Style Image and Personal Branding

Melissa Murray is a member of the Sorrento Valley Hera Hub in San Diego.  She is the CEO and founder of Styleology Group, a style image and personal branding firm specializing in strategically wardrobing CEOs, industry leaders, executives, sales teams and media personalities.

Hera Hub: Tell us about your career path.

Melissa: About a year and a half before I left corporate America, I had this great unique opportunity from a dear friend who has a boutique here in San Diego and she said, “I have to go to LA and buy some merchandise.  Would you like to go?”  And I said yes.  So I went and spent a pretty penny on myself and went to Texas and traveled the country and I said, “I just love what you’re wearing. Where did you get that?”  My friend called two weeks later and asked if I wanted to go again and I said, “Of course!”  I then decided that something was going on here and there was a transition within myself and I knew I was ready to leave corporate America.

On the side I started personal shopping for people.  That’s how this whole thing got started.

Hera Hub: What’s something you’ve had to learn the hard way, perhaps advice so to speak, for budding entrepreneurs?

Melissa: I wish I would have found one person to handle my IT.  I wish I would have found the right person to do my website.  Even though I considered myself very corporate and worldly and could make all these great decisions, when it’s only you and you don’t have a team of people to collaborate with…I think it can be debilitating and it was for me. When I started the business, if Hera Hub would have existed, I would not have gone through all of my climbing up the mountain by myself!

Hera Hub: What do you love about your business the most?

Melissa: The transformation of helping people see themselves in a different way.  It’s a beautiful evolution and there is nothing more spectacular when you see someone look in the mirror, male or female, or whether we’re reviewing video and they look at themselves and they go, “Oh my gosh, that’s me! This is the best of me.”

Hera Hub: What would you say your number one secret to your success and your career has been?

Melissa: For me, after leaving corporate America, it was truly investing my money in my education and myself.  I just think it is so important to continue to invest in educating in yourself and learn and be surrounded by a group of people, whether they’re men or women, professionals, executives, clients who can help to elevate you to a greater level.

Success Secrets of Enterprising Women is a weekly blog talk radio show hosted by Hera Hub.
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Felena is a long-time entrepreneur and marketing maven.  Her latest venture, Hera Hub, is a spa-inspired shared workspace for female entrepreneurs. This as-needed, flexible work and meeting space provides a productive environment for women who primarily work from home.  Hera Hub members have access to a professional space to meet with clients and to connect and collaborate with like-minded business owners, thus giving them the support they need to be prosperous.  Cost-effective monthly membership options are suited for freelancers, independent consultants, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and authors.

Hera Hub is much more than just a shared workspace; it’s a community of like-minded entrepreneurial women who find the additional resources, such as special classes, workshops, and one-on-one support essential for their business growth. The first San Diego location is conveniently located in Sorrento Valley.  By the end of 2012 Hera Hub will have additional locations in Mission Valley & Carlsbad.

Felena is passionate about education, earning her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of San Diego and her MBA from California State University Dominguez Hills.  She taught Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and at California State University Dominguez Hills for the MBA online program for eight years. Felena was most recently rewarded for community efforts, as she was awarded the “Women Business Owner of the Year Award” by the local chapter of the National Organization of Women Business Owners.