Last Updated on November 12, 2025 by flyhighc
What is executive presence? It’s not a dress code or a title; it’s how you show up to create connection, credibility, and calm under pressure. In this episode, CEO host Porschia and guest Catherine Cassidy reframe presence as self-respect + audience awareness. You’ll get clear, compelling ways to signal authority without losing your authentic style.
They explain why presence accelerates influence, buy-in, and team trust, even if you’re not an executive yet. You’ll learn to read the room (formal to casual), align your look to the moment, and let personality show through smart details. Fit, polish, and quality over quantity change how others perceive you and how you feel.
They also cover common pitfalls: thinking style doesn’t matter, sloppy cues (wrinkles, stains), hiding your shape, or clinging to rigid “rules.” Instead, you’ll learn how to practice “intelligent style,” context-aware choices that reflect your goals, values, and leadership voice. You can build sustainably, one thoughtful upgrade at a time.
Catherine Cassidy is Founder & CEO of Boutique Box with 23+ years in fashion across strategy, merchandising, and behavior psychology. She helps women leaders curate an “intelligent wardrobe” one piece at a time, partnering with emerging designers for better quality and less overwhelm. A sought-after speaker, she blends business savvy with wearable strategy.
What you’ll learn
- What is executive presence? And what it really means.
- Why presence drives credibility, influence, and culture, even below the C-suite
- How to adapt to casual vs. formal settings without dimming your personality
- Style fundamentals that elevate you instantly, and enhance executive presence
- Mistakes to avoid: sloppy signals, hiding your body, ignoring context, rigid rules etc. and what to do instead
- A sustainable plan to upgrade your wardrobe, one intentional piece at a time
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
Resources:
- Episode Transcript
Porschia: [00:00:00] Hello, I’m Portia Parker Griffin, and I wanna welcome you to the Career 1 0 1 Podcast, a place for ambitious professionals and seasoned executives who want an edge in their career. We’re talking about all of the things you were never taught or told when it comes to career growth, development, and change.
Now let’s get into it.
Today we are talking about what is executive presence with Catherine Cassidy, boutique Box Founder and CEO Catherine Cassidy has over 23 years of experience in the fashion industry, including more than 16 years of working with professional women, navigating the nuance of dressing in every industry.
She’s further grounded with experience in organizational design and behavior psychology. Her fashion industry experience [00:01:00] had her running the numbers for month end behind the scenes at Fashion Week, working with the executive team on strategy, collaborating with the creative director and running around the sales floor, creating perfect outfits for customers.
Since launching her first business, you styled Catherine has been a sought after speaker on cultivating confidence, leadership style, innovating in business, and the business of fashion. Hi Catherine, how are you today? Hello. I’m great. Thank you so much for having me. We are excited to have you with us to discuss executive presence, but first we wanna know a little more about you.
So tell me about 7-year-old Catherine. Oh my gosh.
Catherine: Seventh, 7-year-old Catherine third grade. I had just gotten glasses after. Wearing fake glasses as a sort of style statement saying I wanted glasses. And so the universe [00:02:00] gave me glasses. And at the time, ironically, I was devastated because of what that meant for my sports career. But I also remember, because I went to a Catholic school in elementary school, and the.
Uniform dressing, not so much as a uniform, but the minimalism of that informs how I think about style and the evolution to public school. But one thing I remember specifically in that year too, was when we did have days when we didn’t have to wear a uniform.
Porschia: So Catherine, tell us about some highlights or pivotal moments in your career before you started your business.
Catherine: So my first corporate job in the fashion industry was at Robinson’s May, which was a West coast department store chain that was part of the May company, which was a mid Midwest to west coast, like conglomerate of department stores when they were going through the merger with. What’s now known as Macy’s, Inc.
