The Assistant Principal With the Best Sneaker Game

biancadwilliams
Apr 13
3 min read

This weeks post is a client spotlight and this spotlight is all about transformation—with a strong sense of staying true to self.

Sharnee, an educator with a warm, fun, and personable spirit, was recently promoted from her classroom teacher role into a new position as Assistant Principal. With this professional shift came the need for a wardrobe update—not for the sake of formality, but to reflect her new level of leadership while still holding tight to who she is at her core.

“Style is a reflection of your attitude and your personality.” – Shawn Ashmore

The Style Challenge: Simple, Functional, and True to Herself

As a teacher, Sharnee’s everyday look was centered around ease and practicality: khakis, easy tees and tops, work issued polos, and the occasional button-down. Her personal style has always been no-fuss, comfortable, and low maintenance—and she had no desire to lose that simplicity in her transition to leadership.

But she also didn’t want to fall into the trap of dressing how she “thought” an administrator should dress—overly buttoned-up, stiff, and not reflective of her young, energetic, and relatable personality. Especially since she would be working with a younger student demographic, Sharnee wanted her new image to be approachable while still commanding respect. This is where her secret weapon came into play: her love of sneakers.

She had a clear vision—she wanted to build a polished, professional wardrobe that could rotate around her sneaker collection. Her style goal? A modern assistant principal vibe with curated cool, sharp, stylish pieces that paired perfectly with her sneakers and felt like her.

The Collaboration: From Kicks to Confidence

Our work together began during the summer—giving us time to reset before the new school year kicked off. We started with what mattered most to her: the sneakers. From there, we essentially worked from the bottom up, feet first, to create a wardrobe that made her standout shoe collection the focal point.

The process included:

Auditing her closet to identify usable pieces.
Making a list of basic staples she didn’t already own—things like structured blazers and well-fitting trousers.
Curating a list of intentionally selected new purchases to round out her wardrobe.
Mixing and matching what she already had to build looks that fit her personal style and her professional goals.

The final wardrobe updates included:

8 new pairs of sneakers (yes, 8!).
7 new clothing items: 1 pair of pants, 2 blazers, 1 shirt, and 2 layering vests.
And the rest? All pulled from her existing closet.

The Outcome: A Style Rebrand that still made her feel like herself

To make sure Sharnee felt confident and ready for her new role, we dedicated a full day to styling. We laid everything out and built two weeks’ worth of planned outfits, including 12 complete looks—even remixing two totally new outfits from a single shirt. The goal was to create a go-to outfit guide for her first week, and to build momentum for how she could keep the looks going on her own.

By the end of our session, she not only had a style that aligned with her professional presence, but one that made her feel comfortable, confident, and completely herself.

The Best Part?

At the end of every one-on-one client session, I always ask: “What was the best part of working together?”

Sharnee’s answer was powerful in its simplicity:

“Seeing how much I could do with what I already owned—and having reference pictures and an instructional guide so I could keep doing it after you left.”

And that’s exactly what The Visual Effect is all about—empowering real people to redefine their image without feeling like they have to start from scratch.

Why I Love This Work

One of the things I love most about working with clients like Sharnee is witnessing the moment they see themselves differently—not because they’ve changed who they are, but because they’ve discovered how to show up more clearly as who they already are.

Helping someone unlock a new layer of confidence by simply showing them what’s already in their closet? That never gets old.