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

Alright, Julia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission at Sort & Style is to help women simplify their lives through simplifying their style.

After witnessing the boom of social media influencers promoting their “hauls” and endless supply of brand new head-to-looks, I recognized that a lot of women were purchasing items that they were “influenced” to buy without giving a lot of thought to how each purchase would fit into their current wardrobe, if they needed it, or even if it truly fit their personal style.

That type of shopping most often leads to the feeling that so many women experience each day when they open up their closet – “so many clothes, nothing to wear.”

I think that there is a misconception out there that in order to be fashionable, you need to spend a lot of money, have endless options, and never repeat an outfit.

My goal is to teach women that by editing your closet back to just the clothes that you actually love and wear you will feel like you have even more options. I also want every woman to have an arsenal of “go-to” outfit combinations she can easily mix & match to make getting dressed faster and easier each morning. And I also believe that a few strategic purchases seasonally can have major impact on your wardrobe for years to come.

By simplifying the process of getting dressed I want to give women back some extra time in their day to focus on what’s really meaningful to them whether that’s work, family, friends, or hobbies. There’s a real confidence boost that I’ve seen in my clients when they feel good about their wardrobe and that carries over to other areas of their lives as well.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

During the pandemic, like most people, I had a bit more time on my hands & I started to think about what I could do as a “side hustle.” After working in the retail industry for over a decade, I had always thought about opening a boutique, but it didn’t feel like the right time. I was aggressively editing my own closet and strategically shopping on a limited budget due to pandemic pay cuts. Although I enjoyed spending a lot of time on my own closet, I realized that for most people a closet clean out is not as exciting or can lead to negative and overwhelmed feelings. I recognized that this could be a service that other women could benefit from. I registered Sort & Style as an LLC shortly after!

Sort & Style is a personal styling service for everyday life and special events. Offering personal styling, personal shopping, and closet editing services – I’m here to help whether you need a closet cleanout, a new outfit for a special event, or inspiration for new ways to wear what’s already in your wardrobe.

With over a decade of experience in buying and merchandising from large global companies to smaller regional chains, I have a strong grasp of trends and trend life cycles as well as an understanding of how to translate trends from the runway into outfits that everyday women actually want to wear. I know that not everyone is as enthusiastic about shopping, trends, and editing their closets as I am, but that EVERYONE wants to feel their best! I know how time consuming it can be to keep up with trends, shop, and pull together outfits. So whether you’re short on time to shop, unsure of your personal style, or just need a boost of confidence when it comes to trends and styling outfits – I’m here to help!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Whenever I first started Sort & Style I incorrectly assumed that most of my clients would come from social media/Instagram. In actuality, Google has been my best sources for new clients. I’ve learned that in a service based business like personal styling/shopping, new clients are most often turning to Google to search for exactly what they need in their location vs. a platform like Instagram. When I realized this I was able to focus my efforts more on SEO and getting set up on other location based apps like Yelp to make it easier for customers to find me. Also, it took the pressure off of Instagram and the feeling that I “needed” to post to drive business once I realized that’s not where my customers were coming from. I also work with an amazing business coach, Jillian Bremer, who helped me to connect the dots on all of this!

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m still starting to build my audience on social media, but as someone in the thick of it I thought I could share what I’ve learned so far:

1. Don’t be afraid to take risks with your content when you’re starting out. Try new things to understand what resonates and what doesn’t with your audience. You have to try a lot of things to see what sticks and ultimately figure out your niche and what feels authentic to you.
2. Nothing is personal – if a post doesn’t perform evaluate why, use it as a learning experience and move on. Same goes for if it works – try to understand why it worked and how you can replicate that success.
3. Know your Goal – this was a huge unlock for me! Once I realized that the majority of my customers weren’t being driven from Social Media I realized that my goal was just to drive awareness & reach through value add posts to hopefully reach people that could EVENTUALLY become my customers. A ton of “likes” from your existing followers aren’t necessarily an indication of success. When I started to tailor my content to increasing awareness & reach, that’s when I started to see my audience grow.
4. Embrace the tools available – geotagging, hashtags, and reels have all been successful strategies to helping me grow. It’s easy to dismiss reels, but once you figure out a way to make them feel authentic to you, it doesn’t have to be a huge time suck. You don’t need complicated transitions and multiple outfit changes to make them successful.
5. Just hit POST! I have a tendency to overthink or feel like I need to wait for the “right moment” to post, but the best thing to do is just post and continue to learn.

Contact Info:

• Website: sortandstyleco.com
• Instagram: sortandstyleco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sortandstyleco/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sort-and-style-baltimore-3?osq=sort+%26+style
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/sortandstyleco_/