One of the [00:03:00] last really big merchant mergers. And I thought, I actually had not gotten any of the buyer training jobs that I applied for outta college or consulting jobs, which as a high performer was like a little cra like, you could imagine how I felt as a senior in college and I. I got this opportunity to work in the accounting department as a foot in the door for the fashion industry because a re recruiter followed up with me and I just thought this was a great opportunity for a case study and change management.
And how are they gonna manage this merger of these billion dollar companies with so many people that have worked here for their entire careers? And I was honestly really impressed with how they handled it, and it’s what led to my second opportunity in the industry, which was hire number three for the newly formed merchandising team for BCBG, which was also, merchandising was a fairly new.
Part of the ba business of fashion, really focusing more on strategy, ironically. So like consulting. [00:04:00] And it was a great learning curve because I got to be in the meetings with the CEO, the creative director, and I had minored in French. So it being a French company and with a very passionate French CEO who would sometimes speak French first.
It was a great opportunity to just really. See all the different functions of how the industry operates, which is what led me to actually start my business because I had such like a. Ground floor exposure to every facet of the business. I saw there’s something that’s broken here but forever grateful for that opportunity.
And it’s part of why I didn’t look to get another job to continue learning because I was fairly young when I started my first business. But those two first really, truly corporate jobs were incredibly, I think. Lucky and, very notable and noticeable companies. Yeah, it was really fun. But
Porschia: yeah.
So I’m hearing that [00:05:00] you have a ton of great experience. What really motivated you to start your own business?
Catherine: I analyzed the selling history and as a part of my job in figuring out what we should be putting into the stores for product assortments for going forward, what does the customer want and need?
What’s selling? What’s a best seller? And I saw that what constitute a best seller, still to this day for a lot of companies, is something that sells through 30% of their buy at full price. So if you buy a hundred pieces. 30 of them sell at full price, the rest sell at markdown, if at all. And you’re putting new product into the store every single month.
Not a small amount of SKUs. For a lot of these bigger companies, SKUs are essentially like you style, so that a color and a style is one sku. Just for a little bit more context of what that can look like. And I just, with looking at [00:06:00] that, that didn’t make any fiscal sense to me. If you look at the industry today, where we’re at, there’s a lot of things that are starting to be since 2019 have been coming to the surface.
But so it’s not really changed even in these 16 years, but I just fiscally didn’t make sense. These businesses were running on fumes and who was losing out at the end of the day was the customer for what I was thinking about, especially as an emerging leader, as I saw myself and want a woman who always wanted to have a career and work, but also wanted to have a family.
I am single, but that’s okay. So that part, TB, D, but really to the point was, how can I have it all? How can I do it all? And. So then that led me to think about what about all these other women? How can they have it all? How can they do it all? I have access, I have knowledge, I have experience, and it’s still this much work for me.
What is it like for the average working, busy working woman? Busy working mom. And I have used style as a tool my whole [00:07:00] life for how I show up for myself when I’m in situations where I’m outside of my comfort zone. So there’s just always been this. Connection for me and the power of style, the importance of style for showing up for work.
And so that was where I was like, I, there’s just this, there’s a problem here that needs to be solved for busy women that is systemic within the fashion industry, but also if we’re gonna have women rising up as leaders and closing the leadership gaps, they need the support. This can’t be hard. How can I make it easy?
Porschia: Wow. So what were some of the, problems around style or any other problems that you were seeing that made you say, Hey, I wanna focus on personal styling for women?
Catherine: Yeah, a lot of it was a gut instinct. Truly, when I first started, I was only 25. So what did I actually know? My peers were, 25 [00:08:00] and not in leadership roles yet.
It was this, I feel if she’s only buying things on sale, what does this mean for her closet and how it feels to get dressed. So it really was, I think there’s a problem here for her. And let’s get started. So I got started with small packages, just getting into women’s closets and was really confirmed with that being a big problem, especially like how many pieces were sitting.
