Ep29 Gregory Jerome - The True Power of Style: Confidence, Survival, and Success

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:05:08
Gregory Jerome
And that's the beauty of like fashion style. Yes.

00:00:05:08 - 00:00:13:22
Gregory Jerome
It's a costume basically. And you can change and transform to anybody you want to be. You can hide or you can stand out. You can be bold or you can not

00:00:13:22 - 00:00:16:00
Gregory Jerome
it's all about intention.

00:00:16:00 - 00:00:42:06
Suzanne Taylor-King
Hey, hey. Welcome to a podcast where dreams meet. Determination and success is just around the corner. I'm your host, Suzanne Taylor King. And I'm here to help you unlock the full potential of your business and your life. Welcome to Unlock Your Way with SDK. Let's unlock your path to success together.

00:00:42:06 - 00:01:00:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
Good morning. Good morning everyone. Suzanne Taylor King here for a new edition of Unlock Your Way with STK. And today we are here with Philly guy local Timmy Gregory. Jerome, welcome, my friend.

00:01:00:19 - 00:01:03:18
Gregory Jerome
Hey. Thank you, thank you. How are you?

00:01:03:20 - 00:01:20:16
Suzanne Taylor-King
Really good. It's Friday, it's summer, it's freedom. And you're here. So it's. It's going to be great conversation. Be great. tell us a little bit about you and what you do.

00:01:20:18 - 00:01:45:01
Gregory Jerome
Well, my name is Gregory Jerome. I am a fashion psychologist. I am also a workforce development counselor, facilitator, but I am also a award winning entrepreneur. I am a Amazon number one bestselling author as well. yeah. Just this year. So it's awesome.

00:01:45:05 - 00:01:47:16
Suzanne Taylor-King
Amazing.

00:01:47:18 - 00:01:52:11
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. And I'm a creative artist. That's that's who I am.

00:01:52:13 - 00:01:58:05
Suzanne Taylor-King
well, you are multi passionate and multi talented.

00:01:58:06 - 00:01:59:10
Gregory Jerome
Well thank you. I appreciate.

00:01:59:10 - 00:02:08:21
Suzanne Taylor-King
That. But it didn't start off that way. Can you tell us a little bit about your story into becoming who you are today?

00:02:08:23 - 00:02:36:02
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. just kind of a little bit of a backstory before I get into the life transition story. prior. Prior. to the transition, I was a performance artist. toured the US two times over. Opened up for national recording artists. I was a teaching touring artist as well. I went to different schools and taught enrichment programs.

00:02:36:04 - 00:03:03:13
Gregory Jerome
I had an after school program that I, taught K through sixth graders elementary hip hop program. And I also did a creative writing, course as well. so I was in that space, but also I was also in fashion. So I was an image consultant. in the 9 to 5 world. And how? Yeah. And there was a there was a moment in life where that was a transition for me.

00:03:03:14 - 00:03:28:04
Gregory Jerome
I had, relocated from Oklahoma City B to Los Angeles. And at that point in time, I was I was trying to gain footing. in that, in that new space, not having any relatives and friends, which is like my traditional thing because I move, I move around a lot. and I was in a motorcycle wreck. I was actually working for a company called Joseph Egg Bank as the image consultant.

00:03:28:06 - 00:04:02:12
Gregory Jerome
And at the point in time, I was there for like five months, and I was in a motorcycle. Right. the motorcycle wreck. I suffered post-concussion syndrome. I was seeing a bone specialist, and I was also going to physical therapy. so during this time in Los Angeles, I was going through the transition of, in a sense of, like, housing, we'll say housing, because this motorcycle.

00:04:02:12 - 00:04:31:06
Gregory Jerome
Rick calls me to see a neuropsychologist during this time. And I was suffering headaches and migraines and things like that. And eventually what end up happening is I became homeless. temporary disability wasn't enough to pay the rent in Los Angeles. And, I was trying to figure out where where what a next chapter was going to be for me at that point.

00:04:31:08 - 00:05:05:21
Gregory Jerome
And, I visited a few, a few places, a few cities. I discussed my homelessness. by calling it a family and friends tour, because people knew that I toured. Right. And, yeah, that was the way I disguised it for me, going to different cities and really living off of that temporary disability money for, like, hotels or like boutique hotels are like, Airbnbs in a hostile environment, or I want to see family and friends like that.

00:05:05:23 - 00:05:33:00
Gregory Jerome
so I ended up coming to Philadelphia via, to visit my uncle who stays in Fort East, new Jersey. And so he gave me a tour of Philadelphia, and it brought back memories of when I came here and performed at World Cafe and Tom restaurant back in 2015. And I was like, this is I remember this is what I liked about Philly.

00:05:33:01 - 00:05:34:05
Suzanne Taylor-King
Wow.

00:05:34:07 - 00:06:02:23
Gregory Jerome
Right. So it kind of came full circle in a sense. And so when I was when I was here, I had I had three days to figure out, you know, what am I going to do if I want to stay here and and Philadelphia. And at that point, I'm a spiritual person. So I'm always asked in the universe for direction and guidance to open my eyes and ears, so I can utilize my intuition and my senses.

00:06:02:23 - 00:06:21:16
Gregory Jerome
Right. And this was the place he said this was the place after visiting five other cities New Orleans, Dallas, I don't know. I went I went to so many different cities. And it was finally this place. And at that point in time, I had I had three days before I had to leave to go back to LA.

