We recently connected with Supreet Chahal and have shared our conversation below.
Supreet, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
A lot of people think they can dress other people. The problem is most people will dress others as they would dress themselves. To be a successful stylist, you have to go beyond yourself and start seeing your client as they see themselves. For example, when I welcome a new client to a program with me, I ask a series of deep questions to understand their “why” in life. The words they use all turn into colors, prints, textures and silhouettes for me. For example, if they want to emit a calm energy when they walk into a room, I start seeing earthy colors. If they want to be taken more seriously, I start seeing defined shoulders and a focus on footwear.
I once had a client who wanted to be taken more seriously at work. She was one of the only women in her department and she was younger than her counterparts. She was afraid of being seen as young and juvenile, even though she was in a senior role. On the other hand, she didn’t want to wear a uniform of a black suit that says “I just graduated and i’m trying to look serious”.
After digging into her emotions and insecurities a bit more, we decided we needed her clothing to speak for her. Strong shoulders and intimidating shoes were going to command attention. However, she still wanted to feel approachable, so we started throwing in some flattering colors and abstract prints to show that she has personality.
Within a month of her wardrobe overhaul, she told me already started feeling like she’s in charge and that people started to treat her differently. She also still felt like herself because I picked outfits for her that felt like her personal style.
The thing is, I don’t work in a corporate job, so I personally would not need clothes like what she wears. However, I was able to put myself in her shoes and work environment and picture her getting dressed for the day and interacting with her peers.
Supreet, 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 Supreet Chahal and i’m a fashion stylist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve been styling men and women since 2012. I always knew I wanted to work in the fashion industry, but I didn’t know what my place was. My fear was being stuck in a Devil Wears Prada type role and hating the industry and my passion. I went to college in Canada and would always volunteer for the Toronto Fashion Week. It was the greatest joy dressing models, meeting designers, and going to the parties. Once I moved to San Francisco, there wasn’t really a fashion industry here. I thought my dreams of working in fashion would vanish and I got a start up job. However, I was considered the “stylish one” in my friend group and people would ask me questions about what they should buy and wear, especially the guys in my friend group. One day, my guy friend asked me what to wear on a date and I told him “getting a nice light blue button down that would bring out your eyes, dark jeans to make you look dressed up, and a pair of cool brown boots to make you stand out of the crowd.” My friend had none of these items and asked “can I pay you to take me shopping?” A light bulb went off. I put myself on Craigslist and had people reach out to me to help them too. The reviews started coming in and before you knew it, I had a website and was popped up on Google when someone searched “San Francisco fashion stylist”. I still remember one of my first clients who first laughed when he found out what I did. “What, people pay you to help them shop?” Guess who called me a month later and has been my client for the last 12 years?
I’m a huge believer in the combination of self-growth, the law of attraction, and taking action. Once I decided to leave the start up world and pursue this full time, the stars aligned and I met a stylist who wanted to add more people to her team. Although I had my own business, I knew I could learn a ton, especially the business side of things. I joined her company and not only perfected my craft, but gained business skills it would have taken me a decade to learn on my own. Once I felt like I had learned what I needed to learn, I focused on my business.
My business has been booming for the last 15 years because I’ve always stayed true to me and treated my clients with respect and honesty. Some of the companies I was a part of would have practices that I didn’t agree with, even though it made them more money. However, these tactics didn’t feel right to me. I always stayed true to myself and my beliefs and clients see and feel that. They know I treat their money with respect. I don’t penny pinch or try to do anything to upsell clients if they don’t need it. I don’t believe in sales tactics that involve pressure. If the client wants to work with me, they will know it. I don’t need to rush them with a “buy it now” deal.
Being in a creative field does force you to perfect your business practices, it can be a weakness for creatives. Knowing our worth, not giving away our services for free, and battling imposter syndrome. To combat this, I’ve always worked with business coaches and self-growth coaches to help me. I think it’s the best investment i’ve put into myself.
