Dove's Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y. Podcast
Join us as we delve into the complexities of our emotional worlds with Demetria Nickens, a certified mental health first aid instructor and trauma recovery coach. In this episode, Demetria shares her insights from her platform, Dove's Inner Beauty, which challenges conventional beauty standards and advocates for genuine well-being. We discuss the life-changing impact of mental health first aid, trauma recovery, and suicide prevention.
Off-air, Demetria embraces life's simple joys, reflecting her deep commitment to maintaining balance. She opens up about balancing a rigorous career with cherished family moments, offering listeners a personal look at managing wellness amidst daily pressures. Tune in to discover not only Demetria's professional expertise but also her personal strategies for fostering inner beauty and work-life harmony. This episode is more than a dialogue—it's an invitation to promote mental health and uncover the beauty that lies within us all.
For more information about Dove’s Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y. visit:
https://www.dovesinnerbeauty.com/
Dove’s Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y.
(336) 298-6599
Dove's Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y. Podcast
Your Wardrobe, Your Values: How Clothing Becomes Your Mission Statement
Fashion as Self-Expression: Can Your Wardrobe Reflect and Reinforce Your Life’s Mission?
Ever considered that your wardrobe might be one of your most powerful tools for self-expression? Style expert Bianca Smith reveals how what we wear goes far beyond fashion trends to become a visual representation of our values, identity, and purpose.
"The way that you show up is a reflection of who you are and who you want to be," Bianca explains, highlighting the critical connection between authentic style and personal credibility. Whether you're building a brand, establishing professional trust, or simply wanting to feel aligned with your true self, your clothing choices matter. This isn't about superficial appearances but about creating external harmony with your internal values.
Bianca shares practical wisdom on discovering your authentic style, including analyzing your lifestyle needs and conducting honest closet audits when life transitions occur. She challenges listeners to identify their core values first, then build a wardrobe that genuinely reflects those priorities rather than chasing fleeting trends. We explore how signature style elements—like host Demetria's consistent incorporation of African jewelry—become powerful visual cues that communicate your identity before you speak a word.
The conversation reveals how our wardrobes evolve with our life seasons, whether through career changes, parenthood, or personal growth. Bianca's biggest warning? Don't fall into the trend trap. "Not every trend works for every person," she cautions, encouraging listeners to develop distinctive personal style that remains authentic across all contexts. Ready to transform your wardrobe into a reflection of your deepest values? This episode provides the inspiration and practical steps to begin that journey.
For more information about Dove’s Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y. visit:
https://www.DovesInnerBeauty.com/
Dove’s Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y.
(336) 298-6599
Welcome to the Dove's Inner Beauty Podcast, where we foster emotional awareness, one individual at a time. Leading the way is Demetria Nickens, a certified mental health first aid instructor and trauma recovery coach with over two decades of experience in fostering emotional awareness in others by engaging their mental health. Awareness in others by engaging their mental health.
Speaker 2:What if your wardrobe could be more than just clothes? What if it could be a reflection of your deepest values, identity and life's purpose? Bianca Smith, the visual effect right breaks down how personal style is more than fashion. It's a statement of who we are and what we stand for. Welcome back everybody. Demetria Nick is in the hosting chair, the host of Dove's Inner Beauty Podcast, and I am back in the studio with Bianca Smith, owner of the visual effect and blog, the Visual Aest aesthetic. How are you doing?
Speaker 3:today. Bianca, I am so good. Thank you for having me, yeah awesome, awesome, awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, today we're gonna jump right into this and I'm excited for you to shed some light on this topic of fashion and self-expression. Can your wardrobe reflect and reinforce your life's mission? Tell us about it?
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely. I think that the way that you show up is a reflection of who you are and who you want to be right, so that not only includes like your values and who you are at your core, but that includes what is it you want to do, what is your purpose, what is your mission? How you show up can be a reflection of all of those things.
Speaker 3:Like for myself, as an example, when I go into spaces where I'm not known and I'm going to be talking about what I do, I have to show up in the best way possible. I have to show up in a way that is going to make people believe that I can help them do the same thing Right. I need you to trust that I'm able to help you with your wardrobe, with your style, with showing up in a way that reflects who you are. If I choose to show up let's say, not looking my best it may be difficult for people to believe when I say, oh, I help you dress better, so I lose that trust. And if I don't feel my best, it's hard for me to even be confident in telling you what I do. So I have to show up in a way that's going to inspire you to want to find your own style, or to believe that I can be the one to help you find what that style is.
Speaker 2:Finding style right. I think there's a connection between this idea of finding style and finding values, and that's the connection that we don't talk about enough, right. What are some of those small but meaningful ways that we can align fashion choices with our values?
Speaker 3:I think, getting to know what's most important to you, right, all of us kind of know what our values are in some sense, but we don't really take the time to really think about what is most important. I did in the workshop that we both did before, we did what's called value tags. Right, in this activity, you have like 36 values and narrow them down to like 10 and then narrow them down to like what is your top five. It takes a lot of work to really think about what is most important to me. Right, all of these things might matter, but what's most important right, and what's most important to you is how you should be showing up, how you should be reflecting who you are.
