. Copying everything out [00:12:00] of Vogue. 

[00:12:01] Carly Malatskey: Wow. So from what I remember, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd love for you to tell this process and journey for you of coming to LA. From what I recall, it was quite a secretive process, if that's true?

[00:12:13] Carly Malatskey: It was. So tell me a bit about that and how You know those first, that moment where you're like, I'm going to la I'm not really telling my mom. Um, and so talk me through that. 

[00:12:25] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So, yeah, so basically one summer I had this, well, prior to the summer it was time for me to go away to school. And I was going to school in St.

[00:12:34] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Louis and it was still cold and I was like, I don't love it. And I wanted, you know, at that time I thought I want to be a psychologist. But at some point I thought to myself, I, you know, I just don't know if I want to be in the cold anymore. So I saw a picture of Rodeo Drive. I saw one of these postcards.

[00:12:53] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So I saw a picture and I saw palm trees and it looked really pretty. And I'm like, Oh my God, this looks so [00:13:00] sunny. Where is this in the California? I'm like, Oh, I would love to go there, but how am I getting to California? I know no one, have no friends, no family there. But I have an idea. I'm going to apply to school there.

[00:13:12] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So I applied to school in New York, London, California. And I was transferring because I was already in school my first year and in St. Louis. And I was like, I got out of here. I can't look at this arch anymore. And so I didn't tell anyone, kept a secret. Uh, so I applied. Obviously the, what the year before, when my papers came in and I saw that I got into a school in California and one in London, the same school, but it was also in London.

[00:13:50] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And I thought to myself, Oh my God, this is my ticket that I can't tell anyone. Cause if I tell anyone, they're just going to. You know, they're like, [00:14:00] you're not going, you don't know anyone. You're so young. I shopped for everything secretly, hid it all in my room. 

[00:14:07] Carly Malatskey: So in your mind, you were going, you just 

[00:14:10] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: said, I'm going, okay.

[00:14:12] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I just got to figure out who's going to drive me. I already have everything. And so I thought if I have everything, then no one can stop me. So I rented a U Haul. My brother drove me. He came home, and I said, what are you doing this weekend? He's like, oh, nothing. Why? I was like, can you drive me to California?

[00:14:33] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I said, yeah, I got into a school there. He's like, did you tell mom? I said, absolutely not. And then he said, okay, sure. I'll drive you. So he's like, I haven't been to California, but I have to be back at work on Monday. So we have to go. So we basically, he's like, well, wait, I can't drive by myself. I need someone to help drive.

[00:14:51] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So then he got the neighbor, which was my mom's friend. And he said, he asked her and she was like, yeah, I've never been to [00:15:00] California. Cause the whole idea of driving to California, my brother, he loves to drive. He's this guy that will drive all over the U S. So I knew that he would be the one. So you know, my mom came home that day and she's like, what, what's going on?

[00:15:14] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And I said, she's like, who's U Haul is that? And I was like, mine. And she's like, what? And I said, yeah, I'm going to California again to school. And she was like, you're not going anywhere. And how are you going to get there? And you don't know anyone. I said, well, my brother's going to drive me and we'll figure it out when we get there.

[00:15:32] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And that's, that was, that was how the journey started. 

[00:15:35] Carly Malatskey: That is incredible. I think that story is so incredible. So you get, so obviously, I mean, your mother doesn't have a choice, right? She's, she has to essentially give her blessing whether she wanted to or not. 

[00:15:49] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Well, she was devastated. She was devastated.

[00:15:51] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And the fact was that everything was packed. She couldn't even believe that I had all these things stored, like, you know, for, for dorm, like comforters [00:16:00] and pillows and, And everything that you would take, usually your parents pack you to go to school, right? Well, I was packing myself on the second part of the journey and I got to California and I arrived early because the dorms weren't open yet.

[00:16:16] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So my mom said, wait, we have a cousin in California. I was like, where did you dig this cousin up from? And she reached out to the cousins, she's like, my daughter is coming there. And I stayed with them. And then the Monday morning came and I went to the dorms and there was this one girl that it was actually still one of my closest friends till this day.

[00:16:39] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And she was from Montana. And uh, we clicked instantly and we knew when we clicked that we were going to be friends forever. 

