Find Your Sparkle Again

Style isn’t shallow when it helps you show up with confidence. We’re joined by Lindsey Lawson, founder of Brilliantly Bespoke in the Tri-Cities of Northeast Tennessee, for a grounded conversation about color analysis, personal style, and the real reasons so many women stop dressing like themselves over time. She shares how a simple shift in color harmony can change how your face looks, how people respond to you, and how quickly you can get dressed without second-guessing every choice. 

We also dig into what Lindsey learned during advanced training in the UK, where modern color and style analysis is booming again. That trip shapes her approach to clean beauty makeup and palette-based makeup matching, including why ingredient standards matter and how skincare and primer act like the foundation of a great outfit. If you’ve ever wondered why certain lipsticks pop while others dull your skin tone, the seasonal palette conversation will click fast. 

From there, we get practical: body architecture, proportion, silhouettes, face shape, and why the right bra fitting can change everything about how clothes sit on your body. Lindsey explains how she builds clothing personality into the process, creates custom style boards, helps clients create closet harmony, and even supports trip packing with outfit photos so travel feels easy. We close with a faith-forward reminder that the most important “glow” starts within. 

Subscribe for more conversations with local experts, share this with a friend who needs a confidence reset, and leave a review so more listeners can find Benchmark Happenings.

To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

This is Benchmark Having. Brought to you by Jonathan and Steve from Benchmark Homeland, Northeast Tennessee, Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, the Tri-Cities, one of the most beautiful places in the country to live. Tons of great things to do and awesome local businesses. And on this show, you'll find out why people are dying to move to Northeast Tennessee. And on the way, we'll have discussions about mortgages. And we'll interview people in the real estate industry. It's what we do. This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Benchmark Home Loans. And now your host, Christine Reed.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Welcome back, everybody, to another podcast of Benchmark Happenings. And you know, we always have a star of the show. And so today I'm so excited to uh introduce Lindsay Lawson. Lindsay, thank you for being here. Christine, thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. Well, it's our pleasure, and we really appreciate you coming on to be our guest, Lindsay, and to talk about your fabulous business, brilliantly bespoke. Um so um I know I met you at Aslan Hope, uh, one of my favorite places to shop. Absolutely. It's a favorite of everybody's around here, I think. It is, it really is. And um, so I really just you know, you just did such a wonderful job with, you know, lipsticks, and your daughter was with you, and it was such a fun time, and and I have really enjoyed um the lipstick, it's great. And so I thought, you know what, let's um talk a little bit about what you do with your um with your business and how did you get started and and what do you offer to your clients, Lindsay?

How Color Analysis Changed Everything

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Well, thank you so much for having me. I had a great time trying on lipstick with you too. It's always a good time shopping in lipstick for sure. Yes. Um, so Brilliantly Bespoke um came about after I had my own color and style analysis journey. And um I was able to see how really connecting with um who I really was on the inside to be able to push that out on the outside to get into harmony with my coloring and my personality, and um, it really just made a huge difference in me. And what I loved about that is that I also wanted it for other people. So um I saw the difference it was making in me and the confidence I had, um, the decisions I was making, the things that people were saying about my coloring, and um, they were saying, Do you look younger? Or um, have you changed your hair? And I really hadn't. It really was just about the colors I was surrounding myself with. And I wanted that for my friends and family. And so I went on a journey. I actually um had training and I started, and then um along the way, I realized that I was working as part of a franchise opportunity at that time. And I was realizing that to really create a boutique experience for my clients, um, that I could, if I branched out on my own, I could bring them even more perspective, unique perspective. I could really tailor services and make them specific for people. So um, so I branched out and I opened Brilliantly Bespoke. It's my own brand. And so um I have um color analysis and style training in multiple systems. I'm the only expert stylist in the Tri-Cities that's trained in multiple um different analysis systems and style systems.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Okay, and so what are all those systems, Lindsay?