00:06:21:18 - 00:06:55:16
Gregory Jerome
So I woke up one Sunday morning and, you know, the spirit said, start looking, start looking at a lot of jobs. So I went online and started looking for like the top tier of like fashion styling. Tell opportunities in Philly because I knew there was a place that I was skilled in. I had so much experience in that space and I knew it would be an easy, easy way for me to to gain employment.

00:06:55:18 - 00:07:18:22
Gregory Jerome
And so I went through a couple of interviews. Another one panned out. I reached out to a company, called Henry Davis in Rittenhouse, square, and I did a cold call, like, on a Monday, a cold call this guy. Oh my God. And, I was like. I was like, are you guys, like, you guys hiring?

00:07:19:00 - 00:07:38:03
Gregory Jerome
And he was like, well, tell me a little bit more about yourself. So I go and I tell my story, about, you know, my experience, not my situation, because I've learned in the past, whenever I told and employer that I'm homeless, I really need work. They never hired me.

00:07:38:05 - 00:07:40:01
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. Yeah.

00:07:40:03 - 00:08:02:08
Gregory Jerome
Which which, I believe is is something that we lack in this space of of. I guess employment for companies. Right. The empathy part. If you have a person who's skilled enough and have the background but needs that help. Yeah. I don't see why not.

00:08:02:10 - 00:08:17:20
Suzanne Taylor-King
Well it's the perception of being homeless right. Right. It's it's the, the stigma attached to it. Right. That I think prevents that.

00:08:17:22 - 00:08:20:05
Gregory Jerome
But here's the thing. I never looked like it.

00:08:20:07 - 00:08:21:03
Suzanne Taylor-King
Right.

00:08:21:05 - 00:08:49:15
Gregory Jerome
I've always, Oh. I've always embraced expressing myself through style and and upkeep. Grooming. That's something I learned as a kid, and it's been with me since a kid. so I get to I get to have this conversation with this gentleman, and he's like, well, come in and let's let's, let's do an interview. Let's have a conversation.

00:08:49:17 - 00:09:16:10
Gregory Jerome
So I had one good suit on me that I packed with me during these travels. And it got to a point where the suit had a hole in a crotch. The armpit under the sleeve was unraveling. I just had to take my razor and, like, take all the, like, pebbles if. A little the hairs off the, the fabric because it balls up a little bit.

00:09:16:12 - 00:09:38:21
Gregory Jerome
And I had to stitch up the hole, in my crotch. but I'm like, wow. This is. Yeah. This is, this is interesting. so it was it was a it was a tailored. It was a tailored suit. So it fit still great for me. It looked great. So. So I go in and I have this this interview.

00:09:38:21 - 00:10:17:05
Gregory Jerome
So when I walk through the door, you know, I'm cool it in a polar bear toenails, like, I'm. Yeah, I got this right. But I'm sweating on the inside because here I am having a conversation with a custom cold beer, something that I've never done before in my life, in my career of just being strictly custom and so when I see this guy, like, he's custom from, from, you know, head to toe, basically, and I walk in and God compliments me on my outfit and I'm like, okay, I got this right.

00:10:17:07 - 00:10:46:13
Gregory Jerome
When we sit down, we have a conversation at the end of the conversation. He then pulls up my resume and put it in this pocket, and I'm like, why did he just fold up my resume and put it in his pocket? And as he as he's doing this, he's like, I'll introduce you to the, the owner of the company and we'll get you more acquainted.

00:10:46:14 - 00:11:11:07
Gregory Jerome
And in my mind, I'm like, yeah, okay, here we go again. Like, right. Because I'm going out the the the action of him putting my resume in his pocket. and you know, for me, I used to be a manager, at retail stores, and I've never folded up somebody's resume and said, hey, I'll be back in contact with you and actually follow through with it.

00:11:11:09 - 00:11:40:05
Gregory Jerome
So I always I felt like I was not necessarily, defeated, but I was like, man, here's another loss. Right? So I end up going back to flying back to to LA. And when I get to LA, I'm staying in Airbnbs at this point. there's the rooms I was staying in. Like I say, it's a hassle. Airbnb.

00:11:40:06 - 00:12:11:14
Gregory Jerome
So there's there's like six bunk beds in one room. So this is not in a community bathroom, right? So this is how I'm living in living out of a suitcase with, like, clothes, clothes and other things in a storage container, which is a five by five, right? Wow. And, that's interesting too, because there was a point in time where I actually I had to sleep inside of that five by five story because I just didn't have money to to get any housing at all.

00:12:11:16 - 00:12:36:02
Gregory Jerome
so that's that's the transition. So during this transition, I get I get back to Los Angeles and a few days later, the guy give me a call and he's like, hey, I'm going to introduce you to X, Y, and Z. So we have a few phone calls. We have like four phone calls. I spoke to like, three different people.

00:12:36:04 - 00:13:07:07
Gregory Jerome
Like a cell. I spoke to a sales manager. I spoke to the owner. I spoke to the other image consultant that was there. And they end up flying me from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. I've never been flown anywhere for interview by a company, yet even even a company fly me somewhere for a convention or training. Nothing. So here I am, homeless and getting flown.

