#73: How to ‘Look Your Best’ On Zoom Meetings with Stylist Solita Roberts

Show Notes

Even with more things opening up and  more people returning to an actual office, virtual Zoom meetings aren’t going anywhere soon. For one thing, they’re just so convenient! To help you look as professional online as you would in-person, co-hosts Nola Boea and Lori Vajda asked professional stylist and image consultant, Solita Roberts for some lighting, camera angle, and wardrobe tips, tricks and hacks so you can seize the moment on your next video meeting.
​
Solita is the founder of Style To Impact, a personal styling and image consulting agency working with high-performing, purpose-driven female entrepreneurs and professionals.​

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In This Episode You’ll Learn 

• From poor lightening to terrible camera angles, with just a few small tweakss you can look your best on virtual meetings.
• How to make your web camera work for you, not against you.
• While you don’t have to wear the kind of clothing you’d wear to the office, these tips will have you looking professional, at least from the waist up.
• Tips for making your face, makeup and eyewear camera ready for your next video conferencing appearance. 

Key points Lori and Nola are sharing in this episode:
(3:20:32) How to step up your lighting games so you always look your best on virtual meetings.
(6:23:38) What is the image you want to project? How to know if your online appearance matches the image you want to create.
(8:20.33) Camera and lighting tips for people who wear glasses. 
(10:15.80) The eyes have it. These ‘must’ tips wearing makeup that enhances rather than distracts from your appearance. 

Resources 

You can subscribe to Lori and Nola's show, (we love you and want to make it easy) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Connect with Solita Roberts: [email protected] 
Style To Impact website: https://styletoimpact.com/ 
Social Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/styletoimpact/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/styletoimpact/

This episode was supported by: Be-YOU-nique
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ConvertKit: Our #1 Favorite Email Marketing Platform 
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Transcript

[00:00:00] Lori: Has this ever happened to you? You're on a Zoom meeting and glance up to see your face on screen and wonder what happened. Maybe you're thinking you look more tired than usual or your features appear washed out, or maybe you notice the glare on your glasses makes it look like you have no eyes, let alone eyebrows. If you're not liking the version of you you're seeing on screen, stay tuned listeners because in this episode, stylist and image consultant, Solita Roberts is sharing her tips and tricks, so you can feel ready to face your next video meeting.

[00:00:34] Announcer: You're listening to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast. We're time-strapped professionals like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.

[00:00:44] Nola: While the benefits of Zoom meetings means we're only having to worry about our appearance from the waist up, it also means our face, makeup and eyewear are more front and center than ever before. Which is why creating your signature look is just as important for your face as it is for your clothes. But, before our professional style expert shares her secrets for getting Zoom-ready gorgeous, welcome to Sticky Brand Lab, the podcast where we share essential business tools, shortcuts, and advice from leading entrepreneurs, industry experts and our own real-world experience, so you can launch your business quickly and without breaking the bank or feeling overwhelmed, because the only thing more empowering than knowledge is being able to take confident, decisive action.

[00:01:29] Lori: We're here today with our returning guest, expert stylist and image consultant, Solita Roberts. Solita is the founder of Style to Impact, a personal styling and image consulting agency working with high performing purpose-driven female entrepreneurs and professionals. Solita assists women in refining their wardrobe and image so they can showcase their talent, expertise and thought-leadership with confidence. She's here today to share her how-tos for creating signature eyes that boost your confidence, look professional on camera and make you feel like you're putting your best self forward. Welcome back, Solita!

[00:02:06] Solita: Yes. It's always exciting to come back and to speak with you ladies. And of course to share as well. Thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it.

[00:02:13] Lori: We're so excited that you're here.

[00:02:15] Solita: Thank you.

[00:02:16] Nola: It's always wonderful to have you back because your insights, recommendations and suggestions are so doable and helpful. Not to mention you're just so much fun to have on the show!

[00:02:27] Solita: Yes, you ladies make it fun as well. So thank you.

[00:02:33] Nola: We mentioned at the beginning of the show that creating a signature for your eyes is just as important as it is for your clothes. But there's another reason why you would want to focus on your eye. So according to research conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, 93% of how you're judged in a meeting is based on non-verbal communication. Things like how you enter a room, shake hands, and in the US, make eye contact. When you're face-to-face with someone, you have the opportunity to look into their eyes. But when you're on camera that can come across as flat, because you're not really looking into anyone's eyes, you're looking into a camera. So we thought it was really important to explore this topic, especially because how other people see and think about you relates to your personal brand, which having a strong signature style is part of.
So let's start with lighting. Unfortunately, the unforgiving built-in laptop camera and harsh screen lighting is not great for making us look our best self. How can we use lighting? Whether a ring light, ceiling lighting or natural lighting, how can we use it to enhance our look?

