“So do you maybe have, like, a blazer?”

That was my friend A – asking as gently as she possibly could – as she watched me pull out my burgundy Converse high-tops, a sparkly pair of tennis shoes, a suede miniskirt, and an assortment of other garments that were most definitely not blazers.

This was for my first-ever brand photoshoot. (Yes, I know. Ten years into this and just getting around to it. We don’t need to discuss it, thanks.)

Naturally, I’d been agonizing over what to wear for weeks.

Do I coordinate with my brand colors? Do I try to look like a ~professional~? Is there a dress code for “I spend most of my day overthinking, agonizing over a single word, and living inside other people’s heads”??

So I did what any reasonable person would do: I asked the most fashionable friend I had to weigh in on my outfit options.

What I had not adequately accounted for: while A is absolutely *that girl* in her personal life, she’s also a serious tech founder who is used to operating in a male-dominated industry.

Which is to say: in her professional world, “dressing for your personality” isn’t… really a thing.

No matter how many times I tried to reassure her – this was a brand shoot, this is very normal in my industry, the whole point is to show my personality and not look like everyone else, people hire people, authenticity and showing up as a real human person is literally my whole thing etc, etc, etc.…

I fear she still believes I’m out here losing clients because of my photos.

Now, she wasn’t entirely wrong. For her world, that is.

But my clients aren’t hiring a tech founder in a blazer. They’re hiring someone who’s going to make their copy sound like a real human person wrote it, and resonate with their real human person audience as a result. Showing up as anything other than myself would have been a little bit of hypocrisy.

And anyway, I think the photos turned out pretty great. (And worth noting: I did take A’s suggestion on the turquoise shirt. Thanks A!)

Check out a sample:

But I’m curious what you think. Does showing up like this – colorful, decidedly more casual than business casual, with not a blazer in sight – make you more or less likely to trust me with your copy?

Hit reply and let me know. I can take it. ;-)
​
~Nicole

P.S. New around here and wondering why on earth this copywriter is out here posing with a globe like she’s auditioning for a travel show?

A reasonable question, Reader.

The short answer is that travel is a big part of my life. Like, I’ve visited 100+ countries, lived in 6 countries, and can speak 5 (ish) languages kind of big.

It’s also informed, not coincidentally, a big part of how I think about language, communication, and what it takes to make copy resonate across different types of people, contexts, and industries.

(Hint: it’s not just polished words, sharp grammar, and a really good AI prompt. But I’ll save that soapbox for another day.)

Nicole Elliott Human-First Conversion Copy & Messaging Strategy Non-salesy sales copy that sells w/out the sleaze   hello@nicoleelliott.co www.nicoleelliott.co

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