A question that comes up often when speaking with potential clients is what types of professionals we work with and how we’ve helped them. Excellent inquiries, exactly what I would want to know if I were in their On Cloudrunners. As a result, we are planning a series of case studies for the Victoria Hitchcock Style blog, illustrating how we help some of our typical clients find their more authentic selves.
First, though, an introduction to our clients.
Who does Victoria Hitchcock Style help?
It is impossible to neatly categorize the individuality of our clients, but they all lead full lives and often need a style that can carry them through crazily diverse activities in the same day, week, or business trip.
As more women occupy the C-suite, we’re seeing strong female clients who are looking for lifestyle definition and brand identification to show up appropriately—often on the same day—at a breakfast meeting with a financier, a Zoom call in their car, a round on the golf course, and any other important activity.
Both male and female clients have come to us with scenarios where they are crossing over from their professional peers to a very different professional group. Maybe they are on the VC or recruiting or sales side, but they have to interact effectively with the dynamo technical engineers who mastermind a product. Or it could go the other way, from the technology-focused to the finance or marketing side.
Some clients travel extensively in different regions of the world and might have two weeks of meetings in Asia, Europe, and the opposite coast of the United States. They want to know how to dress for the diverse expectations of the different cultures—stepped-up style outside the US; more traditional dress on the East Coast; and West Coast effortless looks with a twist, nodding to East Coast propriety.
Other examples include people who have lost or gained weight, moved into an age group where they are not sure what’s appropriate and they’re competing against younger professionals, or want to start dating after the end of a serious relationship. Some younger clients want an effective relationship with social media over the breadth of their career and don’t want early missteps. I get calls weekly from executive assistants wanting to help their executives with their appearance and presence. There is really no one type of client, but they all share a desire to show up appropriately as themselves in the many situations they face each day. In this age of the impersonality of AI, personalization is even more important to them.
I am also often asked how our clients find us. About a third come from referrals, and 20% are repeat clients who return every couple of years for a refresh. The rest come from industry reputation and now from searches on AI platforms like Perplexity, ChatGPT, Komo, and Brave.
Helping introduce clients to changes in their personal style is extremely rewarding. They are typically so surprised at the reaction they get from their inner circle and business peers that they’ll send notes to us on the spot. People tell them they look newly rested, novices are told they finally look so grownup, or clients tell us that the Victoria Hitchcock Style Trust Me suggestion is the best piece they could have bought. Their excitement is usually followed by booking more time with us and often referring us to their closest friends and peers.
Our success with clients is built on a simple but extremely effective premise: the confidence you carry inside and the way you look outside communicate your authentic self to the world. That authenticity builds success in all aspects of our clients’ lives, enriching their experiences personally and professionally. As my mother instilled in me starting at age ten, “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.”