In their closet with tags on why they were purchased in the first place. And there’s no shame in that. There’s a lesson that can be learned from every single piece you buy and why you bought it, so that you can take that learning and help, improve what you buy next or why you bought it, or get more particular about what you buy so that you’re not, it’s oh, I love this color, I love this shape, I love this energy.
I loved this. Made me feel powerful. But the fit wasn’t quite right. That’s what you wanna take forward. So getting into women’s closets, I saw that. And then I also saw that they were, we would do a closet session and then [00:09:00] they would go back and shop, but with the same patterns and habits. And so what they really needed was the shopping support.
- More than the style support because style is learned. So I can teach you how to put together outfits, what works for your body. But the harder part is finding the pieces and navigating the overwhelm in the stores with all the different brands, department stores, how many, new product is coming into the stores every month, but most women are not shopping every month.
So that just creates more and more overwhelm and then you can buy the same. Designer, but three different sizes because there’s not a consistency and there’s a history behind that too, as to why. But so that was all really confirmed. And then the next step was like, okay, so I have to solve her shopping problem.
How do I do that
Porschia: Uhhuh?
Catherine: Because there’s a lot of, this is why I mentioned behavioral psychology. I don’t have a degree in it, but I have studied for the last 16 years. If we wanna help people create change in their lives.
Porschia: I completely agree, [00:10:00] and I ask that Catherine, because we also have an entrepreneurship series on the podcast, and I find that about 25% of our individual clients are interested in entrepreneurship.
So what you said about solving a problem and really focusing in on how your clients really needed that shopping support as opposed to the style support, or at least first, right? To stay out of that overwhelm. So I love it. I also started fly high coaching at 25 so I can identify with, starting a business early and the challenges that come with that.
So back in episode 13, we touched on executive presence. What is your definition of executive presence?
Catherine: I think the healthy way we can look at it in a way that’s productive is how you’re showing up to create connection, and that’s showing up for yourself, but also for others. I think when we get feedback on executive presence, especially as it relates to style, that can be very tricky [00:11:00] and very subjective, and that’s where we enter a gray area that can be somewhat unhelpful, even though it’s a very solvable problem because I have known people that have gotten passed up for promotions or.
Perhaps not considered for an executive level job because they quote didn’t have executive presence. And that’s also a tricky thing because those people in particular were coming from very casual environments, which is a whole other rabbit hole of things we could go down. But ultimately it’s about, it’s self-respect for yourself and for who you’re wanting to create connection with.
And I think if we focus on the connection element, that’s where we can really get into this really positive dynamic around. Leading all the things that we need to lead if we are aiming to have executive presence. ’cause we would imagine that we’re in a leadership role.
Porschia: I love that. I love that. How are you showing up to create connection?
And you also touched on, the environment, right? Is it casual? Is it more conservative? I [00:12:00] remember one of the companies I was, I. Doing a presentation for, I heard a lady say that, it was inappropriate for women to have their shoulders exposed and, they had to wear they, she was referring to someone, but she was referring to someone who had her shoulders exposed, a, sleeveless top and saying like how she should have had a jacket on or a blazer on.
And, I think also that can sometimes get into a generational conversation too, which we talk a lot about. But yes, just those nuances let you know that, executive presence in one organization can be seen completely differently than in another one. So why do you think executive presence is important?
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Show notes.
Catherine: I think it’s because it creates the opportunity for you to share your ideas. Have respect to lead the ideas. If you’re in the leadership role, you have to set the tone for your team. If this is a leader that we’re talking about with executive presence and that trickle down impact, it is the only, I think the only kind of trickle down economics that really work is how you’re getting the, for the team as a leader.
And how you show up for yourself. But again, it’s really also like to your point of thinking about the audience, to create connection, you have to also think about where they’re at. So for instance, I had a client who was in a tech company, a big tech company you would know, and [00:15:00] she was in a sales role, but she was also having to work with the engineers.
So she had outward facing as well as inward facing. Executive presence that she had to think about. And so how do you navigate that? Because you can’t show up necessarily in like business formal and have this conversation with your engineers, for them to think that you’re, you have to have that balance of it.