[00:16:49] Carly Malatskey: Even you said it before, right? You went to boarding school. That probably instilled that maybe natural independence in you. So going to California probably wasn't as daunting as the [00:17:00] typical, you know, 18, 19 year old, but for you just thinking back at it.

[00:17:05] Carly Malatskey: Were you scared? Did you have those fears? Did you have those thoughts of, maybe I'll go back to Chicago, even though it's freezing cold there? Or you were just so at peace with that decision? 

[00:17:16] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: No, there was no fear. There was no anxiety. There was no anxiousness. There was just like, I, this is what I want to do and I'm going to do it and no one's going to stop me.

[00:17:26] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And that was just it. And my brother, I remember my brother saying to me, what are you going to do for money, but like, I'll figure it out. And I totally did because while I was in school, I got a part time job at the Beverly center and I was working at this shoe store and it was all European shoes. And you know, they sold shoes like Donna Karen and it was all these different like brands.

[00:17:48] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And so the stylist came in, which I didn't even know was a stylist, but she would always come in and I happened to help her and she dressed beautifully and always so chic and [00:18:00] elegant and, and sophisticated, just all of that. And I was like, Oh my God, she's fantastic. But long story short, she would say to me, you know, do you have this shoe?

[00:18:09] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Do you have this shoe? And it was like multiple shoes, men's, women's, all these odd sizes. And I never asked any questions like, what do you do? Who are these for? I would just get them. And, and she kept coming into the store and every time she would come in, she would always ask for me and I would always help her.

[00:18:27] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And so one day she said to me. Um, would you like to assist me? I was like, on what? What does that even mean? Assist you doing what? I mean, I was in college. So, you know, my whole thing was that I'm going to school, taking my classes, doing what I need to do, and then figure it out from there. And she said, assist me.

[00:18:48] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I'm a stylist. I'm like, hairstylist? What? What do you mean a stylist? She's like, no, I style music videos and editorials. And I was like, Okay, what does that mean? She was like, you know, [00:19:00] I, I work with like, um, uh, musicians. So I said, sure. So she said, well, okay, be at my house at 4 a. m. And I'm like, 4 a. m. And I was like, wait a minute.

[00:19:12] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I have class tomorrow. Okay, this is not going to work out. I have to be at your, I have to be at your home at 4 a. m. I have no idea what's going on. She's like, yeah, I'll be there 4 a. m. because we have to be on set by six and we have to pack up the clothes. I'm like, what? Pack up the clothes, be at your house.

[00:19:31] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So, you know, and I was like, in my head, I was like, Oh my God, I have to be in class. That means I have to skip class. But I came home and I was like, you know what? Okay. I texted her and I said, I'll do it. I'll do the job. And when I walked into her living room, it was corner to corner. Every corner was packed with clothes, but everywhere.

[00:19:50] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So everything was just loosely hanging on the, on the rack. So I had to put every item in a garment bag. and take it and put it inside of her car [00:20:00] and my little car that I drove and pack it all up and take it to set. Now, need I remind you, this is all new to me. I've never seen a set. I've never seen a music video.

[00:20:12] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I've never met a stylist. Okay. All right. She's not giving me much info. I have to figure it out. And she was getting dressed by the way, as I was filming. Packing up the car and walking her dog at the same time. 

[00:20:26] Carly Malatskey: And were you excited? Like, coming into this room full of clothes everywhere, was that just incredibly invigorating?

[00:20:33] Carly Malatskey: Or was it also just like, why am I doing this, this work for her? Like, was there, 

[00:20:38] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I just, I went into work mode. Okay, you went into work mode. I went into work mode, started packing the stuff up. Whatever she told me to do, I did it. I packed the clothes up. I walked the dog. She gave me the address. I went to set.

[00:20:50] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I got to set. She wasn't there. Um, she was late. And I was, I, I, the, the director handed me the [00:21:00] treatment. And you know, a treatment is basically a, a, a breakdown of a mini movie. Okay. Um. You had to break the treatment down and you have to figure out what the character in the treatment is wearing or what the character is doing.