00:13:07:09 - 00:13:10:10
Gregory Jerome
You know Delta Airlines, right?

00:13:10:11 - 00:13:13:11
Suzanne Taylor-King
That just anything is possible at that point.

00:13:13:13 - 00:13:32:08
Gregory Jerome
Right? Like. All right. Yeah. This could be. This could be a thing. Yeah. So, so with this being said, I get to I get to Philly, and I start saying Philly because people start noticing this in Philadelphia, too. Like, you're not from here. I was like, yeah. You say.

00:13:32:08 - 00:13:35:09
Suzanne Taylor-King
Philly. Gotta say Philly.

00:13:35:11 - 00:13:58:16
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. So I get here and I have a conversation with them and we have a great interview. We go through the whole process and I fly. I fly back to Los Angeles, and he gives me a call back, and he's like, we would like to offer you a position. And I'm like, yeah, a position in my head, right?

00:13:58:18 - 00:14:17:18
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. And he said, but it's 100% commission. oh. The dagger. Yeah. The dagger. Ragland. And it it brought it, brought it, it brought it.

00:14:17:20 - 00:14:39:21
Gregory Jerome
It brought a sense of like, there's there's no way that I'm going to be able to survive anywhere. I feel 100% commission like there's there's no way. There's no way. So lucky. Luckily for me, I won't even say lucky for me. I'm blessed enough that I'm. That I'm educated. I went to college at a couple of degrees.

00:14:39:23 - 00:14:57:18
Gregory Jerome
I know a little bit about negotiation. So I negotiated with this guy, and I end up negotiating the $65,000 salary on a six month draw. Nice, right?

00:14:57:20 - 00:14:58:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
Nice.

00:14:58:19 - 00:15:20:16
Gregory Jerome
So I'm like, oh, my God. Like, this is a this is it. I've never make this amount of money in my life anyway. And I'm like, this is awesome. This is, this is it. I'm about to bounce back like never before. Like never before. And I seen the future. I was like, yes, there's so much things I have to do.

00:15:20:20 - 00:15:42:02
Gregory Jerome
I have to build my credit back up. Because I've been homeless for so long and didn't have money. And so, like all these different things from like a planet. So I get here and, and I'm selling these custom suits and I'm doing okay being new to Philly because let's talk about it. Philadelphia not really a nice place. Now it's quiet.

00:15:42:04 - 00:15:43:07
Gregory Jerome
It's not a very hard.

00:15:43:12 - 00:15:53:06
Suzanne Taylor-King
It's a little hard. I mean, I'm I'm from new Jersey, right across the bridge, but I have an office in Philadelphia, and it's hard to just get in there.

00:15:53:08 - 00:16:13:19
Gregory Jerome
It's hard to crack. Yeah, for sure, due to the fact of this, like, no new friends. People are skeptical about new people, especially new people who are not from this area. Yeah. And it's a, you know, it's a blue-collar place. And, you know, they they're all about, you know, show me your grit. Show me what you got.

00:16:13:19 - 00:16:38:15
Gregory Jerome
Prove yourself and and all these different things and, and in the sense I'm like, well, all right, that's your culture. And that's that's nothing wrong with it. Yeah, but it is right. Because you don't know who a person is and what they can probably do for you if you keep shedding people out that you don't know and don't have the time to invest to get to know somebody, right?

00:16:38:17 - 00:16:42:16
Gregory Jerome
Because they could be a huge resource in a in a life changing person for you.

00:16:42:17 - 00:17:27:20
Suzanne Taylor-King
Oh, I, I've met a billionaire who dresses so badly. I mean, from Birkenstocks to ripped jeans to horrible looking t shirts. I mean, they're probably expensive, but he looks a mess, a mess. And the first time we had coffee, I thought, oh my gosh, what does this guy do? He's a mess. And it was very hard for me to put aside the visual from what someone introduced him to me as, like, this doesn't go together, right?

00:17:27:20 - 00:17:46:20
Suzanne Taylor-King
And then, of course, I got to know him and quickly realized he was a surfer like me. And he was not about to get dressed up to impress somebody. And he also did it because he was very recognizable person in the community.

00:17:47:16 - 00:17:50:10
Suzanne Taylor-King
And it helped him blend in.

00:17:50:12 - 00:17:51:11
Gregory Jerome
Good.

00:17:51:13 - 00:17:54:04
Suzanne Taylor-King
And not be noticed.

00:17:54:06 - 00:18:27:03
Gregory Jerome
And that's the beauty of like fashion style. Yes. Yeah. It's a costume basically. And you can change and transform to anybody you want to be. You can hide or you can stand out. You can be bold or you can not like it's it's all about intention. And that's what a lot of people seem to get because sometimes people believe oh well I don't believe this because it's so shallow of a person to perceive themselves to be so right.

00:18:27:05 - 00:18:47:04
Gregory Jerome
But at the same time, you know, I use it for confidence and opportunities because I'm not a billionaire. I'm walking towards being a billionaire. So that means I have to put my my best collar forward. Yeah. And this is. Yeah. Right. Order to get to that level for opportunities.

00:18:47:06 - 00:19:18:02
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. And if that gives you the energy and the confidence like it does me. Right. I remember I don't know if you've ever heard this, about Marilyn Monroe. She used to be able to turn it on and off. And for her, it was like an energy thing. And she once said to a friend, I can walk down the street and nobody will see me, or I can walk down the street and everybody sees me.