But of course, if you’re trying to build a business with a big company that’s more traditional or formal, you also have to show up for that. So thinking about who you’re trying to connect with and what the buy-in is that you wanna get from them for whatever it is that you’re working together on. That is where it can be a really powerful tool.
Porschia: Yes. I love how you touched on buy-in because I think that can often be overlooked to your earlier point, someone might have their own personal style and think this looks good. But they’re not thinking about that outward facing buy-in that they need. So do [00:16:00] you think executive presence is only for executives?
Catherine: Edith Head has a quote. You can have anything in life if you dress for it. Absolutely not. When I was in the accounting department at Robinson’s May, I left for my, I had gotten promoted. Actually. That’s the benefit of working for a company. During a merger, you get promoted much more quickly than you would’ve otherwise to general ledger, which I hate.
So boring. I’m like, I don’t care if I’m good at math. This is so boring. So I was like, we’re not gonna stay till the end. And I got, I left for my merchandising job. And everybody was saying their goodbyes and they were like, wait, I thought you were a buyer because of the way I dressed.
Now mind you, I showed up at my BCBG interview wearing.
What I thought was fashion forward for a, an interview, which was a gray suit with a pink button down, and my boss, the who ultimately became my boss, was like [00:17:00] in a s slouchy black top, and jeans like I didn’t quite get the audience right for that one. But, I think it didn’t, it wasn’t points against me probably.
’cause she knew I went to business school undergrad. This is what I was taught. So I really think that dressing for the job you want and having that respect for yourself shows that you are preparing yourself for that next level of responsibility and growth within your career.
Porschia: I love that quote, and I love hearing about your experience.
I think I actually had a similar experience. I worked in client services for a consulting firm and was told by my coworkers, oh, you look so dressed up, wearing blazers and stuff. And eventually I was recruited by the sales team and I came into work one day and I was voluntold that I was going on a sales call and.
I’m an introvert, so I never thought of myself as a salesperson or a business owner. But to your point, I realized that [00:18:00] how I dressed every day and that executive presence, even though I wasn’t an executive had them trust me to go out and sell our services to business owners and CFOs and VPs of tax.
So You’re absolutely right. I completely concur. So Catherine, I’d love to know what do you think are the essential aspects of executive presence?
Catherine: Oh, that’s a good question. I think as it relates to executive presence as a whole, it is. That emotional intelligence and awareness of what you know, who you’re connecting with and your role in the, what it is that you’re doing as it relates to style.
It is taking the extra care. Even in a casual environment, you can, make sure that you’re clothes, you look polished and professional. You can add the accessories, the little details that [00:19:00] add personality that, that attention to detail people notice especially, and I think also quality over quantity with your wardrobe, especially as you’re growing in your career.
It, you can see quality in your clothes. There’s a different like energy and vibrance that you have when you wear clothes that are better quality. I know it can be tricky when you’re first starting your career. I would say set aside a monthly budget to think about how you can invest in how you show up with those better quality pieces, with fewer pieces that you can start playing with to mix and match and maximizing your wardrobe.
People notice those details in how you show up and, or just the energy because you’re being authentic to yourself and you’re investing in yourself. And then I would say, it’s that making sure that the clothes fit so they are not too bunchy or baggy or too tight. And that’s not an affront on women, especially because the appropriate comment, that is a really frustrating.
Conversation as it relates [00:20:00] to women in, in getting dressed. I think you need do not hide your body. If you are a woman, show your shape, but you can do it in a way that respects you. And certainly there are times when I’m like, I’m gonna wear the blazer because it covers my bottom because I don’t like, this isn’t about distracting
sometimes. Unfortunately, we do have to worry about that. Distraction element is emotional, isn’t necessarily a two-way street. I’ll just put it that way. And you get to control the narrative of how you’re showing up and how you’re received and how you’re perceived. So you are always making those decisions.