[00:21:14] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So I remember getting a pencil and I highlighted everything and was like, okay, well, all right, this kind of makes sense. Okay. So I just common sense just because styling is a, is a lot of common sense. 

[00:21:29] None: Okay. 

[00:21:30] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: You can't go into styling and don't have any common sense because common sense is what's going to lead you to figuring things out.

[00:21:36] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: You know, um, because there was no, there was no room for nervous, anxious, anxiety. It was more like, here's the treatment, she's not here, set up the clothes, let's get it done. The director walks in and he says to me, okay, we'll be shooting soon. And I'm like, I'm like, are you close? Because we're about to go on set.

[00:21:59] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And I have no idea [00:22:00] what's going on, but they gave me a treatment. So I'm kind of figuring it out. I'm covering up for you and you're doing great. And I'm like, Oh my God, it's like an hour. And you're still not here. Um, long story short, this whole time, the director thought I was a stylist. I laid out everything in the room.

[00:22:19] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I made her look great, hung up everything. And then by the time she got there, The artist was dressed and ready for the shoot. And the director was like, Oh my God, I thought you were the stylist. I'm like, Nope, actually I'm in college. And this is my first day. After that, he hired me on every job. Wow. 

[00:22:41] None: Okay.

[00:22:41] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: There we go. My styling career kicked off and then I start working with him. And, um, and the rest is history. 

[00:22:49] Carly Malatskey: That is what a story. That is amazing. And did you In your mind, it just came naturally to you, right? To just have this almost fake it till you make it attitude. Like you had this [00:23:00] confidence. Is that, is that right?

[00:23:01] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Yeah. I mean, literally it was just, I, you know, I'm not a person to stress multitask is very important. And I always say this, a stylist, or if you ever want to go into fashion and styling, you you're multi, you have to learn how to multitask doing several things at once, because when you're styling, you're doing several things at once.

[00:23:24] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: You know, um, and that's, and that's the key, you know, and keep calm and being patient. Patience is so important in styling because if you don't have patience, it's not the job for you because you're, you're speaking to 10 different 

[00:23:39] Carly Malatskey: people. Okay. So Charlene, I want to, I want to dive into it. Cause one thing that I haven't had on this podcast is someone first of your caliber, but in styling and design.

[00:23:50] Carly Malatskey: So tell me about the life of a stylist. What does it entail? Tell me through the, almost the journey from start to finish when you have a celebrity or [00:24:00] someone that you need a style and let's just talk individually for now, whether it's for golden glows, whatever may be what comes into it. 

[00:24:08] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So, I mean, you know, for example, if you're doing an award show, you start off with, obviously, you know who you're working with and, and whatever the event, if they're presenting or if they're going, if they're presenting, you know, that you have to up it a notch.

[00:24:23] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And if they're walking the red carpet, you still do, but presenting is a whole nother ball game. Wow. And basically, I make a list of like, All my favorite designers or, or I'll automatically know, you know what, I want to work with this designer. And then I reach out to the designer or we, you know, we go into Vogue.

[00:24:42] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: com and I, I curate all my favorite gowns, you know, and I send in like so many. What's called sample requests, requests to all the brands and the brands oversee everything. And then obviously in the sample request, it states who you're working with, [00:25:00] what event it is and when the day it is and what you're looking for.

[00:25:05] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And if that vision isn't what you're seeing on vogue. com or through the other designer through the designers, then the next step is to speak with the designer and say, I'm styling X, Y, and Z, and, you know, I would love if we can come up with some sketches for the red carpet. 

[00:25:26] Carly Malatskey: And how far in advance do you, do you begin the process?

[00:25:30] Carly Malatskey: Well, it depends. If 

[00:25:31] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: it's red carpet, If it's a, if it's a can film festival and can is in May, I'll start in January. 

[00:25:41] Carly Malatskey: Wow. Okay. 

[00:25:43] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Because then I start to gather all my, my thoughts, gather all who, who, who I want to present this to and, you know, or what brands am I pulling from and, you know, I wait till last minute because if, if [00:26:00] can is in May.

