Ms Nancy: The style coach with a mission
The young woman called Ms Nancy is a bubbly, articulate mashup of self-belief and tenacity on a mission to affirm the relevance of style coaching for our modern life.
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Determined and enormously ambitious, Ms Nancy from Atasemanso, near Santasi in the Kumasi metropolis, beams a cheerful confidence that makes people hold fast to her constant assertion she is the first and only professionally-trained style coach in this country.
A style coach, in Ms Nancy’s words, “is somebody who practices the professional career of helping people to dress appropriately for their body shape, size and choice of profession and also helping them to accomplish their set goals in life. It is simply a combination of personal styling and life coaching.”
The combination she refers to means a person does not only need to dress appropriately but must also have confidence and other inner qualities to make the right impression on people and that is how style coaches come in.
“So we work from inside out. When your confidence is in place, when your self-esteem is high and we add up the right dressing, it makes you a better, more likeable person,” Ms Nancy stated.
Since completing her two-year course at the Style Coaching Institute in the United Kingdom a year ago, Ms Nancy has been a strong voice speaking out for the need for discerning folks to patronise her special kind of skill.
“I have dealt with beauty queens and I handle personal branding for politicians, corporate executives and pastors. I groom wives as well.
“There are men who have affluence, who have attained certain stature in life and they need their women to be exposed and polished just like them. They want their wives to dress appropriately and know what and how to serve guests.”
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As the CEO of Style Coach GH, Ms Nancy has a trusted team of service providers she works with.
“If a client needs a change of hairstyle, there is a salon to recommend and I would explain what appropriate style to offer. I work with food and beverage managers to help people know how to be great hostesses, the appropriate glass to use to serve wine or water and such things.
“I have dressmakers who will take your measurements and make sure you have clothes that really fit. I also have boutiques that I recommend for various accessories. I’m the style coach but I do not directly provide all the services.”
A product of St. Monica’s Senior High School at Ashanti Mampong, Ms Nancy studied journalism and worked for over 10 years with a number of radio stations, including Invisible FM, Luv FM and Ultimate Radio in Kumasi.
She came to the attention of TV3 as a young woman with poise and radiance interested in helping to groom other people. So she was made the chaperone for the 2014 Ghana’s Most Beautiful pageant contestants.
“I think my attitude told them I had something extraordinary that I could inculcate in other young women. The transformation that the contestants experienced that year was first-rate and I realised that the skill was lacking in our society.
“I asked myself if there was a way I could provide that kind of service to people not necessarily for money but also to impact lives positively. So I started searching and I found a style coaching institute in the UK whose courses were in line with my vision so I enrolled.”
The training equipped her with the relevant knowledge that makes her confident to advise people to always go for quality instead of quantity when they step out to shop for clothes and accessories. She says there are women who have 50 and more pairs of shoes but none are of good quality.
“I would rather purchase an original designer bag, just one bag and hold it for two years than buy 16 which are not quality stuff and will get messed up in a month or two.
“You don’t have to go in for just shirts. It is more prudent to have beautiful, good quality shirts that do not fade with just one wash.”
In Ms Nancy’s view, it is important for people to realise the difference between fashion and style. A fashionista or somebody who loves to follow fashion trends, she says, is not necessarily a person of style.
“Being a fashionista, you tend to go for whatever is in vogue. That is not style. When you go for something that looks good on your body, makes you feel comfortable, flatters your look and is appropriate for what you do and the people you want to attract, then we can say you have gone for style.”
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A personality Ms Nancy admires very much for always going for style is former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings. The style coach contends that Nana Konadu is the most stylish First Lady this country has ever had.
She said even before the concept of personal branding became popular, Nana Konadu had an idea of what it was about and was consistent with her natural but classic look.
She also likes how Ms Joyce Aryee has presented herself not just with her clothing sense but also with her overall good grooming.
“Whenever she is on television, her make-up is on point, she looks relaxed and beautiful for her age. She has aged gracefully because she has taken proper care of herself and I think for the older women in our system, I woulld always vouch for her.”
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Well, for the younger women, Ms Nancy thinks Yvonne Okoro is one of the very stylish ladies in town.
“She likes the dramatic look sometimes but if she would cut back on the exposure of certain parts of her body, I think she is an admirable and very stylish lady. I say stylish not just for choice of clothing but also behaviour. She comes off to me as a very well-groomed young lady.”
For the men, Ms Nancy’ favourite fellow is lawyer, Nana Asante Bediatuo for always being classically dressed.
“With his appearance, intellect and attitude, he is gradually becoming Ghana’s best celebrity lawyer. Even though he has not said he is, his looks and attitude are creating that brand for him.“
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Ms Nancy’s goal is to do well at her job as a style coach but she refuses to let herself come under any sort of pressure due to the nature of her job.
She says people expect her to be driving a million dollar car, having all the designer shoes and bags and always looking sophisticated and flamboyant but she knows how to manage herself.
“I don’t try to impress so I live my career. For style coaching, you shop for quality not quantity. I have good things that I can wear for years. They are quality stuff but decently affordable. It is all about art and how you understand your personal style,” she said.
Her ambition is to be a respected, first-rate style coach. The indications are that she is already on the road to realising it.