A Styled Life

Alex Standley
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Welcome to A Styled Life, the podcast for purpose-led female founders & senior leaders ready to use style as a powerful tool for confidence, impact, and influence. I'm your host, Alex Standley, multi award-winning Personal Stylist, Speaker and Sustainable Fashion Consultant, with two decades of experience in the fast-paced world of fashion. Join me as we redefine success from the inside out. This podcast isn’t just about clothes. It’s about personal power, purposeful style, and creating a life that aligns with your values. So whether you’re running a business, leading a movement, or stepping into your next chapter, you’re in the right place. Each week, we’ll dive into the world of personal style, sustainability, female empowerment, and living with intention. Through real stories, expert insights, and plenty of inspiration.

  1. The Size on the Label Means Nothing: Body Confidence, The Size Ceiling, & Unrealistic Beauty Ideals

    4h ago

    The Size on the Label Means Nothing: Body Confidence, The Size Ceiling, & Unrealistic Beauty Ideals

    This weekend I bought the biggest size in jean shorts I have ever bought. My usual size did up, but it was uncomfortable, so I took the bigger size, and then stood there running an old script about what that number was supposed to mean about me. I'm nearly forty. I work out four times a week. I’ve done the work, and I continue to do it, because this is a lifelong practice. And the reflex still came. I want to be honest about that, because I know it happens to my clients every single day. This episode closes our June series on body confidence and body image, and it started with a mermaid. The morning after the shorts, I caught sight of my daughter's mermaid bath toy, the tiny waist, the impossible hourglass, a shape no woman is naturally built to hold, sold to a child as the picture of beautiful. That's where the conditioning begins. Not in midlife, not with hormones, but in plastic, often before a girl has even started school.  The standard was never an accident, and an unattainable shape is very good for business, because a woman who believes she's one size away from good enough keeps buying her way toward a line that keeps moving. TIMESTAMPS 00:01 — The biggest size I've ever bought, and the script that came with it 02:23 — I've done the work, and the old reflex still showed up 03:30 — The size ceiling we all quietly carry 04:41 — Why the label on the high street means nothing 05:00 — The mermaid on the side of the bath 07:04 — Where this really begins, and who profits from it 11:47 — Confidence was never on the other side of the body 13:00 — Why my work starts with identity, not a wardrobe 15:30 — What I want my daughter to inherit KEY TAKEAWAYS The size on the label means nothing about you. It is inconsistent by store, fabric and season, and it was never a measure of your worth.The standard was never reachable, and it was never meant to be. The waiting to reach it is what quietly costs you.Confidence does not arrive with a smaller body, a calmer nervous system or a younger face. It is not on the other side of anything.You cannot dress your way out of a standard you still believe in. That is why the work begins with identity.The most powerful thing you can model for the next generation is a woman who knows herself and dresses from that. PAST EPISODES Reclaiming Identity, Vitality and Authority in Midlife with Jules Anderson, Audacious Aging™High-Functioning Is Not the Same as Thriving | Nervous System & Identity with Sarah AspinallBody Confidence, Self-Worth and Self-Trust, for the Life You Stop Putting on Hold, with Lisa UngerMidlife Health, Style and Self-Trust with Ro Feilden Cook, Founder of The SHE CollectiveWhy Clothes Don't Fit Anymore:High Street Sizing Secrets from an Ex Fashion Buyer & Personal Stylist WORK WITH ALEX Book your free Style Strategy Call: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call If anything resonated, drop me a DM on Instagram or email me at  alex@alexandrastandley.co.uk. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandrastandley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-standley-personal-stylist

    16 min
  2. Reclaiming Identity, Vitality and Authority in Midlife with Jules Anderson, Audacious Aging™

    Jun 24

    Reclaiming Identity, Vitality and Authority in Midlife with Jules Anderson, Audacious Aging™

