You walk into a room with 30 people who have been waiting for you. What do you do for them?

My answer is that I would first style all of them, and teach them all I know about style!

This question will usually lead you to a person’s dreams, or lifework if they’re somewhere down a career that they love.

Some said they would give those 30 people a massage. Some would refinance all their mortgages. Others entertained them.

What did you do for those 30 people?

(This is a part 1 of a 2-part update. Part 2 is here ⇒ Step Two: Let’s Talk About the Business Approach)

But before I get into my thoughts, I thought I would make this entire project a challenge for myself. Partly to keep me motivated, and partly because I don’t really have much of a choice, anyways!

I had a look at my tourist visa, and it expires by July 27, 2009. And since yesterday marks the date that this determination began, I thought I would start a countdown beginning yesterday as well.

That gives me 70 days to make my dreams come true.

So what do I want to achieve by the end of these 70 days?

• A working visa, probably with a job at a major fashion company
• To be able to style for a living
• At least 100 clients who are as much friends as they are clients

And since I’m listing goals, here are my long term goals as well.

• To make fashion and style easily available to all the people who are struggling with it
• To help change the Japanese work environment (more on this later)

Let me talk about each of these goals briefly.

A working visa, probably with a job at a major fashion company
First things first, I need a working visa to be able to stay in Japan. Of course, I would love to be able to sponsor my own visa, but I don’t think it’s actually possible to do it within this small of a time frame from a legal standpoint. And naturally, my sponsor will have to be in the same industry, so a fashion company it will be.

To be able to style for a living
Styling is my passion, and so I shall make my passion into my means of living!

At least 100 clients who are as much friends as they are clients
As a rough measurement of how far I want to come with my own career in these 70 days (also for a strong appeal to companies), I would like to have at least 100 clients. That means more than one client a day, which means I have my work cut out for me!

But just as important is the relationship that I build with those clients. I don’t like the strong 上下関係 (hierarchial relationships) found in Japanese culture. Not because I don’t believe that older people / superiors shouldn’t be respected, but because I feel that it creates a wall in relationships.  And I feel it’s a wall that prevents the creation of close, genuine, and lasting friendships.

To me, it’s a waste. Everyone’s time is important. And that time shouldn’t be wasted on relationships that have no room to grow. I believe that the relationships you build with others are what bring you everlasting happiness, and I so I want to build those types of relationships as I build my career.

In a way, it’s sad. These hierarchial relationships were probably built on genuine feelings of respect back when they began. But now, they seem to just be traditions are more often empty than not.

And so that’s also what my goal to help change the Japanese work environment is about as well. I’m not going to start a revolution, but I’m going to try to make changes in my own environment that will hopefully set of a ripple that transforms into a wave.

To make fashion and style easily available to all the people who are struggling with it
And of course, the dream I took with me when I came to Japan. I want to take everything that I learn about style and make it easy to understand. I’ll never forget my struggle with fashion and style, nor the elation I had when I finally “got” it. I want to share that feeling with the world.

He had a point, since at that time I hadn’t styled anyone but myself. But regardless, I told him with confidence that I could easily do it. So in response, he asked me to style him. He didn’t really have a clue about style, and he had always been wanting to upgrade his image somehow. He made a requirement that all the clothing be from Uniqlo (a brand somewhat similar to Gap in the USA), as he was a big fan of the brand. Another reason being that any outfit I made would be affordable. Lastly, the context for the outfit would be his workplace. Of course, I accepted his challenge.

So I did some research for ideas and then later spent about an hour on my own at the nearby Uniqlo trying on outfits until I was satisfied. And I was very satisfied. In one way because of the outfits, and in another way because I had begun to prove to myself that I could do what I claimed.

Sako-san was busy during that period, but about two weeks later, I finally brought him to the store an had him try everything on. He loved it. There were a couple issues with the jackets and hats not fitting him (jackets not tapered enough at the waist, hats one size only), but otherwise he was satisfied and bought everything. I took some photos while he was still in the changing room and had the jackets, and here they are (finally uploaded):

Later on, I’m going to post these photos on a separate blog dedicated to the styling that I do. But to briefly describe what I did here, these are two outfits based on the same concept. The colors are the spring 2009 trend colors: grey, khaki, navy, and light blue. Colors can appear once or twice in the same outfit, but never more than that. In particular, I used the Burberry Prorsum collection as a primary inspiration.

The experience was a great inspiration because of a couple of things that Sako-san told me afterwards. First of all, he really enjoyed the experience. As someone who didn’t know fashion, and now in his 40′s, this was very refreshing for him. Second, it was spectacular that this could all be done at Uniqlo on a low budget (everything in the photos together cost around 15,000 yen). And most importantly, this was something that perhaps only I could do. Not to say that other’s aren’t capable of doing what I did, but that they won’t. For maybe a reason as simple as just not having a reason to do it.

This idea came up in a conversation with Sako-san, Mami, and my other friend Lika, but they said I should keep doing what I did for Sako-san. Start a blog, call it something like “when times turn rough, turn to Uniqlo for fashion,” and start creating outfits based on Uniqlo clothing every day. Why? Because people are always looking for good fashion. Because people want to save money in tough times. Because Uniqlo reaches out to every age group. Because trends are extraordinarily powerful in Japan and if I can get a good thing going on a blog, I’ll have a huge following in no time!

THIS IS HOW I AM GOING TO DO STYLING MY WAY!

I have so many ideas swarming around in my head that it’s hard to get them all sorted out.

That’s the basis of what I’m going to do, but I’m going to reach out farther than that. So not only will I create outfits, but I’m going to approach customers in the store, introduce myself, and style them! Rather than accepting payment in money, I’ll ask them to let me take a photo, have them take one and sent it to me, and/or write about me on their own blogs!

For one, it’s a great way to directly increase the number of people who know about me, but it also lets me reach out to all different types of people! For example I can reach out to someone in their 20′s just as easily as I can reach out to someone in their 50′s! That’s what I want to do!

I don’t have to limit myself to Uniqlo, either. I can always move to a place like Gap or Zara as well to broaden the selection. Or, I can take one piece from a brand name store, and then coordinate it all with Uniqlo clothing! After all, that’s always an issue. To have a piece of clothing that you like, but not know how to coordinate it into an outfit. I think once I get to a certain point, I can even take requests from people who have that problem.

To tie this all into a career, eventually this should develop a lot of attention. I might get approached by an organization (such as Uniqlo), or I can use the reputation to start a personal styling business.

Oh man, I’m excited. Whatever the case, it’s time to get started. I’m going to pave my own path to turn my dreams into my career!

I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep at this rate, haha.