123: Charlene Roxborough | Celebrity & Editorial Stylist

Carlea Milatsky
What do I need to be good at? To be great at something?

Hello everyone, you are listening to. She leads with Carly and in this show we talk to the absolute best, brightest, and yes, badass leaders. Tap into where your natural curiosity takes you. Just making sure you're not your own roadblock. Even if you do fall, you're gonna.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
Fall and you're gonna lure. Together, let's build a DNA of what it takes to rise to the top and truly make an impact.

Carlea Milatsky
I'm your host, Carlea Milatsky. Hello everyone. I am super excited to welcome our guest today, Charlene Roxburgh Consker. With over 20 years of experience, Charlene is one of the most renowned celebrity and editorial stylists of her generation. Her work has graced the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the Cannes Film Festival, earning her recognition in vogue, Vanity Fair, Forbes and many more.

She has become a recognized stylist and designer for today's icons, including Sofia Vergara, Eva Longoria and Vince Vaughn. Now, Charlene is also the founder of Stone Windsor. Largely inspired by her daughter Stone, Charlene has created a children's wear collection that offers premium eco conscious clothing for kids, even the picky ones that is designed for an easy and seamless mix and match styling process. Charlene, it is such a pleasure to have you on the podcast. Welcome.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited. Of course, of course. So Charlene, what I love to start with, I know you're from Jamaica and I want to hear about your childhood. Who were you as a, you know, as a young girl?

So I was born and raised in Jamaica. My family moved to the States at a young age. I was eleven when I moved here. But, you know, I grew up on this beautiful island that was filled with love and lots of different cultures and different mixtures of people. Yeah.

Carlea Milatsky
And I know that your mom had a, has a huge influence on you. Can you tell me a little bit about that relationship, even as a kid with you and your mom? Yeah. So, you know, my mom was the most amazing mom. She, you know, provided for us.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
I have two bro, two older brothers, and, you know, my mom was this like, figure that made sure that, you know, we went to the best school. But not only on top of that, you know, my mom was just this amazing woman that always, when she dressed, everything was monochromatic and I would watch her in the morning as she got dressed and when she put her dress on, then she would put her hat on and the gloves and the shoes and literally everything was just monochromatic from head to toe, and I always admired that. And, you know, at a very young age, you know, I loved fashion, so, you know, we would always, you know, go to different. Back then it was, you call it now, the vintage stores, but we would go to different, like, antique stores or events, and anything she would find, she would just make a whole story out of it. And that was my mom.

Carlea Milatsky
I love it. And I imagine because Jamaica had the british influence, too, right? So I imagine that, you know, posh, or at least that fancier, elegant look. Is that. Is that right?

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
100%. You would think she was the queen. Yeah. Because Jamaica is a british island. 1962.

We got our independence. The whole lifestyle is british influence. Yeah. Did you have a favorite outfit? Because obviously, you know, you had this passion for fashion, and that started very early on.

Carlea Milatsky
So was there something that, when you think of your childhood, you actually remember you. You imagined in your mind, in an outfit? Well, yes. When I was six years old, there was this. When my aunt moved to New York, and, you know, we were still in Jamaica, she would always send me all these beautiful dresses, and I remember this beautiful blue and white check dress that I had, and it was, like, my favorite dress.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
And in Jamaica, it's, like, boiling hot, right? So it's 100 degrees. I didn't care. And my aunt sent me this dress, and it was blue and white checker with a cute little bow. And I used to put a crinoline, which, you know, you put under your dress, and it kind of poofs it out.

And I literally wore that dress every day. Every day as long as I could remember, to the point where my mom was like, you have to put that dress away. And I was just. I was a creature of habit. I had to have it every day.

I put it on. It was, like the same routine. Same hairstyle, ponytail, and same blue checkered dress, same tight, same crinoline. And, I mean, I think about that dress all the time because I literally wore it until I moved to the US. Wow.

Carlea Milatsky
Oh, my God. Even if it was, you know, 90 plus, like, so hot outside, you would still wear it without fail. Absolutely. With the crinoline. And crinoline is very itchy.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
It's, like, very stiff. Not the most comfortable thing. But me, at six years old, I thought it was, like, the best thing ever. And I just love dressing up, and I was going nowhere. I was in the country in a yard with my cousins, playing, you know, going to the beach, and here I am looking like I'm going to church.

But that was just me. I love dressing up. I love always to, you know, look like a little girl. Yeah. So as you mentioned, around eleven years old, you moved to the States, you moved to Chicago.