    The wellness industry is extremely loud right now. And most of what it's saying is designed to make you feel behind. Behind on your protocols, your supplements, your biohacking routine, your results. What it rarely says is: your body already has answers. You just need to learn to hear them again. In this episode of A Styled Life, I'm joined by Jules Anderson - Energy Expert, founder of Audacious Aging™, and author of an upcoming book on what becomes possible for women who approach midlife with intention and intelligence. Jules brings a first-class chemistry degree and fourteen years working with high-performing women to a conversation that refuses the usual wellness noise and goes somewhere far more grounded instead. We talk about what it actually means to age audaciously, why so many accomplished women find themselves depleted and disconnected at exactly the point in life when they should feel most powerful, and how energy, when it's really working, changes everything: how you think, how you decide, and how you show up in a room. WE EXPLORE Why the wellness industry profits from keeping women in a state of low-grade self-doubtThe four dimensions of energy and why the soulful layer gets ignored mostHow self-trust is built incrementally, not declared overnightThe OPAs: other people's agendas and how to start drowning them outWhy style and energy land in the same place: the outer world reflects the inner oneWhat shifts outwardly when a woman starts owning her own authority from the inside TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Why the way you show up is never just about what you're wearing  05:39 — The double challenge of midlife: identity, visibility and the fear that the best years are over  12:53 — What women are sharing that they aren't saying to anyone else (loss of identity, anxiety, the perfect storm)  15:15 — When health knowledge becomes noise and why being person-centric matters more than any protocol  21:21 — On outsourcing decisions and why the watch-or-it-didn't-happen trap keeps us small  23:57 — Optimising so hard you forget to enjoy your life  42:15 — Where energy and identity meet: what changes outwardly when a woman claims her own authority CTA If this conversation landed for you and you're ready to close the gap between who you are and how you're showing up, a Style Strategy Call is where we begin. It's a free, focused conversation about where you are, where you're going, and what's getting in the way. 👉 Book yours here: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call Connect with Jules: The Energy Assessment https://jules-1ik7iqtx.scoreapp.com Website https://feelglorious.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gloriousjules/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/julesandersonlondon

    59 min
  3. High-Functioning Is Not the Same as Thriving | Nervous System & Identity with Sarah Aspinall

    Jun 17

    High-Functioning Is Not the Same as Thriving | Nervous System & Identity with Sarah Aspinall

    There's a woman who hasn't dropped a ball in years. Her diary is full, her reputation is solid, her results speak for themselves. And if you asked anyone around her how she's doing, they'd say she's fine. She's great, actually. But she can't remember the last time she felt like herself. Sarah Aspinall is a former London litigation lawyer, TEDx speaker, bestselling author and founder of The SA Method - a nervous system-led approach to sustainable wellbeing and performance for high-functioning women. Her work explores the hidden cost of holding everything together: why so many women feel unable to switch off, why the body eventually starts sending signals that can't be ignored, and how to navigate midlife with more steadiness and self-trust. This conversation sits at the intersection of her world and mine - the point where a woman's nervous system, her identity, and how she shows up in the world all meet. We explore what happens when achievement stops feeling like alignment, why style is a far more powerful doorway into identity than most people realise, and what it actually takes to rebuild self-trust after years of performing. We explore: Why high-functioning and thriving are not the same thingThe quiet grief of women who can't remember feeling like themselvesWhy you can't build healthy habits on an exhausted nervous systemThe outsourcing trap - watches, apps, and experts replacing your own instinctsAchievement versus alignment and when the shift hitsStyle as a doorway to rediscovering identity in midlifeEmbodied cognition - why what you wear changes how you performRebuilding self-trust through small, unglamorous momentsWhat "cool" actually looks like as an adult, and what we're teaching our daughtersWhy it's rarely about the clothes, and always about what's underneath Timestamps: 00:00 — The version of success that looks fine from the outside 05:24 — High-functioning is celebrated. Thriving is different. 08:22 — The quiet grief: "I can't remember feeling like myself" 13:33 — Why identity work has to come before the wardrobe 15:21 — Style as a doorway into "who am I now?" 19:00 — The outsourcing trap: watches, apps, and why we've stopped listening 31:24 — What changes outwardly when a woman starts to regulate internally 36:42 — Embodied cognition and why safety in the body changes how you dress 39:36 — Achievement isn't alignment, Sarah's shift from law to movement 45:53 — What we're modelling for our daughters 54:22 — Fear of judgement as the thing that keeps women small 56:36 — Sarah's Midlife Capacity Check If you recognised yourself in the woman who's holding it all together but can't quite remember what "feeling like herself" means, this is where my work begins. Before we touch a single piece of clothing, I build a precise picture of who you actually are. Book a free Style Strategy Call and let's have that conversation. https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call Connect with Sarah: Website: www.sarahaspinall.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_sarahaspinall/ Sarah's Midlife Capacity Check: https://sarahaspinall.com/the-midlife-capacity-check/

    58 min
  4. Body Confidence, Self-Worth and Self-Trust, for the Life You Stop Putting on Hold, with Lisa Unger

