How she went from stay-at-home mom to successful entrepreneur - and still has a life

Imagine a young woman working in the fast-paced world of Manhattan advertising & marketing. She moves into the world of fashion, styling rock stars and celebrities.

It’s glamourous. Exciting. Fast-paced. Perfect for a 20-something.

Now imagine she relocates to Upstate New York and starts a family.

A jarring change, right?

Jackie Terribile relocated to Syracuse, New York.

She got a job in marketing.

Had two kids.

Life was good - if very different!

She realized a few things: she missed the excitement of her old life. She missed talking about fashion & style.

And she missed the having the control of bringing her own ideas to life and being in charge of her time.

That’s why it’s not surprising that Jackie started her own business. She wanted something creatively fulfilling - that ALSO gave her time to be with her family & money to contribute to the household.

How’d she do it? Well, Jackie started her business as a hobby.

Turns out, she really missed talking about this thing she loved: STYLE. She noticed everywhere she went, people wanted (frankly - needed - STYLE advice!)

Could this be a THING?

Would people pay her to help them with their style?

Ab-so-fricken LUTELY!

First she started her blog. Then a business as Wardrobe Consultant & Stylist was born.

Today? Jackie works with personal, business, & commercial clients, making money and doing it on her own damn terms.

Jackie helps people be more of who they already are.

Her gift for Personal Styling helps women learn to tweak their style - and reveal the image they want to convey to the world.

Jackie’s special sauce is helping women show who they are on the inside to the outside world.

This is no small feat, nor is it a luxury service.

Remember: if we look good, we feel great.

When we feel great, we DO great things.

Jackie helps women feel good about who they are so they can go out into the world & do great things.

So, ok. What’s the story? How’d she get started?

Simple: Jackie noticed her friends were coming to her for fashion advice. Just because Jackie was a mom didn’t mean she’d given up her love of style.

People struggled with their confidence because of how they were dressing, and she really wanted to HELP them!

So, she did. Jackie believes that dressing well should be accessible to everyone - no matter their weight, size, income, etc.

The Small-Town Stylist was born from this dream - and seemingly overnight it looked like Jackie had a highly polished blog, logo, and plan.

How do you go from being a stay at home mom to having a highly-polished business? IS this possible -and does it happen overnight?

YES - it’s possible.

NO - it didn’t happen overnight.

Here’s how it went:

First, Jackie knew she needed to have a professional-looking brand. She took her experience in the marketing world & got started with some basics. Logo. Website. Blog content. It was slower than she wanted it to be. But she kept chipping away.

Next, the smartest move she made was to JUST START. She wanted to share the information - she didn’t have a plan. She didn’t have a logo. She didn’t have an offer.

She just wanted to help, so she did. She wrote the blog.

Third, the major thing for Jackie was that her family still needed to come first. She knew her endeavor would be part-time. So that boundary was strongly in place.

Over & over, Jackie JUST DECIDED.

And TOOK ACTION.

From that place, she took a hobby & morphed it into something that makes her money.

Slowly, the journey began. People started to notice her blog & came to know her, then they asked if they could hire her.

What you need to know is that Jackie’s journey is HERS. If you can understand that there is NO ONE RECIPE TO SUCCESS, your ride will be much more pleasant because the journey is different for every single person.

And it’s not a perfect journey for anyone, no matter how it looks on the outside!

Jackie struggled with perfectionism: she wanted everything to be professional and beautiful and perfect. All of that inner chatter could’ve kept her from starting, but instead she just kept going.

She realized that if she was going to stay stuck in it needing it to be perfectly perfect, she was going to FAIL.

The failure wouldn’t be in the thing not being perfect.

The failure would be in NOT doing the thing at all.

Jumping in & taking action - even though it was hard for her - Jackie learned how to balance having her clients with having a family.

All of this work is worth it all because her work is important to her; it makes Jackie more JACKIE!

She wanted to make fashion - and how it made her feel happy - accessible to other women. She wanted to show people that fashion, clothing, and style doesn’t have to be frivolous.

Style is emotionally deep because how we feel is tied to how we look - whether we like it or not!

How does Jackie work?

First - she wants you to know there’s no one right or perfect way to do things. It’s all an experiment.

She helps women who think “I don’t have style” or “I’m a total mess” see that they’ve been blocked about who they ARE. She helps women figure out more of who they ARE!

Doing this work is incredibly fulfilling for Jackie - she’s able to show them their personal style, and clients walk away saying, “OH! I’m doing way better than I thought!”

Jackie shows people they already KNOW what they want, need, and have.

She “gives them permission” to try something new or see themselves in a new way; the client is able to do the work & make the changes using the tools she teaches them.

One big A-HA Jackie had to learn is that some clients won’t take her advice, use the tools, or put the education to use. And that’s not on her -

As an entrepreneur, we get to choose who we work with - the ultimate freedom.

To make her dream happen & create a part-time business - Jackie had to make herself & her work a PRIORITY.

Yes! Fear was there. She had a story running that if she wasn’t there all the time, things would fall apart for her family.

IN REALITY, all of them gave her the space she needed. She says, “I definitely didn’t give them enough credit - they really stepped up!”

“I had to get over the I have to do it ALL feeling. The guilty feeling. Like, I should be here for them: am I putting my hobby ahead of them? Is this selfish of me?”

She worked through it. Started bringing in money. Jackie realized her work is not just for her pleasure; she’s contributing to her household!

“’I teach my kids that Mom can work and has to prioritize. It helps me teach my boys that they have to participate and cook and do laundry!”

 Making her hobby into a business was GOOD for Jackie AND good for her family.

Some advice to pass on, if you’re thinking about taking the leap:

Jackie wishes she’d started sooner - telling herself to just GO FOR IT! She remembers this now, whenever she wants to make a change or expand in her business.

If you have a dream, a talent, a desire, a wish, there’s a reason it was placed in your brain.

You can grow your business. You can have what you want.

You can help other people by doing it.

Jackie’s a great model of someone making an impact in the world.

Is it worth all this work?

YOU decide:

Jackie knows that when we understand how our personal image affects us, we have a lot more control over our own outcomes.

She wants style to be accessible to anyone, anywhere, helping women show up as their best self.

Jackie helps women find their style voice - without judging them. At their current weight. In their current lifestyle.

She teaches women to be aspirational in their style. Fashionable without being trendy. And all without caring about trends or labels - if that’s not important to them.

That style is not a luxury. It’s not fluffy. It’s self-improvement. It’s self-care.

To show up. Without guilt. Showing them that they’re not empty. There is no void.

HELL YEAH, it’s worth it.

Jackie has done this for herself - by creating her business on her OWN terms.

Take Jackie’s advice: don’t do this alone. You could do everything yourself - but it takes MUCH longer. The time & energy to do this by yourself takes you away from the things you LOVE doing.

Surround yourself with a team that you trust. Make the decision & go for it. And stop trying for perfection.

Just. Get. Started.

Whether you’re building a business or new look for yourself, it’s all just an experiment.

Ready to get started with yours?

Build your style by reaching out to Jackie on Instagram, Facebook, or online.

Build your business by reaching out to me.