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

Lauryn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

Was how to deal with people… I also had all of the pallet orders arrive from vendors the days that I worked.

I worked in retail and I kid you not, I got some doozies for customers! I had many who would want discounts. Others were just rude. And then others were just weird. I worked for two men in their high end housewares boutiques and there was this one time that this very tall & very large man came in and plopped himself down on a sofa we were trying to sell with all of his shopping bags. Then he left his shopping bags on the sofa as he looked around the store. He found a glass jewelry box that he liked. But the only kicker was he didn’t want a “floor model”. Again, it was a small business. Our stock room wasn’t that big to where we store unopened boxes full of these jewelry boxes in there. But he asked for a discount on the “floor model” and I said “Well sir, we’re a small business”, and he then goes, Well, I’m a small customer. (Thinking to myself, well no, you’re not. but this will someday be a great story!)

Funny stories like this make a retail job bearable. As long as you are quick on your feet, you can master selling anything. But then you have stories such the next one where you leave because you see the discrepancies of the job. You can no longer be connected to a place where integrity is lacking.

I then had a customer who came in to pick up an order she had that she had put on a firm hold, meaning she paid for half of that item. The customer came in, asked for the item, and realizing that it was one & the same as the item I sold the weekend before with your manager’s approval, as she rips the name off of the item as if it didn’t matter and also didn’t have the decency to fill me in on what that was about, I call my manager, tell her the situation and she gives me three options of what I can do. No.1: I can lie to the customer, tell her that it broke. No.2: I tell her the truth about what happened. Or No.3: I don’t actually remember what that third option was.
I end up telling the customer the truth. The customer was near tears and I was ready to write a google review for her. That situation shouldn’t have happened. But it did. It was not an ethical business practice and I certainly learned from that experience. It takes me a pretty long time to jump ship, but once I do, it’s most likely do to an unethical issue.

That day I learned that integrity was my mission and communication is vital in any workplace. It helps things run more smoothly in your environment. I felt compassion for that customer that day and I haven’t stopped.

Lauryn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Lauryn Bray. I hail from Fort Worth TX. I am a wardrobe stylist & photographer. I started my business in 2012. But I established it in 2024. I got started by hearing from the Holy Spirit about my future. My mission has always been to bring confidence to humans through clothing… and now photographs. My services vary from photoshoots to styling ones clothes in their closets. The problems I solve also vary. Some will say I help with confidence, others will say I take a great photo. But honestly I help you dress & present yourself with intention & clarity. What seems to set me apart from others is my emphasis on modesty & culture, as well as my ever changing personal style & my solid work ethic. What I do is quite personal, so I expect that while working with you, we’ll be the best of friends. Not to mention, I don’t shop for my clients, but I shop WITH them. I teach them how to dress so that they can feel confident to dress themselves. Which doesn’t necessarily help my business in the long run from them coming back to me, as I show them how they can dress themselves with confidence. And save money in the process. So I very much rely on referrals & meeting new people as well as word of mouth. Essentially, I am empowering them to only use my services when they need a guide. I’m most proud of the moments when my clients exclaim “I never would have paired that together!” or “I feel so good about myself!”. I really & truly want my clients & new clients to know that their clothing should be working for them, they should not be working for their clothes. Everyone needs to feel confident & comfortable in their clothes.

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

It has always been word of mouth. Rarely has it been by discounting my prices or running sales. Sometimes I will pick someone to gift either a style session or photoshoot to, and then ask them to refer me to others. I recently started giving out stickers to random people that have my cartoonish face on it and it says Styledbyryn approves of your outfit. The outfits I approve of are few & far between, but I am still hopeful that this marketing tactic will work! I don’t care how old you get, people love a good sticker! They also love positive reinforcement too.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The pure joy of my clients expressing to me how great they feel! Whether that be with their clothing or with the photos they can now show off. It’s the anointing at work!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.styledbyryn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/styledbyryn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/styledbyryn
• Other: www.pinterest.com/styledbyryn
  www.poshmark.com/rynb

Image Credits

Meshali Mitchell, Lauryn Bray, Ryland Maserang