    Jun 10

    Body Confidence, Self-Worth and Self-Trust, for the Life You Stop Putting on Hold, with Lisa Unger

    How many clothes are you keeping for "when"? When you lose weight. When you feel better about yourself. When you've earned it. Those pieces sit in your wardrobe quietly delivering the same message every morning: not yet. Not quite good enough today. This episode is part of our June series on body confidence and body image - not from a place of fixing or shrinking, but from the truth of what actually changes when you stop waiting for a future version of yourself to arrive. I'm joined by Lisa Unger, Binge Eating and Body Confidence Specialist, who brings something clinical expertise alone can't give you: she knows this territory from the inside. Lisa spent years in the cycle of dieting, restriction and bingeing. She lost five and a half stone, arrived at the body she'd always wanted, and found she still felt exactly the same. What had to shift wasn't her size. It was everything underneath it. There's a pattern I see in my work all the time: a woman comes to me not quite ready to invest in her wardrobe, because she feels she hasn't yet earned it. She's still waiting to lose a bit more, feel a bit better, get a bit closer to the version of herself she's decided she needs to be before her style can matter.  What Lisa and I unpack in this episode is exactly why that waiting is costing her - not just in clothes, but in presence, confidence and the way she moves through her life. WE EXPLORE The cycle of dieting, restriction and bingeing and what's actually driving itWhy arriving at your goal weight doesn't automatically bring confidenceThe self-worth work that creates real, lasting changeThe wardrobe as a daily reflection of how you feel about yourselfHow to stop putting your life on hold for a future version of your bodyThe mirror technique that breaks the hyper-focus habitWhy dressing for how you want to feel changes more than you thinkWhat the rise of weight-loss medications is doing to body image conversationsHow to protect your body image - on social media and in your relationships TIMESTAMPS 01:54 — Lisa's story: from childhood comfort eating to five and a half stone lost  04:00 — Getting to goal weight and still feeling nothing had changed  07:06 — What women say when they realise diets are not the answer  09:08 — The "one day" trap and why it costs you more than clothes 14:16 — The voice in your head that probably isn't yours  19:07 — The mirror technique: breaking the hyper-focus habit  22:12 — Dressing for how you want to feel, not how you're feeling right now  24:12 — Where Lisa is now: neutral, present, not stopped  28:45 — Buying for the body you have today  34:24 — How weight-loss medications have set the conversation back CTA If this conversation landed for you, and you're ready to stop waiting to feel differently before you let yourself be seen, a Style Strategy Call is where we chat about how I can help. 👉 Book yours here: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call CONNECT WITH LISA UNGER Find Lisa and her work at www.lisaunger.co.uk  www.instagram.com/_lisaunger    www.facebook.com/bingeeatingspecialist

    48 min
  5. Midlife Health, Style and Self-Trust with Ro Feilden Cook, Founder of The SHE Collective

    Jun 3

    Midlife Health, Style and Self-Trust with Ro Feilden Cook, Founder of The SHE Collective

    Strong, Dressed With Intention and Done Waiting. There's a moment a lot of women in midlife hit where the external picture looks fine, but something underneath has gone quiet. Your body has changed. Your wardrobe no longer feels like you. You're functioning, but you're not fully inhabiting yourself. Ro Feilden Cook is a Level 4 PT, mindset coach and founder of The SHE Collective, an online membership built specifically for women 35 plus, around four pillars: movement, nutrition, mindset and nervous system. She built it from lived experience, not theory. And her approach to health is the same as mine is to style: it has to fit your actual life, or it won't stick. I'm also a member of The SHE Collective, which makes this one personal. After I appeared on Ro's podcast, I found myself telling my best friend that I'm currently the biggest clothing size I've ever been, and the most confident, the strongest and the healthiest. That's what this conversation is really about. IN THIS EPISODE WE EXPLORE — Why the weight goal is often the most toxic piece of the picture  — What the nervous system actually has to do with getting dressed in the morning  — The instinct to hide when you're not feeling great and what breaks it  — Dopamine dressing as a real health practice  — Ro's Vinted revelation: £250 in a weekend and a wardrobe that finally works  — The women who wait and what that waiting quietly costs  — What changes in how women show up when they start feeling strong TIMESTAMPS 03:51 — Where the Core Four really came from  06:06 — Why weight became the most toxic piece  09:24 — Burnout, slipped discs and discovering the nervous system 16:22 — Acceptance isn't giving up  17:34 — The biggest size, the most confident  24:24 — Dopamine dressing and the link to physical strength  30:40 — Getting dressed is a nervous system practice  34:26 — Vinted, £250 and a wardrobe that works  42:13 — The women who wait — and what it costs  51:01 — What The SHE Collective is becoming next  53:57 — Final advice: don't go it alone CTA If this conversation landed for you and you're ready to close the gap between how you feel and how you show up, a Style Strategy Call is where we begin. Book yours here: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call CONNECT WITH RO Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshecollective_uk/  Website: www.theshecollective.co.uk