Training In Multiple Style Systems

SPEAKER_03 3:35

Yeah, sure. So I started out um my journey with House of Color. So I've had robust training from those places, and then I stepped out on my own with Brilliantly Bespoke, and I have been trained through kettlewell color analysis and style, and I just got back from the UK, so I was in the UK for 11 days, and that's really the heart of where color and style analysis is really thriving right now. It was founded there over 40 years ago from some systems that we saw, Color Me Beautiful, all those things came out of that time in the 80s. You might remember that. Sure. I remember my mom going to a party in the 80s, and it's kind of made its resurgence. And so the Style and Color Academy is there now, and they are training stylists, and so I've been able to go over and be a part of that training for the last I was there 11 days, and so that was super exciting.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

I bet. So, what all did you get to do in the UK for 11 days? Were you by yourself, or did you have your family with you?

London Trip And Kettlewell Insights

SPEAKER_03 4:33

Or you know, that was the hardest part was leaving my little girls behind. So I do have a family, so I have a husband, Brian. He's um he didn't know it, but when I stepped out to found Brilliantly Bespoke, he also became the um CFO, um, the um the loader, the unloader, all the things, right? So he helps with the business. The little girls do too. You met Romy at Islin Hope, and so um it was hard to leave them behind. I've never been away from my husband more than four or five days, and I had never been away from the girls that long either. So I did go on my own. I made that journey over to the UK. Um, it was awesome. I flew into Heathrow and took a train, the Heathrow Express Express, to the center of London, and then I took another train on to Pershore where their headquarters are.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

And so it was a great trip. So I was part of lots of training. Um, they were training groups of stylists in color and style, so I got to sit in on that, be a part of their um of their process, and then we got to go to Kettlewell, and Kettlewell is um the world's leader in in clothing that is specific for season. So I got to be a part of some executive conversations. They are some exciting announcements that we're gonna be making really soon surrounding that trip, too.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Well, that's awesome. That that sounds like a great experience, and so when I I'm I'm listening to you, Lindsay, and you know, we have a lot of entrepreneurs on this podcast, and and I hear that coming from you. You branched out, you're you are an entrepreneur. Did you ever think that, you know, being married and have your little girls, did you ever think you'd be doing something like this?

Where Women Lose Their Sparkle

SPEAKER_03 6:12

You know, I um I have always loved to build new things. So I also work at a church, so I I do discipleship for a church and I I run our groups ministry, and we take a test in that called the APES. It kind of talks about your spiritual giftedness. And I always come up as an apostle, and apostles love to build new things. And so I think that's just part of who I've always been. I was and and I it's not a surprise that this has come out later. So I was best dressed in high school. Um, I can I can remember like all my I can't remember anything about math, but I can remember almost every outfit I wore to the first day of school forever. And um, I always put outfits together. People were asking me to help put outfits together. I would go in a store and I would try on something and then they would put it, they'd say, Can we put that on the mannequin? And so I think it's always been a part of who I am, but I I like to raise the bar on myself, you know. I like to branch out, do new things, so it's not surprising.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Okay. Well, that's awesome. So you've kind of really always had the fashion bug and it just sounds like you're gifted in that area of your life and well, and I lost it along the way.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

So I think I think that happens to a lot of women, and that's why I love the work that I do. Um, so I if we if we're being honest, I think somewhere along the way we all lose our sparkle. So if I watch my little girls, I watch Romy Kate, she's almost 11, and Stella, who's almost seven, and I watch them now. My my little one still dances like nobody's watching. And she makes bold fashion choices. But my 10, 11 year old, she's already starting to think, is what I wear, is what I'm about to wear, am I gonna fit in? And is it appropriate, right? She's not, she's no longer making choices to please herself, but she's thinking about others. And I think that happens to all of us in high school. Yeah. In high school, we start to say, you know, do I look like everybody else? Am I on trend? Am I wearing those things? We go to college, we join a sorority, maybe it gets even more, we all dress the same way. Then we become moms and wives, and we lose a little more of ourselves. We wear what every other mom wears the soccer field. And um, along the way, we lose who we truly are, and we stop making the bold choices that we once made. So I help women push back in and figure out exactly who they are on the inside so they can shine that light on the outside.

The Three Steps To Style

SPEAKER_01 8:44

I love that. So uh let's let's kind of take take take us on a journey, Lindsay, with a client. Uh, let's say, you know, a mom that, you know, just uh maybe maybe she has worked or she's gonna stay at home, maybe she's got some changes in her life. What would that journey look like to help her to get that sparkle back?