[00:26:01] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: You want to start right after the holiday and then from there, you know You set your fitting and you just don't want to have one fitting you have like a few fittings after you you fit the clothes and you have a second fitting to make sure the clothes are perfection 

[00:26:16] Carly Malatskey: and Something I'm so curious about as well is you mentioned first of all, there's different players involved But when you when you are styling a celebrity How important is your relationship to them?

[00:26:29] Carly Malatskey: And almost like how well do you have to know them to ensure that you are fitting them in the most, whether it's comfortable or at least something that they feel confident in? How, how much does that come into it? 

[00:26:39] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: When you're styling, you never want to change someone. You just want to enhance what they have.

[00:26:44] None: Got 

[00:26:44] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: it. You know, I'm not here to reinvent the wheel. I'm just here to, you know, show you what's in, create a vision and a mood that I know suits you. And I [00:27:00] have this two second rule that if I have to ask five people in the room, do you love this? Then it's not the dress. 

[00:27:07] None: Yeah. 

[00:27:08] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Not the piece. If I, the piece needs to come automatically to life when I instantly see it.

[00:27:16] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Even if I have 30, 40 dresses. And I bring that to a fitting. I already know in my head, which one is number one, but I want to sort through the rest to make sure that the comfort zone is there to warm the client up, to make sure they're happy, they feel good. And you always space it from what they love.

[00:27:36] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And then you input your vision. It's not what you want because, you know, you want it, you want them to look like themselves and feel like themselves and you don't want to look like a stylist dress you even though everyone knows that celebrities, you know, most of the time they have a stylist that they work with and they have a relationship for 10 years.

[00:27:57] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: 20 years, you know, because so you built [00:28:00] that relationship, you built that comfort zone and you built that like friendship and you know, and, and the most important thing is that the honesty, you have to be honest. If I don't like something, I'm instantly telling you to take it off. It's not working. You have to just 

[00:28:15] Carly Malatskey: be direct about it.

[00:28:16] Carly Malatskey: That's amazing. And if 

[00:28:17] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: we have to figure out how that item is going to work. Oh, we have to do that. It's not the, it's not the piece. 

[00:28:23] Carly Malatskey: One thing. And before we get to Stone Windsor, right? Cause now you have this whole new lens of being a founder and, and a lot of incredible women on this podcast are founders and So much of the time I talk about whether it's imposter syndrome or the challenges just in general of founding a company I want to know what have you learned of how the clothes you wear can actually really instill that self confidence Do you see a direct tie or what is your advice almost in terms of for women to give themselves that confidence?

[00:28:55] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Well, I always say that when you walk outside No [00:29:00] matter where you are. No matter what you're wearing You're, you are the, you are the actor in your own movie because your, your style is who you are and people can sum you up or people can know your personality by the way you look, the way you dress, the whole thing, right?

[00:29:24] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So It's, it's, you know, for me, it's like, you know, when, when, when you walk out the house, and even if it's a sweatsuit, whatever it is on your day, it's just a little with the way that you wear something that I myself can tell everything about you. 

[00:29:41] None: Wow. 

[00:29:42] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And I can, I can instantly know if you like to wear.

[00:29:46] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: strapless, one shoulder, long sleeve jeans, high waisted slacks. I can, I can sum it up in, in my head of, okay. All right. So I can tell that she likes X, Y, and [00:30:00] Z. And that's a part of a stylist is that you, you're, you're creating an image for someone. You're creating, um, uh, something that's, uh, timeless and chic and functional and easy.

[00:30:12] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: If you feel good in it and it looks good and it's functional. And then that's fine. Not everyone likes to be super fashionable. Not everyone likes to, you know, um, be, uh, dressed up all the time and feel like they have to be super glam 24 seven. Um, I think it's more just like a lifestyle of how you live and you into what you want to wear.

[00:30:38] Carly Malatskey: I love it. I love it. Thank you for that. And so, okay, you have a beautiful daughter named stone. And I want you to tell me a little bit about how she inspired you to found Stone Windsor. What was that? What was that origin story like? 

[00:30:52] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Well, I was used to doing a lot of collaborations with different brands and different designers throughout my career.

