contributed
Mary Michele Little is personable, put together and polished. Founder of One Chic Mama, an image consultant business that she launched in 2008, she is all about empowering other women. It is hard to believe that she had self-esteem issues of her own earlier in life and that is what led her to be a business owner devoted to helping women.
Little is a style and self-image expert who works with women who want to make some changes in their lives. All of these women have something in common. They are all good at saying negative things about themselves. Little’s effort includes changing not only the outdated clothes in their closets but the negative self-talk that keeps them from moving forward in their lives.
“My last name is Little but I tell people there is nothing little about my family,” she said. Little had problems with her weight as a child that followed her into adulthood. “My self-worth was tied to a number on the scale,” she said. She lost the extra weight but kept the negative self-talk. “It’s been a journey for me. I compared myself to everyone. It was a disempowering feeling.”
Not alone in her thinking, Little said 95 percent of men and women compare themselves to other people. Success in your own life is not about comparing yourself to anyone else but, she said, “it is about trying to be the best that you can be. I want to dress them from the inside out.”
Little educates and encourages women to step into their authentic style through one-on-one coaching and consulting, group workshops, products, programs and training designed to help women bring out their very best every step of the way. It is her purpose and calling to help women around the world overcome these issues and learn to redefine beauty on their own terms.
She said she realized her own beauty after the birth of her first child, Ivy. “I became grateful for this body. I am the way I’m meant to be,” she said. She encourages other women to accept and love themselves so that they can feel confident every day in what they wear and how they face the world. Little will visit clients at home and work with them and their closets, going item by item until they feel beautiful in all of their clothes.
She has always been interested in fashion. Since she was a little girl she wanted to be a fashion designer. Her father, who sold insurance and knew what it meant to face the public every day, told her, “dress to impress.”
With a degree in apparel arts from UNC Greesboro, Little spent more than two decades in the fashion industry as a milliner (hat maker) and designer of wedding gowns, along with her own line of women’s apparel, Mary Michele Designs. She is also working on a book based on her Style Finder program. “It’s not just about how you look, it’s about how you feel and how you present yourself,” she said.
Mary Michele prides herself in helping her clients create a strategy for getting dressed and encourages them to get rid of anything that doesn’t leave them feeling amazing. She believes all women are beautiful and it is her mission in life to help women see it for themselves. The ‘I am Beautiful PROJECT’ is her initiative to empower women to feel great about who they are so they can love themselves.
A native of Southern Pines, Little lives in Raleigh with her daughter Ivy and son Dylan.
To find out more about her projects and One Chic Mama, go to www.OneChicMama.com or email her at michele@onechicmama.com or call 919-828-7529.
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