00:19:18:06 - 00:19:18:21
Gregory Jerome
Right.

00:19:18:23 - 00:19:32:21
Suzanne Taylor-King
And the friend was like, what do you mean? She's like, what? And she demonstrated the energy of your vibration being on an open or being off and closed.

00:19:32:23 - 00:19:33:05
Gregory Jerome
Yep.

00:19:33:10 - 00:20:08:08
Suzanne Taylor-King
And she was in the exact same outfit, same hair, same makeup, everything. And I thought to myself, that's what confidence does for you. It makes you that vibrant. And I'm going to tell a quick story about how I first noticed you at a networking Chamber of Commerce event, and I always forgot about it. But you walked in and you had a blue, a lighter blue suit on, no tie, just a shirt and great shoes.

00:20:08:10 - 00:20:36:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
And you walked into this sea of, you know, 100 business people, men and women in boring colors, not standing out at all. And you walked in through my field of vision. I was like, oh, who is that? I got to go talk to him immediately. I didn't know who you were. What you did. But it was the energy of confidence and the energy of standing out.

00:20:36:19 - 00:20:37:15
Gregory Jerome
Yeah.

00:20:37:17 - 00:20:40:06
Suzanne Taylor-King
I heard how powerful, so powerful.

00:20:40:08 - 00:21:00:00
Gregory Jerome
I appreciate that. I remember that day because it was it was my first time at that event with those people. Like, I met a few people like online previously, like Cooper, like I met him and there was, there was somebody else, there was a few other people that I met, but I knew no one.

00:21:00:02 - 00:21:02:02
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. Me too.

00:21:02:04 - 00:21:07:15
Gregory Jerome
Meaning like I'm going in here and I'm doing my thing. Yeah.

00:21:07:17 - 00:21:09:16
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. It was so good. So good.

00:21:09:17 - 00:21:36:20
Gregory Jerome
Thanks I appreciate that. And that's that's the. And that's what I believe. provided me the opportunity to even negotiate this this opportunity. Yeah. Right. So. So I get in, and I'm I'm I'm I'm really trying to network with people, and I'm, I'm going to different places, and I'm like, man, I'm going to sell these suits. It's because these suits were these suits are like anywhere from 2 to $4000.

00:21:36:22 - 00:22:06:13
Gregory Jerome
You know, average as well was what I was selling it at that point. so my first, my first couple of months, I think I did about 15,000 in suits. which is not bad of not having a network here. Yeah. So I was like, hey, okay, let's let's rock and roll. Yeah. Well, five months in, guess what comes the pandemic.

00:22:06:15 - 00:22:34:02
Gregory Jerome
Oh, yeah. That's inconvenient. Yeah. Right. Just like the motorcycle wreck. Five months when I was working for another company in LA, and now I'm dealing with anxiety and all these other emotions from what I experience of being homeless, of course. Right. And I'm like. And not again. Like again. Like what is my like is what is my life at this point.

00:22:34:04 - 00:23:07:06
Gregory Jerome
Like what am I doing. because it was a lot of things that I went through. You know, psychologically during my space of being homeless. Yeah. And, you know, there's there's points where, you know, I'd, I'd attempted suicide twice, because I like I didn't know, I didn't know how my life was going. Yeah. And you come from a place where, you know, being successful, you know, having a brand new condo in midtown of a city and driving a Mercedes-Benz and doing all these different things.

00:23:07:06 - 00:23:36:17
Gregory Jerome
Right? The luxury life. And then you go to a space where you have nothing at all, and now you, you find an opportunity that it's going to propel you to a new level. And then here we come again. Yeah. Not now. Down once again. Yeah. And so I dealt I dealt with that situation of of being out of being, still homeless because I was still renting out Airbnbs in Philly while I was still work it because my credit was shot.

00:23:36:17 - 00:24:09:20
Gregory Jerome
I couldn't, I couldn't I couldn't get a place to live. Right. Yeah. So yeah. So with that being said, there was during during the time of me working with this custom boutique shop, I used to think about creative collaborations to foster relationships within the community of other businesses. So that it was, it's a gentleman by the name of Steven Jamison, who owns Blue Souls shoes and Rittenhouse.

00:24:09:22 - 00:24:41:01
Gregory Jerome
They're custom. They're handmade, hand-painted. and I tried to create something between us at one point. and it didn't pan out. due to, you know, unforeseen situations. But I reached out to them to see if I could work part time. You know, during during the pandemic. And so I also, I can like $1,000 a month that the salon was making it during, during the pandemic because the previous job they they went through the Pip process.

00:24:41:07 - 00:25:09:11
Gregory Jerome
But I was only making $7.25 at that point. Oh, living in an Airbnb 725 not a lot. Right. Yeah. So I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm trying to figure it out. Right. I've had to, like, apply for government assistance. Now being able to to get food and things like that. So this whole process. Right. And then yeah, I was working.

00:25:09:13 - 00:25:37:08
Gregory Jerome
I was working for them making $1,000 a week. at that point in time, within like my first month, there was, a referral that came in for me. through a gentleman that I worked with previously of getting custom suits. He introduced me to his friend, which is a doctor, Baltimore. And so we had a consultation.