Color Harmony And Seasonal Palettes

Clean Beauty And Long-Wear Makeup

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Yeah, I think um a lot of women come to me at different transitions, like you just described. Maybe they've been in the workforce and they're now trying to figure out who am I that I stay I'm staying at home, or maybe they're transitioning into retirement. Um maybe they've been through a divorce. So um it's like an extension of my ministry for the church because I get to hold women's hands through these different transitions and help them find themselves again. So typically I start with a woman who says, Hey, I really just want to get back to me. And I say, Hey, I've been right there. I've sat in the same seat and I've walked the same journey. So I'm gonna hold your hand and we're gonna walk it together. And so we um to really transform somebody's personal style, there are really three steps to that. One is your unique coloring. We all have a beautiful palette and coloring that we've been gifted, right? And God has created for us. And inside of that unique palette, there are colors that are complementary. So we usually start with that. Um, everybody is the color they are, I can't change it, right? So we do a unique color analysis. So in the natural light. Um, one thing that's unique about me is because I am my own brand, I don't have to follow any franchise rules. So I can even do mini-color analysis. So if a woman maybe has a lunch hour, I can do part one time and then they can come back for the second part, or maybe I can just make it affordable for people. So it allows me to tailor those experiences differently. So we usually start out with color in some way, and we get begin to look at color harmony. Sometimes we may look at a different hair color, or may we may look at makeup. So inside of color analysis, we come with no makeup, it's a very vulnerable moment. Me and them in my studio, it's an I've been inside RNA. It's a beautiful space, and we sit together and we take a look. I look at their eye color, their overtones, their undertones. We really are looking at undertones to get to see, hey, are we warm or cool? And once we determine that, we get people to a season. And because I have some unique experiences, we're not confined to four seasons. We actually are taking a more holistic look at coloring and really looking at color harmony. So instead of finding exact matches for colors, we're looking for a palette that harmonizes with the person the best. And so um, when we're in harmony, we're more attractive to people. People listen to what we say. Um, we keep people's attention, especially if we wear those colors in our communication zone. So we find out your palette, and then after we find that, we do makeup matching. So I actually have my own makeup line. You got to experience some of that. And it's curated for season. So once we know your unique coloring and we know everything about your palette, then I can make unique recommendations. All my makeup is UK formulated, made here in the USA, but follows clean beauty standards, and so um it doesn't have paraben and wax and all the things that are not good for us. I found out when I was in the UK that they have a much better health, they have a much better food journey. It translates to the makeup as well.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

So isn't that fascinating? I had no idea. I I knew about the food, Lindsay, uh, of how you know we have to be so careful with our food supply here in the States. I d I don't do much processed food. Uh try to buy organic when I can. But it was amazing to me how it over in Europe and Italy and they don't allow the additives and the colorings, the preservatives, the dyes and all those things that we have allowed in our food supply.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Absolutely. I mean, so they don't have so the ketchup looks a different color when they bring it to the table, right? Because it doesn't it doesn't have red dye 49. The same with these cosmetics. Um the UK they ban 1300 ingredients in makeup. We ban eleven here, so it's clean.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

So we only ban eleven. That's true. And so I'm thinking about what all am I putting in my cause our skin is the biggest organ.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

And it's absorptive. I mean absorbs it absorbs everything.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

So um, you know, I always tell women too, hey, that skin, that is the that's the base for your makeup, right? So skincare is so important. And then we have an amazing primer that kind of gets our skin ready for our makeup. It's like, you know, a good outfit needs a good bra, right? So your makeup needs a good base too. And so um I like that. Yeah, it does. It needs a good base. And so um, the makeup is fantastic, and so it's very pigmented because of that, it lasts forever. So if you watch, um, go back and look at my Instagram or you're following along. I had the same makeup on for 36 hours when I went to the UK. My goodness. So I actually did a little WCYB segment early the morning that I left, so I had to be full face and ready at 8 a.m. And then I flew out in the afternoon, flew overnight, went through Charlotte, um, got to London, then had to take those trains, and so I didn't touch my makeup. And so you can see a picture, my lipstick faded a little, but it was that long-lasting lipstick, so it lasted the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Wow, that's awesome! Yeah, is it hard to take off though if it lasts like that, Lindsay? Your makeup?