If you are covering parts of your body with mindfulness of the fit and the shape, and you’re not hiding. Yeah, but because you just, you know what your goal is with the scenario. So I know that’s an extensive, it’s not so much highlights, but it is just, it just, it’s so nuance, [00:21:00] especially for women.
Yeah, but polished and focused on yourself and your goal. I
Porschia: love that. So Catherine, I think you started talking about some of these, but I also wanna know, what are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve seen professionals and executives make when it comes to their executive presence?
Catherine: I think first and foremost, it’s not caring and not thinking that it’s important and. The focus should always be on. It’s about respect and connection. You’re respecting yourself, you’re respecting who you wanna create connection with. Not about appropriate, not about should. I like to talk about, what I talk about is intelligence style that I, that’s how I phrase it, typically, because it’s, and it’s a play on the idea of emotional intelligence where you can create the connection through that.
I really wanna eliminate rules and shoulds and appropriate [00:22:00] because it puts people in a box, it makes them dim their light, and you are not gonna get the most out of it. Your team, if you’re creating environments that promote dimming talent and. We have to all work together and respect each other.
Thinking that it doesn’t matter, it does and it can require some work, but that self-awareness and that growth through self-awareness is so powerful over the tenure of your career and, super simple things like sloppy stained, not. Taking that, that those small attention to details with wrinkles and that sort of a thing, again, those are little things.
Those are visual cues that people pick up on about how you are thinking about how you’re interacting with them and what you bring to the table. And it also impacts how you show up. So you are gonna act a little bit sloppier. You are not gonna take the meeting as seriously, like you may not notice this.
It’s small, like little intrinsic things. And then, there can be certain nuances like. [00:23:00] Colors that you shouldn’t wear, but that’s not as important. It really is more about if you’re not putting any effort or care, that’s what gets communicated. I don’t care.
Porschia: Yeah, I love your concept of int intelligence style.
I think that is a really cool way to think about just style in general, but also executive presence. So to that point, you mentioned kind of eliminating the rules. But what if someone says you know what? Hey Catherine, I work for this stuffy company, or this stuffy industry where I can’t even show, my shoulders because they, say that’s inappropriate.
How do you help someone who might be working in that environment?
Catherine: I help ’em notice if there is any way that they’re being inappropriate in what would be considered a professional style. And if they’re not. They feel like they have to be something other than they are. I suggest they find a new [00:24:00] place to work.
Porschia: Uhhuh. Yeah, because that can come, that can also trickle out and come across in other things.
How you’re feeling at work, how you’re showing up, what kind of teammate or colleague are you being? All of that.
Catherine: Yeah, and I’ve definitely had that happen. With clients in the past where they’ve brought me in because of feedback that they’ve gotten. And I’ll be this is you, this is part of your cultural heritage, your, size and shape and details.
You’re not being inappropriate in any way. You’re being very mindful and you’re dressing up. You’re showing respect and care. Those are the most important things. And I think it can be tricky because I. Even wearing a suit has a history of fitting in and being formal and being appropriate and wanting all of the men as it started to essentially fall in line with the corporate [00:25:00] cultures that were being built through the fifties and sixties and seventies and eighties and nineties.
So then women with our suits initially, entering the workforce, claiming that we’re staying in the workforce, wearing suits to, essentially look like men. Be like men and. The shifts around that, like it’s, that’s all about fitting in versus finding your voice and finding your place where you belong and where those really positive cultures, it’s a little idealistic.
I get to be idealistic as an entrepreneur. That is part of why I chose that path. But I also feel like that’s the way we get the healthiest and the best results for everybody. And in the meantime. If you’re in those environments, I say you have to find a way to bring a little bit of yourself into your style.
I had a client who was very hippie and she would say that very hippie boho in San Francisco. And she worked for a Fortune 100 company, very corporate. So she had to wear suits every day to work so completely. What she would [00:26:00] wear on a casual day would absolutely not be appropriate there.