Carlea Milatsky
Tell me a little bit about what were you like as a student? Did you like school? Were you, were you passionate about school? How were you thinking of, you know, what did you want to be when you grew up at this time? Well, when I moved here, it was all a culture shock because I moved here in movies, in Chicago in the dead of winter, so it was extremely cold.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
I had an accent because in Jamaica we speak patois and, you know, I didn't look like anybody else. And with the minute I opened up my mouth, I had this accent. So kids were like, where are you from? I was very shy, you know, I was trying to get used to the cold, the winter. Everything was like, whoa, this is America with all of this snow.

So that part I took a minute. And then when I was enrolled in school, you know, it was, it was very difficult. So it took, it took a while to get used to the entire system, I would say, and I remember I would come home and complain to my mom. I was like, the kids are not nice to me, and I speak this way and no one understands me. And, you know, and I would go, my hair was extremely long.

So we go to school with, like, a ponytail. And then the kids, they couldn't believe that was all my hair. So I would literally come home with a different hairstyle and my mom would say, who's messing with your hair? I'm like, the kids school, they take my hair. They don't think it's my real hair because it was so curly and so much of it.

I didn't enjoy school in the beginning just because of moving into the american system and learning the american culture and not grasping it in the beginning was a little rough until my mom decided that, you know, she was going to send me to, because at that time, I was going to a public school, and my mom was like, you know what? Let me send you to a private school. Maybe, you know, it'll be a little easier for you. So I did, and then things got a little better. My accents started to change and I was more into, like, music and art.

I love to learn in any areas that I could. So you mentioned you love art and music, basically. And I can understand wholeheartedly how the transition from Jamaica to the US, there's so many different shocks to the system, if you will, and I'm wondering, to gain that confidence back what did you do? Did the clothes you wear, did that come into it? Actually?

Well, no, because when I went to a private school, I wore uniform. So, which I was used to because I grew up on the island where everyone, no matter what grade you were in, from pre k to high school or even when you went to college, everyone wore a uniform. So to me, that was just a great lifestyle. And I didn't think of it as in, oh, we're missing out in fashion. Our uniforms were very cool.

Like, we wore little bow ties around our neck. So, you know, white shirts, bow ties, you know. So even now when my daughter goes to school, I love the fact that she's in a uniform. Yeah. So, yeah, I wasn't thinking about clothes back then.

I did read a lot of magazine. I remember reading tons of Vogue. I would take out all the pictures and I would tape them up on my wall in my room, you know. Of course, then I, you know, I. My mom would always take me to these, like, secondhand stores and pick out just, like, interesting things.

And to me, what, you know, I would create things out of it, you know, but I. But I was looking at every magazine, every magazine I knew, every supermodel. And, you know, I was living vicariously through everyone. And it's amazing because I assume in your mind, a career in this wasn't even an option, right? Like you weren't thinking long term.

Carlea Milatsky
It was more of just a hobby, a passion. No, that's amazing. Yeah. Even appear in my mind that there was a job called styling. Right.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
You know, as growing up as a child and move into the US, I didn't even know I would be leaving Chicago. So tell me as you got older, you know, around 1617 years old, tell me that moment that clicked where you were like, you know what? I think I need to leave Chicago. And what was that journey like? You know what it was, Chicago is very cold and I love to be in warm weather.

I mean, because I grew up on an island that was like 90 degrees every day on sand. People said to me, oh, did you play with lots of toys? I'm like, toys? We went to the beach. That's all you do is swim.

So, no, I mean, you know, at 16, I was just still into, like, fashion and looking at fashion magazine. I went to a boarding school at a young age. At 13, I went to a boarding school. And boarding school was very strict because, you know, you weren't allowed to wear, you wore a uniform and on the weekend you got to wear clothes. But it was also, you know, you couldn't show your ankles or, you know, when.

I mean, everything was like, up to here, my arms were covered. So I went to boarding school, and it was just a whole nother. It was like a whole other life. I came home like, it was like college. I came home during the holiday.

So from 13 on, living on campus, I became very independent at a very young age and making. Making decisions and things for myself, because that's normal for someone from Jamaica or someone that lives in London. Kids go to boarding school. When kids go to boarding school here, they're like, what did you do? What's wrong?