Speaker 3:Right, if you are a risk taker, if you are someone that likes spontaneity and adventure, then the way that you dress is probably not going to be very conservative, very timid, very like blended to the background. It's going to be bold, it's going to be fun, it's going to be risky, even you might say right, because that's who you are as a person, that's what matters to you. So all facets of your life should reflect who you are, and that's including how you show up in spaces and how you appear when you meet people agreed, like I I've always been into like African jewelry and you know, and African things I'm always you're probably in every video you see.
Speaker 2:you're gonna see their cow shell, you're gonna see something African, like African States, something like that, because it's just. I know that it's a part of who I am. When I did my genealogy it it was like I know I'm from Africa, right, like my ancestry is there and so it now connects to just me and so I get that this ability to just connect who you are with what you wear and how you show it on the outside. It absolutely matters. I feel really weird when I don't have something like that on Right.
Speaker 3:Like the fact that you said that shows up in like all your blogs. That starts to define what your brand is. Right, when people start to see you, or people see the Dove's Inner Beauty, they're looking for those things that reflect who you are. Like. She always has this on that's part of who she is that matters to her. Right, that's starting to define that brand so that anybody that sees you knows oh, this is what matters to her, this is what's important to her, and you're able to develop that and how you show up and the things that matter to you. You start to see a thread in these things that matter. Right, you start to see them show up in all the different spaces that you're in. So it's not just on this podcast that you reflect that. That's when you go to work, that's when people meet you outside of work, because that's what's important to you, no matter who you are, no matter what you're doing, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:And you know what? I never really think about it like that right. You know I'm so always just focused on the mental health part. I never think about like, oh, it's a part of my brand now to wear this thing right?
Speaker 2:absolutely super cool, right? I love learning little things about my own fashion, even when I'm not real. So what are some? How can somebody like really discover, like their personal style if they feel disconnected to their wardrobe, like a lot of people, you know, they're like I wear clothes because I have to wear clothes, right? How do you really connect to that when you don't feel like you pay attention to your clothes enough?
Speaker 3:I think, taking a look at what is your lifestyle, what do you do Like? Are you someone who works in, let's say, corporate America, where you have to dress up, right? Or are you someone that works in a more art field, or a teacher or in athletic training, something that's more casual, right? So if you are in the art industry say you're an artist you're probably not going to have a closet full of trousers and three-piece suits and button-up tops, right? Because that doesn't seem to align with what is. You know what your life is, right? That doesn't mean you don't have maybe one, because maybe you have business meetings or maybe you have formal things, but more of the stuff in your closet, I would think, are like fun prints and patterns and things where you can be comfortable when you're creating art or sharing art with people. So, taking a look at what your lifestyle is and what makes the most sense for your lifestyle and then doing a closet edit If I look in my closet and everything in here feels like I work in corporate America, but I don't, maybe there's been a shift in your life, right? Have you changed industries? I used to be corporate America and now I am opposite of corporate America, right. So let's do a closet edit, right? These things don't serve us anymore because it doesn't align with where my life is now. So really editing and auditing what's in your closet to see is this why I'm having trouble finding my style, because everything in my closet doesn't align with who I am, right.
Speaker 3:So when we start to really look at who we are, and especially looking at who we are at this moment, because it can change, right, we all have these life evolutions, like for women it's, maybe you went from being carefree and single to now you have kids. Your life is going to shift when you have kids, right, what was what worked for you as a single woman doesn't work for you, maybe as much with kids that you're chasing behind and I am a lover of high heels, but when I had my kids, for at least the first year, at least it was flats and it was sneakers, because I don't feel the need to try to chase you in six inch heels, right. So for a little bit, there was a shift in what I needed for where my life was at the moment. So I think evaluating your closet, evaluating what your life is, can be the basis of starting to figure out what does this look like for me and what should this look like to match with what I have going on in my life?
Speaker 2:I absolutely love that. Real quick, just real fast for the people. Real quick, just real fast for the people. One mistake, biggest mistake that they make when trying to use fashion for self-expression and then we'll end this thing out.
Speaker 3:I say biggest mistake is trying to follow the trends, right? Not every trend works for every person and you might not even like it, but maybe you're just trying to do it because that's what's in right now. So I would say don't so much try to follow the trends. Try to just stick with what works for you and if you feel like you want to try something, like, look for the thing that's really going to work for you, what makes sense to you, right? Don't try something that you already know is just not you right. So don't try to follow the trends too much. Try to really stick with what's important to you and what reflects you.
Speaker 2:I love it. Biancaianca, man, like you just hit me onto some brand game today. I appreciate that. Thank you for being with me today. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, after any time, just have a great rest of your week.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much yeah thank you for tuning in to the dove's inner beauty podcast, where we foster emotional awareness, one individual at a time. For a complimentary consultation, visit dovesinnerbeautycom or call 336-298-6599. That's 336-298-6599.