00:25:37:10 - 00:26:04:05
Gregory Jerome
We went we went through that process, and the guy had. This is during the pandemic. The guy had a budget of $15,000 to work with me. I was like, okay, let's get to work. So we do a complete week. He's my first client right outside of me working for the boutique shop. And so I work with him. We do a complete transformation.

00:26:04:07 - 00:26:41:17
Gregory Jerome
I mean, from undergarment socks to custom suits, custom shirts, ready to wear shirts, shoes, everything. The whole gambit. The whole beautiful. And at that point, you know, I was like, I made $700 in like, three hours. Just about taking somebody shopping. Yeah. Right. And I'm like, I can probably do this for real. Like on my own. And so I thought about that and processed it.

00:26:41:18 - 00:27:12:22
Gregory Jerome
And little do you know across across my feed on my social media. There was a entrepreneurship hackathon that was hosted by the city of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health. For emerging entrepreneurs. right. So I've never I didn't have a business plan and have anything. Now keep in mind it was 24 hours to submit this application because when I came across it was a little it was right on time.

00:27:12:23 - 00:27:36:13
Gregory Jerome
It wasn't late. It was right on top. Okay. So at 24 hours to submit this application and I was like, I can just be an image consultant and just do what I've been doing for this company. I'll just do that until I filled it out. Boom. And I submitted it at 10 a.m. at the deadline time. Basically. Okay.

00:27:36:15 - 00:27:40:04
Gregory Jerome
Right.

00:27:40:06 - 00:28:15:02
Gregory Jerome
it was the wrong application. You know, So, I contacted the support center and let them know I was like, listen, submitted the wrong application. You know, is it possible for you to grace me with another opportunity to complete? Now, like. Sure. I was like, yes. Nice. So I resubmit the application 24 hours later. They contacted me and informed me that I was a finalist.

00:28:15:04 - 00:28:24:22
Gregory Jerome
So at that point they were like, oh, you have to do a presentation in front of three judges. And I'm like, a presentation.

00:28:24:23 - 00:28:27:02
Suzanne Taylor-King
I can't do that.

00:28:27:04 - 00:29:00:05
Gregory Jerome
I can, but I don't have one right now. And let's do it 24 hours. Yep. And so I was like, all right, it's time to kick this, this all nighter college experience. Yeah. No. In overdrive. So I have to really think about what was my approach in my approach to developing this was taking consideration of the point in time where people were suffering from anxiety, depression, unemployment.

00:29:00:07 - 00:29:23:04
Gregory Jerome
You know, at that point in time, it was 54% of adults that was experiencing depression or anxiety. Yeah. The unemployment rate was like at a I think it was like 5.3 or 4.3 somewhere in there. and so, you know, the spirit was telling me, you know, empowered the people. It's it's about humanity. How can we back the people?

00:29:23:05 - 00:29:48:08
Gregory Jerome
And so at that point in time, when I was putting together, I was putting that into place. So my background is in psychology, behavioral science and ethics. And I used I used to be a job coach. I was an employment specialist for the federal government doing Obama administration. I was also a facilitator. I was an onsite coordinator.

00:29:48:10 - 00:29:58:12
Gregory Jerome
for people with behavioral, disabilities. So I was always in this space. Yeah. Well, as retail, too, like retail psychology, you.

00:29:58:12 - 00:30:08:09
Suzanne Taylor-King
Always had that front of the room possibility, right? Where you could speak to other people.

00:30:08:13 - 00:30:27:07
Gregory Jerome
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Well, been an entertainer. you know, I'm on stage in front of thousands of people, so it's not a it's not an issue to to get up and talk like it's it's organically my thing. Right. That's one of my purposes. And I understood that. And that's one thing that I like to like highlight.

00:30:27:08 - 00:30:52:17
Gregory Jerome
It's about tenacity of purpose through through it all in life. And so the time came for me to do this all nighter. And I'm like, all right, I'm gonna create this based off of psychology and, and the ways that people and companies write for their employer, branding for their development, employer development, like, all these different things, so they can feed into the people because the people is the number one asset, in my opinion.

00:30:52:17 - 00:31:17:03
Gregory Jerome
And through my experience of being in leadership, investing to the people and to the people, not just look, it's a way of what you want to train them for the job, but can you really pour into the people to help them as individuals to become better? Yes. Boost their their vitality and confidence themselves. That then plays an impact on not only their personal life, but also in the work life.

00:31:17:05 - 00:31:52:02
Gregory Jerome
And so I kept this concept. So I created this concept in this PowerPoint. So I go in, the next day and I give this presentation. So there was 17 of us. Right. We're all competing for $10,000. Wow. Yeah. This would be great for me. I'm like. Like, don't have money. Yeah. I'm like, yeah, I could really use this $10,000 to boost my life and others, right?

00:31:52:04 - 00:32:11:00
Gregory Jerome
So. I go on. I give them a presentation at the end of the presentation. The judges were blown away. They were like, you really took time and thought this through about your impact of your company.

00:32:11:02 - 00:32:14:15
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. Oh. Last night. I'll let.

00:32:14:17 - 00:32:21:03
Gregory Jerome
You that. I cooked it up. I took this up last night, by the way.

00:32:21:05 - 00:32:25:02
Gregory Jerome
But the. But the idea has been embedded forever.