[00:03:37] Solita: First thing everyone says, position yourself in front of a window. I can guarantee you 95% of us don't have a window to position ourselves in front of. I.e., me. Right? I do not have a window to position myself. It took me several tries to figure out where like in my house is the best place for me to set up my office and so behind me, it's a nice clean wall. And that's what you want to pay attention to. Nice clean wall, nothing too busy. In terms of your lighting, now. So like you can get a ring light, which I have in front of me. I do have a ring light, but I'm stepping up my lighting game and trying to be a little bit more in terms of creating professional videos. I do have two small standing lights in front of me and also a softbox light, like a 90-degree angle situation. to give me that backlighting. Cause you want to be able to make sure that you're not fading into your background. And as you said, when we're communicating, we want to be able to see someone's face. That's how we build that trust. That's how we develop that relationship because we're looking into your eyes. Yes. We're looking at the camera, but we are, in a way, trying to look into that person's eyes. So When it comes to your lighting, you want to make sure that you have enough light coming to your face. So persons can see all of your personalities, see all of you, and it's clear as possible as you can get it.
Another tip that I found work is to look at your webcam. Some webcams give you the option, especially on Zoom, to increase the lighting. Oh, my webcam does that. So even though I have these lights, I can adjust the lighting on my webcam to be able to give me a little bit more light in my shot.

Oh, another thing: If you have a light above you, turn that off. You don't want to have that extra because sometimes what happens is that your ring light is giving off this soft white lights. And if you have an orange bulb, something that's conflicting, then you end up with a different color or shadow on your face or stuff like that. That kind of throws off your image, and so kind of think of that way.

[00:05:44] Lori: Yeah. I was going to ask if, if there's anything that you should be aware of in using different lighting, because it can also wash you out if you're not careful, or if you're too close to the light or you're too up against your background, it can all come across as flat, rather than dimensional.

[00:06:03] Solita: Yes. I've had those experiences where, when I first started, it's adjusting my settings on my ring light and I had it so high that it's adding so much light. That what happens, I am getting these dark shadows around me. And instead of me having this clean, clear, crisp look, it's like, oh, what's happening? And then I look at myself and what happens if you're anything like me, because you're trying to project the right image within a setting in a couple of seconds with someone that you're meeting for the first time, especially when you're doing those first meetings and you like, you get obsessed, or at least I did, I get obsessed in not projecting the image that I want. It's not about what I think other people will, you know, tying into the, oh my gosh, are they gonna think it's like, no, is it projecting the right image that I want? And the image that I want is to be clear, to be crisp, to be professional and have that when you connect with me like, oh, wow. Hi, Solita. That warm invite. I want to have that and lighting and what I wear does help to do that.

[00:07:03] Nola: Sometimes people don't move when they're on camera. And so then they come across stiff or flat. Do you have any tips for using facial expressions to engage your audience?

[00:07:14] Solita: My suggestion on what worked for me is to sit down in front of my camera like I'm sitting down in front of someone. What would I do? So, I speak a lot with my hands and that helps me with my facial expression. If I'm talking, I make sure that, you know, I'm using my hands and that helps me to relax the muscles in my face. That helps me to really be relaxed in my posture because you want to be, yeah, you want to sit upright. You want to have great posture, but you don't want to look like a robot just moving through the conversation. So you get a smile on your face that helps. I'm a very expressive person. So there's that there's a smile on my face. Like, there's a genuine smile. It's not forced. It's like, I'm genuine. I'm listening to you. I'm hearing you. It's not that I'm zooming out, but I'm using that mechanism to help me. Don't put your hands under your chin, and kind of like propping and just be relaxed. Find your posture, find that spot that works for you. And think about that awesome vacation that you had so that you can have that genuine smile on your face.

[00:08:13] Nola: So we've talked about lighting and we've talked about different elements of being on camera. And I'm noticing that you have these really chic glasses, and you've just described all of these lights around you, and there's no reflection. How do you do that?

[00:08:27] Solita: So here's what happened to me. These are some new glasses that I got. The original glasses that I had, they were smaller frames. Perfect. Decided I wanted bigger frames. I wanted to go bigger. I had a different dimension to my personality. And then I discovered, because of my glasses, depend on the position of my head, you will see the lights in my eyes. And that's where, I mean, I didn't think about it when I was getting the glasses like, oh my gosh, my ring lights are going to show in my glasses because it's bigger now, like I did not think about that. So here is it. I have new glasses, sitting now on a call, and I'm noticing I have the, yeah. I'm like, what is happening? So. For those of you who are considering getting new glasses, absolutely go for it. But know that when you get those new glasses, you then have to reposition your lights. So I had to one, reposition my computer on my desk and repositioned the way I sat down. So if I do this and bring myself backwards, what happened? My glasses captures that light because I'm further away from my camera. If I come closer, making sure that I'm closer than the ratio between my glasses, my camera and the light that's above me, but at an angle, I'm not getting that light in my eyes.

[00:09:42] Lori: Well, you figured it out, which I'm impressed with. And now I am going to be playing with my ring light and putting it up and tilting it so that it adds more brightness to my face, which leads me to the question of eye makeup. Any tips for eye makeup to help maximize that space, because as you've talked about in the past, the more people that are on the Zoom call with you, the smaller your image gets in compared the more you have to do to pop out. So how does eye makeup help you?

