Gratitude: The Essential Business Practice for Fashion Industry Professionals

Gratitude has the power to transform relationships, calm conflicts and increase goodwill in the world, all super important stuff. So it’s no surprise that a daily gratitude practice can grow your business and attract more of your ideal customers, colleagues and collaborators to your door.

Here are three strategies for incorporating gratitude into your fashion career.

1) Focus on the positive

The pressure of keeping up with the fast-paced fashion industry makes it easy to get sucked into a downward spiral of self-sabotaging thoughts. Keeping a daily gratitude journal and listing 5-15 things you’re thankful for helps shift your focus to abundance instead of things that you lack. Focusing on the positive also makes infinite to-do lists easier to deal with because the mental barriers come down and you can get more things done in less time.

2) Think of others beside yourself and give back

Being a fashion entrepreneur can be a very egocentric career path, but practicing gratitude requires you to think of someone else beside yourself. Gratitude is more than just saying thank you. Gratitude is an emotion and an attitude, as well as how you convey appreciation to your customers, colleagues and collaborators. This can mean the difference between barely surviving versus thriving in the marketplace.

Set aside 10-15 minutes each day to send a thank you card or email or make a thank you phone call to current and past clients, colleagues and collaborators. Expressing genuine gratitude helps develop trust, meaningful connections and generates positive reciprocal behavior. Give back to those who have helped you grow by sending them qualified referrals. When referrals come your way be sure to promptly thank the referrer and express your appreciation for them going the extra mile on your behalf.

3) Celebrate milestones

Celebrating your milestones, including tiny ones, helps you to be thankful for where you are right now and enjoy the present moment. But have your ever taken a moment to celebrate and express your appreciation for reaching a significant anniversary or milestone with those that make your business and career possible?

Imagine the joy your clients, colleagues and collaborators will feel at receiving a beautiful thank you message or small gift recognizing their 1, 5, or 10-year anniversary of supporting your talent. Incorporating these simple gratitude tips into my daily activities helps me stay focused on the true mission of my business. Which is celebrating and enhancing the beauty of others, and what I want out the experience of being a fashion entrepreneur, to have a ton of fun and earn a joyous living from sharing my jewelry with the world.

Practicing gratitude reaffirms my commitment to only creating the designs I’m passionate about and working with the clients, colleagues and collaborators that I’m truly grateful for having the privilege of serving.

Visit michellepajakreynolds.com to view the results of my gratitude practice, including new designs, upcoming events, press features, and jewelry care tips. Connect with me on social media and visit Fashion Mingle often for exclusive behind-the-scenes access on my latest projects and entrepreneurial adventures.