How to Say no Politely, and Find a Really Good Fitting Coat.

Image: A fitted beige trench coat that looks comfortable to wear.

Well, it has been a while since I have given a bit of a recap of my walks through the creator world, so I definitely want to touch on some things that have happened—not recently, (because I do wait a while after these things happen just so it is not obvious what the brands are or who they are.)

I am happy to say that I do have a lot of extremely positive experiences.

Today, I want to talk about tailoring your coat.

Imagine: You have two coats in front of you.

One is absolutely gorgeous on the rack—it is a well-made coat, you love the brand, you love the colour.

Then you try it on, and the coat just does not sit on your shoulders properly. It is too big in the shoulders, it’s too long- everything feels off.

The second coat—it is a nice coat! But… It does not spark joy, but when you put it on, it fits your shoulders well, it comes up to the right length, and you know it will get you by.

So, you’re either walking out with a coat that feels meh (I mean it fits you, but isn’t that the minimum?) or not at all. Either way- you’ll be day dreaming about that gorgeous coat that just didn’t fit right.

I am willing to bet however if the store offered free same day tailoring- the decision becomes a no brainer, right?

I am going to walk you through two beautiful coats that approached me and how I tailored them to be my perfect fit with my strangely large shoulders.

Coat 1. The Sleeves Are Way Too Long

The first coat was a brand I have loved and have used for near forever. I know so much about them, so much about their products, I love their ethos, and a lot of their products work for me.

They are in both the skincare and makeup category. Unfortunately, their skincare just does not get along with my really fussy, acne-prone skin.

So, when they did reach out to do an AD + trial out of their skincare range, I knew it was going to be a no.

But did it have to be a blank no?

I thanked them for the opportunity and expressed my genuine love for their makeup. I said that I have been using their makeup for ages, and if there were any opportunities with the makeup range, I would absolutely jump at the opportunity to work with them on that.

Surprise, surprise—at the time, they also had a makeup campaign that they quickly cc’d me into, and instead of saying no to a near $$$ job, I engaged them in their makeup campaign, which was a total treat.

Coat 2. Can You Add a Pocket?

A second situation, and probably a bit more complicated, involved a brand that I do really enjoy.

They approached me for a product that wouldn’t be something I’d reach for on face value, or something I would be drawn to in the shop.

Although it ticked the boxes of accessible and affordable—being that it is easy to find and very well under that $35 price where we start to cringe when we see it in the pharmacy—it just was not something that I would reach for.

I tend to go by: If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no. The tailoring began.

“Speaking openly, this is not something that I would usually gravitate towards, but I really like your other product. Would you be open to me either featuring that or collaborating with you in the future on that other product that I love?”

The person who had reached out was understanding and said that they would be happy for me to focus on the other product for this campaign, while encouraging me to give the product a try because it was for my skin type.

So, I plodded along a bit apprehensive. I explained that my feature of that product would depend on how a trial would go, and they understood.

That afternoon, I skipped to the shop pretty eager to start trialling that product.

It had ingredients that I was not aware of or familiar with, so not only did I get a new product in my routine that was quite affordable, I started researching some of the new actives and learnt a lot.

Some of the pre-judgements I made about the product just were not true, and I also got to showcase my love for their other product range, which I also use every day.

Beyond that, I also got to really focus on education in the collaboration that we did do, and that is a really important aspect of my work for me.

Everything went live, the feedback from my community came in (AKA, the best part) and everyone loved it as much as I did.

So, I would say that coat was successfully tailored.

Conclusion

So those are two jobs that would have absolutely fallen through if I:

a. Took them as they came and at face value and declined without trying to find some common ground and a solution, or

b. The even worse option—accepted them at face value and completely at the distrust and detriment of audience trust and my own morals.

If you have any questions, you are welcome to leave them below anonymously.