[00:10:15] Solita: First of all. Let me say this. If you're not into, because sometimes when we have these tips, in my expertise, when we say, oh, eye makeup and wear makeup and it's like, oh no, but makeup is not my thing. Then that means I'm not going to be popping on screen. That means that you have to pay attention to the way you're making sure that you comb your hair, making sure that you moisturize your face. Making sure that you have, like, what are some of the different things that you can do to make sure that you are popping on screen?

But if you're someone who wears makeup, then perfect I'm not a makeup expert, but these are things that I've learned for myself. First of all, when you have artificial lighting, your makeup needs to be a little bit heavier than normal. Because what happens, especially if you have oily skin like me, adding these lights, all of that oil is going to come out and you just going to be a shining ball of joy onscreen. So you want to pay attention to that, like just do a little bit more in terms of your foundation, in terms of your powder that you wearing and your primer. A tip, a trick that I've learned from playing mass and carnival makeup. My makeup artists used to add a little bit of Milk of Magnesia to my t-zone. That's your forehead, your cheeks, because those were my, like my sweaty spots. And it will hold the makeup. So that's what I do when I'm coming on Zoom and I know I'm going to be spending a longer time in front of these lights, is to add a little bit of like I put on my moisturizer and add a little Milk of Magnesia. The original, not the flavor one, no cherries. No, not the, just get the original, not a lot, you just damp it on like a cotton ball and just kinda like dump it on your face. I know some makeup artists probably listening to me, girl, what are you telling these people? But I'm telling you from playing mass, it works. It takes away the shine. It makes sure that your makeup stays in place for a longer time. And as someone who's not a professional makeup artist. Those are some of the things that work for me to make sure that I can be on camera longer and my face is still looking fresh.

Your eye shadows, you don't need to put on the neon colors, but keep your makeup as simple as possible. It doesn't mean because you're just showing this part of your body that you need to come with your red eyeshadows and it's like, no, you don't. You can keep it as neutral and normal as possible and use maybe a lip color to pop, but play around with your makeup in a way that best suits you and best work for you and making sure that you have that fresh look because that's really what you want. So whether or not you wear it or don't wear it, make sure that your face does have that fresh look about it.

[00:12:55] Lori: I love that. That's great. Thank you, Solita, for being our guest. If someone wants to learn more about you, your styling services, where can listeners go or how can they connect with you?

[00:13:07] Solita: For those listening, if you want to contact me, I spent a lot of time on LinkedIn. That's like my social media jam. That's where I'm at. You can search me under Solita C Roberts on LinkedIn. That's where I spend most of my time. If you want to have part of that community and see some of the conversations that I'm having, definitely check out my social. In terms of, if you're looking for personal styling services, like you're ready to work on your personal style, but you're probably not sure which direction to go in, feel free to send me an email at [email protected] that's S O L I T A at StyletoImpact.com.

But if you are that person and you're saying to yourself, yes, I am ready. But I've been holding back on being more of myself and being authentic and expressing who I am through my wardrobe, so you are ready to take action, there are three ways that I work with my clients. There is the Power Your Wardrobe element. That is where we work on your personal brand style in terms of how do you want to project and show up on social? How do you want to show up in your business? How do you want to shop in your career?

nd then there's also the Style Reset. This is very popular one that I have, because we're all going through a transition where we're trying to become more of ourselves, right? Shed societal norms or judgment or whatever it is, and become more of ourselves. And this is where I work with my clients in really crafting Your Signature Style, your personal style, bringing out your personality. Understanding what are colors that really works for you. Taking away that frustration of knowing what to wear by creating your capstone wardrobe, so when you walk into your closet it's like, okay, yes, outfits are just there. You don't have to like worry and spend that extra 15 minutes trying to figure out what to wear. And that's the Style Reset, as I said.

​And then of course there's the Style Shot. That one is, as I said, it's a shot because it's, we work on one element that you may be struggling with. It's like, okay, Solita, I am going on a business trip and I don't know what to pack. Can you help me? That's where the Style Shot comes in. So we work one thing that you need help with in that moment. And to access those services, you do that on my website, which is styletoimpact.com. Of course, you can send me an email if you're still unsure as to which option to go.

[00:15:25] Lori: Thank you so much for listening to this episode, we hope it makes all the difference in you getting started on your business so you can create your best and most exciting life. If you found the information shared here today, helpful let us know by posting here where you're listening or on our Facebook page.

[00:15:43] Nola: Not sure how to turn your idea into a profitable side business? Contact us at stickybrandlab.com/contact. We'd be happy to help you.

[00:15:52] Lori: Be sure to come back next Tuesday and every Tuesday for another informative, inspiring and motivating episode. And remember actions create results. So tap into your desire to create a business and brand you love by taking 1% action every day. Small steps, big effects.

[00:16:13] Nola: Okay. And I am lost.

[00:16:17] Lori: It's after welcome back, Solita. It's always wonderful to have you.

[00:16:25] Nola: Okay, okay, thank you. Sorry.