But even in boarding school, when I came home on the. When I finally, when I did come home for the holiday, I would dress up with my friends, and then we would go out as much as my mother would allow, because I grew up in a very strict home. But, you know, I was into fashion then. I knew what I loved. I knew what I wanted.

I would see everything on the COVID of Vogue. And I remember there was this one dress that I saw on the COVID of Vogue, and I was like, oh, my God, I have to have that dress. But, you know, it wasn't realistic. So I went to the fabric store, and I got the fabric, and there's this guy in the neighborhood who used to make all these dresses for, like, these debutantes. And someone introduced me to him.

And he was this young guy, and he loved to design, and he loved to sew. And I remember showing the pictures, like, I love this dress. I would love if you could make this dress for me. I'm gonna go probably to this, you know, event with a. With a friend of mine, and he made the dress, and I have the picture till this day, which is hysterical.

So, you know, I mean, by 16 and 17, I was having all my dresses made. Yeah. Popping everything out of vogue. Wow. And so from what I remember, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd love for you to tell this, this process and journey for you of coming to LA.

Carlea Milatsky
From what I recall, it was quite a secretive process, if that's true. So tell me a bit about that and how, you know, those first, that moment where you're like, I'm going to LA, I'm not really telling my mom, and so talk me through that. So, yeah, so, basically, one summer, I had this. Well, prior to the summer, it was time for me to go away to school, and I was going to school in St. Louis, and it was still cold, and I was like, I don't love it.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
And I wanted, you know, at that time, I thought I wanted to be a psychologist. But at some point I thought to myself, I, you know, I just don't know if I want to be in the cold anymore. So I saw a picture of Rodeo Drive. I saw one of these postcards. So I saw a picture and it saw palm trees, and it looked really pretty.

And I'm like, oh, my God, this looks so sunny. Where is this? In California? I'm like, oh, I would love to go there, but how am I getting to California? I know no one, have no friends, no family there.

But I have an idea. I'm going to apply to school there. So I applied to school in New York, London, California. And I was transferring because I was already in school my first year and in St. Louis.

And I was like, I gotta get out of here. I can't look at this arch anymore.

And so I didn't tell anyone, kept a secret. So I applied, obviously, the year before when my papers came in and I saw that I got into a school in California and went in London, the same school, but it was also in London. And I thought to myself, oh, my God, this is my ticket that I can't tell anyone. Because if I tell anyone, they're just going to, you know, they're like, you're not going. You don't know anyone.

You're so young. I shopped for everything, secretly hid it all in my room. So in your mind, you were going. You just said, I'm going, okay, I. Just got to figure out who's going to drive me.

Everything. And so I thought, if I have everything, then no one can stop me. So I rented a U Haul. My brother drove me. He came home and I said, what are you doing this weekend?

He's like, oh, nothing. Why? I was like, can you drive me to California? I said, yeah, I got into a school there. Did you tell mom?

I said, absolutely not. And then he said, okay, sure, I'll drive you. So he's like, I haven't been to California, but I have to be back at work on Monday, so we have to go. So we basically, he's like, but wait, I can't drive by myself. I need someone to help drive.

So then he got the neighbor, which was my mom's friend, and he said he asked her. And she was like, yeah, I've never been to California. Because the whole idea of driving to California, my brother, he loves to drive. He's this guy that will drive all over the US. So I knew that he would be the one.

So, you know, my mom came home that day and she's like, what's going on? And I said, she's like, who's u haul? Is that? And I was like, mine? And she's like, what?

And I said, yeah, I'm going to California again to school. And she was like, you're not going anywhere, and how are you going to get there? And you don't know anyone. I said, well, my brother's going to drive me, and we'll figure it out when we get there. And that's, that was, that was how the journey started.

Carlea Milatsky
That is incredible. I think that story is so incredible. So you get so obviously, I mean, your mother doesn't have a choice, right? She's, she has to essentially give her blessing whether she wanted to or not. Well, she was devastated.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
She was devastated. And the fact was that everything was packed. She couldn't even believe that I had all these things stored, like, you know, for a dorm, like comforters and pillows and everything that you would take. Usually your parents pack you to go to school, right? Well, I was packing myself on the second part of the journey, and I got to California, and I arrived early because the dorms weren't open yet.

So my mom said, wait, we have a cousin in California. I was like, where did you dig this cousin up from? And she reached out to the cousin. She was like, my daughter is coming there. And I stayed with them.

And then Monday morning came, and I went to the dorms, and there was this one girl that is actually still one of my closest friends till this day, and she was from Montana. And we clicked instantly. And we knew when we clicked that we were going to be friends forever. Even you said it before, right? You went to boarding school.