SPEAKER_03 14:20

No, it's not. So um I just use, I really just use a face wipe. Um, you can also use micler water. Um, that's an that's another one of my favorite products, but um, it comes off super easy.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Well, that's great. Well, your makeup looks flawless today. You look beautiful. I love your outfit. I love the striped pants. Um, I actually have uh not those, but I've got some striped pants that I love and I love wearing them. It's just so unique. Um, but you look fabulous. I love the bracelet too.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

Thank you. That bracelet is from my rehearsal dinner. I've had it for a long time. Um, so after we look at people's coloring too, then we look at their clothing personality. Those are all things you just talked about, and I have a big clothing personality. You can see I have a big scale bracelet, big stripes, right? I'm imagining you probably do too. Yes. A fun clothing personality.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

I'm not afraid of color or print. No, at all.

Body Architecture And Better Proportion

SPEAKER_03 15:16

I've never met one I don't like. Yeah. So um, but yeah, so we look at their coloring once we have that in place, then the next steps in personal style are taking a look at somebody's unique body architecture. And this is where I really feel like I can come in. I've been on a two-year weight loss journey. I've lost 120 pounds.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Oh my goodness. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_03 15:39

And today just so happens to be the two-year anniversary of the mark of that journey. So it was fun to think about that. So I've been able to have some different sizes that I've been all my life from here to there. And so I think a lot of women come after we know their coloring, then they'll say, Can you fix that? Can we make this look better? But the truth is nothing's wrong, but they don't know how to read their blueprint. So I think we all have a unique blueprint that our body architecture tells us. And so if we just can look at it, then we can balance it, we can use balance and proportion to really get ourselves to be able to dress in a way that's flattering. So for me, you can see I have on the top and the shoulders are coming out to the sides because I have really small shoulders for the rest of my frame. So to balance my hips, I'm gonna put a little bit of width here.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

And so we just take a look at that to help people borrow um a little bit of real estate for the place that looks short, right? And just make a little bit of balance. So that's a body architecture. And we talk about the right bra. Um, I do a professional bra fitting. I did that in a past life, so that creates the base of an outfit.

Bra Fitting And Outfit Foundations

SPEAKER_01 16:49

I'm telling you, that is the hardest thing to do. Well is the right bra. And I've been through so many, had so many fittings, and I've never been happy with any of them.

Dressing For Personality With Permission

SPEAKER_03 17:02

Well, I can help you. So I've got a measuring tape in my purse. I always do, but I worked for a girl who really introduced me to European bra sizing. So the band and the cup work differently together. I actually had a girl in my studio yesterday that said for the f this is the first time that I have ever that I have loved my bra. She came back for her style reveal. So we make sure that we have the right undergarments underneath. We are honoring that body architecture with the right silhouettes and cuts, and we look at your face shape to talk about necklines, and we look at your body to see, hey, do you need um, do you need a longer jean? Can you handle a crop pant? We look at all those things. And together we uncover the blueprint of what the silhouettes and styles that you should be picking look like. And then the third fun part is your personality. So I get to know these women, I get to know about their personality, and that helps us see like what choices they need to make. Um, I tell a story about a style appointment I had. I had a couple of friends who came to a style appointment, and I tell people to come dress in their favorite outfit, and it tells me a little bit about them, right? What you pick. And so one of my friends showed up, she had on cute jeans and a top and heels, and she looked exactly like what I thought she would look like. And then our other friend I thought was gonna look just like her, but she didn't have that on. She had on Miss Match shoes and leather pants and an oversized big printed sweater and this embroidered pocketbook, and she looks so cute. And I'm I said, I was thinking, I didn't want to say it out loud because it's my appointment and I want it to go, you know. I was thinking, where where did that come from? But my other friend said, Did you buy that for today? Like, I've never seen you look like that. And what we what we uncovered is that she was an artist and that she had made her own clothes in high school, but had just lost herself along the way.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

When we gave her permission to dive in again, she did. And so now she's making those bold choices again. We know she needs a larger scale. Um, I actually just helped her pack for a trip and put outfits together and bold, fun choices, and she's really back to herself again. Sometimes we just need permission. We just need to remember who we are on the inside so we can let it shine on the outside.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

That is great. So you help pack for trips and yes, I love that.