I also believe in evolving and expanding. One of the newer endeavors I’ve pursued is creating a men’s style course. I noticed there are a lot of resources for women, but the men need some love too. My one on one service is great for local or virtual clients, but what about the other guys out there? I decided to take all my knowledge and create a 10 module self paced style course that shows men how to dress well. It’s been such a cool experience birthing this course and getting out of my comfort zone.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I invested in my self-growth earlier than I did. I mentioned working with coaches, which I felt like super charged not only my business, but my trust in the process. I wish I did more coaching in my 20s to have more faith in myself. I worked with my first life coach at 35, which was the most empowering thing I’ve ever done. It made me understand myself better, work with who I am, and gain confidence, which was something I lacked in my 20s. In my 20s I tried to fit a circle into a square, and when that didn’t work, I thought was wrong with me. Now, I’m best friends with myself and honor my needs (and quirks).
Confidence and self-esteem was something I struggled with (still do – I’m human). So when I do get negative feedback, it’s easy for me to go into existential crisis mode. A big lesson I learned is, criticism is feedback. It’s okay to mess up and try again. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not pushing yourself enough. Having some misses in your career is totally normal. The important thing is to learn and move forward with new knowledge. Only listen to feedback and constructive criticism of people you want to be like. There are way too many opinions out there, and unfortunately, a lot of them are of people trying to project their insecurities onto you. Some people love seeing people succeed, while others take someone else’s success as a threat. Find your supporters.
Lastly, I like to challenge myself by learning new things. While spending time at home in 2020, I decided to take my passion for house music to another level and learn how to DJ. I’ve been playing music are parties in San Francisco ever since and it’s been a great creative outlet and a way for me to go “dance it out”. Creating awesome sets and making people dance is so fun. However, messing up mixing in public, getting super nervous before you go on, or wishing you picked a different track in your setlist, is all a part of the beautiful process.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Getting into this line of work is tough. A lot of people give up. I was about to give up 5 times. My partner always encouraged me to keep going. His support and encouragement means the world to me. I mentioned working with a life coach, which was the big push I needed to show me I was on my correct path. Once I wholeheartedly started believing this was my path, all the people and opportunities came my way. Also, I knew when to say “no” and pick my business over someone else’s. My resilience is based on trusting i’m on my path, being very open, and seeing opportunity in my day to day interactions. Whenever I meet another stylist, I never see them as my competition, instead I view them as someone I can share information with. I never keep business “secrets” to myself. I love empowering others to grow their businesses. I notice the people I meet who are more secretive or view me as competition are struggling. They feel there are not enough clients for us all and they have to “win” them. I don’t feel this way at all. I believe in abundance. If a client chooses someone else over me, I’m not meant to work with them and that’s perfectly okay. I wish them so much success and an amazing wardrobe regardless of who they work with.
2020 was a time of great insecurity and doubt. Do people still need help with their wardrobes when they are not going anywhere? I still believed in abundance and opportunity and would write my wishes in my journal everyday. Insight would drop in as I would meditate to reach out to past clients or make a certain post on my business page. It ended up, people were sick of wearing sweatpants at home and people wanted to feel beautiful, even if they were having dinner in their backyard. 2020 gave me an opportunity to pause, work on myself, and then go full force when the time was right. The years after that, people were ready to be out and about more than ever and felt so out of the loop. Enter their friendly local stylist.
Also, I started to make my services more in-home and virtual focused. By offering in home services, I was able to make it a white glove luxury service and charge accordingly. For virtual, I created a Men’s Personal Style course called The Style Game Plan, where I teach men how to dress themselves. It’s always great to keep pivoting and evolving.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stylebysupreet.com
- Instagram: stylebysupreet
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stylebysupreet/
- Linkedin: din.com/in/supreetchahal
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkQPiaNptPVuniFox7_l3Ug
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/style-by-supreet-san-francisco
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kittykatmuzikk
- Other: Google Business Page: https://share.google/KSqfJQX5J8YJ4gQky