00:32:25:04 - 00:32:26:01
Suzanne Taylor-King
Right? Right.

00:32:26:07 - 00:32:56:11
Gregory Jerome
Was just the opportunity for me to to cook book, in a sense. Right. Let me put these ingredients together and let me make something. Let me feed the people. And I was able to do so. And at the end of that process, I was contacted three days later and I was a runner up, and I was awarded a grand to start my business.

00:32:56:13 - 00:33:13:16
Gregory Jerome
Okay. Basically, I used all of that to make sure I did all the proper documentation and paperwork to to get my business solidified, right. but there was no money left over to do anything else. I had to buy equipment because we.

00:33:13:17 - 00:33:17:09
Suzanne Taylor-King
Oh, the story of entrepreneurship right there.

00:33:17:11 - 00:33:44:02
Gregory Jerome
What about it? Needed the laptop. Camera needed lights. Yeah. All this stuff, and it added up quick. And the money had gone like it was gone. but it it it provided me that opportunity to get it lifted off the ground and utilized that, award winning entrepreneur as a foundation. Yeah. To attract people.

00:33:44:04 - 00:33:45:08
Suzanne Taylor-King
Beautiful.

00:33:45:10 - 00:34:30:15
Gregory Jerome
And for me, at that point, I was like, okay, how are we going to do this? And I was like, well, maybe I'll just start partnering with or collaborating with different retail stores. as, as like an external stylist. So what I was able to do during the pandemic and this is, this is all grass roots bootstrap. I would walk into retail stores, ask to speak to managers and ask them if they ever worked with an external stylist to come in, where bring clients in, and then they pay me a commission of whatever the sales are within kind.

00:34:30:17 - 00:35:05:12
Gregory Jerome
I was doing it and I ended up lending about four of those opportunities. Amazing. Now listen to this one. So when I was when I was homeless in L.A., I went to Ralph Lauren on Rodeo Drive. Or job opportunity suited up. And this goes back to what I said earlier. I'll let the God know that I was homeless and I really needed a job.

00:35:05:14 - 00:35:29:23
Gregory Jerome
And by the end of the interview he said it's not it's not a place for you, but at least you wore a tie. Those were his words to me. Wow. I still remember that. The office I was in. I remember what this guy looked like because it was so heartbreaking to hear that. Yeah. At that point, to me.

00:35:30:01 - 00:36:04:17
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. So fast forward. I'd go to Ralph Lauren in King of Prussia mall. And I spoke to the manager there, the store manager there about an external stylist and long story short. I was the first external stylist for Ralph Lauren in Pennsylvania. Wow. So I'm like, oh. Full circle. So, yeah, you know, Ralph Lauren's not paying me as an employee.

00:36:04:18 - 00:36:17:23
Gregory Jerome
Now you're paying me to bring clients to you. And that was another mark of anything is possible. Just go out and ask questions. Yeah. And and just go. Don't be.

00:36:18:01 - 00:36:45:23
Suzanne Taylor-King
I think there's a there's a couple things, you know, that I see, you know, from the confidence. But there's also a belief in the value of what you're doing and the service that you're providing, which means you value yourself. You never let those external circumstances affect your inner world. I mean, you did you did have negative thoughts. You did have negative emotions.

00:36:46:01 - 00:37:12:09
Suzanne Taylor-King
But when it came time to do for yourself, you were able to put on that other persona that really that coffee isn't that secure. I know the value of what I'm doing, and that's not fake it til you make it. That's a side of you. And we all have so many different sides to us.

00:37:12:10 - 00:37:12:18
Gregory Jerome
Yes.

00:37:12:20 - 00:37:38:18
Suzanne Taylor-King
And it's really important. I think style, is really important. I think the way we present ourselves is really important. and even in this virtual world, you know, many days I have shorts on with, you know, a top or a sweater or I have shorts and flip flops on today, but I make sure that the hair is done.

00:37:38:18 - 00:38:06:20
Suzanne Taylor-King
The makeup's done the right glasses. You know, we're both into glasses. and I think I think that shows that you care about yourself, that you're valuable to you. So I, I just want to commend you on that aspect of it. It's it's really inspirational. And I, I would love for you to tell us a little bit about what what you're doing now.

00:38:06:22 - 00:38:14:22
Suzanne Taylor-King
and your ideal client, who's that person that you would love to meet and be introduced to?

00:38:14:23 - 00:38:40:10
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. I want to I want to backpack on what you just stated. You know, being important, the way you present yourself, it's not only important. The reason why it's important. Let's talk about it. Because some people don't. And why it's important. So when you when you talk about the world of, of fashion psychology, you you have to think about the emotions that we all hold, right?

00:38:40:12 - 00:39:10:23
Gregory Jerome
And these emotions come out externally. The way we present ourselves. So there's almost a sense of like reverse psychology if we can empower ourselves in it. So it's not really dressing the way we feel, but we can dress the way we want to feel by putting on certain colors, because there's a whole different frequencies and wavelengths. This is this is so much in depth, but also being able to for like personal and cultural identity as well.

00:39:11:01 - 00:39:42:15
Gregory Jerome
The other one is, you know, self-image. The confidence part. understanding the cognitive, behavioral and emotional factors that go into the way that you present yourself. It's a lot deeper than people may believe it to be. because a lot of people even suffer from past trauma as kids. Right? From if somebody told you you didn't look right in certain colors or, you know, clothing, jackets, pants, skirts, whatever the case may be, you know, we did hear it away from it.

