Meet Bobbi Schwartz | personal stylist, author and CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bobbi Schwartz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bobbi, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
This might be a two-fold answer. I got into personal styling because I had worked for everyone in the industry for whom I wanted to work. I absolutely love and, even then, loved what I do… helping people look and feel their best through style. I had a consulting contract that was ending with a fabulous retailer here in Dallas. I had a month before my time was up and I was really feeling at loose ends on what I wanted to do next. One afternoon I stopped to pick up my mail and ran into a good friend doing the same. This friend was the VP of Designer for one of the world’s best known and largest multi-designer retailers. After greeting each other and setting a time to do something social together, I put my plight to her. She responded with …. There is this woman who is doing people’s closets and doing so well. My instant response was omgosh my clients are so not going to pay for that! Her response to my expletive was, it was just a thought. In typical Bobbi Schwartz behavior, I went home, slept on it and the next morning thought….you have a whole month. Send out some letters and see what comes back. And here we are 17 years later and an incredible, global career as a personal stylist. The second answer is: a little background information. I have worked for a number of the world’s biggest names in fashion. during that time I had massively successful careers. I thought I was so successful because I gave outstanding service (and everyone in business knows how critical excellent service is to business), I had excellent taste and they were getting tons of compliments. all of that was true. And I thought I was just selling clothes and doing well. In fact I felt so badly about not giving back to the world because I was just selling clothes, that I became a mentor in the schools. It wasn’t until I got out on my own as stylist that I realized I hadn’t just been selling clothes. I had been changing lives. I learned from research and observation, that a woman’s self esteem and self confidence are deeply impacted by how she feels about how she looks. Once I realized that principle, I wanted to make personal styling available to more women. It is an expensive service, one that changes lives, but expensive. Many of my personal clients are private jet people if you get my drift. So, I wanted to create an online styling service to help women build their confidence… which I can tell you, through experience, ends up impacting every area of their lives and ultimately morphs into self-empowerment. It is an incredible metamorphosis to watch. And so be iconic style was born.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
1. What sets me apart from others as a stylist is my taste. It is simple, understated, timeless and ageless (in other words you could be 18 or 50… it wouldn’t matter). I consider my taste to be more of a european bent. And next to my taste is my service as I feel there is no substitute for excellent service…. Always making people feel cared about and special. Also, my honesty. Honesty builds trust and that is key in any relationship.

2. I am most proud of the lives i have touched for the better. I have watched women transform their lives by developing confidence through style. That principle isn’t critical in men but so much of a woman’s self-esteem and confidence come through how she feels about her personal appearance and so i am very proud of the impact i have been able to initiate from what i do as a stylist. It is the reason we built be iconic style. We want to bring those transformative opportunities to more women.

3. It has been a long journey from discovering my passion to developing it and then getting out on my own as a stylist. I have worked for many of the world’s top fashion houses and held many different positions within the industry before going in to private practice as a stylist. I have a global clientele in the top 1% of the economic strata and i love my personal clients. My styling practice is build on style, service and trust. My experience with my personal clients is what led me to create be iconic style…. A personal styling site to build confidence and empower women. Once i realized the impact of building confidence my  personal styling was having on my clients, i wanted to make that service and opportunity available for more women, not just the uber wealthy.

4. Was it easy? building my personal styling business was super easy. I had worked in the industry for a long time, had experience, skill and a following so it just all fell together. Building be iconic…. Well that is a different story and a very challenging journey. When i speak to people who are interested in starting their own companies i always tell them…. There are two parts to having a business; your skill base and your business acumen. Get a business coach or mentor as fast as you can. We have journeyed, discovered, scraped our knees and feel that we are now finally finding our way.

5. Lessons along the way would definitely be: be open to learning and search for the information you need. I didn’t realize what I didn’t know and taking classes, having a business coach to bounce ideas off are absolutely key. Along with, watching and being open to pivots is huge. And perseverance is key.

6. Women are the future. The message behind our mission is this quote from the Dalai lama… “The world will be saved by the western woman.” we believe that who women are and what they bring to the table is extraordinary and so…. It is our mission to help women by building confidence through style as they create their own personal journey of transformation and “becoming”—a process that has the power and potential to change every aspect of their lives.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is Dallas so what we excel at is shopping and eating. Definitely need to shop highland park village and have lunch there. and maybe eat there for lunch and dinner most days. Mi cocina, bird bakery, the honor bar for casual. My new favorite store at the village is The Conservatory though we would hit it all including Loro Piana, Hermes and Celine. Northpark center isn’t to be missed as that Neiman Marcus is the largest Neiman’s and the mall itself is loaded with fun. Naturally, we would have to spa day it at The Crescent. I love 400 Gradi, Del Frisco’s, Al Biernat’s and for just relaxed fun, lucky’s.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My dear friend, creative director for be iconic and creative genius…. Liz DeMarco. in addition to being a believer in my skill set and what we do, she is a supporter, friend, creative genius, visionary, committed to our principles and moving them forward. This business could not happen without her genius skills,points of view and incredible work. She is also, the CEO of her own highly successful business…. BookMarc Creative. And as a plug, she has won numerous national awards for her graphic design work. Once, as a company, we had personality profiles done so we could better see what kind of role and personality we needed to bring on next. The company representative took one look at Liz’s profile and said… she is a genius at what she does and she absolutely is. She makes work such fun! and i am daily so appreciative for her presence in my life.

Website: beiconicstyle.com
Instagram: theofficialbobbischwartz
Linkedin: the bobbi schwart group
Facebook: the bobbi schwartz group
Other: check out our book on amazon… “style essentials: build your ultimate wardrobe” pinterest.com/beiconicstyle

Image Credits
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