And she knew this, and so I. In our working together, we worked with her fun casual hippie shirts that would actually work with her suits and add some personality so she could have both sides of her, showing up for work. So you still have to be, it’s like you have to be mindful is the quality okay or the colors work?
Is it not too, the distracting focus I idea around showing up and getting dressed. But there’s ways that you can bring yourself into it. Even while you are perhaps, being mindful of those rules.
Porschia: I love that. The idea of still getting your own personality and style in while also being mindful of the environment and the audience to your point.
So Catherine, tell us more about your business.
Catherine: Thank you. Boutique Box is a membership for women leaders who are. Stepping into that next level, or they [00:27:00] just got a promotion. But we help you curate your ideal intelligent wardrobe one piece at a time. We partner with emerging designers, so you are also supporting small brands that are growing their businesses, and they are all focused on direct to consumer.
So you’re getting better quality for the price point. With this we’re, my vision is that we’re creating a win, a cycle of success, where we can essentially flip how the fashion industry has been operating and give these brands a path for sustainable growth for you as the consumer, especially as a busy woman leader, you are not having to worry about, spend that time and energy.
Most importantly, 68% of women, professional women find shopping a chore. And that’s even if they enjoy style and clothes. So you’re in the majority. If you don’t find it fun, let alone trying to navigate finding the right fit. I. The whole ocean of it all. So we aim to make that really effortless for you with these one piece at a time recommendations so that you’re building your wardrobe [00:28:00] to evolve with you as you evolve in your leadership career.
If you do need a faster transformation, more than one piece at a time, we have space for that. I would just recommend a quick, note to the team. But ’cause there really is no one size fits all to style with Boutique Box and our membership with the One piece at a time. The idea is you need to keep adding value and investing in yourself.
And then each new piece integrates and helps you again, continue to evolve as you keep growing in your career and how you show up.
Porschia: I love that, Catherine, I love your business model. I love that idea because I think to your point for the busy ladies out there, I think one piece at a time sounds doable, to most ladies.
So we’ll be providing a link to your website and social channels in our show notes so people can find you online. Now, Catherine, I wanna ask you our final question that we ask all of our guests. How do you think executives or [00:29:00] professionals can get a positive edge in their career? They
Catherine: have to have the courage to be themselves, and that is why I think I have always been so passionate about the power of style because I’ve used it a tool, as a tool my whole life.
I’m not necessarily an introvert. I am highly sensitive and I think that’s why I presented introverted. And for me, putting on clothes that made me feel me was like, I am ready. I can do this. I’m emboldened, not an armor, but I can do this. And it requires introspection. To have a point of view on your style.
So you have to get clear on who you are, how you wanna show up, what you’re here to do in the world. So that is why I believe so passionately, clearly in the power of style, because it gives you what you need in this world to have the courage to be yourself.
Porschia: [00:30:00] Catherine, you have shared a lot of insights and tips with us today, and I’m sure our listeners can use it to be more confident in their careers and with their executive presence.
Thank you for being with us.
Catherine: Thank you for having me.
Porschia: This episode was brought to you by the Brave Bird Career Alliance, the go-to membership designed for seasoned executives and ambitious professionals with everything you need for career planning, strategy, training, and support. Thank you again for listening to the Career 1 0 1 podcast. I hope you have at least one key takeaway that you.
Can use in your own career. If you enjoyed hanging out with us, please rate, subscribe, and share this podcast. Until next time, here’s to your [00:31:00] success.
This episode was brought to you by the Brave Bird Career Alliance, the go-to membership designed for seasoned executives and ambitious professionals with everything you need for career planning, strategy, training, and support. Thank you again for listening to the Career 1 0 1 podcast. I hope you have at least one key takeaway that you.
Can use in your own career. If you enjoyed hanging out with us, please rate, subscribe, and share this podcast. Until next time, here’s to your success.