00:39:42:15 - 00:39:46:11
Gregory Jerome
It was like, no, I'm never wearing that again. Right. And it's like.

00:39:46:13 - 00:40:13:08
Suzanne Taylor-King
We've all had that that look or that outfit or that pair of jeans or that leather jacket that you put it on and you felt like a rock star. You felt cool. You felt polished. Whatever it is for you. Right. We all have had those items in our closet. And I think, well, as I've gotten older, I only want those items in my closet.

00:40:13:09 - 00:40:15:19
Suzanne Taylor-King
Let's get let's get rid of everything else.

00:40:16:01 - 00:40:39:14
Gregory Jerome
Right, right. Exactly. And that creates new energy for you as well. Yeah. You can really you can shift your energy and and even the trajectory of your life by changing what you wear is essential. Thanks to Adam and Eve. Listen, we weren't close. No, you were close. there's no way around it at this point. I mean, yeah, it is, but you may suffer consequences.

00:40:39:14 - 00:41:15:21
Gregory Jerome
But anyway, but the thing, the thing for me is this is helping individuals and organizations understand the wellbeing piece that come with branding from a sartorial standpoint. Yeah. For those who don't know what tutorial means, it just means clothing, garments, tailored, things like that. Just being able to understand what to wear and how how simple it can be to create, a wardrobe for yourself that represents who you are no matter what facet.

00:41:15:23 - 00:41:21:21
Gregory Jerome
Because I have so many different styles, because I have, I embrace my different personalities.

00:41:21:23 - 00:41:22:21
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. Me too.

00:41:23:01 - 00:41:49:03
Gregory Jerome
There's there's my, there's my rock star. There's my hip hop guy. There's there's my, business guy. There's my sport casual guy. There's my festival guy list. There's all these different pieces. But not knowing how to to harness those impulses to bolster those styles is is important. So for me, what I've been been able to to come to at this point, because there's, there's been a shift for me.

00:41:49:03 - 00:42:17:10
Gregory Jerome
And I think it's important for people to know when, when I try to identify who you are and present yourself to society, it can be a challenge. And it was a challenge for me because I was trying to figure out, how can I, introduce myself in a way that's provocative and persuasive, that creates conversation, right? And it's like I went through the phase of, an image consultant.

00:42:17:11 - 00:42:28:18
Gregory Jerome
I'm a personal stylist. I'm a tutorial brand specialist. And, like, slowly I start to gain, especially the Satori brand specialist. People are like, what is that? What's that?

00:42:28:20 - 00:42:34:01
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. It's like when I. When I tell people I'm a you demonologist, they're like, why?

00:42:34:03 - 00:42:35:09
Gregory Jerome
Right?

00:42:35:11 - 00:42:35:22
Suzanne Taylor-King
And.

00:42:36:02 - 00:42:36:21
Gregory Jerome
Right. Right.

00:42:36:23 - 00:42:48:15
Suzanne Taylor-King
I remember a person years ago told me, don't call yourself that because nobody knows what it is. And I said it exactly.

00:42:48:17 - 00:43:19:16
Gregory Jerome
Right. Right, right. And that's why I shifted to the fashion psychologist. Because now. Yeah, I mean, it's that that interest. And they're like, tell me more. That's the word that they use. I'm like, wow. Tell me more. Everybody that I, I started using this maybe like two weeks ago I went to the the human resource Delaware Valley Human HR person of the year award, event.

00:43:19:18 - 00:43:37:05
Gregory Jerome
This is my first time going. And I went in, I had on this rose pink jacket with some cobalt gray pants, black shoes and a white shirt. And these glasses. And people came to me. Yeah.

00:43:37:06 - 00:43:39:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. You do that? They that.

00:43:39:19 - 00:44:00:11
Gregory Jerome
They came to me and they were like you. I love your style. Love your glasses. Absolutely. I was like, thank you very much. Oh, you are so warm. You so what? You felt like, something about you. And I'm like, well, thanks, but being able to become that attraction. Yeah. Is is my hit. It was where I want to use.

00:44:00:13 - 00:44:07:10
Gregory Jerome
It was my intention is to to attract people versus chase people.

00:44:07:12 - 00:44:08:06
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah.

00:44:08:08 - 00:44:37:13
Gregory Jerome
And that's that's something I've learned from Abraham Hicks as well. It's like, how do you become the law of attraction? How can you become it, though? How can you embrace it? And that's that's what I started utilizing. So from that point, you know, that's the space that, that I was I've been targeting for about a year and a half is to get in this air space, because I'm in that training and development space in that space in this.

00:44:37:15 - 00:45:24:10
Gregory Jerome
So that going into your, your, your, your answer to your question is, is being in the space of of HR, having those conversations. also working with workforce development, organizations or people in those spaces. also work with nonprofit organizations that provide that to communities. That's in the same workforce development space to help empower people. And and honestly, I believe that's where my passion really lies, is really working with the people who are not yet there, but I can help elevate them there because I was at the bottom at one point in time in my life, and I've been able to grow based on the way that I've just presented myself and just educated

00:45:24:10 - 00:45:28:18
Gregory Jerome
about all these different things. So that's the real passion.

