What are you wearing on your Zoom meetings? Are you showing up as the brand you’ve worked so hard for? Or are you falling into the “it doesn’t matter what I’m wearing, I’m at home” category?

Recently I’ve been having lots of calls with friends and clients on Zoom trying to take a temperature on what work is like for them since they’re working from home.

What they’ve been sharing with me is that they’re on Zoom calls all day with others who are coming to their calls VERY, VERY casual. One friend even told me she had a guy show up to their Zoom call wearing a TANK TOP!

First…ewwww! I’m not even crazy about guys in tank tops on the beach. But on a business call? My head exploded when she told me this!

Not all of the stories I’m hearing are quite this extreme, but I am hearing that people are very, very casual on their Zoom calls.

As an image consultant and personal stylist, what ‘s running through my head is, “why would you want to ruin your brand you’ve worked so hard on for the sake of being comfortable?”

Yes, you’re at home, but if you have a Zoom (business) meeting you’re still working.

There is the old adage “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.”

I couldn’t agree more! But, the truth is also that you can ruin that good first impression! When you’re not consistent with how others are used to seeing and interacting with you, it can be confusing.

Inconsistency can make your “audience” wonder if you’re credible and capable.

Whenever I think about this topic it reminds me of the very first time I hired someone to help me with my business. I was working with a graphic designer to have her design my logo, business cards, and brochure. (I was so green at the time I let her convince me a brochure was a good idea.)

For our first meeting, the designer showed up looking nice. I liked her ideas and portfolio and decided to hire her.

For our second meeting, she hadn’t put much effort into her look. While I didn’t expect her to be wearing formal clothes, her appearance was really different for this time.

Along with her different image, she sat with her leg draped over an empty chair in the coffee shop, just really different than normal posture for doing business. (No, she wasn’t injured either.)

I was caught off guard. I was confused. Could I trust her to do a good job for me when she didn’t seem to be taking our business relationship seriously?

So…did the graphic designer do a good job for me? NO! She actually ended up being a nightmare to work with! It took forever to get the deliverables I hired her for (like 6 months!)

I invite you to mull this story and post over a bit.

Truly ask yourself if you’re showing up consistently.

Are you showing up as the personal brand you’ve worked hard on? Does your Zoom image reflect who you are and the work you’re capable of producing?

I know I’ve just unloaded a lot on you here. I’m by no way shape or form pointing fingers at or judging anyone, because truly we’re all in this together.

Again, I invite you to sit with all of this. And stay tuned—I have lots of solutions for what you can wear on Zoom that’s somewhere in between a work out tank and a business suit.

 I guarantee to keep you comfy, too!

I’d love to hear any interesting things you’re encountering on Zoom calls and doing business during our pandemic.

What are your biggest challenges when it comes to your Zoom image? Please comment below.