[00:30:58] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: But then after having [00:31:00] stone and you know, I have a little girl that wants to be a princess every day and dress up in all these princess dresses and we're always shopping on those little sites and getting, you know, Rapunzel dress and frozen and all these things. And, and when, as she was starting to get older, um, and I would put something on her, I'll put a dress on her and she would get a rash.

[00:31:26] None: And I was like, 

[00:31:26] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: what is going on? Why is she so sensitive? And long story short, I realized that she was starting to have a little bit of eczema and I thought, you know, every time, you know, I would look into the brands that I was buying, which was like, you know, Kids brands. Yeah. And, um, and stuff that was like on Amazon.

[00:31:47] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And, um, and I would say I would show my husband like, Oh my God, look at her neck. Her neck is like completely broken out her face. One day her face was so broken out. I thought it was from a blueberry. And I was like, wait [00:32:00] a minute. Who got her this blueberry? I was like, where's it from? Because it completely broke her out, which I didn't realize it was like what she had on and just gave her like a rash.

[00:32:09] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And I thought, you know, I may have to look into using fabrics that are organic on her. So when she was a baby, I found this one brand, um, that, you know, this mom had the same issue where her kids had eczema. So she, she designed a, um, kids line that. Um, that was breathable and, you know, with crib sheets and, and onesies and sleep sacks and all of that.

[00:32:39] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And I thought, Oh my God, she, you know, she's not like breaking out into all these rash when I would use a different fabric on her. And that's when I decided to just. You know, I said, you know what, I'm going to launch a kids' line, children's line and, and see how it goes. Yeah. And, you know, and then I have my [00:33:00] little inspo.

[00:33:01] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: That is, that's incredible. A part of it. And that's how the children's line was created. 

[00:33:08] Carly Malatskey: Now that you've been almost in it, what has been. Probably the biggest learning curve that you had to take on in starting Stonewinds or in starting your own your own line Well besides doing everything yourself. Yeah Exactly because you and you've been solo.

[00:33:26] Carly Malatskey: How has that been for you? How have you navigated that? 

[00:33:29] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: literally I've been a one woman show, um, since the brand started, uh, you know, it's look, it's, it's like, it's like, it's, it's, it's a baby. It's like baby it's, I, I have a new baby that I project that I feel great about that I feel, um, happy about doing.

[00:33:53] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Um, uh, And the, the designing and the styling and the fabric, [00:34:00] researching of the fabric and all of that is a non brainer for me. I think the most part that I felt was a little challenging was more of the, the tech side of it. 

[00:34:11] None: Yeah. 

[00:34:12] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Cause I'm not a very techie person. So that was the part that was a more, a little challenging for me.

[00:34:18] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So I figured that I, you know, as I was going in my journey that why don't I find someone that is. actually better at this and then I could focus on the other end. Um, but you know, that was, that was a challenge inside for me. It was just, learning more about like e comm and Shopify and all the things that goes into it and building a website.

[00:34:41] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Yep. All the back office, just making sure 

[00:34:43] Carly Malatskey: everything's out there in a sense. 

[00:34:46] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Completely because I knew what I was great at and good at. But also, you know, like I just mentioned the other, the other side of it was just very, was very challenging. 

[00:34:57] Carly Malatskey: Yeah. What have you learned [00:35:00] about yourself? What parts of yourself have actually come to fruition, if you will, from this founding journey?

[00:35:09] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: patient. Okay. Because I want everything to be instant gratification, right? You always do something, you're like, you want it, you let it, what's happening. You want it. But, um, I think that, you know, and I am a patient person, but I think that I even reeled it really back to be really, really patient and know that, you know, haste makes waste.

[00:35:33] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: just focus on not doing too many things at the same time. And when I say that, for example, when I was designing, you know, I knew that I'm not going to do 20 pieces. I'll start off with six different styles. I'll start off with two different fabrics and not five different fabrics. The old me would have been like, no, we want the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, So many different fabrics, but I decided that, you know what, let [00:36:00] me, I'm not reinventing the wheel.

[00:36:02] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I'm just, um, cleaning it up and, you know, and I, I knew what I wanted in children's fashion was things that weren't, weren't busy. I wanted things to be just very clean. I wanted a lifestyle. Style. I want it to be timeless. I want to be functional. I wanted your kids to go from the playground to a birthday party in the same collection.

