Paradigm Shifters is a series of interviews with a select group of women and men from eclectic walks of life. It will highlight unspoken, real-life insights on how they have been able to turn weakness into strength. A naked soul point of view of how their breakdowns were really a preparation for breakthroughs. They are your quintessential paradigm shifters; internal shifts converted into genuine change.
Everything I have ever done has been focused on this underlying theme of shifting the paradigm because, "What we think determines what we feel and what we feel determines what we do." Hence, why Empowered by You takes lingerie, which has traditionally been seen merely as a tool of seduction and redirected that energy as a tool of empowerment.
I hope from these stories you will look at your own situations, struggles and accomplishments through a different lens. At the very least you will be more equipped with real life tools to change your own paradigm. At the end of the day, we are our own Alchemist turning the silver we were born with into the gold we are destined to become.
Lori Goldstein - Fashion Stylist, Designer & QVC Ambassador
You moved to LA from Ohio at 17 and landed a job with Fred Segal. How did this springboard your career?
I always knew I was going to leave Ohio. I chose to not go to college and instead educate myself in the world. In Fred I found a mentor. He was someone who was very much an individual, someone who showed that you can break the mold and do things your own way. He showed me that you could do things your own way. Fred saw something in me, a talent that he helped cultivate. I was only twenty when I met him and he asked me to come to New York on a buying trip with him and his crew.
The way that I live my life always is through instinct. As soon as I saw the New York skyline for the first time my heart leaped and I thought, this is home. Fred was very supportive of me moving here and I think it was incredible that he took that chance on me. I saw in him an individual who did things his way and I was really inspired by that.
How do you manage to constantly stay relevant in such a cutthroat and ever-changing industry where you always have to keep a finger on the pulse?
I think that pulse is always there for us if we tap into it.
I'm not somebody who looks to other people to see what they're doing. It's never really mattered to me what supposedly is happening. Honestly, through incredible grace and just how life is I've met these incredible people along the way who seem to be kindred spirits in that they go for what they want. They look for people who aren't necessarily of the moment but can relate to what they're doing.
When I met Annie Leibovitz it was through a mutual acquaintance I knew that asked me to do a shoot with her for Vanity Fair and we clicked. I went on this journey with Annie then for fifteen years.
When I look back at my career and I see who I've worked with and the opportunities I've had, I attribute it to hard work and to understanding that everyone is just a person like I am. I've always beat to my own drum.
As much as I was in the fashion industry, I never really cared what people thought about me. That wasn't my focus. When you can focus on your work and not worry if your star is shining, you will accomplish what you set out to accomplish.
Tell me about your partnership with QVC and your LOGO line.
There's always going to be this thread through my answers because that really is how life is, but the stars aligned.
I envisioned this in my head before I knew it was going to be with QVC. I had a love for QVC for a very long time, I adored Joan Rivers. But I had this idea in my head about how clothing has been this expression and freedom for myself--especially growing up in Ohio. I always knew that clothes were more than just clothes.
Women, wherever I was, would come up to me and say, "I wish I could dress like you" or "I wish I could put those colors together" and I would always think, why can't you? That was the birth of LOGO.
I wanted to share my love and experience of the joy of getting dressed every day to empower women to feel great about themselves. It's so much more than fashion and silly clothes. It's a way of women understanding that it's just one more thing that was put on us of "you can't do that" and for us to bust through all of the myths we've been told and have fun!
QVC is an incredible partner for me, I'm reaching more women than I ever imagined.
LOGO is marketed as an all-women's brand. How does individuality and your everything approach influence the LOGO line? Who is the LOGO woman?
I love this question because LOGO is for all women.
All of us are individuals, all of us have our own way of doing things. I think that is my greatest message I want to get across. I'm not really a designer, I'm a stylist. And I'm a female stylist so I get to wear these clothes. If I have five items, how am I going to put them together? I'm going to put them together completely different than you are, or exactly how you are.
Either way, as long as you're true to yourself, it's fabulous. It is for all women and that, for me, is the most exciting part of all of this. I grew up in Ohio, I was not your normal person, especially back then, and you think you're different than everybody and yet we're all the same. We have the same desires and we're looking for joy. How we express it is different, but the ultimate goal is the same.
To have the opportunity to reach this many women at QVC is this perfect alignment for me in my life. QVC is the perfect place for me because I'm so about celebrating all women, and QVC has always been inclusive of all female body types. It's sort of like I've come home. There's no judgment, we're just having fun as women.
What was your biggest breakdown to breakthrough moment?
I was a stylist for thirty years, I had an amazing career, I traveled the world and worked with the most creative people. I felt so blessed and loved my work. I'm the type of person that life is work, so if I don't love what I'm doing I'm not going to love my life. And I knew in my life I was done with this.
I was working on a book of my work and I knew I wanted to do that for myself to say goodbye and thank you to this incredible part of my career. And I had this idea of doing the clothing line and the concept of empowering women. I probably couldn't have done this earlier in my life because I was terrified of being in front of the camera.
When I turned fifty, I thought about my biggest fears and that's it. I had to overcome it. When I started talking about this line, I was introduced to QVC and the next chapter of my life began. I'm happier than I've ever been and I'm doing something more incredible than I ever thought I would, but there were quite a few years in there where it was, what is this going to be? I'm not the type of person that puts myself out there, I don't go to parties, it's not about me it's about my work.
I was confused and frustrated, but I had to put myself out there for this to work. I worked with a life coach to put things into perspective. There is self-effort and then there's grace. You do have to put the work in and contemplate what you want, and then incredible things will come your way.
What legacy do you wish to leave behind?
I hope that everybody that comes through my path I can teach to do things their own way. I'm a believer that if you do the work, it will pay off.
I hope my legacy is "she had great style, she had great taste and she shared that with everybody, and she was a good person."
I just want people to be themselves and have fun.
If your life were a book, what would be the title of 2015 and what would you want the title for 2016 to be?
2015 would be "I'm Living My Dream." And 2016 would have to be "...More to Come!"