    59 min
  6. Dressing for the Woman You're Becoming & The Legacy You’re Building with Founder Katie Keith

    May 27

    Dressing for the Woman You're Becoming & The Legacy You’re Building with Founder Katie Keith

    There's a version of success that looks right on paper but doesn't quite feel right in the mirror. That's what this conversation is really about. Katie Keith spent over 25 years in corporate finance, built her career in global banking, and sat at boardroom tables where she was often the only woman in the room. She left not because she failed, but because she outgrew it. And what followed - the identity reset, the physical transformation, the unlearning of everything corporate had shaped her to be - is one of the most honest accounts of stepping out of a system that's been defining you. We talk about what it means to be a woman of value, not just one who creates it. About the ritual she uses before she says yes to anything. About the moment she looked in the mirror and didn't recognise herself, and what she did about it. This is a conversation about identity, leadership presence, and what it means to dress for the woman you're stepping into before you've fully arrived there. TIMESTAMPS 01:03 — Why Katie left corporate and why she calls it an identity reset, not a career change  02:24 — Building what she wished she'd had 03:42 — When a business evolves beyond its founder's ego  05:17 — The unlearning: shedding what corporate taught you to be 06:12 — Thinking from five years in the future and how it changes every decision you make now  08:13 — Style as armour: the corporate uniform, the power suit, and what it protected  09:33 — Stepping out of the sea of suits and owning her visibility 10:00 — The physical transformation and why it was always part of the plan  11:32 — Dressing for the woman you're stepping into before you've fully arrived  13:45 — Why the right room is not a luxury, it's a strategy  15:06 — The permission slip: why women are waiting for someone to say it's okay  18:32 — The committee in your head and how to chair it  20:23 — Style, conditioning and the assumptions we make about who we have to be  22:14 — What ownership of self actually looks like in practice 28:45 — The fear of letting go and why she held on just a little too long  32:42 — Being a woman of value, not just one who creates it  33:09 — The three-question ritual Katie uses before she says yes to anything KEY TAKEAWAYS Style is not the last thing you update after you've evolved. It's a tool for stepping into who you're becoming.Every time you say yes to something that doesn't serve you, you erode your own self-trust.The right room doesn't just support you. It shows you how alike you all are beneath the titles and the polish.You don't need more planning. Sometimes you need to stop waiting for the permission slip and take the leap. If this conversation landed for you and you're ready to stop dressing for who you were and start showing up as the woman you're becoming, a Style Strategy Call is where we begin. 👉 Book yours here: www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call CONNECT WITH KATIE Website: https://www.kk-collective.com  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/k-keith  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katie_keith_collective/

    44 min
  7. When Your Style Hasn't Caught Up With Your Identity: Astrology & Leadership - with Rachel Maria Bell

    May 20

    When Your Style Hasn't Caught Up With Your Identity: Astrology & Leadership - with Rachel Maria Bell