Carlea Milatsky
That probably instilled that maybe natural independence in you. So going to California probably wasn't as daunting as the typical, you know, 1819 year old. But for you, just thinking back at it, were you scared? Did you have those fears? Did you have those thoughts of, maybe I'll go back to Chicago, even though it's freezing cold there, or you were just so at peace with that decision.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
No, there was no fear. There was no anxiety. There was no anxiousness. There was just like, I, this is what I want to do, and I'm going to do it, and no one's going to stop me. And that was just it.

And my brother, I remember my brother saying to me, what are you going to do for money? But, like, I'll figure it out. And I totally did, because while I was in school, I got a part time job at the Beverly center, and I was working at this shoe store, and it was all european shoes. And, you know, they sold shoes like Donna Karen, and it was all these different, like, brands. And, and so the stylist came in, which I didn't even know was a stylist, but she would always come in, and I happened to help her.

And she dressed beautifully and always so chic and elegant and sophisticated, just all of that. And I was like, oh, my God, she's fantastic. But long story short, she would say to me, you know, do you have this shoe? Do you have this shoe? And it was like, multiple shoes, men's, women's, all these odd sizes.

And I never asked any questions, like, what do you do? Who are these for? I would just get them. And, and she kept coming into the store, and every time she would come in, she would always ask for me, and I would always help her. And so one day she said to me, would you like to assist me?

I was like, on what? What does that even mean, assist you? What? I mean, I was in college, so, you know, my whole thing was that I'm going to school, taking my classes, doing what I need to do, and then figure it out from there. Yeah.

She said, just me. I'm a stylist. I'm like, hairstylist. What? What do you mean, a stylist?

She's like, no, I style music videos and editorials. And I was like, okay. What does that mean? She was like, you know, I work with, like, musicians. So I said, sure.

So she said, well, okay, be at my house at 04:00 a.m. And I'm like, 04:00 a.m. And I was like, wait a minute. I have class tomorrow, okay? This is not gonna work out.

I have to be at your. I have to be at your home at 04:00 a.m. I have no idea what's going on. She's like, yeah, I'd be there 04:00 a.m. Because we have to be on set to buy six and we have to pack up the clothes.

I'm like, what? Pack up the clothes. Be at your house. So, you know, and I was like, in my head, I was like, oh, my God, I have to be in class. That means I have to skip class.

And, but I came home and I was like, you know what? Okay. I text her and I said, I'll do it. I'll do the job. And when I walked into her living room, it was corner to corner.

Every corner was packed with clothes, but everywhere. So everything was just loosely hanging on the. On the rack. So I had to put every item in a garment bag and take it and put it inside of her car and my little car that I drove and pack it all up and take it to set. Now, need I remind you, this is all new to me.

I've never seen a set. I've never seen a music video. I've never met a stylist. Okay, all right. She's not giving me much info.

This looks like I have to figure it out. And she was getting dressed, by the way, as I was packing up the car and walking dog at the same time. And were you excited, like, coming into this room full of clothes everywhere? Was that just incredibly invigorating, or was it also just like, why am I doing this? This work for her?

Carlea Milatsky
Like, was there. I just. I went into work mode. Okay, you went into work mode? Yeah.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
Packing the stuff up. Whatever she told me to do, I did it. I packed the clothes up. I walked the dog. She gave me the address.

I went to set. I got to set. She. She wasn't there, and I was. I.

The director handed me the treatment, and, you know, a treatment is basically a breakdown of a mini movie. You have to break the treatment down, and you have to figure out what the character in the treatment is wearing or what the character is doing. So I remember getting a pencil, and I highlighted everything and was like, okay, well, all right, this kind of makes sense. Okay, so I just. Common sense.

Just because styling is a. Is a lot of common sense. Okay. Can't go into styling and don't have any common sense because common sense is what's going to lead you to figuring things out. Out.

You know, because there was no. There was no room for nervous, anxious, anxiety. It was more like, here's the treatment. She's not here. Set up the clothes.

Let's get it done. The director walks in, and he says to me, okay, we'll be shooting soon. And I'm, like, calling. I'm like, are you close? Because we're about to go on set, and I have no idea what's going on, but they gave me a treatment, so I'm kind of figuring it out.

I'm covering up for you. Oh, my God. Oh, you're doing great. I'm like, oh, my God. Hour, and you're still not here.

