We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Grace Park a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Grace, appreciate you joining us today. Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?

I believe in not following the trends when it comes to fashion. Everyone is surrounded by and advertised the idea that they need to buy, buy, buy. But this idea is only sustainable for people who have disposable income because trends fade fast then the next minute you have to buy more clothes for the next trend that popped up. The main issue with following trends is that fashion is meant to be a personal experience and a way to authentically express yourself – it has to be in tune with who you are and what your lifestyle is. I believe that when you show up authentically as yourself, that’s when you attract the best things in life – and I want everyone to feel comfortable in their own skin without having to pretend to be someone they’re not to fit society’s standards. I truly believe in empowering and elevating my clients through styling.

I came to this idea through my personal disconnect between my personal brand and who I was portraying myself to be. It was confusing to be dressing a certain style when it didn’t match my lifestyle or who I was – it made me feel like I had to create a separate personality to go along with what I was wearing. Once I started to find my style – it felt like me and I felt happier for everything to be in tune with who I am. Embracing your individuality is especially important now with the pressure society puts on everyone, especially women, to dress a certain way to be accepted – and having certain styles advertised to match the popular lifestyle.

Grace, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Grace J. Park, the founder of Park Avenue Styling and I love all things related to matcha, yoga and astrology.
I studied Apparel, Textile and Design at the University of Idaho. There I learned almost everything about fashion and fell in love with so many career option within the industry. When I graduated I knew I wanted to be in the fashion industry but I wasn’t sure what exact career I wanted. After a couple months of blissful unemployment and lots of pros/cons lists, I knew I wanted to be a stylist. I wanted to build my career in Seattle, so I emailed about 15 stylists for job opportunities. I got 12 no responses, 2 no’s and I finally got one yes and I ran with it. Moved to Seattle, worked for her for a couple months and I gained the confidence to network and connect with more people in the industry. Got another job as an assistant to a stylist, which is where I gained a lot of knowledge about the behind the scenes of being a stylist. That was the push I needed to realize that I needed to bet on myself, the idea I had for my brand and have confidence in own my ability and skills. Which led me to starting my own business: Park Avenue Styling. I provide styling services like: special events, photoshoots, closet organization, signature styling sessions and celebrity lookbooks – basically all things style related! What sets me apart from others is that I don’t want to change you. I love empowering my clients to show up in outfits that reflect their authentic self and is tune with one’s personal brand. I’m most proud of Park Avenue’s belief and the fact that we stand by them firmly. The main things I want potential clients/followers/fans to know is that I understand that styling a very personal experience and I only want to step in to style IF that is what they want – I would never want to push a service that was unnecessary.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is: accepting the way things are just because it’s always been that way. The backstory behind this lesson might be something everyone has experienced in one way or another. When I got into styling, I was always told by many people in the industry that any career in fashion is brutal because you can’t have a work-life balance or set boundaries if you want to be well known. This idea made me accept: being underpaid for work, handling jobs not within the bandwidth of my responsibilities and making sure I was available 24/7 for everything and anything. It was frustrating that I had to accept this to reach the next step in my life, until I realized that all I had to do was not accept this and just change it. You have to know your worth and stand firm in creating a work-life balance.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

A goal driving my creative journey is that I’m waiting for people to catch up to my brand and what we’re all about.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://parkavenuestyling.com
• Instagram: parkavenuestyling
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/park-avenue-styling
• Youtube: @ParkAvenueStyling
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/park-avenue-styling-seattle
• Other: Email: [email protected]

  Booking Link: https://parkavenuestyling.as.me/schedule.php

Image Credits

Sabina Bower @outbrandthem: Photographer and Editor for Park Ave Street Sign Photo