    There's a moment a lot of women know. You've changed, in how you see yourself, in your career, in what you stand for, but your wardrobe is still telling the old story. That's what this conversation is about. Rachel Maria Bell is an astrologer, identity strategist, and founder of Quantum Expansion. She works with women who know they're here for something bigger - what she calls new paradigm leadership - helping them see themselves beyond conditioning and lead from a place of sovereignty. She's also a past client of mine, and her experience of working on her style is the thread that runs through this whole conversation. We cover a lot of ground - from the identity gaps that show up long before a woman touches her wardrobe & lockdown style, to what astrology actually does as a tool for self-recognition, to why the energy of a piece of jewellery or clothing matters. This is one of those episodes that will make you see things in a totally new light. I've been drawing more of this into my own work - the deeper identity tools, the layers beneath the surface. My session with Rachel was part of that. That's what I'm creating with my style work too and why I wanted her on the show. KEY TAKEAWAYS Style communicates trust before a single word is spokenWhat astrology actually does beyond knowing your star signWhat your chart reveals about how you show up in the worldA styled life isn't about the clothes. It's about coherence, when everything matchesThe collective turning point, and what it means for women who feel the pull but can't yet name it TIMESTAMPS 01:04 — Who Rachel is and the work she does  02:44 — From business lecturer to astrologer: the shift that changed everything  06:43 — What astrology actually does (beyond knowing your star sign)  12:05 — The identity shift that motherhood brings and why style keeps needing to catch up  13:33 — Lockdown, invisible businesses, and dressing for a price point you'd outgrown  16:39 — Colour, black, and why wearing the rules doesn't always mean following them  19:20 — Why style needs to hold all the different versions of who you are  28:46 — The energy of clothing and when a piece has run its course  34:33 — Reading a chart: the first house, the rising sign, and the seventh house  39:27 — Is there a connection between a woman's chart and how she expresses herself visually?  47:02 — Human design, projectors, and the value of being a seer rather than a doer  48:08 — Quick fire If this conversation landed for you and you're ready for your style & presence to match your success and future goals - a Style Strategy Call is where we begin. It's a free, no-pressure conversation. Book yours here:  https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call CONNECT WITH RACHEL Find Rachel and her work at https://www.quantumexpansion.co.uk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelmariabell/ https://www.instagram.com/quantum_expansion_/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-maria-bell/

    51 min
  8. Why Your Style Still Doesn't Feel Like You - Human Design Astrology & Identity For Results That Last

    May 13

    Why Your Style Still Doesn't Feel Like You - Human Design Astrology & Identity For Results That Last

    You've done the work. The coaching, the therapy, the wardrobe edit. And you still walk into a room and get experienced as a smaller version of who you actually are. That's not a you problem, that's a missing piece. Most approaches to style start with the wardrobe and never go beneath it. Most approaches to identity stay in the mind and never land in the physical world. Nobody has held both together. Until now. In this episode, Alex unpacks the identity-led framework she has been using with powerful results, but quietly keeping to herself. Human Design, Astrology, Numerology, Character Strengths, Values. Not as a personality exercise. As the foundation that makes every styling decision rooted in who you actually are, not who you've been performing as. If you've ever thought this doesn't feel like me - this is the episode that explains why. And what to do about it. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — The part Alex has been keeping quiet 02:15 — Why coaching, therapy and styling all work in isolation, and miss the whole picture 06:40 — The five identity lenses: what they are and how they're used 10:20 — Reading presence before the client says a word 13:45 — The questions that build the living picture underneath everything 17:10 — Colours, silhouette and signature style, only after identity clarity 19:30 — 15 years as a global fashion buyer: capable, competent, completely disconnected 23:00 — What changed when her daughter was born 26:15 — What her north node in Aries was asking her to stop doing 29:40 — Character strengths: why honesty first means she can't perform a version of herself that isn't true 33:00 — Human Design and style as embodiment, written into who she is 37:20 — The gap between who you are and how you're experienced is an embodiment problem 40:05 — Why the most lasting transformations feel like coming home KEY TAKEAWAYS Identity before clothing. Always. The sequence is the methodology.The gap between who you are and how you're experienced is not a wardrobe problem. It is an embodiment problem.The most confident transformations aren't a performance of someone new. They're a reclamation of who you already are. READY TO CLOSE THE GAP? If this episode landed and you're ready for someone to hold the whole picture together, start with the Styled for Impact guide. It's the beginning of the identity piece and will help you start asking the right questions before any of this work begins. Download it here: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/styledforimpactguide Or if you're ready to talk, book a free Style Strategy Call: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call

    16 min
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About

Welcome to A Styled Life, the podcast for purpose-led female founders & senior leaders ready to use style as a powerful tool for confidence, impact, and influence. I'm your host, Alex Standley, multi award-winning Personal Stylist, Speaker and Sustainable Fashion Consultant, with two decades of experience in the fast-paced world of fashion. Join me as we redefine success from the inside out. This podcast isn’t just about clothes. It’s about personal power, purposeful style, and creating a life that aligns with your values. So whether you’re running a business, leading a movement, or stepping into your next chapter, you’re in the right place. Each week, we’ll dive into the world of personal style, sustainability, female empowerment, and living with intention. Through real stories, expert insights, and plenty of inspiration.

Information

  • Creator
    Alex Standley
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Alex Standley

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