Style Boards Closet Harmony Trip Packing

SPEAKER_03 19:17

That's one of my favorite things to do. So we have so we have our I have a color analysis appointment, and then I have a style appointment where we uncover and we usually people are a mix of a couple of different things. Um, a couple of different, we talk about clothing personality words, and people are a couple of different, so we hone that in. After a style appointment, I deliver you what is unique about my services too from anybody else around is I don't just give you a cookie cutter sheet of, hey, this is what your clothing personality is. I go back and type up specific notes for you based on your body architecture, your coloring, the things we uncover in your appointment. And then I make you a specific style board. So I shop for you when you leave and I put together 20 or 30 items, accessories, things that are in your um unique clothing personality. Okay. And then we get back together and I do a little reveal. We take 20 minutes together. And so, based on knowing all those things, then I can help people. So sometimes people will say, I am gonna go to Spain for two weeks. Can you help me find outfits? And so um we'll shop. I usually will go over and take a look at their closet. We try to shop their closet first because we're creating closet harmony. So their closet should be filled full of things if we're doing our job right that all look good and go together. And then we'll shop for some new things. Maybe we even get a newly box. Have you ever done that before?

SPEAKER_01 20:39

No.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

So a newly box is um where you can, it's a company where you can pick out seven or eight items, keep them for a month, and then return them. A stylist tip is if you sort by newest, they usually come with the tags on them. They're brand new. Okay, and so you can wear those things for a special event or occasion and then a trip, and then maybe you're not gonna wear them again. I like some variety so you can send those things back. But I'll go over, we pick out full outfits, I take pictures of the outfits, send them to their phone, so and then pack their suitcase so when they get to their trip, they can pull their phone up and get their exact outfit out.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Oh wow, I love that.

SPEAKER_03 21:15

It's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

It sounds like a lot of fun. Um, well, Lindsay, so uh we've gone over so much and you you do offer a lot for women, and I love that that you know you're just helping us to get our sparkle back. Yes. If we've been lost along the way.

SPEAKER_03 21:33

That's right. I think that we all have it, and you know, um one thing that's important to me is my faith, you know. And so I think about if we can't shine from the inside, you know, we aren't showing the world who we were created to be. And his light matters the most. And when we can have his light inside of us and then we can push out who we really are, then that's where really we can make an impact in the world.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

Absolutely. I you know, I've said it before on this podcast that that God has uniquely designed each of us. Our DNA is all different and and He created each one of us with a unique purpose in this world. And you know, we got Easter coming up and uh, you know, that's probably one of the most important days for us who are Jesus followers to uh celebrate that we have a risen Savior um who uh went to the cross to suffer and die for our sins.

Faith Easter And Last Reflections

SPEAKER_03 22:33

I mean, when you think about that, it's truly remarkable that he chases after me, right? Each and every single one of us. And man, I just love this week. I love the remembrance of what this week is, and and that's what is important to me is to build c community and confidence around that because the clothes, we can wear the right clothes, we can wear the right makeup, we can um do all the things, but if we aren't shining his light, if we aren't carrying his light, none of the rest of that really even matters.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

It doesn't matter, does it? No, because that's what's really important in life.

SPEAKER_03 23:06

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Yeah. Well, Lindsay, it's been such a joy. Thank you for being on today.

SPEAKER_03 23:12

I had the best time. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

And I hope you come back.

SPEAKER_03 23:16

I would love to.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Okay. All right. Well, listen, you have a blessed Easter.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

This has been Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reed from Benchmark Home Loans. Jonathan and Steve are residential mortgage lenders. They do home loans in Northeast Tennessee. And they're not only licensed in Tennessee, but Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did, make sure to like, rate, and review. Our passion is Northeast Tennessee. So if you have questions about mortgages, call us at 423-491-5405. And the website is www.jonathansteve.com. Thanks for being with us, and we'll see you next time on Benchmark Happenings.