Carry yourself with confidence – an interview with Alba Gomez

Alba, you're a personal brand and presence consultant - But it wasn't always so! You used to be an engineer.... Tell me the story of that moment when you KNEW you were meant to work with women and their presence.

I had moved to Australia from Colombia and was working as an engineer for 3 years in Australia. I had achieved a great position as a manager in a Japanese multinational yet I was feeling empty. I started feeling the urge to be able to impact lives. I kept feeling my personal and professional story had taught me so much and I wanted to share that with other women. I was called to attend a retreat in Bali for women in business, I was the only employee attending.

By the end of that trip I knew I had to change careers I came back and resigned the next day. I knew then my business had to be about empowering others and especially women, then my business as an image consultant started. But because of my personal story of self-discovery and overcoming my lack of confidence that business quickly evolved into something more holistic that looked not only on the image side but a who transformation from the inside out.

Your business is all about presence and personal branding - why is it important for someone to feel confident with how they show up in the world? How does their life change?

​How you see yourself affects absolutely every single action you take. If you have self-belief, love and accept who you are fully, you will carry yourself with confidence. And from this energy, you will communicate with passion and power. From this place, you will feel comfortable being visible and sharing all of who you are, without worrying what others think of you, without editing yourself, without second-guessing every decision you make. It is a liberating process that will allow you to be visible not only to yourself but to others and to opportunities. This will not only affect your professional life, but your relationships and life.

Many women in my audience are short on time for shopping and styling themselves -- what are 2 or 3 of your go-to tips to create an amazing new image when you don't have a ton of time to shop?

​Looking and feeling your best doesn't necessarily have to take tons of time and money.

• You need to trust yourself and be very clear in the image you want to project. Make sure you own a wardrobe full of items you love and complement your personal style and lifestyle.
• Organisation and planning are key here. Is your wardrobe working for you? If not what needs to go, what needs to be purchased/altered. And make a point of getting those items to be added. Plan outfits on the weekend so during the week you can just pick it up from the hunger. 
• Start your days appreciating the beautiful woman you are. Look in the mirror and gifts yourself a few minutes to look into your eyes and give you some love, or even speak some affirmations. 

I talk to myself especially in the morning, telling me how confident and capable I am, how I've got this, or I can do it! We are great at beating ourselves up and speaking terrible to ourselves, a bit of time spent offsetting this bad habit is super powerful.

I work with a lot of women who feel impostor syndrome and who are being given impostor messages (For example, when you attend an important meeting and 80% of the people around the table are older, white men, it can send a message to women, especially women of colour). What’s the biggest source of impostor syndrome / impostor message that you've seen or your clients have seen? What advice do you have for overcoming it?

​I think the biggest source, unfortunately, is society and the messages we get every day. As little girls, we were told to behave, smile and just say yes to everything. To put own needs above everything else. Then we go into a world that taught us that it's a men's world, so we continue to dim our light more and more. Now with social media, the message of being perfect inside and out makes us feel even more inappropriate. I have had clients who have experienced all of the above.

For me, the way to break free from this syndrome is to realise 2 things: we are meant to be imperfect and we are all brilliant beyond measure. All of us are the same, independent of our size, background, beliefs, sex, anything. We are all strong, powerful, flawed, and we all have fears. It's a mind game in my eyes. And the more you believe the first 2 things I said, the more we can start showing up as the version of who we are.

I suffered from impostor syndrome all of my life. And it wasn't until I started to appreciate who I was with my dark side and all, and realised that that was the way I was meant to be that I could start overcoming it. You are where you are meant to be, all challenges are happening FOR you. There is no one perfect or, with a perfect life. No one is better than you, you just need to make peace with where you are in life and take responsibility for the results you are getting

I loved your YouTube video where you talked about helping women who maybe don't feel great in their bodies (I'm thinking especially us moms, whose bodies just aren't quite the same after le bebe.... guilty hand raise here!) -- what ONE mindset shift will help those of us who haven't quite gotten rid of the baby weight?

hehe...this happens to ALL of us, with or without babies. In fact, I have now realised that even the women with the most perfect bodies- in my eyes, feel unsatisfied with how they look one way or another. Unbelievable!! It is like we love being our worst judges and enemies. You must accept your body the way it is today.

From that place,you can learn how to make the most of it, by using colours and styles that work for you and feel YOU! Being beautiful is not about how you look is about enjoy who you are. It is a decision- to feel and be beautiful. Change how you see yourself in the mirror and start having fun with how you 'decorate yourself'. Bring all of you out. Spend time in the morning setting yourself out for success with self-love and self-appreciation in the mirror. Wear clothes that make you feel amazing. Wear makeup if that is your thing, get your nails done. Or just apply moisturizer, believe me sometimes, that is all it takes...

One thing that stood out for me on your instagram is your bold jewelry... I feel like you must have at least one great story about finding an amazing accessory... I'd love to hear it! (For me, I have a fun story about finding cowgirl boots on a Greek island and how I went back like 15 times to negotiate the price haha)

​OMG I loveeeee accessories, to the point that I now have an accessory line hand-made in Colombia: www.albagomezaccessories.com 

To me, you express so much of who you are through them, and they can make an outfit look so different.

Once I bought the most 2 beautiful rings in a boutique in Paris while getting lost on a walk. They were big and much more expensive than I would usually purchase an accessory for. I spend like an hour making a decision to get them. I was in love with what a statement piece they were. Then I felt guilty I had purchased them and on my way back after claiming the tax back I put them on my hand luggage. They never arrived home, not sure how but I lost them! I have never lost anything like this before... Not a happy story, but shows the power of my mind and how I didn't embrace my purchase or felt I didn't. deserve them and lost them.

Ok, an obligatory clothing question 😉 your favourite brand? (Mine is Desigual!)

I actually don't have one! Sorry. I find beautiful pieces everywhere I go! From all price tags too

You offer a workshop called The Presence Formula, helping women establish their credibility as an expert. What's the biggest transformation you've seen in the workshops you've run?

When someone realizes they have been valuing something in their lives that is not even a priority to them. Especially for women, how little they have been visible to themselves and others for fear of being judged.

I have a Professional Power Animal Quiz that I think is so fun to know everyone's "professional power" as represented by an animal: cat, bee, shark, wolf, dolphin and owl. Would you be up for taking quiz to find if you are you a or ??

Dolphin!

What is your favourite leadership book?
Start With Why (Simon Sinek)

Where are you most active on social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook...?) and who do you LOVE to follow there? Who's someone really great in the industry?

I am most active on Instagram, Facebook and Linked in

I love following Michael Grinder, Mel Robbins, Tony Robbins, Amy Cuddy, Gabby Bernstein