Long story short, this whole time, the director thought I was a stylist. I laid out everything in the room. I made her look great. Hung up everything. And then by the time she got there, the artist was dressed and ready for the suit, and the director was like, oh, my God.

I thought you were the styles. I'm like, nope, actually, I'm in college, and this is my first day. After that, he hired me on every job. Wow. Okay, there we go.

My styling career kicked off, and then I start working with him, and the rest is history. That is. What a story. That is amazing. And did you, in your mind, it just came naturally to you, right, to just have this almost fake it till you make it attitude, like you had this confidence?

Carlea Milatsky
Is that. Is that right? Yeah. I mean, literally, it was just easy, you know, I'm not a person to stress. Multitask is very important.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
I always say this. A stylist. Or if you ever want to go into fashion and styling, you have to learn how to multitask, doing several things at once. Because when you're styling, you're doing several things at once, you know, and that's. And that's the key, you know, and keeping calm and being patient.

Patience is so important in styling, because if you don't have patience, it's not the job for you because you're speaking to ten different people. Okay. So, Charlene, I want to dive into it. Cause one thing that I haven't had on this podcast is someone first of your caliber, but in styling and design. So tell me about the life of a stylist.

Carlea Milatsky
What does it entail? Tell me through almost the journey from start to finish, when you have a celebrity or someone that you need a style. And let's just talk individually for now, whether it's for Golden Globes, whatever it may be, what comes into it. So, I mean, you know, for example, if you're doing an award show, you start off with, obviously you know who you're working with. And whatever the event, if they're presenting or if they're going, if they're presenting, you know that you have to up it a notch.

Okay. And if they're walking the red carpet, you still do. But presenting is a whole nother ballgame. Wow. Reach out to you.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
I make a list of, like, all my favorite designers, or I'll automatically know, you know, what, I want to work with this designer. And then I reach out to the designer, or we, you know, we go into Vogue.com, and I curate all my favorite gowns, you know, and I send in, like, what's called sample requests, requests to all the brands, and the brands oversee everything. And then obviously, in the sample request, it states who you're working with, what event it is and when, the day it is and what you're looking for. And if that vision isn't what you're seeing on Vogue.com or through the other designer? Through the designers, then the next step is to speak with the designer and say, I'm styling x, y, and z.

And no, I would love if we can come up with some sketches for the red carpet. And how far in advance do you, do you begin the process? Well, it depends if it's red carpet, if it's. If it's a Cannes film festival. Yeah.

And can is in May. I'll start in January. Wow. Okay. Because then I start to gather all my, my thoughts.

Gather all who I want to present. Yeah, this, too. And, you know, or what brands am I pulling from? And, you know, I don't wait till last minute, because if can is in May, you want to start right after the holiday. And then from there, you know, you set your fitting and you just don't want to have one fitting.

You have, like, a few fittings after you fit the clothes. Then you have a second fitting to make sure the clothes are perfection. And something I'm so curious about as well is you mentioned first of all, there's different players involved. But when you are styling a celebrity, how important is your relationship to them? And almost, like, how well do you have to know them to ensure that you are fitting them in the most?

Carlea Milatsky
Whether it's comfortable or at least something that they feel confident in, how much does that come into it? When you're styling, you never want to change someone. You just want to enhance what they have. Got it. And, you know, I'm not here to reinvent the wheel.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
I'm just here to, you know, show you what's in. Create a vision and a mood that I know suits you. And I have this two second rule that if I have to ask five people in the room, do you love this? Then it's not the dress. Yeah, not the piece.

If I. The piece needs to come automatically to life when I instantly see it. Even if I have 30, 40 dresses and I bring that to a fitting, I already know in my head which one is number one, but I want to sort through the rest to make sure that the comfort zone is there, to warm the client up, to make sure they're happy, they feel good, and you always face it from what they love. And then you input your vision in it. It's not what you want because you know you want it.

You want them to look like themselves and feel like themselves, and you don't want to look like a stylist dressed you. Even though everyone knows that celebrities, you know, most of the time, they have a stylist that they work with, and they have a relationship for ten years, 20 years, you know, because you built that relationship, you built that comfort zone, and you built that, like, friendship. And, you know, and the most important thing is that the honesty. You have to be honest. If I don't like something, I'm instantly telling you, take it off.

It's not working. Let's move on. Just be direct about it. That's amazing. And if we have to figure out how that item is going to work.