00:45:28:20 - 00:45:53:16
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah, there's a thing. So I'm, I'm working on my first solo book and it's called the Charisma Code. And the reason being, for years I've been a business coach and people asked, well, how do you do that? How do you do? How do you attract people? How do you, make eye contact? How do you have conversations with all these people?

00:45:53:16 - 00:46:24:10
Suzanne Taylor-King
How do you release a lot? how do I do that? And I started breaking it down. And, you know, it's a combination of body language and eye contact and the way you treat people, the way you make people feel. And you have it 110%. All 12 of my modules. You possess skills and qualities in all of those modules.

00:46:24:12 - 00:46:26:16
Gregory Jerome
And it.

00:46:26:18 - 00:46:45:00
Suzanne Taylor-King
You're welcome. And it took me two years to learn myself. Yeah. So that I could teach that to other people. And it's exactly what you're doing with yourself. And I just love it.

00:46:45:02 - 00:47:14:02
Gregory Jerome
Yeah, I appreciate that. It's, you know, it goes it goes back to tenacity of purpose once again. Despite this, you know, even even though I was going through the things that I went through, it was a challenge. Yeah. You know was a purpose for it as well. Yeah. Because it, it allow me to did it develop into a different person mentally spiritually psychologically emotionally.

00:47:14:04 - 00:47:32:19
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. Physically I've gone through these phases of of homelessness. it showed me a, a better sense of gratitude and appreciation for people and, and the things that I have in living in the present versus the past or the future.

00:47:32:21 - 00:47:34:15
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yes.

00:47:34:17 - 00:47:47:22
Gregory Jerome
Because we can we can we can dictate what happens in the next five minutes. We don't know. Yeah. Anything can happen. Yeah. I'm a living witness. Anything can happen. Yeah. You live in the same room.

00:47:47:23 - 00:48:02:21
Suzanne Taylor-King
Well, Gregory, thank you so much for having this conversation and sharing, your story and your journey with me and listeners. how can how can those who want to get in touch with you?

00:48:02:23 - 00:48:26:04
Gregory Jerome
Well, first of all, I want to thank you for this opportunity to to be on your show. An honor. to be able to be here and to share my story, with with the world, basically. And, I'm grateful for you. And I'm great for this, for the relationship. And I'm grateful for, you know, you you going out there telling people about me, like, so I just want you to know that I truly appreciate you.

00:48:26:04 - 00:48:33:20
Gregory Jerome
I really do think, especially allowing me into your to your world as a stranger. so.

00:48:33:23 - 00:48:54:14
Suzanne Taylor-King
You know, I found you, I found you, I, I am going to take credit for that. But it was all because of the image and the style that you had that day. So, when one person witnesses that in another. You know.

00:48:54:16 - 00:49:22:16
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. Well thank you for noticing it. I appreciate it. so the, the same way you found the way you found me. People can find me heavily on LinkedIn. Gregory Jerome, that's Greg or what? G r on e? That's where I kind of live in the space of the professional world. But if people just want to know me organically, I'm on Instagram as well.

00:49:22:17 - 00:49:31:13
Gregory Jerome
Same name, Gregory Jerome. And that's where you get the full paradigm and spectrum of me of, like, everything that I do. All those good.

00:49:31:13 - 00:49:32:11
Suzanne Taylor-King
Pictures.

00:49:32:13 - 00:49:50:12
Gregory Jerome
Yeah. Like some people think, oh, you should just do fashion because you're I'm like, no, man, but that's not me. Like I'm so I'm so much more. And I think people think know who I am. yeah. But LinkedIn is the number one space where I'm, I'm all on where I'm truly educating and connecting people.

00:49:50:14 - 00:50:13:07
Suzanne Taylor-King
Beautiful. Beautiful. Well, if anybody is watching or tuning in later on, any of the other platforms, the podcast, YouTube, Facebook, my community, please just let me know and I'll make a personal introduction to Gregory. Thank you. Thank you again, my friend.

00:50:13:09 - 00:50:15:03
Gregory Jerome
Thank you I appreciate it.

00:50:15:05 - 00:50:16:00
Suzanne Taylor-King
You're welcome.

00:50:16:00 - 00:50:43:18
Suzanne Taylor-King
Thank you for tuning in to another empowering episode of Unlock Your Way. I hope you found today's discussion inspiring, and you're ready to take your business and personal growth to that next level. If you're feeling is fired up as I am and eager to unlock that full potential, I'm here to help you on your journey and provide that personalized guidance tailored to your unique goals and challenges.

00:50:43:20 - 00:51:10:13
Suzanne Taylor-King
Simply book a one on one coaching call with me, and we'll dive deep into your business aspirations and see how we could co-create a roadmap for your success. And whether you're striving to scale an enterprise size or just getting started. I'm here to support you every step of the way. To schedule your coaching call, simply visit the website and unlock your way with SI.com.

00:51:10:15 - 00:51:49:13
Suzanne Taylor-King
Click on the Book a Call button and we'll turn your dreams into that reality. Subscribe and review on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube. Plus, you can join over 800 entrepreneurs in the Idea Lab, Facebook group. Let's make success as an entrepreneur happen together. Until next time, I'm AK. Keep dreaming big. Stay focused. And most of all, have fun while you're doing it.