[00:36:24] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And how do I do that and create six styles? you know, with two different fabrics, um, and keeping the fabrics very neutral and light and comfortable so that it's very, uh, easy for the eyes and make it unisex so that you can dress your whole family in it. So those were all the things that, you know, as I was going, um, In this journey that I put myself into every mom's shoe and as a stylist, I wanted it to be where moms had their own [00:37:00] in house stylists and how do I do that?

[00:37:01] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I'm going to create a, a, a kid's luxury line or a kid's, kid's fashion line, kid's comfortable clothes that. As a mom or dad, you don't have to think about because all the pieces I've already created as a stylist. So all you have to do is anything that you pick from the collection, it mixes and blends. So you're not going to make a mistake because dressing kids gives you a little bit of anxiety.

[00:37:28] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And I've seen it with some moms get, you know, because gift to understand, especially now my daughter is five. They have a lot of input of what they want to wear, how they want to wear it. And, you know, because at one. Two, you can control that, and then it gets to a point where, you know, you have to make sure that it's something that's inclusive to keep kids in mind that they're going to love to wear.

[00:37:54] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Every kid loves a sweatshirt. Every kid loves a sweatpants. So, I knew that off the bat. [00:38:00] And, uh, That was something that I wanted to focus on. I just want to, I just want to create a lifestyle for, for families. Yeah, it's 

[00:38:08] Carly Malatskey: incredible. 

[00:38:09] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: It's very easy, easy and functional, modern and 

[00:38:14] Carly Malatskey: fresh. So Charlene, one thing.

[00:38:17] Carly Malatskey: That is so prominent just hearing your entire life story, if you will, is that you've lived almost these different lives. But one thing that is so true is you've stayed authentic to yourself. I think the entire time, which is incredible. And so I actually am so curious, how do you looking back now, how do you define success for you?

[00:38:38] Carly Malatskey: And how has that changed over the years? 

[00:38:42] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Success is what you make it. Success is, um, you know, working hard to your dreams, to your goals, and not worrying about, like, what the next person is doing, and how successful are they, and they're moving faster than [00:39:00] you. 

[00:39:00] None: Wow. You 

[00:39:01] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: literally have to just Know that even if it's not moving as fast as you want, that is your success because you're moving at your own pace and you're creating your own identity and know that everyone's, everyone's success and everyone's journey is going to be different from yours.

[00:39:19] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: So, uh, you know, if someone says to me, Oh my God, I'm not successful because I haven't done, you know, I haven't done X, Y, and Z and I want to get that. But, but what are you doing now? 

[00:39:30] Carly Malatskey: Have you struggled with that personally in order to get to that lesson? Did you find yourself, you know, in LA in this culture of, you know, fashion, everything to be very comparing yourself to others, or was this just a natural thing for you to kind of stick to have that strength?

[00:39:48] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Well, I mean, you know, styling, there's so many stylists. Yeah. And you have to always know that there's, there's work for everyone. You have to create your own journey because that's literally going to be your success in life. [00:40:00] Yeah. Uh, by creating that is, you know, for me it was more, what, what do I want? Um, how do I, how do I, how do I see myself in the next five, 10 years?

[00:40:13] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Am I, am I, And my, where I am today and I set myself goals like, you know, this is what I want to work on. This is what I want to do. These, I want to have it done by this, this time. Yeah. Oh, I love that. That's amazing. And, you know, and I write everything down. I like very old school. My nieces, they all like, Oh no, we'll put everything in the, in the, And the phone and we'll type it in notes.

[00:40:39] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I'm like, no, give me the notebook. Give me a calendar. Cause that's how I function. I function in that way. I always want to be the best at what I do. And you know, I love seeing people happy. I, I would never have a client say, if a client said to me, or if anyone said to me, can [00:41:00] you, can you, I can't find this.

[00:41:03] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: There's how I would put it is there's never I never say no. 

[00:41:10] Carly Malatskey: Yeah It's almost like how can you make it happen? Like how can we what are the steps to make it work? Yeah, that's incredible and I can tell that just from talking to you. Yeah 

[00:41:20] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Yeah. I always make it happen. That's just who I am. Yeah. No matter, you know, even if I'm like, Oh my gosh, I don't know.