Oh, it's not the piece, one thing. And before we get to stonewinds or now, you have this whole new lens of being a founder, and a lot of incredible women on this podcast are founders. And so much of the time, I talk about whether it's imposter syndrome or the challenges, just in general, of founding a company. I want to know, what have you learned of how the clothes you wear can actually really instill that self confidence? Do you see a direct tie or what is your advice, almost, in terms of, for women to give themselves that confidence?

Well, I always say that when you walk outside, no matter where you are, no matter what you're wearing, you're. You are the. You are the actor in your own movie. Yeah. Because your.

Your style is who you are, and people can sum you up, or people can know your personality by the way you look, the way you dress, the whole thing. Right. So it's. It's, you know, for me, it's like, you know, when. When you walk out the house, and even if it's a sweatsuit, whatever it is, on your day, it's just a little.

With the way that you wear something that I myself, can tell everything about you. Wow. I can instantly know if you like to wear strapless, one shoulder, long sleeve jeans, high waisted slacks. I can sum it up in my head of, okay, all right, so I can tell that she likes x, y, and z. And that's a part of a stylist, is that you're creating an image for someone.

You're creating something that's timeless and chic and functional and easy. If you feel good in it and it looks good and it's functional, and then that's fine. Not everyone likes to be super fashionable. Not everyone likes to, you know, be dressed up all the time and feel like they have to be super glam. Twenty four, seven I think it's more just like a lifestyle of how you live, and you incorporate that into what you want to wear.

Carlea Milatsky
I love it. I love it. Thank you for that. And so, okay, you have a beautiful daughter named Stone, and I want you tell me a little bit about how she inspired you to found Stone. Stone Windsor.

What was that? What was that origin story like? Well, I was used to doing a lot of collaborations with different brands and different designers throughout my career, but then after having Stone and, you know, I have a little girl that wants to be a princess every day and dress up in all these princess dresses, and we're always shopping on those little sites and getting, you know, Rapunzel dress and frozen and all these things and, yeah. And when, as she was starting to get older and I would put something on her, I put a dress on her and she would get a rash, and I was like, what is going on? Why is she so sensitive?

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
And long story short, I realized that she was starting to have a little bit of eczema, and I thought, you know, every time, you know, I would look into the brands that I was buying, which was like, you know, kids brands. Yeah. And, um, and stuff that was, like, on Amazon, and, um, and I would say, I would show my husband, like, oh, my God, look at her neck. Her neck is, like, completely broken out. Her face.

One day, her face was so broken out, I thought it was from a blueberry. And I was like, wait a minute, who got her this blueberry? I was like, where's it from? Because it completely broke her out, which I didn't realize it was like, what she had on just gave her, like, a rash. And I thought, you know, I may have to look into using fabrics that are organic on her.

So when she was a baby, I found this one brand that, you know, this mom had the same issue where her kids had eczema. So she, she designed a kids line that that was breathable and, you know, with crib sheets and, and onesies and sleep sacks and all of that. And I thought, oh, my God, she, you know, she's not, like, breaking out into all these rash when I would use a different fabric on her. And that's when I decided to just, you know, I said, you know what? I'm going to launch a kids line, children's line, and, and see how it goes.

Carlea Milatsky
Yeah. And, you know, and then I have my little inspo that a part of it, and that's how the children's line was created. Now that you've been almost in it, what has been probably the biggest learning curve that you had to take on in starting Stone Windsor and starting your own, your own line. Well, besides doing everything yourself. Yeah, exactly.

Because you, and you've been solo, how has that been for you? How have you navigated that doing? Literally, I've been in one woman show since the brand started. Wow. You know, it's, look, it's like, it's a baby.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
It's like, baby, I have a new baby that I have a project that I feel great about, that I feel happy about doing. And the designing and the styling and the fabric. Researching of the fabric and all of that is a non brainer for me. I think the most part that I felt was a little challenging was more of the tech side of it because I'm not a very techie person. So that was the part that was more a little challenging for me.

So I figured that, you know, as I was going in my journey, that why don't I find someone that is actually better at this? And then I could focus on the other end. But, you know, that was, that was a challenge inside for me. It was just learning more about, like, EcoM and Shopify and all the things that goes into it and building a website. Yep.

Carlea Milatsky
All the back office. Just making sure everything's out there, in. A sense, completely, because I knew what I was great at and good at, but also, you know, like I just mentioned, the other, the other side of it was just very, was very challenging. Yeah. What have you learned about yourself?

