March 14, 2017

Meet Joshua Davis of With-Josh Image Coaching in Buckhead

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Davis.

Joshua, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started off as a buyer for a lost and damaged freight acquisition company–I went to auctions and decided which damaged pallets to buy and how to sell them. It was an interesting job, going to auction, because you’d get to decide how much something was worth. In a live auction, you’re attributing value to inanimate objects based on resale value or utility in real time. It can be exhilarating–but for me, it ended up desensitizing me to consumerism. I had pulled back that retail curtain at a young age and couldn’t unseen the fallacy of ‘MSRP.’

With a penchant for fashion I started buying and selling overstock clothing from big box stores like Neiman’s and Bloomingdale’s. Over a couple years, I amassed a sizable inventory and friends who knew about my business would come asking what to wear on their interviews or dates and I’d help them pick outfits from my collection. My friends looked great when we finished…and they felt great too. I didn’t realize it then, but my pragmatic mantra ‘everything has a price’ was beginning to change.

Rodney solidified that change.

‘Call me Hot Rod,’ he told me when we met years ago. ‘Won’t tell you how I got the name.’ He had a fiery spirit which he wore on his sleeve and the kinds of stories deemed ‘not safe for work.’ ‘Hot Rod,’ indeed.

But in 2009, Rodney lost his business when the real estate bubble burst. He lost everything except his family. No job, no money, no future, no hope. A dream and a business he’d built himself gone, seemingly overnight. Just as he had before, he wore his emotions on his sleeve, only this time you could tell he was hard up. He’d lost that ‘Hot Rod’ spirit about him; it was replaced by drooping shoulders and a permanently hanging head. Now, he was just Rodney again.

That’s when his wife asked me to do some image consulting to help him get back on his feet. I still remember the look on his face when he walked out of the fitting room for the first time. He was beaming, and he stood tall. No more droop, no more hopeless look. You could see it in his eyes: for the first time in months, Rodney was Hot Rod again.

You see, I didn’t give Rodney value. I was simply a guide, a coach, helping him to see his intrinsic value and make him feel like a million bucks–without spending it. I made him see his own worth.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I find myself the unwilling entrepreneur. I can’t help but change things around me for the better and, in the process, end up starting business to make the work more efficient.

Demand for image consultants in the South is niche. It seems to be unpopular among men to care about how they look. The trend is changing but, for the past decade, my job has been as much about educating people why they need to care about their appearance as it has been actually coaching them to a better image.

With/Josh Image Coaching – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I like to identify as an ‘image coach.’

I care deeply about my clients’ success and want to give them every advantage. As opposed to consultants and stylists who just talk at you, my goal is to walk you through the process and help you understand the best choices to make.

Everything is taken under consideration: your job, audience, significant other, travel schedule, budget…even how frequently you want to do your laundry.

The process is 4 steps.

First, we discuss your goals and what you want to accomplish. This includes choosing a budget, number of outfits, and helps us focus on those considerations I just mentioned.
• Next, we edit your closet for pieces that no longer fit, or don’t make you feel your best, choosing to keep existing items that help us meet your goals.
• Shopping is probably the most fun, because it gives you a chance to try new things. I ensure that everything you see and touch is right for your personal image, so you don’t waste of your time and money trying to make the right choice. For most of my clients, this actually happens in their home–I pull several options and do a private showing so you never even have to leave the house!
• Last is the pairing process. You have all these fancy new clothes and I teach you how to wear them together. We’ve done everything from personalized flip books to full on photo-shoots to chronicle the client’s wardrobe and teach them how to embrace their new unique style.

I am the best at what I do–my attention to detail is second to none. Having worked as a buyer, retail manager and consultant I understand the fashion landscape. I know which brands to buy, which are a waste of money, and which sales are upcoming.

Most stylists just create a ‘mini-me,’ they have no idea how to dress a client’s differently than themselves.
I can see a vision from client’s perspective and help them be the best version of themselves without simply duplicating my own aesthetic.

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