[00:41:28] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Can I get that in my head? And I'm like, of course I can. So that is always the challenge for me, but you'll never know, but it'll appear like you'll never know that it may come from a different part of the world. 

[00:41:41] None: Right. 

[00:41:42] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I'm, I'm searching. Um, but, That's amazing. Those are the things that I always say, I always say to assistants or people that want to style say, No is not in your vocabulary.

[00:41:55] Carly Malatskey: I think that applies outside of styling, right? I think that is such a good mentality to [00:42:00] carry with you in life. And even like throughout, you know, even throughout you talking just now, even you saying, you know, self affirmations and you don't, may not even realize it, but I think there's that ongoing mentality that which is incredible.

[00:42:14] Carly Malatskey: So Charlene, I have one last question for you, which you may have already actually touched on it a bit, but I want to know what craft are you spending your lifetime honing? If you will. 

[00:42:26] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I do write in the morning when I wake up, I do have my thing where I literally say a prayer every morning. And then I have a little book that I just write down like all my thoughts.

[00:42:41] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: You know, I take the little five minutes out and I just write in my, write in my little journal. Um, and it's not about like my day. It's just about like how I'm feeling like free flow. Yeah. Just exactly how am I feeling and what are my goals and things that I, what [00:43:00] I want to focus on through the day.

[00:43:02] Carly Malatskey: That's amazing. 

[00:43:03] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I go off of that and because there's a lot to do. But there's only so much you can do. So I focus on the things that I really need to get done in a non stressful way. 

[00:43:17] Carly Malatskey: Yeah, and it brings that intentionality to it, it seems like. Then you can lead your day with purpose, like you have that purpose in the back of your mind.

[00:43:25] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: Absolutely, absolutely. And I write down all my goals. And, and, and in, in the goals and in my task list, I write down, okay, so this is what, this is what I need to focus on today and then focus on this. And this is what I need to focus on tomorrow. 

[00:43:44] Carly Malatskey: I love that. What I've, I don't know if you're a big believer in manifesting, but I've actually started doing on my phone.

[00:43:51] Carly Malatskey: I have my goals. So I actually, like, whenever I look at my phone, I just like constantly, you know, getting it into my brain, if you will. So I'm big on [00:44:00] manifesting, but I love that it reminds 

[00:44:01] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: me. I believe that. I believe the universe gives you everything that you want, but a part of it too, is you just got to be patient.

[00:44:08] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And, you know, and it's all about, you know, when you see like, it's a part of like success where people are like, Oh my God, these people are all like so successful and I'm so, no, the universe has a way of showing you things that you just have to sit back, relax, take it in. And with a five year old, I have no choice but to be patient.

[00:44:27] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And she'll even say to me, you know, What's really interesting is like when I was making her sandwich and I, and, and the, the jam, the jar, it was like stuck and I was like, Oh, and it was like seven in the morning and I'm like opening and it wouldn't open. It's like stuck. And I, and I'm like, Oh, I'll just get another jam.

[00:44:46] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: And she says to me, mommy, don't give up. You can do it. Oh my God. I love it. You can do it. And after she said that, she was like, mommy. Don't give up. You can do [00:45:00] it. You can open the jar of jail. So cute. Cause you need that. Sometimes you need those reminders and that's your reminder. Yeah. I was like in shock and I was like, I was like, you know what, Stone, you're right.

[00:45:11] Charlene Roxborough Konsker: I'm not going to give up opening up this can of jail. Oh my God. She's like, see, I told you you can do it and you didn't give up. And I sat back and thought to myself, If the fact that she is teaching me this little lesson of opening up a jar of jam, it teaches her a lesson to never give up. 

[00:45:29] Carly Malatskey: I love that.

[00:45:30] Carly Malatskey: And I think more important than anything and probably harder for you to see, but her even saying that to you is very much a reflection of the mother that you are to her. So she obviously heard that somewhere and that's very likely it's from you. So I love that. Sharlene, it has been such a pleasure having you on SheLeads.

[00:45:48] Carly Malatskey: Thank you for coming on the podcast, Charlene!