What parts of yourself have actually come to fruition, if you will, from this founding journey.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
To be more patient? Oh, okay. Because I want everything to be instant gratification. Right. You always do something.

You're like, you want it, you let it. What is happening? You want it. But I think that, you know, and I am a patient person, but I think that I even reeled it really back to be really, really patient and know that, you know, haste makes waste. Just focus on not doing too many things at the same time.

And when I say that, for example, when I was designing, you know, I knew that I'm not going to do 20 pieces. I'll start off with six different styles. I'll start off with two different fabrics and not five different fabrics. The old me would have been like, no, we want so many different fabrics. But I decided that, you know what?

Let me. I'm not reinventing the wheel. I'm just cleaning it up. And, you know, and I knew what I wanted in children's fashion was things that weren't weren't busy. I wanted things to be just very clean.

I wanted a lifestyle. I wanted to be timeless. I want to be functional. I wanted your kids to go from the playground to a birthday party in the same collection. And how do I do that?

And create six styles and, you know, with two different fabrics. Yeah. And keeping the fabrics very neutral and light and comfortable so that it's very easy for the eyes and make it unisex so that you can dress your whole family in it. So those were all the things that, you know, as I was going in this journey that I put myself into every mom's shoe, and as a stylist, I wanted it to be where moms had their own in house stylist. And how do I do that?

I'm going to create a kid's luxury line or kids fashion line, kids comfortable clothes that as a mom or dad, you don't have to think about, because all the pieces I've already created as a stylist. So all you have to do is anything that you pick from the collection. It mixes and blends, so you're not going to make a mistake, because dressing kids gives you a little bit of anxiety. And I've seen it with some moms get, you know, because you have to understand, especially now, my daughter is five, they have a lot of input of what they want to wear, how they want to wear it, and, you know, because at one, two, you can control that. And then it gets to a point where, you know, you have to make sure that it's something that's inclusive to keep kids in mind that they're gonna love to wear.

Every kid loves a sweatshirt. Every kid loves a sweatpants. So I knew that. Amazing. And that that was something that I wanted to focus on.

I just want to. I just want to create a lifestyle for. For families. Yeah, it's incredible. It's so easy.

Easy and functional, modern and fresh. So, Charlene, one thing that is so prominent, just hearing your entire life story, if you will, is that you've lived almost these different lives. But one thing that is so true is you've stayed authentic to yourself the entire time, which is incredible. And so I actually am so curious. How do you, looking back now, how do you define success for you, and how has that changed over the years?

Success is what you make it. Success is, you know, working hard to your dreams, to your goals, and not worrying about, like, what the next person is doing and how successful are they? And they're moving faster than you. You literally have to just know that even if it's not moving as fast as you want, that is your success, because you're moving at your own pace and you're creating your own identity and know that everyone's. Everyone's success and everyone's journey is going to be different from yours.

So, you know, if someone says to me, oh, my God, I'm not successful because I haven't done, you know, I haven't done x, Y and z, and I want to get that, but. But what are you doing now? Have you struggled with that personally to. In order to get to that lesson? Did you find yourself, you know, in LA, in this culture of, you know, fashion, everything, to be very comparing yourself to others, or was this just a natural thing for you to kind of stick, to have that strength?

Well, I mean, you know, styling. There's so many stylists. Yeah. To always know that there's. There's work for everyone.

You have to create your own journey, because that's literally going to be your success in life. Yeah. By creating that is, you know, for me, it was more, what do I want? How do I. How do I.

How do I see myself in the next 510 years? Am I. Am I where I am today? And I set myself goals, like, you know, this is what I want to work on. This is what I want to do.

These, I want to have it done by this. This time. Yeah. Oh, I love that. That's amazing.

You know, and I write everything down. I like very old school. My nieces, they all like, oh, no, we'll put everything in the. In the. In the phone, and we'll type it in notes.

I'm like, no, give me the notebook. Give me a calendar, because that's how I function. I function in that way. I always want to be the best at what I do. And, you know, I love seeing people happy.

I would never have a client say if a client said to me, or if anyone said to me, can you. I can't find this. There's. How I would put it is there's never. I never say no.

Carlea Milatsky
Yeah. It's almost like, how can you make it happen? Like, how can we. What are the steps to make it work? Yeah, that's incredible.

