Rebekah Strauser is the Founder of Wisdom of Glinda. She has spent a lifetime cultivating an enviable personal style and is now seeking the opportunity to "pay it forward". 

How did this whole idea start?

The program has been developed over the course of seven years. It started with me trying to help my Aunt get her fashion back. We would work together and I would give her tasks to complete. The whole thing evolved really organically, we would try different things and see what worked and what didn’t.

When I saw that my Aunt was “getting it” and looking and feeling better I knew I was onto something. For a couple of years I’ve wanted to develop a way to bring this to the masses but just never had the opportunity. It took those “couple of years” for me to get the program down on paper and figure out the best way to put it out there.

So much of what was on television and in books was negative, mean spirited and there was a lot of finger pointing. I knew that people would want to hear a fresh voice, something that was nurturing, funny and honest. There is a vein of personal responsibility running through everything that I do. Sure, someone decided to ignore their appearance but there is more to it than that. No one wakes up one day and declares “I’m going to look terrible every day for the rest of my life”. Like anything else it develops over time.

I honestly, 100% believe that every woman deserves to look and feel good. There is no reason for a woman to run around looking awful. The “Ivory Tower Fashionistas” have made it seem as though everything is just too hard. I wanted to strip all of that away and show women that not only can they do it but it really isn’t that difficult. It’s important to shake yourself and get yourself out of a rut. Its important for women to recognize that it’s important to put themselves first and that yes, a new outfit can change your outlook.

What makes you qualified?

I honestly don’t know, what makes anyone qualified for this stuff? I don’t have a ‘pedigree’ or ‘formal training’ but, who does? What gives Anna Wintour the right to do what she does?

Every since I was a teenager friends have relied upon me to tell them what works and what doesn’t. I have been that person that people have leaned on to help them develop their own personal style. I guess I always “got it” when it came to clothes. I have a deep passion for clothes and love to see people feel good about what they are wearing.

I have worked in so many jobs where you see how clothes play out. When I worked in Human Resources it would amaze me what people would wear to interviews. You could tell when someone put no thought into their interview attire or that someone had no clue what to wear on an interview. It may sound bad but I often felt stronger about candidate who came in looking polished and chic. It goes to show how much clothing can say about you. When I saw that someone was well pulled together it was a visual signal that they are probably pulled together in other areas as well.

While working as a Matchmaker I often spent a decent amount of time helping people find perfect date outfits. So often we would hear back from our members that someone was dressed poorly. We always wanted our members to put their best foot forward and would coach them on the right attire. Again, it’s the idea that people are going to get a lot of information about you from the visual. If you put time and effort into your appearance it shows. It tells a lot more about you than anything you can say.

I think that style is really well-developed in some people and in other people not so much. Fortunately, it’s always been natural to me. I’ve always been a brutally honest person especially when it comes to clothes.

If you would like to contact Rebekah you may reach her at Rebekah@wisdomofglinda.com