And I can tell that just from talking to you. Yeah, yeah. I always make it happen. That's just who I am. Yeah.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
No matter, you know, even if I'm like, oh, my gosh, I don't know, can I get that in my head? And I'm like, of course I can. So that is always the challenge for me. But you'll never know. But it'll appear like you'll never know that it may come from a different part of the world.

Right. I'm searching, but that's amazing. Those are the things that I always say. I always say to assistants or people that want to style, say no is not in your vocabulary. I think that applies outside of styling.

Carlea Milatsky
Right. I think that is such a good mentality to carry with you in life. And even, like, throughout, you know, even throughout you talking just now, even you saying, you know, self affirmations and you don't, may not even realize it, but I think there's that ongoing mentality that is. That shines through, which is incredible. So, Charlene, I have one last question for you, which you may have already actually touched on it a bit, but I want to know, what craft are you spending your lifetime honing, if you will?

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
I do write in the morning when I wake up. I do have my thing where I literally say a prayer every morning. And then I have a little book that I just write down, like, all my thoughts, you know, I take the little five minutes out, and I just write in my, write in my little journal. And it's not about, like, my day. It's just about, like, how I'm feeling.

Carlea Milatsky
Like, free flow. Yeah. Just exactly how am I feeling? And what are my goals and things that, what I want to focus on through the day. That's amazing.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
I go off of that and because there's a lot to do, but there's only so much you can do. So I focus on the things that I really need to get done in a non stressful way. Yeah. And it brings that intentionality to it. It seems like then you can lead your day with purpose.

Carlea Milatsky
Like, you have that purpose in the back of your mind. Absolutely, absolutely. I write down all my goals, and in the goals and in my task list, I write down, okay, so this is what, this is what I need to focus on today, and then focus on this. And this is what I need to focus on tomorrow. I love that.

What I've. I don't know if you're a big believer in manifesting, but I've actually started doing on my phone, I have my goals, so I actually, like, whenever I look at my phone, I just, like, constantly, you know, getting it into my brain, if you will. So I'm big on manifesting, but I love that. I believe that. I believe the universe gives you everything that you want, but a part of it, too.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
He's just got to be patient and, you know, and it's all about, you know, when you see, like, it's a part of, like, success when people like, oh, my God, these people are all, like, so successful and I'm so. No. The universe has a way of showing you things and you just have to sit back, relax, take it in. And with a five year old, I have no choice but to be patient. And she'll even say to me, you know what's really interesting is, like, when I was making her a sandwich and I, and the jam, the jar, it was like, stuck.

And I was like, oh. And it was like seven in the morning, and I'm like, opening and it wouldn't open. It's like stuck. And I. And I'm like, oh, I'll just get another jam.

And she says to me, mommy, don't give up. You can do it. Oh, my God, I love it. You can do it. And after she said that, she was like, mommy, don't give up.

You can do it. You can open the jar of jail. So cute. Because you need that sometimes. You need those reminders.

Carlea Milatsky
And maybe that's your reminder. Yeah, I was, like, in shock. And I was like, I was like, you know what, stone? You're right. I'm not going to give up.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
Women of this game, she's like, see, I told you you can do it. And you didn't give up. And I sat back and thought to myself, if the fact that she is teaching me this little lesson of opening up a jar of jam, it teaches her a lesson to never give up. I love that. And I think more important than anything and probably harder for you to see, but her even saying that to you is very much a reflection of the mother that you are to her.

Carlea Milatsky
So she obviously heard that somewhere, and that's very likely you. So I love that. Charlene, it has been such a pleasure having you on she leads. Thank you for coming on the podcast. Thank you for having me.

Charlene Roxburgh Consker
You've been amazing. Thank you so much for listening to the show this week. If you enjoyed, please spread the word. Tell someone about she leads or post about it on social media and tag us if you want to contact us. Feel free to send over message through the she leads leads Instagram pageleads show.

Carlea Milatsky
If you want to follow us on Twitter. Our account is she leads show and mine is arliemilecki. This episode was produced and edited by Nick Firchau. Thank you. Also to our partner, floodgate.

If you are passionate about startups and want to learn more about the starting journey of those who have built groundbreaking companies. I highly recommend listening to starting greatness with Mike Maples Junior, the founding partner of Floodgate. He has an incredible show that, in my opinion, is definitely worth your time. Thanks again.

123: Charlene Roxborough | Celebrity & Editorial Stylist

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1: Introduction

2: Early Influences

3: Career Beginnings

4: Philosophy and Impact

5: Entrepreneurial Ventures

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